I apologize for having to restrict it to the linemen forum before the election but it did work out for the best. I got called a Nazi/Fascist/Commie a lot but better the fire be directed at me than having big fights between members and having it carry over into the regular broadband discussions. If it were up to only me (reality check here: I may run the site but there is no site without members) I would restrict the forum to no politics all the time. It would cut my administrative duties significantly.
This site is for the entire broadband industry. Its members are of all political stripes and different religions, backgrounds, and experience levels. The reality is we have to have a certain level of "political correctness" in order for it to function slightly above anarchy whether we like it or not. We can have, and should have, political discussions. Politics definitely affects our industry. The discussions must stay within a certain bounds, however, or they begin to detract from the site in general.
It may come as a surprise to some but the truth is I don't care about individual political views. I'm an apolitical person in real life. Republican vs. Democrat is like gas chamber vs. lethal injection; neither hold much appeal. (Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm neither a Chevy nor Ford guy, my truck is a Jeep of AMC vintage, and I'm a PC guy now but was Mac in college and inbetween flirted with Linux.) In any case, I try to stay the hell out of the way here whenever possible and just keep the bits flowing. I probably should be more involved in the everyday discussion but that's just not me. I'm the guy who enjoys jumping in the hole and fixing the outage more than the BS'ing afterward.
If a political post is removed, it is almost always because it contains a personal attack or name-calling, and generally never because of my personal Nazi/Commie/Fascist aspirations. There are questionable posts that maybe shouldn't be removed and some that should but aren't. We make mistakes too. I'm sorry it's never going to be 100% "fair". Everyone sees this as "I'm against their side" but that's just the way it is.
This site is free to join. Your e-mail is protected, not sold to spammers, and you're not overwhelmed with ads (infact there are NO ads at the moment.) I've tried to run the Bar as a classy joint, see? Most everyone appreciates that. Some, though, take it as nothing to lose, or worse, something to destroy. They are free to act however they please knowing they can just sign up again, and again. The nothing-to-losers are a small group in proportion to the overall membership but they take a significant amount of administrative time. In spite of that, I have to remember they are not the focus. I can't let something that is important to the community, like politics, be taken away because of them.
Re: thanks admin
Member #: 3
Registered: 1996-2001
Posted:
602
Name:
Admin Account
Company:
DBMV Solutions
Occupation:
Web site Guy
Location:
New Jersey
Personal:
late 50s
Experience:
~35 years
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