SL28ave Senior Member Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 796 Location: Rockville, MD Expertise: I live coffee
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Posted Sat May 7, 2005, 3:12pm Subject: Re: Ground Rules for Political Discussions
I lean towards agreeing with Eric. Only because I personaly am more comfortable with "dinner table" civil, non-superfluous, and logical discussion. But, I often even break those rules. I'm both a lethargically scared puppy and the guy who "hides" in the corner of a classroom with a hat over my face, and am just not compatible with loud mouths.
Posted Sat May 7, 2005, 5:19pm Subject: Re: Ground Rules for Political Discussions
It is best not to post when you are either -mad -ignorant or both.... If mad....breathe, think, post if ignoranat....go read something and stop being ignorant...then post. if both...do both.
BenB Senior Member Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 466 Location: Perth, Australia Expertise: Professional
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Posted Sat May 7, 2005, 5:39pm Subject: Re: Ground Rules for Political Discussions
Power to Eric! ;)
I agree: we need a little more moderation...take any flat out statements as a challenge to educate/convert the poster about your point of view. Surely this should be the main objective in a debate, rather than directly attacking people who do not agree with your way of seeing things. BTW - this is an open comment, not aimed at any individuals.
SL28ave Senior Member Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 796 Location: Rockville, MD Expertise: I live coffee
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Posted Sat May 7, 2005, 5:57pm Subject: Re: Ground Rules for Political Discussions
For whatever reason, assumptions are plentifully given in political debates (an assumption on my part, because I don't have time to verify). How would you or a moderator properly deal with assumptions?
hamm Senior Member Joined: 22 May 2003 Posts: 530 Location: Kettering, Ohio Expertise: I live coffee
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Posted Sat May 7, 2005, 8:30pm Subject: Re: Ground Rules for Political Discussions
sdw Said:
I would agree, but the rightwing media machine has tarred NPR with the liberal-as-pejorative long ago.
Zep had a great point, but when you think about it, are we responsible adults or do we need guidelines to help us out?
Like the comment above. If you plant the word "leftwing" in place of "rightwing" you'd have my take on it. Replace NPR with Talk Radio
The problem is, in our own minds, we're both correct. If I told him he's nuts and that the media is completely slanted to the left, he'd want to defend his position, and he'd do it strongly because he'd be defending what he believes. I think he'd do the same even if I said "Except for Fox News and Talk Radio, the media is slanted to the left." When one defends his/her beliefs, things get intense. I have no personal negativity towards him, but his statements seem completely backward to me. Likewise mine with him.
So which one of us is right? I think the Apocalypse will happen before we know for sure.
If we establish posting guidelines, it might make for friendlier posts here, but would it create ill feelings among some of us when we want to defend our position?
Incidentally, I've listened to NPR before and most of the time I enjoy it. I respect people who can make educated decisions based on their own intellect, ability to gather information from numerous sources, and willingness to accept the fact that there are usually three sides to every story, one of them being the truth, which happens to be the most painful bit.
One part I'm with 100%: Avoiding personal attacks. Issues can be debated but when personal atacks begin, a degree of class is lost.
Oh, one more thing. In case you're one who thinks that Fox News is right-wing, have you ever just watched the news part? Forget Hannity, O'Riley, etc. Straight-up news is the most politically balanced I have ever seen. It favors neither side in the reporting.
Posted Sat May 7, 2005, 10:03pm Subject: Re: Ground Rules for Political Discussions
Led...you expect an even tempered, reasoned discussion between opposing viewpoints...when both sides have been sleepless for 6 weeks, due to super-copious amounts of caffeine? ;>D Seriously, my friend, those who find these off-topic threads objectionable, or a waste of time (as I do)...except for this thread, obviously.. need not click on the link(s)...therefore....I'm oughta here.
expobar Senior Member Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 3,003 Location: .
Posted Sat May 7, 2005, 10:10pm Subject: Re: Ground Rules for Political Discussions
I'd say a reasoned political discussion is valuable, but a lot of these are getting out of hand. I read sdw's edited post, and it pretty much had everything I wanted to make a rule against.
onocoffee Senior Member Joined: 5 Sep 2002 Posts: 733 Location: Towson, Maryland Expertise: Just starting
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Posted Sat May 7, 2005, 10:53pm Subject: Re: Ground Rules for Political Discussions
Society is the way it is and CoffeeGeek.com does exist. Whether or not society does things the "best" way is irrelevant. Society does what it does - and part of that is to decimate your opponent.
It's not nice. It's not "politically correct." It's not even very pleasant. You want to be "nice," "fair," and "logical"? Maybe you should stay in a high school model congress or United Nations. You want to see how the real world operates, watch the real United States Congress in action. Kids, like yourself, can act in these nice ways because your actions in this congressional tournament have no bearing on your life or your world. They have no power. Power corrupts and is the downfall of our system.
The modus of our nation isn't to refute something. It's to attack and decimate. Watch the news. Watch politics. Watch business. Our goal is to beat our enemy. That's all that matters. Hook or by crook. Smear 'em if you have to.
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