Apolitical forum orientation is actually quite political

[mjb266]

RBG would be disappointed in me if I didn’t say something...
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
D. Tutu

I’ll sign off for a couple weeks now.

[mtechnica]

Thank you

[doomridesout]

Post 10000000 to observe this, maybe there’s something to it?

[Chris]

In before the lock

[ORMojo]

Candlelight vigil at 8 PM tomorrow. Even our small town of 1,200 is already organizing for it.

[nighthawk]

“You can’t be neutral on a moving train” Howard Zinn

but I get the rules of the forum and that decision is above my pay grade and probably for the better. The internet is a cesspool, let’s be thankful for the civility we have here.

[joosttx]

tip of the hat.

[rohan]

Thank you for sharing this. I find this to be true about almost any discussion of racial equity and social justice in America, and not only in this forum.

[dbnm]

Millions of places to argue about politics.

I am grateful this is not one of them.

Thanks to all who keep this place sane.

[apple]

Respectfully to the moderators, the apolitical orientation of this forum is garbage. Some things are worth fighting for and others speaking out against, and the speaking out against the deplorable actions of our current administration is a moral imperative.

I'm happy to be banned.

Rest in power, RBG.

[echappist]

RBG would be disappointed in me if I didn’t say something...
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
D. Tutu

I’ll sign off for a couple weeks now.

I doubt that RBG would be too miffed at the fact that we cannot make comments here. Of course, you are right that being apolitical is actually a political stance, and of course, the corollary to that is much nastiness and evil could be hidden by a veneer of civility, but that is rendered moot by the fact that this place, after all, is a virtual extension of private property, and we agreed to the rules before we joined.

It's irrelevant whether we agree with moderators' decision on this; we acknowledged and agreed to their rules, and we abide by it. To actively protest, after having agreed to the terms on your own volition, is a bit too much cake-ism, regardless of how cogent your point actually is (and I would say it is quite cogent).

Though I am sympathetic to your view, our right to free speech is not abrogated, as there literally scores of various other fora where we could post something. One of those places is "across the hall", aka Velocipedes, where many of the forumites here also congregate (even a few moderators here). Different set of moderators; different set of rules. Do share your opinions there. This is but one outlet.

[AngryScientist]

I didnt close this one, but I just want to point out why the last thread was locked, and why we generally have to omit political typed threads here.

it's not because we want to suppress an issue on one side or another.

it's not because we dont want to honor the memory of great, iconic figures who will certainly have a place in history.

the unfortunate reality, and is becoming worse for some reason - is that we have a small minority of jerks here who drag the conversation down no matter what.

three posts into the last thread, we have someone throwing AR-15's into the conversation to intentionally stir the pot and torpedo the conversation before it even gets started.

he earned himself a ban because players like that are the problem, and the ultimate reason why most of these conversations turn south.

by all means, i believe it is important and essential to honor RGB and pay our respects at her passing, but as pointed out - there are plenty of other places to do so.

thanks for the continued support and understanding folks!