Welcome to the Politics Forum. Here are the rules.


1. Attack the argument, not the arguer. This includes calling a user a troll, or announcing that you have or are putting someone on ignore. Having your opinion, claim or argument challenged, doubted or dismissed is not attacking the arguer.

2. Don't be a troll.

3. Don't post conspiracy theories or other unsupported hyperbole. Any non-obvious claim about the world should be supported by empirical evidence and an appropriate, reputable citation. The less obvious and/or more radical the claim, the higher the standard will be for supporting evidence and citations. Claims of facts that are refuted by available evidence or that cannot be verified at all have no place in this forum. That includes birther stuff. Birther posts will result in a permaban.

4. On Friday’s pizza is served in the cafeteria.

5. No calling for a thread to be locked or for other moderation, and do not criticize moderation decisions in this forum. Use the mod notification button to get a mod's attention, PM a moderator to discuss his modding, or, only AFTER trying the above, PM an admin or go to ATF.

6. Keep posts substantive, particularly new threads. Low-content or off-topic banter belongs in the LC thread or in a designated chatter thread on the subject. Standards here are subjective. If a poor thread was closed that you would like to make a substantive contribution to, PM a moderator with your contribution, and the thread may be reopened.

7. Site-wide rules apply here, as everywhere
-- No spam
-- No begging
-- No linked NSFW* stuff without the link being tagged NSFW
-- No linked porn
-- No wishing death on other posters.
-- No Trainwrecking
-- No filesharing discussion
-- No discussion of methods to break laws, encouragement to break laws, etc.
-- No plagiarism
-- No racism/anti-semitism/sexism/etc.
-- etc.

The 2+2 terms and conditions are here.

Also, please note:

It's a new year, and it's now into my second year as one of the mods here, and I am going to try something new: a ban list a la Sporting Events.

The ban list will be appended to this post (and updated) as needed.

Special Wookie Drunken Offenses
Pokerbobobobo - See what you did, Tom? Bobobo's blood is on your hands. 4/3/2010

Self-Request

Taso - 5/30/10-6/4/10

FIRST OFFENSE

[Phil] -- personal attack (10/30/10)
Alizona -- anti-Semitic posting (03/31/10) (3 days)
AKSpartan -- trolling (06/15/10)
balla4life - trolling (04/28/10)
Bills217 -- trolling by name (03/21/10)
bobneptune - trolling (06/28/10)
Brian - trolling and staring terrible thread (11/17/10)
Brian J - trolling by name (01/17/10)
clemensol - admitted trolling (3/22/10)
clientblack - a bunch of terrible posts (04/26/10)
daaaaahawkz - trolling (2/24/11)
FallsviewPokerPro - Personal Attack (12/26/10)
FlyWf -- repeated trolling (two days, 02/17/10)
General Tsao - ridiculous hyperbole (03/22/10)
HC82 - trolling (6/21/11)
HooliganHRV - misogynistic trolling (01/27/10)
ikestoys -- making it personal (02/17/10)
istewart -- making it personal (03/21/10)
JackWhite -- making it personal (06/28/10)
JiggsCasey - namecalling (03/16/10)
Kimbo's beard - personal attacks (2/26/11)
mjkidd -- commenting on Fly 18 minutes after being told not to (16/12/10)
MrMusicRecorder - personal attacks (2 days) (04/27/10)
mosdef - trolling (02/24/10)
Neblis - trolling/making it personal (01/23/10)
nick_van_exel -- trolling (2 posts, 2 days) (09/09/10)
northeastbeast -- personal attacks (2/26/11)
Not_In_My_Name - calling Boro a moran (24 hr exile, 01/28/10)
paul rizzo - hyperbole trolling (01/14/10)
Phleggm - trolling (01/20/10)
PrimogenitoX - trolling (02/08/10)
MelchyBeau -- Dancing on Byrd's grave (06/28/10)
Montius -- namecalling (06/29/10)
owsley - trolling (02/24/10)
One big ass - trolling (06/21/10)
pvn - trolling (01/23/10)
Randomness28 - namecalling (01/04/10)
RedManPlus - namecalling (03/25/10)
Riverman - Namecalling (02/24/10)
Sackup -- trolling (08/04/10)
SandBaggn - Namecalling (02/26/10)
scandilous - Repeated terrible OP (05/26/10)
sex - evading profanity filter (02/17/10)
smittymatt - racist posting (01/17/10)
spidar - namecalling (6/4/10)
steelhouse - namecalling (03/02/10)
Stu Pidasso - trolling and then extra time for posting while banned (08/04/10)
superleeds - personal attack (7/30/11)
suzzer99 - making it personal/public ignoring (01/23/10)
tannenj - name calling / asking for moderator action (10/29/11)
TomCollins - Trolling etc. (09/06/11)
Thamel18 - trolling (06/28/10)
USC Cheats - see Riverman
vhawk01 - trolling/making it personal (01/23/10)
Wakko - broad brushed attack on an ideology (8/16/11)
Your Mom - personal attack (7/8//11)
zan nen - hotlinking to racist site (10/12/10)
Zygote - circumventing profanity filter (01/27/10)

SECOND OFFENSE
[Phil] -- namecalling (12/20/10)
bobneptune -- haha Jon Stewart is JEWISH!!!! get it?!?!? yah, we get it Bob (09/17/10 - 3 days)
Brian J -- making it personal (02/17/10)
FlyWF -- trolling (02/24/10)
General Tsao -- personal attack (11/28/10)
HC82 -- Calling for moderator action in thread (7/8/11)
ikestoys -- trolling (02/28/10)
istewart -- personal attack (4/23/10)
Neblis -- namecalling (02/08/11)
nick_van_exel -- trolling (01/03/10)
One Big Ass -- Dancing on Byrd's grave (06/28/10)
sex -- racist trolling (03/02/10)
USC Cheats -- name calling (5/12/10)
zan nen -- telling Wookie to **** off (11/13/10)
zzzed -- personal attacks 2/26/11

THIRD OFFENSE
[Phil] -personal attack (3/1/11)
Brian J - trolling (06/29/10)
FlyWf - trolling (9/8/10)
General Tsao -- trolling (03/16/11)
HC82 -- trolling (7/18/11)
ikestoys -- trolling (03/07/11)
nick_van_exel -- namecalling (11/18/10)
sex -- trolling (03/21/10)
istewart -- personal attack (06/28/10)

FOURTH OFFENSE
sex -- trolling, personal attacks (04/26/10)
ikestoys -- trolling (03/16/11)
istewart -- name calling (08/04/10)
FlyWf - name calling (10/1/10)
nick_van_exel -- trolling (11/29/10)

FIFTH OFFENSE
FlyWf -- Broad brush attach on conservatives (7/12/11)
nick_van_exel -- calling Sponger a "sanctimonious little vermin" (01/29/2011)
ikestoys -- trolling, etc. (06/08/2011)

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
UATrewqaz -- permanent ban for repeated racist posting

The "U mad" meme = no longer welcome.

OK, we've explained this many times, but I guess it's worth adding to the sticky. While the Politics forum is no stranger to sensitive topics and passionate opinions, guns seem to be a topic on which tempers run uniquely high, no matter the opinion of the arguer. The mods ask that there be no discussion of guns, arguments for or against gun control, etc. in the monthly LC threads. We have a containment thread for this:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/41...hands-1271170/

"You only support ___________ because X is in charge. If Y were in charge, you'd be against it!"

The above sample accusation of hypocrisy is a neatly packaged bit of a personal attack and trolling all rolled into one that serves no purpose other than to irritate the person it's addressed at. Unsupported accusations of hypocrisy are no longer welcome in this forum.

"Would YOU be so angry if it were X in charge instead of Y? Were YOU raging against X when X did _____________?"

This speculative example is, well, at least not so directly accusatory, but it's still posting AIDS and is frowned upon. You're just trying to score a cheap moral victory by implying that the person you're arguing with is a hypocrite, and it still does nothing constructive for the conversation.

Of course, I'm not going to go after people ex post facto, and this sort of attack directed at public political figures is permissible (even if usually still stupid). And ultimately, if a poster here does actually have hypocritical posts consistent with an accusation like these, then all bets are off. But you have to show your work.

"How to Contact Your Congressional Representatives".

Contact information for every Senator:

http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

And also this link for determining your representative in the House:

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

JMAN220’s ADDENDUM

These rules will be updated as new situations arise.

1. No insulting, demeaning, or denigrating the offspring, parents, spouses, or significant others of posters you disagree with. This includes anyone within the 6th degree of consanguinity. 5th Cousins once removed are fair game.

2. No direct or implied threats of violence against a public figure. This is in some cases a crime in the US.

3. Don’t tell a user to **** off while arguing that Louis CK is in fact the real victim.

4. Don’t be sexist.

1. No personal attacks, even against obvious trolls. Use the report post button and the troll will be dealt with harshly and immediately (give or take a few hours if Wookie and I are at work);
1.a: Personal attacks will be tolerated against holocaust deniers, nazi apologists, white supremacists, and mass shooting “truthers.”
2. Zero tolerance for new trolls. If you are a new poster who has just “found” this forum and are suddenly “just asking questions” that sure smell like, walk like, and talk like a troll, you will not get the benefit of the doubt;
3. The exile list is re-instated and will be updated regularly. All previous names on the exile list continue but in an effort to clean it up that thread will be unstickied and a new one created;
4. Do not disparage or attack 2+2, or its owners or administrators if they choose to post in this forum;

This thread will be updated as needed. The following posters are exiled from the politics forum for the reasons stated in the thread and are not permitted to post here.

1. El Lobo Gordo (trolling) — jman220 1/18/19

5. Moderation is tedious, esp. if we are on our phones, and we aren't paid. Consider a deleted or edited post your first warning and tone it down. Don't make us have to take more steps than that. Obviously, some posts don't deserve such a mild first warning and will have immediate further action taken.

6. Don’t post calling for someone to be banned. If you think somebody should be banned because they’ve violated any of the above rules, either PM myself or Wookie, or use the “report post” option.

7. This should be really obvious, but no holocaust denial, or minimizing of the holocaust, or defense of actual nazis or those that support or pay tribute to them. Violation of this rule will result in permanent exile from this subforum and possible permanent expulsion from 2+2.

8. No disputing or conspiracy theorizing regarding factually well-established historical atrocities. This includes actions of totalitarian regimes that are generally accepted in the historical community to have occurred and to not be in serious dispute.

Updated rule 1 as follows:

1a. Personal attacks will be tolerated against holocaust deniers, nazi apologists, white supremacists, and Mass Shooting “truthers.” Please also report their posts to bring them to the attention of the mods.