SamClem, I think you made a booboo.

[RyJae]

In this thread here (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=366363) a question was asked. It was doing okay getting factual answers to the OP. Getting perhaps closer to the corrct answer. Then people started throwing out political leaning material that didn't have much to do with the OP other than say "It's the stupid Republicans fault*"
You should have smacked the posters who wanted to interject debate material into it, and allowed the question to be answered. In Great Debates it will get what all questions get, shit on by one side or the other. Perhaps when doing the smackdown tell them to open a new thread in GD and let this one get answered.


*What is the political party of the Arizona's Gov Janet Napolitano?

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

There were some factual aspects to the question, but there was also an opinion question: why is this becoming an issue now?

I've got no opinion on whether certain people shoulda been smacked down: some, like even sven, do appear to be out of line for a GQ thread, but I don't spend much time at all in political threads in GQ, so I don't know what the standards are.

Daniel

[RyJae]

There were some factual aspects to the question, but there was also an opinion question: why is this becoming an issue now?

I've got no opinion on whether certain people shoulda been smacked down: some, like even sven, do appear to be out of line for a GQ thread, but I don't spend much time at all in political threads in GQ, so I don't know what the standards are.

Daniel

Oh I agree but for the most part the replies where confined to actual attempts at answering the question. A question I was interested in seeing the answer to as well. Until someone got on the soapbox, now I will never see the answer beyond partisan bitching.

If samclem would have smacked the offending poster around it does two things, ensures they do not take a GQ thread off the track again, and try to stop other posters from doing the same in the future. Sure the question could be in GD and have a nice debating life, but so could a good many OPs in GQ.