There have been Mods from outside the US. Currently **Colibri **lives in Panama but he was born in NYC. I think there was a mod **Coldfire **that was in Europe and another in India.
I doubt getting mods would really be a problem. There is a justified resistance (usually) to adding new forums.
How about a North American who thinks that both sides of just about any political discussion need to stop taking themselves so seriously? Not that I don’t care who wins the election (any election, take your pick) but I feel that my personal political beliefs are none of anyone else’s business, and the few times I’ve ever been around when people are discussing politics all I ever do is listen and nod. If I were moderating a political forum I wouldn’t have any trouble reading through the threads and pointing out when the SDMB rules are coming close to being, or are being, violated without taking sides in the actual discussion.
I just had a flashback to a time twenty years ago when I started a sentence with “If I were running…” and within half an hour found myself with a volunteer job that I had sworn I would never get involved with again.
The only real question I have would be Pit Threads. If you’re strictly ranting about McCain/Obama/whoever, not really wanting debate, and want Pit rules to apply as far as namecalling/citing/etc., would you favor still putting in the pit or putting it in the politics thread with a “Pit Rules” type notation?
I would like there to be a political forum, with Pit rules. The GD rules lead to mealy-mouthed rule-skirting that is annoying in the extreme.
Coldfire is Dutch and Xash lived in India (though I’m not sure of the nationality).
I’d love to see an Aussie or Kiwi mod. Europe is not optimal, since we’re 6-9 hours ahead of America. We’d be better off with a 9-15 hour diff.
I’d like to see a Brit moderator moderate like they do there in parliament. I might start enjoying political threads here.
Your post is a liar!
My perfect dream would be two political subforums, one in GD and one in the Pit. These forums would be treated as one forum, and would get two moderators. However, since they are subforums, any moderator from the Pit could enforce pit rules and GD could enforce GD rules, including moving threads to the Pit/Politics if necessary.
I have another idea, though. Aren’t most political threads politically titled? Why not make that a rule? Then allow people to filter out political words in titles (and vice versa for people who want political threads. This wouldn’t be that hard to implement, and has the added benefit of not needing any more human additions. It has the disadvantage that someone would probably have to mod the forum a small bit to add the filter options, and, the way this upgrade is going, that probably won’t be a priority.
Don’t for a second think that I don’t think Jerry isn’t doing a heckuva job.
And Pit threads just end up with 10 pages of calling McCain a douche bag.
I know it is a general policy of the board administration not to make new forums, but why? The Game Room was created by popular demand, so why not create more forums that will reduce a great deal of clutter from other forums.
What burden will this place on the staff to prevent them from doing it?
Another reason why it might be a good idea to get political threads out of GD is that it will leave the forum open to more esoteric debates. High quality discussions on rare topics are more of flavor of the SDMB. That’s the kind of culture that came back to MPSIMS after the game threads were taken way.
This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I think politics needs and deserves a separate forum much more than games and the Game Room. If there were a physical limit to the number of forums (of course, there isn’t) I would vote for ceding the Game Room slot to politics.
I think Fenris said it best.
Unfortunately, while this issue has been brought up for years (and several times in the past month alone), TPTB have been unwilling to even consider the matter – at least in public – and have yet to give any seriously reasonable arguments against the proposition. Very odd indeed.
I’d do it if my mod powers included the ability to lock down every single thread in that forum with a wave of my hand and a Dogbert-like ‘bah!’. 
ETA: Actually, not even then. Not unless I could also administer electric shocks through the poster’s keyboards.
Exactly.
And, believe it or not, the same is true for the Pit. It used to be my favorite forum to read, before it became “GD with cussing”.
And what Diogenes said about the political stuff being time-sensitive is dead-on. Since they’re time sensitive, A) the individual threads are hardly “Great issues for our times” and B) there’s a metric crapload of them.
Which is why I wouldn’t favor BigT’s suggestion about just labeling them–they still take up front-page real-estate and there’s still tons of them.
I’d be happy to do it, but not in a “Politics” forum because I’d spend all my time telling people to calm the fuck down and wondering why the hell they were so worked up over something that (to me, as a non-American) was a trivial irrelevancy.
And as someone who has repeatedly called for a politics forum (most recently here), I believe that it’s only one of the Mods who has a major objection to the idea and is exercising some sort of Veto power to prevent it happening.
People on these boards are always talking about politics, and other countries have politics that posters might wish to discuss too.
Even if the new forum was not a roaring success, I fail to see how it could be any more of a ghost-town than the “Comments on Cecil’s Columns” or “Comments on Staff Reports” forums, the former of which gets a handful of posts maybe once every couple of days.
Take a look at this snapshot of GD’s front page.
Red=Current US (and one lonely Canadian) Election thread
Dark Orange=the current economy stuff–which could be or philosophical (“Is this the invitable result of capitalism?” vs “THIS IS BUSH/CLINTON/FILLMORE’S FAULT!”)–I didn’t open them all
This “sandybrown” color =Threads that might be political or philosophical, depending on how it’s handled
Blue=anything else (and note that at least one of these blue threads was moved)
[ul]
[li]Was there strong opposition to the UK gun bans? Could the same happen in the US?[/li][li]If There Is Global Warming . . . Why The Aversion To A Technological Fix?[/li][li]Did Obama try to delay US troop withdrawal from Iraq? (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Britain adopts sharia law. [In domestic disputes providing both parties agree.] (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]Compromising on abortion. (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5)[/li][li]On Palin, Sexism, and What Women Want.[/li][li]They will try to win it by hook or crook[/li][li]Does Obama understand the economy? [/li][li]Why aren’t people having sex in public? [/li][li]The stock market is over. (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Is this the final word on NDEs?[/li][li]The Race is on! Canadians go to the polls October 14. (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5)[/li][li]Oliphant cartoon lampoons “speaking in tongues” … out of bounds? (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]Game-changing elections (a history thread)[/li][li]Retirement. Human Right or Luxury?[/li][li]Consensual incest? (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch… (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]Tax and Spend Liberals: An unfair label?[/li][li]Does anybody understand ElectoralVote to Choose who to vote for Absolutely[/li][li]What happened in North Carolina? [Election Polling][/li][li]Traders/Finance professionals: Maximize my bonus & screw the company?[/li][li]Is Obama the most liberal prez candidate ever?[/li][li]The failure of the absolute free market system (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Housing crisis started with Clinton?[/li][li]And again – who IS Sarah Palin (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5 6 … Last Page)[/li][li]Why is soccer so popular with U.S. tweens&teens, but not as a college/pro sport?[/li][li]How to decide who to vote for absolutely[/li][li]Little New Hampshire sits in a sea of blue states. Why is NH a battleground state?[/li][li]McCain doesn’t have have a plan for the economy?[/li][li]How much does the U.S. President influence the economy[/li][li]McCain Supporter/Bush Hater: Explain, please[/li][li]How would a McCain presidency compare to Bush?[/li][li]How real/significant is the “Bradley Effect”?[/li][li]Is McCain forked yet? (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5 6 … Last Page)[/li][li]The Fourth Way. [/li][li]Does Evolution Make The Christian God Impossible? (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Democratic Strategy: Palin’s Celebrity[/li][li]American taxpayers will receive a substantial majority ownership interest in AIG.[/li][li]US government to lose triple A credit rating?[/li][li]Breastfeeding, “nipple nazis,” and “helpful” advice (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4)[/li][li]Taking John McCain at his word… (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Dear Cynic a’la Diogenes [why one woman is voting for McCain] (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]Are we worried about the Large Hadron Collider being turned on? (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5 6 … Last Page)[/li][li]How To Choose Whom To Vote For[/li][li]Economists back Obama in recent poll commissionned by Dilbert’s creator[/li][li]Decision '08: Could New York turn red?[/li][li]“Marriage is between a man and a woman. Period.” (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5)[/li][li]I no longer understand the conservative strategy in the War on Terror[/li][/ul]
And this will get worse for 8 more weeks–and then get MUCH worse as the results are debated, gloated about, analyzed, reanalyzed, disputed, accepted, rejected, etc. Once the new Pres is sworn in, we’ll get “Look what his first act as president was! It’s great/awful!” (we might also get a spate of “He didn’t get sworn in on a bible/koran/torah! He’s an Muslim/fundie/stealth-agnostic!” threads.) We’ll get talk about what other commentators say about what the new pres is doing ("Oberman/Limbaugh says “New pres sucks! I told you so.” Discuss.)
Even assuming there’s not a ton of “honeymoon” threads followed by “first 100 days” threads, we’re still looking at (at minimum) six months of this.
And while we’re at it, here’s a snapshot of Pit Threads that are political (I didn’t do the narrower sort I did in GD)
[ul]
[li]The Latest Ben Stein Pit Thread- John McCain related [/li][li]People, chill! (financial/economic troubles) (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]McCain Offends Spain, or Foreign Policy Genius My Ass (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]A direct quote from Giraffe’s (mod) profile page: (sorta–he’s complaining that Giraffe closed one of his political threads.)[/li][li]The following political jokes are no longer funny[/li][li]I pit NOW for blatant hypocrisy (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Fed to the fiscally sane: drop dead[/li][li]Why can’t they make a book that holds up any more?![/li][li]You’re stupid, now you’re dead. (RO, I guess)[/li][li]Sarah turns opaque. (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]McCain invents Blackberry! (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]You are not freaking E.E. Cummings. English usage exists for a REASON, damn it!(Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]NYS is F***ed. Also Sun Rises in East.[/li][li]Who was the “pop sensation” that did the national anthem for MNF tonight?[/li][li]GOP Minority Outreach (Don’t Step In The Macaca)[/li][li]Pitting the Comment Sections of Many Popular Websites[/li][li]Cheney is a big fucking liar – says top Republican.[/li][li]The Galveston City Government: What Fuckups!! (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]McCain Gaffe Thread (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5)[/li][li]What’s up at Ground Zero? (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Why is there no mini-rants thread on the new server? (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]What the fuck is happening here lately? (Multi-page thread 1 2)-sorta. Complaining about the hostility in the political threads[/li][li]It’s not neocon economic policies that put you in the shitter[/li][li]Moved: Fucking ow! (Way, way TMI; female related)[/li][li]Log Cabin Republicans: go sit on splintery split-rail dildos the lot of ye (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]I pit unprepared people–like my mother (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Some people are too damn stupid to live! (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Is There Any Fairness Left In This Campaign? (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Obama Too Elite Claims Wife of Sir Evelyn de Rothschild[/li][li]The Tighty Righty Surge or A Plague of Trogs (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)-Sorta. Commenting that there’s a lot more Repubs in the political threads than there used to be.[/li][li]Pinkivee, stop thinking with your vagina. (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Mental Illness and Stigmatization (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]How do you know when a Republican is lying? (RO) (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]I pit elitism (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]This video clip is how all the political threads make me feel.[/li][li]Phony Outrage (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]I Pit Subway for the most idiotic phrase I’ve ever heard in a commercial… (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]No gas for you! (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Fuck Vista! (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Trying to come up with a good “anti-McCain/Palin” sticker (Multi-page thread 1 2 3)[/li][li]15 Things more important than the issues[/li][li]Fucking leaf blowers. I am so sick of this goddam shit[/li][li]Bristol a pothead? Say it ain’t so.[/li][li]Palin defenders, are you fucking stupid? (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4 5 6)[/li][li]This is a University Professor? (Another g.d. Palin thread)[/li][li]Moved: Okay, Partisans - Gather Round[/li][li]Nat’l Guard “Warrior”[/li][li]Hahhaah…Ohio St (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]The Army Sells The Big Red One to Sears (Multi-page thread 1 2)[/li][li]Why do they ALWAYS SEND THE FREAKING REPORTERS to do the hurricane stories?[/ul][/li]
I strongly suspect that MPSIMS didn’t get this volume of game threads before the Game Room was created.
On the off-chance the powers that be decide to add the forum, what should it be called?
May I humbly suggest “The Smoke-Filled Room”?
The Sausage Factory.
Oh, not only no, buy hay-ell no. There ain’t enough money or Cecil autographed books to get me to even consider that.
You know what would be nice (but not necessarily right now, maybe after everything’s installed)? If the mods would all commit to an opinion on this. I know TubaDiva’s opposed (because of her post in this thread) and I remember someone saying that “it’s never gonna happen”, but I’m curious what most of the mods think, and it would keep us from accusing the wrong/random people.