# Can We Keep Politics Out of IMHO and MPSIMS? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 13, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870 "2016-11-13T18:22:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/82 "2017-01-26T21:24:51Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > These threads aren’t going to stop and I don’t want to succumb myself to just living in The Game Room (although it popped in there too) and Cafe Society (again, it’s reared its ugly head a few times) because the other forums have divulged into “lol my joke on Trump everyone come agree with me!” A quick scan of the number of threads on the front page of selected forums - i.e. threads active within the last week, who mention “Trump” in their titles. IMHO has 11 such threads. MPSIMS has 13 The Pit - 11 CS - 5 GD - 11 GQ - 4 Nowhere is safe. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/83 "2017-01-26T21:54:04Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > A quick scan of the number of threads on the front page of selected forums - i.e. threads active within the last week, who mention “Trump” in their titles. > > IMHO has 11 such threads. > MPSIMS has 13 > The Pit - 11 > CS - 5 > GD - 11 > GQ - 4 > > Nowhere is safe. I’m surprised the number for the Pit is so low (I’m not doubting you, just surprised). I used to go to the Pit first - found the most interesting threads there, usually. Since Election Day, I’ve barely gone there. The few times I did, it seemed to me that 90% of the thread titles were political in nature. I pretty much spend my time in The Game Room and CS now. Despite this, I’m not sure I would get behind a separate Trump or Politics forum… this is the world we now live in. The SDMB isn’t that different from Facebook or even news sites in having a huge amount of content be around Trump or politics. The fact that I get despondent reading all that and prefer to hide my head in the sand doesn’t change reality. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/84 "2017-01-26T23:47:55Z")
How can it be surprising that there are a number of Trump threads? It was genuinely an unprecedented election result. At least a new thread doesn’t pop up with the frequency of certain midnight tweets. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/85 "2017-01-27T00:22:51Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I completely disagree with this. These threads will not stop. I’ve been trying to be patient in the past couple weeks because the inauguration just happened, but a lot of the threads aren’t even talking about something, or asking a real question. They’re just the classic “Let me be oh so funny and make an anti-Trump thread! lololololol.” Ones that come to mind are “Stop using his name” and “I was wrong about Trump he’s rational…” If you want to make these kind of “ironic” posts then the link to the Buzzfeed Community is right over there. > > On the other hand, there are certain kinds of posts that work. “What will you do if the ACA is repealed” is an actual question with actual answers. More or less, it has a REAL point. > > These threads aren’t going to stop and I don’t want to succumb myself to just living in The Game Room (although it popped in there too) and Cafe Society (again, it’s reared its ugly head a few times) because the other forums have divulged into “lol my joke on Trump everyone come agree with me!” This is pretty much exactly what I was saying in post #73. “What happens if the ACA is repealed?” features Trump as a necessity but not the focus and would thus be a cromulent GD question. “Lololol everyone come and laugh at my joke about President Orange and agree we don’t like him lololol aren’t we cool?” or “SEE? THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT POLITICAL VIEWS!” is what a lot of other threads seem to be and I agree with the suggestion people should go to Buzzfeed for that sort thing, especially if they want to be part of the “right on” crowd. Like I said before: Anything ranty, accusatory, combatitive etc goes to the Soundproof Trump Forum. Reasonable questions about (for example) the real-world impact of specific policies goes into whichever forum it would normally be in if the President in question was… well, pretty much anyone else. > [@bobot](#): > > How can it be surprising that there are a number of Trump threads? It was genuinely an unprecedented election result. At least a new thread doesn’t pop up with the frequency of certain midnight tweets. The thing is, I don’t think this is likely to die down anytime soon. People always give political leaders shit for stuff, but I’m sensing a very palpable feeling people are going to go out of their way to rage against Mr Trump for quite some time - especially if he actually starts doing a lot of the stuff he said he would do. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/86 "2017-01-27T12:00:15Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > “I was wrong about Trump he’s rational…” If you want to make these kind of “ironic” posts then the link to the Buzzfeed Community is right over there. I’m kind of giggling over here, because that last one [isn’t meant to be ironic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=817318). ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/87 "2017-01-27T14:03:30Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > This is pretty much exactly what I was saying in post #73. “What happens if the ACA is repealed?” features Trump as a necessity but not the focus and would thus be a cromulent GD question. Yikes! I missed that! Yeah, you hit the nail on the head back there. Sorry I missed it. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’m kind of giggling over here, because that last one [isn’t meant to be ironic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=817318). Ha. You’re right. I guess I saw the title and just assumed what it was talking about. Chalk that one up to the masses. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/88 "2017-01-27T16:11:05Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Ha. You’re right. I guess I saw the title and just assumed what it was talking about. Chalk that one up to the masses. It’s always a surprise and a delight to see the propositions that GD treats unironically, innit? ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/89 "2017-01-28T18:05:10Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Now, more than ever, I wish we had a **Politics** forum. I’m trying to keep up with everything going on right now in Washington, and I have to go back and forth between GQ, Elections, GD, IMHO, MPSIMS, The Pit, and sometimes even Cafe Society. I haven’t checked The Marketplace recently–are there Trump threads in there, too? 😉 I agree with this. I’m seeking out political threads right now, especially those related to “he who must not be named,” and it’s hard to find them since they are scattered everywhere. I see the point some have made that a thread may be tangentially related to “politics” but still fit in Great Debates or the Pit as a rant or wherever, but that doesn’t make it any easier to find the subject I am looking for (and others are wishing to avoid). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/90 "2017-01-29T08:44:23Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > I agree with this. I’m seeking out political threads right now, especially those related to “he who must not be named,” and it’s hard to find them since they are scattered everywhere. I see the point some have made that a thread may be tangentially related to “politics” but still fit in Great Debates or the Pit as a rant or wherever, but that doesn’t make it any easier to find the subject I am looking for (and others are wishing to avoid). It’ll help, though. It honestly seems very straightforward to me - questions like “What impact will the ACA repeal have?” or “Is using an executive order to arbitrarily stop refugees from being allowed to come to the US constitutionally permissable?” are clear Great Debates territory, with tangential inclusion of Mr Trump because he’s the president. He’d be mentioned, but he’s not the focus. However, “HOW DARE TRUMP DO THIS AWFUL THING!” threads can go straight to the Trump Forum where everyone can agree with the OP and be outraged at whatever thing everyone is being outraged at that day. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/91 "2017-01-30T16:46:19Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > I agree with this. I’m seeking out political threads right now, especially those related to “he who must not be named,” and it’s hard to find them since they are scattered everywhere. I see the point some have made that a thread may be tangentially related to “politics” but still fit in Great Debates or the Pit as a rant or wherever, but that doesn’t make it any easier to find the subject I am looking for (and others are wishing to avoid). Honestly never would have thought that a person who is active in the politics threads would actually agree with me on this! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/92 "2017-01-30T17:57:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, to some extent I agree. > > I mean sure, 'who was the president with the lowest % of popular vote" is a legit GQ question. But those can & do veer off. All of them have. Every single Trump thread in GQ that I’ve looked at contains political comments irrelevant to the factual question. I’ve suggested a drinking game to the mods. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/93 "2017-02-01T14:34:00Z")
As happy as I am that there seems to be so much agreement happening…is there any way we can make this actually happen? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/94 "2017-02-01T17:09:36Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > All of them have. Every single Trump thread in GQ that I’ve looked at contains political comments irrelevant to the factual question. > > I’ve suggested a drinking game to the mods. That’s not a drinking game-That’s mass suicide by alcohol poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/95 "2017-02-02T14:12:00Z")
How about keeping politics out of Cafe Society for that matter? I guess not since a mod moved a GQ that was quickly answered and then almost as quickly went political with the insightful: "That smug fucking twat needed a kick in the teeth. My heart rate is up just remembering that All Things Considered fucking piece." ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/96 "2017-02-02T15:32:05Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > How about keeping politics out of Cafe Society for that matter? > > I guess not since a mod moved a GQ that was quickly answered and then almost as quickly went political with the insightful: > > "That smug fucking twat needed a kick in the teeth. > > My heart rate is up just remembering that All Things Considered fucking piece." That’s already against the rules in CS. Did you report the offending post? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/97 "2017-02-02T19:11:22Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I strongly oppose renaming Elections. The threads in elections are about various campaign strategies, debates, political conventions, and referendums. There are enough of those to keep the forum active, Europe will see several major elections in 2017 even though it’s an off year for USA elections. I don’t think it should be cluttered up with threads about racist drunken uncles and family fights over election outcomes. I heartily agree with this. Elections is about Elections, and discussing them as they are developing. The resulting aftermath of the elections should go into the various other forums depending upon the nature, flavor of the post-election discussion. Opinion, Debate, Pit. Café discussions about carrot cake. And I am equally against a separate forum for Politics. Are we going to pull the Politics out of Great Debates? What will be left? Ketchup; Hunts or Heinz? Pull all the Politics out of IMHO where a topic can be discussed with somewhat less fervor than in Debates? Will MPSIMS become really, really, mundane? The current forums are adequate for discussion of any topic depending upon the nature of the discussion. Splitting the Games forum into Games and Thread Games didn’t really contribute to the discussion of either. You just have 2 mostly dead forums now instead of the one. The Trump threads may die down and they may not. He has only been President for a dozen days. If you really want a separate forum so that he is never mentioned in the other forums, then call it Trigger Warnings. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/98 "2017-02-02T19:19:33Z")
I also want to nix any renaming of the Elections forum. Yes, November has passed, but the forum title isn’t “U.S. Elections” and I like to read discussions about what’s going on politically in other countries. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/99 "2017-02-02T22:25:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I also want to nix any renaming of the Elections forum. Yes, November has passed, but the forum title isn’t “U.S. Elections” and I like to read discussions about what’s going on politically in other countries. Of which there’s rarely any in-depth discussion because there’s such a small international userbase, compared to the US one. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/100 "2017-02-03T01:26:30Z")
It depends. There was a really good thread on the Scottish referendum, and also on the Quebec election a few years ago. But yes, it’s not just about the US presidential election. There’s also mid-term elections in the US, plus state elections. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/101 "2017-02-03T02:32:55Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > It depends. There was a really good thread on the Scottish referendum, and also on the Quebec election a few years ago. Hence why I said rarely - to take into accout things like Brexit, the Scottish Referendum and Quebec’s continued plans to get their own country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870.md?page=6)