# 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:** 7
**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 20, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/122 "2017-02-20T21:51:13Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > You read it that way. I am honestly curious. Asking “Was Thomas Edison reading disabled?” or [Einstein](http://www.albert-einstein.org/article_handicap.html) would not be making fun of Thomas Edison or Einstein. It might belong in GQ because there likely is a GQ level answer possible or at least a GQ level discussion (consensus seems to be yes for Edison and less sure for Einstein); for Trump there is not. We can only offer our HOs about the question. > > There are many moderately successful adults who are functionally illiterate and who struggled through school because their reading disability was never identified let alone remediated. If they had other resources (in some cases great intelligence, in some cases other things) they achieved anyway. I have sometimes come into contact with these people as the parents of children who are having problems in school and after their child’s reading disability is identified. It’s a lightbulb moment sometimes for them to realize that they were not dumb as a child but had an unidentified and unremediated disability. They want to save their kids from what they had to struggle with. > > I am not sure that Trump has a reading disability but he behaves in ways that is consistent with such. It is a reasonable question to ask. Good question, but you’ll probably hate my answer 😛 It’s a different situation because of how we compare ourselves to Edison and Einstein vs. how we view Trump. The question is asked of Edison and Einstein in a context of “wow that’s amazing that they accomplished so much and could have had this disability!” We’re taking ourselves out of the conversation. When it comes to Trump it;s “OMG He is so stupid because of (situation) I am so much smarter than him he must be illiterate lololol”. It boils down to trusting the motivation of the poster. I’m sure there are people on this board who are curious about Trump and his actions from an intellectual observer point of view, but the absolute overwhelming majority of posters are just spewing hate about it. Even if the question is serious (it does say it in the title after all) it will only be a matter of, what, 2 posts before someone says something pointless and crass? Which inevitably sparks a fire that just ends up being the same old same old. “But T-Cups,” you might say “That’s talking about the thread itself, not the fact the thread is in IMHO.” You’re right, but it’s a symptom of a larger cause. The opinions you’ll receive on a thread like that are no different than if you were posting it in GD, so just do it there in the first place. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/123 "2017-02-21T01:42:14Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > “But T-Cups,” you might say “That’s talking about the thread itself, not the fact the thread is in IMHO.” You’re right, but it’s a symptom of a larger cause. The opinions you’ll receive on a thread like that are no different than if you were posting it in GD, so just do it there in the first place. Why not just ask a mod to move those threads if you come across one? Why ask for an all-over ban? How many have there ever been? ---
**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 21, 2017, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/124 "2017-02-21T04:19:40Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Why not just ask a mod to move those threads if you come across one? Why ask for an all-over ban? How many have there ever been? Rather a lot - someone worked out that there were something like 60-odd threads on Trump at one point recently. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/125 "2017-02-21T15:18:28Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I don’t really see why we can’t keep Trump threads contained, either. I am very much against getting rid of them, or chastising people for making them. But there are a lot of threads about this. > > It seems to fit the purpose for the Elections forum. It was designed because people were talking too much about elections during election season and pushing other things off the page. Now, we’re all talking about the results of that Election, at the same level we did while the election was going on. Seems like it would fit. Because I enjoy reading through the Elections Forum, I don’t want to see _it_ cluttered with all the Trump threads; for me it works out to have them scattered across the boards. So far the best suggestion for control, over and above the current controls already in place, would be a sub-forum suggested in a thread here at ATMB that was closed recently – something along the lines of a “Current US Administration” thread. We go through this every four years or so. Maybe not to this degree but it happens like clockwork. It wouldn’t be a terrific solution but it would probably work. Link to the closed thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=818786](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=818786) ---
**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:** [February 21, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/126 "2017-02-21T15:19:57Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Rather a lot - someone worked out that there were something like 60-odd threads on Trump at one point recently. But that’s not his complaint. By this point in the thread he was complaining that people were mocking Trump’s stupidity in threads in IMHO and MPSIMS. That’s a much smaller set. I think he’s only mentioned one example. That’s easily dealt with. The larger issue of a separate Trump forum is different and as I’ve said I’ve come to agree that we need one. But if it doesn’t happen, Trump’s difficulty with reading isn’t much of a forum spoiler. ---
**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 21, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/127 "2017-02-21T21:54:36Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > But that’s not his complaint. By this point in the thread he was complaining that people were mocking Trump’s stupidity in threads in IMHO and MPSIMS. That’s a much smaller set. I think he’s only mentioned one example. That’s easily dealt with. > > The larger issue of a separate Trump forum is different and as I’ve said I’ve come to agree that we need one. But if it doesn’t happen, Trump’s difficulty with reading isn’t much of a forum spoiler. No, **Martini** is right, that is my main complaint. I was only using the mocking Trump’s stupidity threads as examples of unnecessary threads in IMHO and MPSIMS. It seems that the threads that are created solely to mock him are legion, and they’re clogging up the threads that are made to be an escape from the political crap. I won’t rail you too badly on it though since you think there should be a Trump forum, and you’re therefore on my side 😃 ---
**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 21, 2017, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/128 "2017-02-21T23:52:29Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > No, **Martini** is right, that is my main complaint. I was only using the mocking Trump’s stupidity threads as examples of unnecessary threads in IMHO and MPSIMS. > > It seems that the threads that are created solely to mock him are legion, and they’re clogging up the threads that are made to be an escape from the political crap. > > I won’t rail you too badly on it though since you think there should be a Trump forum, and you’re therefore on my side 😃 Exactly. It’s generally accepted this board skews to the left and pretty much everyone on the left disapproves of Trump. IMO there’s not much reason to create “President Trump is a noob” threads except to get everyone to agree with the OP; basically a point-and-laugh exercise. The vociferous dislike from so many folks on the left means these threads aren’t going to stop - people are unironically talking about themselves as being part of a resistance movement, for smeg’s sake - and there’s a definite sense of people seeing who can be the most outraged. It’s not healthy, it’s not constructive, and I remain astounded at the reluctance to simply rename “Elections” to “Politics” and put all the Trump-focused stuff in there. ---
**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 22, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/129 "2017-02-22T00:39:46Z")
Because when we give in to the terrorists, they win. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/130 "2017-02-22T01:41:22Z")
So this particular point in time … My first page of IMHO 62 threads, 3 Trump related, less than one out of twenty. The one about his possible functional illiteracy mostly not “making fun” of him despite the claim that it would be (oh a few snide comments but some real discussion about what the term means and what the evidence is or is not). One questioning what defines “bubble” in demographics, not making fun of him. And one sure, should be in GD, Elections, or The Pit. GQ 65 threads, 1 Trump related, asking a GQ level question about whether being CIC qualifies one as a veteran such as for where one can be buried. Not mocking him. CS no Trump threads whole first page. MPSIMS 134 threads, 7 Trump related, just over 5%, some of which might have been better located in The Pit or Elections or maybe GD. One of which was making fun the SDMB becoming “All Trump, all the time” … Take that out and less than one in twenty. So the claim that “…the threads that are created solely to mock him are legion, and they’re clogging up the threads that are made to be an escape from the political crap.” is really without support. Less than one in twenty to none on the whole first page, depending on the forum, is scarcely clogging up the works. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/131 "2017-02-22T02:20:24Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > people are unironically talking about themselves as being part of a resistance movement, for smeg’s sake… Yes, we are. I am unironically ecstatic at that. > [@](#): > > It’s not healthy, it’s not constructive… As I have pointed out, Trump’s thin skin is his Achilles’ heel. (He can’t even get that right.) Hate is the best temporary weapon until we see if the resistance can take the form of grass roots election victories. Hate makes him stupid and careless and pointlessly reactive. He doesn’t have to get to the point of alienating his core supporters, an acknowledged impossibility. But it doesn’t seem unlikely that those who held their nose to vote for him, or voted because they hated Clinton, or thought a non-politician was the answer can be dissuaded by the fetid sinkhole he can create to wallow in. Unending mockery of Trump is therefore in fact the healthiest form of protest. You would prefer violence? We’ll see if it becomes constructive. My definition of constructive probably differs from yours, though. ---
**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 22, 2017, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/132 "2017-02-22T03:21:39Z")
How much time do you think Trump spends reading your posts on this MB? You don’t need to be exact-- just roughly. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/133 "2017-02-22T03:54:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > How much time do you think Trump spends reading your posts on this MB? You don’t need to be exact-- just roughly. Don’t play ingenuous, John. You understand my point perfectly well. ---
**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 22, 2017, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/134 "2017-02-22T07:23:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Yes, we are. I am unironically ecstatic at that. > > As I have pointed out, Trump’s thin skin is his Achilles’ heel. (He can’t even get that right.) Hate is the best temporary weapon until we see if the resistance can take the form of grass roots election victories. Hate makes him stupid and careless and pointlessly reactive. He doesn’t have to get to the point of alienating his core supporters, an acknowledged impossibility. But it doesn’t seem unlikely that those who held their nose to vote for him, or voted because they hated Clinton, or thought a non-politician was the answer can be dissuaded by the fetid sinkhole he can create to wallow in. > > Unending mockery of Trump is therefore in fact the healthiest form of protest. You would prefer violence? We’ll see if it becomes constructive. My definition of constructive probably differs from yours, though. You know I don’t live in the US, right? I’m actually not a huge fan of protest generally, but that’s something for a different thread, I think. My preference is that people dial back the “I don’t like President Trump” stuff on the boards, in conjunction with the creation of a Trump or Politics forum. Everyone either agrees with (generic, Anti-Trump) you or isn’t going to post a counter-argument because they’ll get an angry mob coming after them with metaphorical pitchforks and burning torches. The boards are (generic) your very own anti-Trump safe space now, OK? Nothing constructive is being acheived by playing “Everyone come and agree with me about this awful/silly thing Trump has done” on the boards. Seriously, if people want that, Buzzfeed, Tumblr and Reddit are right over there. ---
**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 22, 2017, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/135 "2017-02-22T09:05:11Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Don’t play ingenuous, John. You understand my point perfectly well. Only if by “unironic” you meant “ironic”. Did you? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/136 "2017-02-22T12:03:41Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > How much time do you think Trump spends reading your posts on this MB? Has it been shown yet that the shit gibbon _can_ read? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/137 "2017-02-22T13:44:43Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > How much time do you think Trump spends reading your posts on this MB? You don’t need to be exact-- just roughly. So while again, the complaints of so much Trump mockery clogging up IMHO, GQ, CS, and MPSIMS is so much hoohah … just not there … this is a particularly silly comment. IF continued mass public mockery of Trump, humor, is an effective form of protest, and maybe it is, then whether or not Trump reads one particular person’s comments is immaterial to the tactic’s efficacy. Mass protests do not rely on one person. The “Women’s March” would have been just as effective or ineffective if the several individuals who I know who went had stayed home and that informs naught as to whether or not the protest had any impact. Satire and humor has its place and can be an effective form of protest. And certain fora are not appropriate for protest as a general rule. A couple of MPSIMS protesting Trump may be better placed elsewhere. A huge number of such protest threads clogging up the works outside of the Elections, Pit, and GD fora that they belong in though is an imagined event. ETA: of course this forum is not to me the best protest forum either. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/138 "2017-02-22T19:06:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Only if by “unironic” you meant “ironic”. Did you? Tone is the toughest thing to discern on a message board. I often find it difficult, if not impossible, to read the tone of your posts. Mine have been misinterpreted, I know. This particular case isn’t tough. When Martini Enfield complains that “people are unironically talking about themselves as being part of a resistance movement” and I say “I am unironically ecstatic at that.” I mean I am ecstatic. Elated. Enthusiastic. Euphoric. Joyful. Overjoyed. Rhapsodic. Thrilled. Flying. In exaltation. In seventh heaven. On cloud nine. Pleased as punch. Tickled pink. That’s my tone. Attitude. Disposition. Feelings. Makeup. Mentality. Mindset. Mood. Nature. Standing. State of mind. Temper. Vein. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/139 "2017-02-22T19:33:04Z")
It’s not that easy to keep Trump out of _anything_ at present. According to [this article in the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/technology/trump-news-media-ignore.html) Trump may well be the most covered person in human history. The reporter tried for a week to ignore anything mentioning Trump and found it practically impossible. > [@](#): > > Even when I found non-Trump news, though, much of it was interleaved with Trump news, so the overall effect was something like trying to bite into a fruit-and-nut cake without getting any fruit or nuts. > > It wasn’t just news. Mr. Trump’s presence looms over much more. There he is off in the wings of “The Bachelor” and even “The Big Bang Theory,” whose creator, Chuck Lorre, has taken to inserting anti-Trump messages in the closing credits. Want to watch an awards show? Say the Grammys or the Golden Globes? Trump Trump Trump. How about sports? Yeah, no. The president’s policies are an animating force in the N.B.A. He was the subtext of the Super Bowl: both the game and the commercials, and maybe even the halftime show. > > Where else could I go? Snapchat and Instagram were relatively safe, but the president still popped up. Even [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) suggested I consider Trump toilet paper for my wife’s Valentine’s Day present. (I bought her jewelry.) > [@](#): > > Trump’s fame may break all records. > > All presidents are omnipresent. But it is likely that no living person in history has ever been as famous as Mr. Trump is right now. It’s possible that not even the most famous or infamous people of the recent or distant past — say, Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali or Adolf Hitler — dominated media as thoroughly at their peak as Mr. Trump does now. > > I’m hedging because there isn’t data to directly verify this declaration. (Of course, there are no media analytics to measure how many outlets were covering Hitler the day he invaded Poland.) But there is some pretty good circumstantial evidence. He goes on to cite mediaQuant, “a firm that measures “earned media,” which is all coverage that isn’t paid advertising.” In January Trump shattered mediaQuant’s record, soaring past Obama and Hillary at their peaks. I really don’t think we’ve seen anything like this before. ---
**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 22, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/140 "2017-02-22T21:48:30Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > This particular case isn’t tough. When Martini Enfield complains that “people are unironically talking about themselves as being part of a resistance movement” and I say “I am unironically ecstatic at that.” I mean I am ecstatic. Elated. Enthusiastic. Euphoric. Joyful. Overjoyed. Rhapsodic. Thrilled. Flying. In exaltation. In seventh heaven. On cloud nine. Pleased as punch. Tickled pink. > > That’s my tone. Attitude. Disposition. Feelings. Makeup. Mentality. Mindset. Mood. Nature. Standing. State of mind. Temper. Vein. And this is, respectfully, _why_ we need a politics forum. I can’t recall a previous US president where people felt this way about them on the boards - people got annoyed at Bush and Obama, definitely, but there was never a feeling that they had to go on some sort of crusade or join a resistance movement to oust them. Especially not a few weeks after they took office. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870/141 "2017-02-22T21:52:26Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Let’s rename the Elections forum Politics. +1 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-keep-politics-out-of-imho-and-mpsims/771870.md?page=8)