# Question on a thread. Does GD need to stick to the topic? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 15, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-a-thread-does-gd-need-to-stick-to-the-topic/798892 "2017-10-15T01:45:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-a-thread-does-gd-need-to-stick-to-the-topic/798892/1 "2017-10-15T01:45:30Z")
[This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20539560#post20539560) specifically. Although it is about Mao and the Cultural Revolution, there are three (as of this tread starting) posts making a not-so-subtle anti-Trump references in a way that adds nothing to the thread. Is that permitted in GD? ---
**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:** [October 15, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-a-thread-does-gd-need-to-stick-to-the-topic/798892/2 "2017-10-15T01:50:28Z")
Political jabs are against the rules in GQ, but I think you need to point out the posts you think are at issue. I didn’t see anything obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-a-thread-does-gd-need-to-stick-to-the-topic/798892/3 "2017-10-15T02:01:36Z")
> [@Why did Mao inflict the horrors of the Cultural Revolution on China?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mao-inflict-the-horrors-of-the-cultural-revolution-on-china/798734/4): > > He wanted to keep his cred against rival up-and-comers. > > If a country has a light-headed, erratic, conceited, garrulous, crafty semi-loon as chosen leader, they must expect interesting times. Admittedly Evan could be referring to Mao, Trump or Kim Il Jung. But then there’s this : > [@Why did Mao inflict the horrors of the Cultural Revolution on China?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mao-inflict-the-horrors-of-the-cultural-revolution-on-china/798734/6): > > May you live in interesting times. 😃 Hmm … what is that about? Then > [@Why did Mao inflict the horrors of the Cultural Revolution on China?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mao-inflict-the-horrors-of-the-cultural-revolution-on-china/798734/10): > > Fortunately, world civilization has evolved since then, and we have no world leaders like that today. This last one (based on Senegold’s posting history) is pretty sure to be an anti-Trump post even if the first two are not. So even ignoring the first two, if this is an anti-Trump post that is not germane to the thread - is that allowed in GD? \*This is about the rules not a “why wasn’t this modded” thread so for those that don’t see the anti-Trump subtlety, let’s for the sake of argument say Senegold comes into the thread and says, “Yeah it’s about Trump”. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-a-thread-does-gd-need-to-stick-to-the-topic/798892/4 "2017-10-15T02:07:48Z")
For the GQ rules: > [@](#): > > Political, religious, or professional jabs, hijacks, and trolling prohibited. The purpose of General Questions is to get factual questions answered. In order to accomplish this we need the threads to stay on topic. We tolerate some joking, but that is generally acceptable only after the question has been answered. Please do not race to a thread to post that hilarious one-liner in response to the thread title, and don’t drive by just to drop in an anecdote that doesn’t answer the question. If you want to be funny while contributing to the thread, go for it. We tolerate some discussion of tangentially related factual information. We don’t tolerate political, religious, professional or personal jabs or insults. In case it’s somehow not clear: Trolling isn’t permitted at all. I think it’s pretty clear that political jabs are against the rules. If someone makes a jab about Trump in a thread asking questions about Mao, I don’t see why that would not be against the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-a-thread-does-gd-need-to-stick-to-the-topic/798892/5 "2017-10-15T02:23:08Z")
You’re talking about General Questions, but St Cad is talking about Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-a-thread-does-gd-need-to-stick-to-the-topic/798892/6 "2017-10-15T02:52:36Z")
Political jabs are not per se against the rules in GD. There is always room for guidance to keep threads on topic or to avoid threadshitting, should the circumstances warrant. I haven’t followed that thread recently for lack of reports. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-a-thread-does-gd-need-to-stick-to-the-topic/798892/7 "2017-10-15T02:59:13Z")
There doesn’t seem to be a rule against political comments in Great Debates. In fact, there seems to be some overlap between GD and Elections, which does get political. According to **Bone** : > [@](#): > > We recognize the difficulty of disentangling electoral politics from larger issues of public policy, and leave it to the discretion of users whether to start political threads in Elections or Great Debates. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=818217](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=818217) So, since political threads can be placed in GD, I’d say political jabs there are going to be more loosely moderated than in some of the other forums, even if the thread topic itself is not strictly political. ETA: Sneaky ninjas! ---
**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:** [October 15, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-a-thread-does-gd-need-to-stick-to-the-topic/798892/8 "2017-10-15T03:41:53Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > You’re talking about General Questions, but St Cad is talking about Great Debates. Oh. Never mind! 🙂 Not sure why I was thinking that that thread was in GQ.