# Why do so many posters have trouble staying on topic?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-posters-have-trouble-staying-on-topic/1027125>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [January 28, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-posters-have-trouble-staying-on-topic/1027125 "2026-01-28T17:13:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 150

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-posters-have-trouble-staying-on-topic/1027125/150 "2026-04-02T22:20:30Z")

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> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> the p&e forum is designed, in part, to keep politics out of other forums. It doesn’t work perfectly, but the idea is that people who aren’t up to dealing with politics right now can browse Cafe society or the game room, or even IMHO, and not be confronted with what hot-button political event is happening right now.

After the election I floated that idea and was told, pretty clearly, that’s not going to happen. Let me go dig up that thread:

> [@Would temporarily keeping ALL the political threads in one forum be reasonable?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-temporarily-keeping-all-the-political-threads-in-one-forum-be-reasonable/1009807):
>
> A few hours ago I decided to mute P&E. Likely not for more than a few days but I’d still like to give myself a break. However, as I write this, here’s all the election/trump threads I see near the top of my New Posts page. [I don’t know what I’m going to do](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-im-going-to-do/1009768/1)[How can I stay safe as a nonbinary person, now that Trump has won(?)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-stay-safe-as-a-nonbinary-person-now-that-trump-has-won/1009766/3)[Should Jack Smith, Judge Merchan, etc flee to a foreign country?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-jack-smith-judge-merchan-etc-flee-to-a-foreign-country/1009787/5)[Is my life worth anything anymore? (Venting of emotions from Election Day)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/1)[I pit America](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/48)[Fuck Trump a…](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-trump-and-his-followers/1009749/116)

> [@Would temporarily keeping ALL the political threads in one forum be reasonable?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-temporarily-keeping-all-the-political-threads-in-one-forum-be-reasonable/1009807/16):
>
> Yes i don’t think it’s practical or appropriate to ensure that all political threads go in p&e, but I’m certain that most “i hate this Trump policy” threads will belong in p&e.

(@puzzlegal I didn’t realize until I looked for the thread that it was you that said that, I promise that was a coincidence, not a gotcha)

When I wrote that thread, I was exhausted from following all the political threads and really just wanted them to disappear for a while hence my suggestion that all (for some definition of ‘all’) political threads go in one, mutable, forum. I got over it (again, I was just worked up at the moment) but my point is that these two quotes seem to contradict each other.

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