A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Moderator: Was the military vote thread delete just a

Posted: Nov 9, 2012

The board is getting out of control and could use a wholesale clean up or is this what we have to look forward to for the unforeseeable future? This environment is making it impossible to use the forum for its original intent. Isn't there anything you can do to help?

;

I was the OP of that thread - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Can't speak for the moderator of course, but I wanted to let you know that I was the OP of that thread. I had posted with a report I had heard about in the news. Evidently some people didn't like anyone pointing that out and so the insults started flying and I believe that is why she deleted the thread. Then a poster (who I thought was sincere) asked if I would mind posting the link I had read and I did, only to be met with more of the same.

I agree with you about 199%. This board has gotten so out of control. Message are being lost, information is being posted and if others don't like it they ridicule you, make fun of you to others, tell us our links are not valid because it's not a source they approve of (as in this site is acceptable but yours is not). It doesn't matter that the information provided is true and can be verified through many news agencies. Many conservatives are not even able to have a decent conversation anymore without being ganged up on, insulted and bullied and then when they say something about it they are bullied again with "what are you 2 years old" and all sorts of insults.

I have very thick skin. Can take a punch or two, but I still say the only way to have a decent conversation with people who want to hear what we have to say is to have the boards separated. Then if people want to know what the other side is saying go and participate, but to leave it so that people get bullied so they will leave the board is just very sad.

Thanks. I appreciate your support. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I also took part in that thread and contributed several replies. Though I took issue with your post, I tried to be respectful and refrain from getting personal. Unfortunately, I failed in that effort once, but did make an effort to get back on topic and not to personalize my replies. I was trying to post an apology when the thread disappeared, so I'm glad I got a chance to say it now.

It's the same for the liberal side - Fanatical Hypocrite

[ In Reply To ..]
Our sources aren't acceptable either. Personal insults and accusations abound. I've been accused of being a communist, satanist, terrorist lover and many other things. The other day I was accused of being an unemployed social parasite (I have a job). A lot of liberals on the board have received this treatment. Both sides have a serious lack of respect for one another. And honestly, it's hard to take a lot of this stuff seriously. Things are so polarized, with two completely different sets of reality, that it can be extremely hard to take the other side seriously at all.

Unfortunately, the only solution to prevent this is probably to separate the boards into red and blue, or we have to carry on with a certain expectation of ridicule that we will need to tune out.

I'm not sure what path to go. Perhaps three boards, liberal, conservative and one for dual biased screaming matches where we can accuse each other of terrible, unspeakable things.

I like the debate and being called a communist every day is a small price to pay, but I would support breaking it up into separate arenas if there's a strong demand for such. Plus, while I've rarely been convinced by the other side, it often sends me on a research trip across the internet, gathering new information and enriching my knowledge of my own beliefs and their strengths and weaknesses.

Of course, we could all try to respect each other, but let's face it, if our sides can't do that in real life, what's the chance we can do that on the internet where everything is anonymous.

I just refuse to believe that there's no way we can't discuss anything - ZvilleMT

[ In Reply To ..]
without getting nasty!! My best friend for the last 12 years here in Zville is a liberal - in fact, she says she's so liberal that she's almost communist. We've had some fantastic discussions over the years and even though we agree on hardly anything, we're always respectful and don't call each other stupid or whatever else.

Fanatical, I'm sure you're a very nice person and if you and I were face-to-face, I'm sure we could have a very polite conversation about politics and still part ways as civil human beings - maybe even plan a lunch date to talk again. Why can't we treat this board as that lunch date, pretend we're all face-to-face, and respect that not every person in this world thinks like we do. Worth a try, dontcha think?

I like your optimism and agree wholeheartedly - Fanatical Hypocrite

[ In Reply To ..]
Change has to start small, even if we get a lot of internet trolls (no site is safe), at least a few of us can still get along.

Besides, there's a decent chance none of us knows what we're talking about. After a hard day at work, we come to the boards and hurl criticism on politicians we've never met over policies even the policymakers don't seem to understand about events none of us were present for:)

Civil conversations - old and burned out

[ In Reply To ..]
Difficult if not impossible to have an intelligent and civil conversation when there is no middle ground for a starting point. One side says the only dependable information comes from Fox News, et al, and dismisses any source of data that they deem to be liberal. Liberals like me dismiss Fox News which has been proven time and again to be an instrument of propaganda and not a credible news source. There is just nowhere to go from here.

I think it's such a shame. This is exactly what - the "pundits" want us to SM

[ In Reply To ..]
do. They work us up into a frenzy with their outrageous behavior, and hope it translates, which it does. We get so entrenched in our "side" that we sometimes lose ourselves and are unwilling to be open to other ideas. Unfortunately, I do believe that a lot of the hatefulness toward Obama is racially motivated (I don't mean necessarily on this board but the country in general).

I pointed out that your first article was 2 yrs old - bootstraps

[ In Reply To ..]
I did not participate in the insults, yet I am called insincere.

You said you posted the wrong article (still down the board) and you posted the one you meant to post.

I did say you were sincere - please sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I stated in my post that I thought you were sincere (meaning you asked me nicely to post the article I meant to post). I didn't mean you were the one who insulted me. I said and I did only to be met with more of the same. I didn't mean you. If I wrote that wrong my apologizes. In all your posts you always ask. We don't always agree (okay, we never agree LOL) but your comments were decent (okay maybe a little condescending LOL), but no you were not part of the gang that escalated it. Sorry for my confusing words.

sm - bootstraps

[ In Reply To ..]
Expressionless written text is easily misinterpreted.

Guess we all need to lighten up a little. :-)

Read this - Al Fabbet

[ In Reply To ..]
If the first article was a NYT piece from 2010 and then this is the 2nd article you posted below:

http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/11/military-absentee-ballots-delivered-one-day-late-would-have-swung-election-for-romney

And if someone points out that the first article is out of date and the 2nd is a bogus article after reading this on the site's About Us page:

"The Duffel Blog serves the men and women of the US Military with a daily dose of military humor, funny military pictures, and faux news. We take an interesting and funny look at military life. We focus on veterans, military stories, defense, politics (sometimes) and life on base — with a comedic twist. We are in no way, shape, or form, a real news outlet. Just about everything on this website is satirical in nature.

Who We Are
If you’ve ever wondered who is behind all of this, it’s a highly-trained staff of writers that adopt the Duffel Writing Style. This style needs three points for the writer to be effective: a fair amount of creativity, a military background, and heavy drinking.
Founder: Paul
Former Marine Infantry Sergeant
Served with 81s Platoon, Weapons Co, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines
Combat Instructor, Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry (WEST)
Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Contributors:
We are disgruntled Marines, annoyed Army Guys, sickened Sailors… and we even got some people from the Air Force too!
And now, onto the legal disclaimers…

Legal Crap
The content of this site is parody. No composition should be regarded as truthful, and no reference of an individual, company, or military unit seeks to inflict malice or emotional harm.
All characters, groups, and military units appearing in these works are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual military units and companies is purely coincidental."

How does that equal being ganged up on, bullied, and insulted??? If this is the same link/post in question, it's not a matter of being picked on because mean liberals don't like poor conservatives or liberals ridicule whatever they don't like... it's a matter of not checking a source, trying to post fiction as fact and old news as current and relevant, and it being brought to your attention. Are folks on here are supposed to accept fictitious articles (and/or opinion pieces or blog rantings) as truth so as not to hurt your feelings?

If these aren't the articles in question, then please disregard.

Good job. Thanks for taking the time to find and - post that. Hope it helps clear the air. nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

If you read the article - not the OP

[ In Reply To ..]
It is an actual news story that happened, they added a funny comment at the end. Just because someone adds a funny comment doesn't mean the news story is not true.

http://www.examiner.com/article/cast-aside-thousands-of-votes-from-our-military-troops-uncounted-or-missing

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2957072/posts

Here's the interesting thing (or should I say sad). It happened in 2010 and 2006 (official news stories about the military votes arriving too late, and they don't get counted).

You know there, really are valid news by valid news sources if you care to find them. They don't always come with a label of CNN or Fox

I missed the original thread that got deleted but did...sm - VTMT

[ In Reply To ..]
read the article that the OP posted. It is a hilarious satirical piece, not meant in any way to be factual. There is no Marine Sergeant John Davis or Rear Admiral John Dawes. The author is a veteran and a stand-up comic. I cannot believe so many people bought into it as a news story.

US DOJ sued VT, AL, CA, GA, MI, WI and - the Virgin Islands after

[ In Reply To ..]
they failed to meet deadlines for mailing out absentee ballots, the argued ON BEHALF of extending deadlines for vote counts of those affected. The states tried arguing AGAINST extension of the vote count deadlines. This, among a laundry list of other problems, is precisely why the time has NOT come for SCOTUS to empower states to have complete autonomy over their own election laws.

The Examiner link you provided failed to present both sides of Michele Malkin's red herring statements that the Obama camp was trying to suppress (military) votes in a separate DOJ action you may recall over Ohio's attempt to cut back on early voting days and hours, which ultimately landed a defiant and determined GOP Ohio Secretary of State Husted in the Supreme Court with his heels dug in. No, Ms Malkin, it was not about suppressing the military vote in Ohio. It was about not creating a SPECIAL CLASS of voters who would benefit from extending hours to ONLY them on the last Sunday before the election. It was also about extending hours for ALL VOTERS, military included, for that day.

Husted demonstrated his continued defiance by cutting back on the number of hours the polls would be open on the court-ordered extended days of polling. The results played out in front of us all on election day with 6-8-hour waits to vote in Ohio, VA and Florida, who has yet to report election results from 4 days ago.

Exactly. BTW, I was the first poster to note that the DOJ was - fighting FOR military voters, not suppressing.

[ In Reply To ..]
Then I went to bed and missed all the rumpus. :)

I am trying my best to get things cleaned up. - Moderator

[ In Reply To ..]
I have just recently taken over this position from a moderator who had done an excellent job. It used to be I would skip over most posts that didn't interest me or were by a poster I knew to be an instigator. I am now reading every post, but it is hard to keep up - you're right - it is out of control and could use a clean up, but I have rules I need to follow about editing and removing posts.

I removed the military post because it seemed every single reply was just another catty remark to the reply before it and I didn't even know where to start with editing - I figured if I removed the entire thread, it would keep someone new from adding an entirely new insult.

The moderator before me has posted in the past about being respectful, as have I, and I'm just not sure that it has done much good. There will always be those that feel they need to ridicule others and I will do my best to take care of those posters. Those of you who wish to truly have discussions rather than insult tournaments would do best just not to respond to the snarky posters - that way when I delete that post, it doesn't take out the entire thread. If you feel a poster has personally insulted you or made fun of you, please report it.

I'll work with those of you who want to use this board as a place to respectfully discuss opinions, but I need your help in ignoring the posters who just want to make fun of everyone and everything - that way I can delete those posts without any interruption in the thread.

Moderator

Very well written - Conservative

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been off this board, except for any occasional short visit for several months, for the very reasons you stated. Personally, I refuse to read or respond to the "instigators" you mentioned. For the most part, they are pretty easy to spot even without a moniker.

When I see their posts my immediate thought is "God Almighty, can you imagine coming home to that harangue nightly - I bet their husbands are serious drinkers"....LOLOL.

Welcome to the board. Let us know where to send the aspirin or Valium your choice!

I always appreciated when the moderator would - edit out the insults

[ In Reply To ..]
while being fair and even-handed in retaining the political content, and was really sympathetic toward how time-consuming that must have been to do. It helps to know someone new is onboard. It may not be readily apparent, but I think the majority of us really appreciate the job the moderators do.

Your point about the part we play in ignoring the snark is well taken, and I try my best to follow that guideline and just forge ahead with the political dialog whenever I encounter that. I'll be the first to admit, I don't always succeed. Unfortunately, there are times when that strategy only results in spells when the board gets consumed with partisan vitriol, leaving the rest of us standing by waiting for things to calm down again. I thought that might happen after the election, but it looks like it could get worse before it gets better.

I've been posting here since 2007 and there have been times when those spells of domination and bullying would last for literally months and months on end. Back then, it seemed to me I was the only poster from my specific partisan persuasion for almost 5 months! Things have improved since then, but those days are not easily forgotten. That's why I decided to put out a distress call.

Again, I join Conservative in saying welcome aboard.

You do a wonderful job. You couldn't pay me enough money - to moderate this board. :)

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

I don't know. Doing it well would exercise the brain, - keep you thinking. :) I've noticed public

[ In Reply To ..]
politicla forums that are agreeable and mannered (all lib or conservative, etc.) tend to lack vitality and participants. Note that this board has never actually managed to kill itself off, no matter how off balance, and downright toxic, it's gotten.

MTStars as a whole, in fact, for better and worse (worse being the people who don't stay), owes its vitality to the freedom its participants have to express themselves.

That said, less toxicity might be achieved by also approaching it in terms of HOW MUCH screen it's allowed to occupy. I'm literally thinking vertical inches here, but the asterisks at delections have some of the same effect by allowing readers to skip right on past.

Addressing the mechanical issue of keeping thoughtful posts from being lost on a screen of nasty back-and-forths that don't provide new information, though, should pay off big time by raising the average level of discussion and hopefully increasing participation.

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