"Ivan" wrote in message
...
It's a pity, in a way, that responding to OT topics is so
destructive. Yes, there are groups where these political postings
would be welcome, but not many neutral ones (AFAIK) where there's a
free exchange of views. Too many political chatrooms and such have a
definite political slant: posting to them with a different point of
view invites flaming; posting with the same slant is not just
preaching to the choir but the beginning of a transformation from
discussion group to echo chamber, the mindless parroting of slogans
and sound bites, and demonization of the opposition.

You sound like a very bright guy, Ivan. That was a very good capsule
summary of what's been happening to Usenet lately. Indirectly I believe
it's also why OT threads continue to evolve here and why it may not be such
a bad thing.

I've never seen a group completely ban OT posts without a moderator and
those groups are just as troubled in their own way. It's unstoppable human
nature to want to discuss things like the big oil spill among people whose
opinions on home repair you've come to know and respect. How hard is it to
add OT to the subject line or filter on it with your newsreader or you index
finger? Not very.

As I've said elsewhere, the OT topics parallel the kind of discussions that
might take place if a bunch of us were working together on a home
improvement project. Not very harmful, at least compared to whacking on
newbies for not following the rules that are not posted anywhere and not
even agreed upon to BE rules.

--
Bobby G.