"Searcher1" writes:

So, do you walk into a bar and get ticked off because
the bartender asks you about the hurricane, or politics?

I might get ticked off if the bartender insists on steering *every*
conversation in that direction. Some organizations discourage religion
and politics as discussion topics for this reason.

As I said in that other thread, I don't mind the OT stuff if it's
well-marked, but watch out for topic drift.

It actually might not be a bad idea to create r.c.m.politics. I can
remember a time when politics didn't dominate this newsgroup the way it
does now (although there was plenty of other OT stuff).

I can also remember when the political threads generated a lot more
complaints than they do now. I think most of the complainers have given
up and left (including some folks who knew a lot about metalworking).