When I was a kid, my father once told me to never discuss politics with friends… it would never lead to anything but trouble.
It was one of the greatest things he ever taught me, and I try to relay that message to as many people as possible… granted, I never thought I’d want/need/have to use it in a place like this.
Why did I delete that thread? Because it was filled with political opinions that can’t be substantiated and are based on deep political ideologies. Bottom line: that thread wasn’t going to do any of us any good. I never try to override our users’ opinions, but in the case of politics we could go on for days, resolve nothing, and be bitter at each other in the end. Do we really want that? I hope not.
Have a great day, everybody.
Your pal (who hates playing the roll of the enforcer),
Bergie
For my part I was asked a straightforward questions by another member of this forum and I gave an honest answer. I stated my opinion and clearly stated it as nothing more, if it offended anyone I apologize for that.
As we get closer to November I wont be surprised by more threads that bring politics and trains together. Its just that time of season.
I will try in future to hold my political opinions to Pizza toppings only.
One of my kids were talking to me when I logged on and I forgot to put on my bifocals.
I thought the post said “Why Bergie Killed George Bush…” I’m glad there’s someone in
some form of reality albeit cyberspace who can seperate politics from human affairs.
I wish I could do that with my TV remote control or ffor that matter, at times mute my father in law.
Perhaps I’m going against the grain, but I am surprised that you intervened in this one. Though perhaps a tad “hot” VSmith expressed himself without pretenses or threatening anyone. I was curious about his view and, believe it or not, I found some portions of his answer worth “checking out”. No offense taken at all. In his reply Vsmith didn’t insult me or anyone else on the forum for that matter.
This forum has been a lot of fun and educational. Politics are part of the railroading scene and we can get slightly off topic sometimes, but censoring this thread “cold turkey?”…[sigh]… Well, Bergie, you are in command here and I must respect your decision. It wasn’t my intention to start a “ruckus”.
VSmith, thank you anyway for willing to “let the rubber on your tires meet the road” in your response to my question. [;)][tup]
I hope to continue contributing to the MRR and TRAINS thread. I’ve benefited a lot; hope others can benefit from me as well. [8)][;)][8D][:)][:p]
That is knee slappin’ hilarious! Occassionally, something in this forum makes me laugh out loud. You just succeded in doing that, Wally. Well done! [:D]
Now I have to go downstairs and explain to my wife what’s so funny (at home now).
Just to let you know, that thread was brought to my attention by a user who, for better or worse, thought it was either already out of hand, or was only going to get there. I’d hardly say it was cold turkey. Cold turkey would have been deleting it before anyone had a chance to respond.
I hate to have to defend myself or be the bad guy in the first place. Almost every time I delete a thread, which is EXTREMELY rare, at least one person disagrees with the decision… I guess that’s only natural. Now granted, I’ve had to delete something in here twice within the past week, but if you look at the overall number of threads and posts within this forum, you’ll know that a lot of things can take place without me taking action.
All it was going to take for that thread to turn into an all-out political rampage was for some republican to step up and remind everyone that Bill Clinton wasn’t the most honest president either… remember “I have no specific recollection” or (while pointing right at your face…) “Listen to me. I had no sexual relations with that women.” If either of those would have been dropped, the gloves would have been off and there’d be a lot of things typed that people would have regretted a week from now. It would have gotten us nowhere.
I don’t care if we talk about politics as they relate to railroading, so don’t think I’m going to delete all political posts. The thread I delete dealt more in political opinions than how politics affect railroads.
I wholeheartedly agree your decision to axe the thread, “George Bush’s Hostility Toward Amtrak and Recent Wrecks.” That thread was not only filled with unsubstantiatable political opinions, it was ridiculous and irresponsible.