The administrators have been very sensitive to post with any political scent to them and either delete them or move them to the political forum. At last count there were 60 posts under The Villages General Forum about the passage of the Health Care Bill.

here is an examole of a post on that forum under that topic:
----------------

Facts" from that group? AIM (self-proclaimed 'Accuracy in Media')is the same group that called for napalming the rebels in El Salvador and nuking Iraq in the first Gulf War.

Let's get over it: health INSURANCE reform has made it. Time to move on to other things such as jobs, immigration, getting out of Iraq, reinstating some oversight on the financial industry so as not to repeat recent history, etc.

Win some, lose some...move on Americans.
----------------
Now what do ya'll make of that? Hope I'm not

Originally Posted by rshoffer

The administrators have been very sensitive to post with any political scent to them and either delete them or move them to the political forum. At last count there were 60 posts under The Villages General Forum about the passage of the Health Care Bill.

here is an examole of a post on that forum under that topic:
----------------

Facts" from that group? AIM (self-proclaimed 'Accuracy in Media')is the same group that called for napalming the rebels in El Salvador and nuking Iraq in the first Gulf War.

Let's get over it: health INSURANCE reform has made it. Time to move on to other things such as jobs, immigration, getting out of Iraq, reinstating some oversight on the financial industry so as not to repeat recent history, etc.

Win some, lose some...move on Americans.
----------------
Now what do ya'll make of that? Hope I'm not

I surely hope you are not censored....would imagine it might take more than expressing your opinion especially over here in the wild west of political !

HOWEVER, I did notice the same thing. Not sure what is going on but more name calling over there than ever in here. I only posted one time in that thread because they had begun to imply if you were opposed to the bill you were selfish and greedy !

If you go down I will go with you, cause it is a shame we have to witness that when we log on to TOTV...why cant that be taken somewhere private so we dont have to see it everytime we log on

This afternoon I had a post deleted from the "Healthcare Bill Passes" thread. When I inquired as to why, it was pointed out that my tone was interpreted as not quite suited to the level of civility that the Admins try to maintain on this forum.

Granted, I was quite upset when I first posted my remarks so I revisited my comments, and I could see that the criticism was justified. I therefore reworded the my diatribe and it now remains posted.

It is a tough job trying to keep the forum a place where we can have a solid debate (or discussion) of sometimes controversial or passionate issues. I think we can all agree that it is a delicate balancing act. I wouldn’t want their job. You’re “darned” if you take action… and “darned” if you don’t.

I haven't had a chance to read and follow the posts for the past few days. When I got online today and started reading the thread asking people what they think about the healthcare bill, I didn't realize it WASN'T in the political forum until I read Tony's warning about not making it political.

I then noticed how many new people were posting what appeared to me political comments. And how many I've seen very rarely posting in the political column making, again, what appeared to me, to be political comments. I thought it was just me. Glad to see I'm not the only one confused.

I didn't see the posts that were removed, but I did read the posts that remain in the thread called, "health bill passes".

Since political views were expressed on both sides, I can't say that I detected a political bias from the admins in what people were allowed to post. I think that it is civility-- not which side an opinion falls on-- that concerns the admins. Indeed, the one poster who came forward to say his post was removed admitted as much. (BTW Allen, I admire your honesty about this.)

Most people view the health care bill through the lens of their political values; so it is not surprising posters expressed political views about it.

I think the admins sometimes have to walk a very fine line and this thread is an example of one of those times. It seems to me that if anything, the admins give posters the benefit of the doubt and err on the side of allowing posts. I admire that.

Here's where I'm supposed to say, "I'm not trying to stick up for the admins, but..."

However, I can't say that because that's exactly what I'm trying to do. Not all of us in their position would make the same calls that they make, but I wonder how many of us would do it as well and conscientiously.

Originally Posted by Pturner

...I can't say that I detected a political bias from the admins...

You must be kidding, of course! Everything Adminstrator dklassen posts has a far right wing political bias.

That's his right, of course. But I have long since lost any expectation that there is any kind of balanced opinion among the administrators.

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

You must be kidding, of course! Everything Adminstrator dklassen posts has a far right wing political bias.

That's his right, of course. But I have long since lost any expectation that there is any kind of balanced opinion among the administrators.

"far right wing" I don't think so. I have read most of his posts and he is just a smart conservative. I have visited far right wing forums. Have not seen it here.
Now if you want to talk about far left wing...

Originally Posted by rshoffer

The administrators have been very sensitive to post with any political scent to them and either delete them or move them to the political forum. At last count there were 60 posts under The Villages General Forum about the passage of the Health Care Bill.

here is an examole of a post on that forum under that topic:
----------------

Facts" from that group? AIM (self-proclaimed 'Accuracy in Media')is the same group that called for napalming the rebels in El Salvador and nuking Iraq in the first Gulf War.

Let's get over it: health INSURANCE reform has made it. Time to move on to other things such as jobs, immigration, getting out of Iraq, reinstating some oversight on the financial industry so as not to repeat recent history, etc.

Win some, lose some...move on Americans.
----------------
Now what do ya'll make of that? Hope I'm not

I obviously didn't make my point clear enough. The point of my post was I found it very unusual that this ENTIRE THREAD was allowed to remaing in the Villages General Discussion Forum. My post was not focused on which specific entries within this thread were or were not deleted.

Another point that is being suggested in this thread is that "it's ok to post political topics under the General Discussion Forum as long as they are "civil". In that case The Political Forum needs to be renamed. Suggestions????

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

You must be kidding, of course! Everything Adminstrator dklassen posts has a far right wing political bias.

That's his right, of course. But I have long since lost any expectation that there is any kind of balanced opinion among the administrators.

VK, your clarification is well taken. Yes, dklassen makes his political leanings well known. I stated that the admins do not appear to use political bias in determining what people are allowed to post. I didn't mean to imply anything about the administrators' own personal views.

Originally Posted by rshoffer

I obviously didn't make my point clear enough. The point of my post was I found it very unusual that this ENTIRE THREAD was allowed to remaing in the Villages General Discussion Forum. My post was not focused on which specific entries within this thread were or were not deleted.

Another point that is being suggested in this thread is that "it's ok to post political topics under the General Discussion Forum as long as they are "civil". In that case The Political Forum needs to be renamed. Suggestions????

I think political topics should remain in political. I don't agree that the Political Forum needs to be renamed. It seems to me that when the poster chose to start the heath bill thread in the General Discussion Forum, the admins gave a cautious benefit of the doubt. When the discussion turned political, admins tried to avoid an appearance of bias on either side of the issue by allowing it to stay in General, so long as it remained reasonably civil.

I could be wrong; that's just how it seemed to me.

I'd rather see that thread moved to political than see a renaming of the Political Forum, which never fails to be political and often fails to be civil.

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

You must be kidding, of course! Everything Adminstrator dklassen posts has a far right wing political bias.

That's his right, of course. But I have long since lost any expectation that there is any kind of balanced opinion among the administrators.

When you come from the far left anything said by a conservative is considered far right.

Originally Posted by Pturner

I think political topics should remain in political. I don't agree that the Political Forum needs to be renamed. It seems to me that when the poster chose to start the heath bill thread in the General Discussion Forum, the admins gave a cautious benefit of the doubt. When the discussion turned political, admins tried to avoid an appearance of bias on either side of the issue by allowing it to stay in General, so long as it remained reasonably civil.

I could be wrong; that's just how it seemed to me.

I'd rather see that thread moved to political than see a renaming of the Political Forum, which never fails to be political and often fails to be civil.

I couldn't let that erroneous statement go unanswered. Since my rather late in life interest politics, I have visited many political forums around the net. There is no comparison. This is the most civil by a wide margin. Most of the politicals are not very well moderated and you would have to post the most outrageous things to even get a warning.
Most of them are like Dodge City and anything and everything is fair game including name-calling and vulgarities.