Is it possible to agree with every post in this thread, including the ones by Manlobbi?
Because I do agree with all the points.

Slowly..over time..the board HAS become increasingly political. Not overtly, but you can feel the creep. Sure, you can ignore it, And, yes, the truly crazy threads are easy to ignore. Yes, you also need to learn to regulate the blood pressure raising reactions. And, yes, blatantly political threads are banned.
All spot on.

The original post issues a warning of “caution”. I agree with him. Now, I don’t think it’s a real problem now—but I think that warning is prophetic. And he’s generous in sharing his words rather than just vanishing.

There’s a sort of unspoken, often political, undertone to discussion. It’s almost a byproduct of a couple of super smart, high volume contributors. It’s the “way they are” and by extension “the way smart people are”. The political thing is NOT any agenda-pushing effort AT ALL. It’s just: “that’s the way the smart people here think”.

If you want to pull up a seat to this bar, you’re not going to feel real comfortable if you think a certain way. The bartender is friendly, welcomes ALL, is polite, and openly encourages free speech…but..I’ve been at a seat at this bar where I felt quite uncomfortable and under passive aggressive, pile on attack from a very on topic Berkshire issue that had political ramifications. I’ve limited my contributions since. It’s a fantastic place but if left completely unregulated it will follow the inevitable path of all of its once-superb predecessors that ran into the ground. It’s the way these places evolve. And it’s human nature.