I think there's a difference between making it a general politics thread, and discussing war - which of course cannot be divorced completely from politics. I feel like trying to qualify the discussion in the thread before it ever takes place is perhaps a bit unfair to the people who want and will use this thread. Of course there will be political thought, there is in Natter and the show threads as well. But the thread will be focused on the efforts towards war and peace.

Kat, I think my phrasing was specifically because of those concerns. We've said in the past that we didn't want a politics thread for those very divisive and ranty reasons. I agree that it would be difficult to separate. But I also agree that people may need a war-free-natter zone, too.

So it's a toughie. We didn't create a terrorism thread during 9/11. We talked about it in Natter exclusively (that is to say, that's all we talked about) for a while, and then slowly went back to what we used to call normality. You could avoid it by staying in topic-specific threads at the time, I think. But that was one specific event that directly affected Buffistas, as well as the indirect effect on all of us, so it's a little different.

In some ways I'd rather have it in the general flow of Natter, and I, of course am anti-proliferation (don't give up!), but I do want to be sensitive to those who aren't wanting to deal with it day by day.

So far, we've been civil, even in our disagreements, but so far we haven't disagreed terribly much, and right now it's all putative. Once our families and friends are in the line of fire, our emotional capacity may exceed our ability to accept dissenting opinions.

I definitely agree with a non-specific title, because our title page is googleable, and just as we drew a Firefly crowd, we could easily draw non-Buffista-type posters looking for a fight. About peace.

If we have to have it. Which I'm pondering.

I'm going to try and keep this brief.

I am in favour of a place to discuss the international tensions (troop movements, military action) which will not make people feel uncomfortable about doing so. If we create a thread to make that space, I'm in favour of not calling it "The War Thread". I would probably read it, and if I felt I had something to say I would probably post. I hope that it would be more about the effects of military action on Buffistas personally, whether physically or emotionally, rather than about the grand sweeps of politics. On the other hand, I fully expect normal Buffista thread drift- to be moderated by the high standards of politeness, tolerance, and friendship that Buffistas maintain.

I did a search on my own name a while back, I'm not sure why but it was a random thing. I don't remember there being a link to the Buffistas in the mix though.

I change my vote. I oppose a War Thread on the grounds that there are many many many other places to discuss foreign policy and politics. We're not Table Talk. We're Buffistas. We're more culture-y, pop and otherwise.

I think... I think I'm with Jengod. We're not an all-purpose board, we're an arts-and-pop-culture board, with a fair amount of socializing. And while the war is going to have an impact on our lives, I am afraid that segregating the conversation outside of Natter will encourage a type of behavior in that thread that isn't common to this community.

I'm also sure that whatever gets discussed in that new thread would bleed over into the other threads, and since we know the war would be discussed everywhere, the way such things are, why set up a new thread to contain it? We know it won't.

Also, the troll issue, which others have mentioned. The political climate here is strongly left/progressive (no offense intended to the community members who aren't of that persuasion), and I think we'd be seen as a prime target for trollers who are both strongly to the right and not possessed of the kind of civility we cherish here. Even having the thread title not reference the war directly wouldn't keep them out forever.

Does that make sense? In any event, I don't expect to read the thread. I'm floating down the river in Egypt.

I agree with the no war thread group. Like Schmoker, I won't go in anyway, but I do think it would cause problems.

I'm for a war thread, because I want those of us who want to talk about it to be able to do so freely, while allowing those who don't to avoid it.

This post didn't turn out well. Deleted.

I'm opposed to a War Thread, under any name, for the reasons others have mentioned. I think this is a Pandora's Box. It seems to me these discussions should be possible to conduct in Natter, and if they aren't, it just proves that a thread would be a bad idea.