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.

For those who are in favor, is it because you want a place to talk about it, or because you're concerned that it'll take over Natter?

For me, because I want a safe place to talk about it--i.e. a supportive environment, which more politically oriented boards generally aren't.