Too much US politics

October 17, 2004 6:05 PM

It's 9PM EST and as I look at the front page I see twenty posts today.

Ten of these are about United States politics and of the remaining ten, another two are somewhat related. I know it's important and all, but c'mon, enoughs enough.
posted by cedar to MetaFilter-related at 6:05 PM (53 comments total)

You're right, cedar, it is too much within the context of MeFi and what it's supposed to be. But unless Matt creates an special red, white and blue striped elections page, or sets some limits enforced by deletions and time outs, I don't see this changing.

And I don't really even blame anyone for wanting to post and comment. So much depends on this election.
posted by orange swan at 6:23 PM on October 17, 2004

USA USA USA!
posted by keswick at 6:33 PM on October 17, 2004

A few months ago I would have totally agreed with this. A place for everything and all that. But it does really seem that this is no ordinary tweedledum, tweedledee election. This arguably is the most important election of our era (not just for the USA, but for the world.) And if it is, then it is genuinely an important public service to help the free distribution of these articles and sites that promote understanding of the issues and the stakes of this election. While the charter of MeFi is "the best of the web" it seems to me that these extraordinary times demand such flexibility. I applaud Matt for allowing MeFi to be a marketplace for political ideas in this most critical time. To ignore the crisis point of history this moment represents I think would be folly. At this crossroads for democracy anyone who has the ability or the means to promote the dissemination of facts but who fails to do so does us all a diservice. Thus, Thank you Matt and thank you MetaFilter.
posted by limitedpie at 6:45 PM on October 17, 2004

CALL THE WAHMBULANCE!
posted by quonsar at 7:00 PM on October 17, 2004

what limited said. we're cursed to live in interesting times.
posted by amberglow at 7:00 PM on October 17, 2004

Give it a rest.

Yeah, it's important. Yeah, Dubya bites the big one... oh wait, that's not it. Kerry is a commie, yeah, that's the ticket.

Or not.

Fuck, I don't know.

Well, I kind of do and I know where my votes going. I'm pretty sure everyone else reading this has their minds made up. It's not like the latest revelation (the same revelation broadcast on nineteen cable stations and the front pages of countless newspapers) is going to make a difference.

This isn't about discussion, this is about masturbation. Wank it, my good friends, wank it good. It's going to get your guy elected the same way my stolen copy of Penthouse got me laid when I was fourteen.
posted by cedar at 7:02 PM on October 17, 2004

Just scroll past it! If you don't like it, don't read it!

.
posted by rocketman at 7:17 PM on October 17, 2004

good luck bitch!
posted by bob sarabia at 7:24 PM on October 17, 2004

rocketman: Hey, that's a plan. I could just scroll past it... there goes five, another five, hey, check it out... still scrolling.

Fuck this nonsense of, "if you don't like, don't read it." I've been doing that for years. The problem is, it's everywhere and there is no scrolling past it. I can scroll and explore the archives for a week and it's going to be the same old shit.

Bush, bad. War, bad. Abortion, good. Fat people, fat. Yadda-yadda-yadda.

I've been around here for awhile and have always scoffed at the 'demise of Metafilter' threads. I chalked them up to hyperbole and hubris... I no longer feel that way. The front page is garbage. It makes no difference that I agree with the bulk of it, it's still trash. For the first time since I've been coming around here I am ashamed to admit my MeFi membership.

What I'm left with is: Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Just shut the fuck up.
posted by cedar at 7:33 PM on October 17, 2004

This many election posts is appropriate. If the world were on fire, few would say "I'm sick of all these world on fire-themed posts getting in the way of my promotional Flash games and 'haunting' photographer sites." This close to the election, with the country on the verge of either world leadership or hegemony - one of the most extreme tipping points ever seen in history, the stakes at exactly 50-50. Plus all the intrigues and frustrations that distort this most critical of decisions - corporate crime, exploitable equipment, a controversial spoiler candidate, and above all a media that has lost all pretense of journalism in favor of "balance." If you're still apathetic, you need to lay off the opium.
posted by abcde at 7:56 PM on October 17, 2004

FAT PEOPLE WOULD NOT BE SO FAT IF THEY WOULD STOP EATING ABORTED FETUSES.
posted by bargle at 8:00 PM on October 17, 2004

There is no cure for political front page posts. Even with treatment, it may be possible to spread political front page posts.
posted by naxosaxur at 8:02 PM on October 17, 2004

I've been doing that for years.

they say that insanity is defined as repeating the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. don't let the door etc etc etc.
posted by quonsar at 8:05 PM on October 17, 2004

FAT PEOPLE WOULD NOT BE SO FAT IF THEY WOULD STOP EATING ABORTED FETUSES.

PRO-HUNGER BYOTCH!
posted by quonsar at 8:07 PM on October 17, 2004

q: "they say that insanity is defined as repeating the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. don't let the door etc etc etc."

Alternatively, I could sit around firing off pithy one-liners, while undermining anyone who dares to speak with conviction. See, then people would think I was succinct and witty instead of thinking I was just annoying and not really someone to be taken seriously.

Q, I love ya babe, but being the court jester ain't gonna get you the crown. Your the only person around here who makes me laugh out loud, but it's wearing thin. If you don't take yourself seriously, how do you expect other people to? You may have noticed the line when people stop laughing with you and start laughing at you... you may want to explore that distinction in more detail.
posted by cedar at 8:26 PM on October 17, 2004

A-facking-men, cedar!

That's exactly what I thought when I logged on just then! So I thought I'd hit metatalk (something I rarely do) to see if anyone else had noticed.

As an Aussie who mostly comes here for the awesome links, today has offered the slimmest pickings in my many years of visiting here.

Let's just hope everything goes back to "cool links" mode after the election.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 8:31 PM on October 17, 2004

You may have noticed the line when people stop laughing with you and start laughing at you...

I'm still laughing with quonsar... but only when he's making fun of you, cedar. Your equation of Mefi with your stolen copy of Penthouse says more about you, I'm afraid, than it does about Metafilter.
posted by soyjoy at 8:44 PM on October 17, 2004

I hope to see political threads on MetaFilter reduced some day to the level of a minor nuisance.

Oh, and cedar, you're daughter's gay.
posted by wendell at 8:54 PM on October 17, 2004

You're right, of course, cedar, but there's nothing you can do about it except perhaps visit other sites that do a better job of collecting cool links. For better or worse, this is what MetaFilter is now. Don't expect it to get better after the election. It will continue to suck as long as the discourse in this country is in the shithouse, or until Matt makes major changes to his standards or the way this site is administered.
posted by scarabic at 9:47 PM on October 17, 2004

soyjoy: "I'm still laughing with quonsar..."

Your parents have my sympathy.

Then again, at least your laughing so your in better shape than most of us. Keep laughing, there may be a banana in it for you at the end, or, at the very least, the adoration of countless strangers.

wendell:"Oh, and cedar, you're daughter's gay."

I have no idea what that means. I'm thinking it's not good, but am probably missing something.
posted by cedar at 9:48 PM on October 17, 2004

There is a red white and blue all politics metafilter - it's called Devoter. It could be a very good community blog, but it needs more people. How about everyone takes their American political links there, and supports jca?
posted by jb at 10:00 PM on October 17, 2004

"What I'm left with is: Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."

Then I will add "Go find another sandbox." ;-P
posted by mischief at 10:12 PM on October 17, 2004

I'm hoping that after the election, MeFi will be interesting again.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 10:19 PM on October 17, 2004

I cant stand the USAPOLITICSFILTER 24/7, and I can say that it has been a direct cause of why I haven't been as stoked on Metafilter as I usually am. Yet, when I come here, I read all the USAPOLITICSFILTER like its a crack habit.

I guess you could call me a flip-flopper.

(get it?!?11! I am a flip - flopper!!)

(ROTFL!!!!11!!!)
posted by Quartermass at 10:24 PM on October 17, 2004

But they're number one.
posted by dobbs at 10:28 PM on October 17, 2004

I agree with you Cedar.

A week ago I posted a similar request and nothing changed.

Hopefully after the election, things will become less political and partisan and more interesting.
posted by Argyle at 11:01 PM on October 17, 2004

If all these US political posts are okay because this is the most important event ever to have faced mankind in his history etc. etc. etc. can we agree to cut the shit after the election then? Please? Surely, once this great and momentus event is all over, we won't need 50% of the posts being about US politics, right?
posted by Jimbob at 11:03 PM on October 17, 2004

"Then I will add 'Go find another sandbox'."

Wrong answer, you win no prize.

I *will not* find another sandbox. I see no reason to do so and have the utmost confidence that the rabid fascists on the right and the psycho commies on the left will eventually come to understand that most of us don't fucking care.

The thirty or so people who choose to define their entire public persona on the basis of a political affiliation cannot have MetaFilter. You can have my pity (you do). You can have my contempt (you bet). You can even have my respect (okay, that's a stretch). What you cannot have is my complicity in your absurd little games.

Hey, here's a clue. The world is laughing at us, and the reason is very simple. We get all melodramatic because BushHitler may beat LeninKerry.

It's nonsense, it's not like we're going to get shot if we vote wrong, Bush isn't going to bring the stormtroopers to Mainstreet, Your Town and it's a pretty safe bet that Kerry isn't going to nationalize General Motors and Exxon. There are countries where the wrong vote means a loss of livliehood or imprisonment. Sometimes people even die. But hell, what's death in the face of 3% tax increase, after all, as good Americans we need those extra bucks to go buy shit -- shit that most of the world hasn't even seen.

So you all can run around like a bunch freeping SWIFT boat veterans and build a better Democratic Underground with socialized subways and free acid for the masses, but let there be no doubt that come January 12, 2005 not a damn thing will have changed. Meet the new boss, he's the same as the old boss.

So get off your high horses, go vote, and feed me some good Flash games. We're not going to change the world, or even this country, but we can change the blue. So do it, and if you don't want to be bothered, don't. But do not tell me to find a 'new sandbox' because I don't approve of your partisan ethnocentric bullshit.
posted by cedar at 11:27 PM on October 17, 2004

I don't see it getting much better after the election. On the contrary, if Bush wins the blue will explode with the pus of a thousand zits. Should this happen, I suspect those who have been patiently (or not) waiting for the return of the good old days will give up and pack up.
posted by Krrrlson at 11:52 PM on October 17, 2004

Argyle: Hopefully after the election, things will become less political and partisan and more interesting.

Maybe not.

How about

a)set up a event-delimited election04.metafilter.com

--or--

b)set up a filter for US election-related posts.
posted by Gyan at 1:12 AM on October 18, 2004

I'd like to repeat the caution that the two groups—anti-uspolifilter and anti-bush—are not mutually exclusive.

I am quite sure Bush won't win the election. But if he does, the uspolifilterization of mefi will be the least of my concerns.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:07 AM on October 18, 2004

MARGINALLY AMUSING COMMENT IN ALL-CAPS

I think a smidgeon of politics is downright piquant. Like wasabi. Lights up your day, puts a party in your pants. Too much, though, and you're a drooling sweatmonkey and nobody wants to wax your moustache.

Some days I just don't know what I am.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:34 AM on October 18, 2004

I think the problem with all the SHUT UP SHUT UP arguments is that it is an implicit denial of this place as a community. People in a community work together and listen to each other, reach compromises on differing viewpoint, etc; all with the goal of improving the place for all. This doesn't seem to happen here. Instead a subgroup that happens to be quite vociferous and extremely stubborn admits no error on their part and places the blame [when there should be no blame at all] on the person complaining.

What we end up with is a situation where a person who complains is effectively ostracized because people would rather feel in control [ElectionFilter] than work to make everyone just a little satisfied.

My point is, Scroll Past it and Shut Up are denials of the problem; much like how Bush denies any problems with his administration. You've given us non-ElectionFilterers one good suggestion: post more interesting things; but that doesn't mitigate your own responsibility to assist on your own by posting less ElectionFilter.

I don't give a good goddamn if this is an important election or not. That argument is just another excuse.

Saying 'nothing will change unless Matt makes it so' is another implicit acknowledgment that the Election and USPoli folks have no desire to create community by being willing to change.

sorry for the rant, been cogitating on this for some time.
posted by sciurus at 4:03 AM on October 18, 2004

Guess what? This community has a lot of people who are interested in the election, and by extension, interested in the world outside these screens. That's a fact. A lot of people all over the world are interested in this election.

Do you guys realize how much you sound like Tucker Carlson on Crossfire? I think you may see this place much more narrowly than the rest of us do, much as Carlson didn't want to see Stewart as an interested citizen, but only as a comedian performing for his, and the audience's benefit. If this is truly a community then there's room for every subject. If one subject is dominating, then you have the power to change that by posting on other things.
posted by amberglow at 5:50 AM on October 18, 2004

Thank you, amberglow. Your comment is a perfect example of what I am talking about.

think you may see this place much more narrowly than the rest of us do, much as Carlson didn't want to see Stewart as an interested citizen, but only as a comedian performing for his, and the audience's benefit.

What does that mean? Really? It sounds like rhetoric to me.
I think I see this place more broadly. I see that it can be about more than Bush-bashing, snarking and getting the daily dose of worrywort. Please note that I have already said that You've given us non-ElectionFilterers one good suggestion: post more interesting things;

but I also said:

but that doesn't mitigate your own responsibility to assist on your own by posting less ElectionFilter.

We need a two way street here. Not 'Its My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To.'
posted by sciurus at 6:16 AM on October 18, 2004

Metafilter: Lights up your day, puts a party in your pants.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:29 AM on October 18, 2004

"I don't approve of your partisan ethnocentric bullshit."

What is this "partisan ethnocentric bullshit" about which you accuse me? Not only do I not participate in those ElectionFilter threads, I do not read them. Well, maybe two or three over the last few months. I simply skip over them after reading a half dozen words or so. I am quite satisfied with the remainder of the site.

"most of us don't fucking care"

Fine, you don't care. The PoliticsFilterites have their own little clicque with whom they happily commiserate. If you do not want to participate, then don't. MeFi is strong enough to support many interests.

"Scroll Past it and Shut Up are denials of the problem"

Yes, you are quite correct. We deny that any problem exists. You could call us, I suppose, aproblemists while you and cedar would be problemists. You are asking us to take on faith that there is a problem, yet you show no tangible evidence that political discourse on MeFi is causing any more problem than wasting a few precious of your seconds each day.

Show us a real, tangible, honest-to-god problem. Oops, I mean, just show us an actual problem. ;-P
posted by mischief at 7:37 AM on October 18, 2004

Gosh, cedar, you find quonsar funny... until he's making fun of you! And that inspires you to talk about "the line when people stop laughing with you and start laughing at you" -- in other words, it's quonsar's problem! Great perspective there. (And "If you don't take yourself seriously, how do you expect other people to?" is comedy gold.)

I suspect you should have made your post and quit while you were ahead. Every succeeding comment has made you sound more and more like the cranky old man yelling at the kids in the street. You may have lost even the part of the audience that was sympathetic to you with "most of us don't fucking care."

But hey, keep it up, get it off your chest if it makes you feel better!
posted by languagehat at 7:40 AM on October 18, 2004

metatalk: the pus of a thousand zits
posted by quonsar at 7:47 AM on October 18, 2004

You know, cedar, you're not wrong... you're just an asshole. I clicked through on this thread with sympathetic neutrality about your argument. I think that most of the political threads are important, but too much is too much.

The hostility and closed-mindedness you've displayed in here have persuaded me that your position is born more of selfish intollerance than of concern for the quality of the site. Therefore, fuck off to Milk and Cookes; who cares what you think?

Keep livin' the legend, quonsar
posted by squirrel at 7:54 AM on October 18, 2004

The hostility and closed-mindedness you've displayed in here have persuaded me that your position is born more of selfish intollerance than of concern for the quality of the site.

:::agrees and sits back to watch the baffling exercise that some choose to engage in of bashing their head repeatedly against a wall that ain't gonna move for a couple more weeks:::
posted by rushmc at 9:25 AM on October 18, 2004

I think MetaFilter should be exclusively about US politics. It's really not that hard -- a post on any subject can be connected to the election or one of the candidates. For example, this:

Barbie Pr0n. On this fine Sunday evening, I present to the fine folks of Metafilter the utter tastelessness, but strangely amusing images of Barbies doing the nasty. (NSFW)
posted by amandaudoff at 11:13 PM EST - 24 comments

Could easily have been changed to:

Barbie Pr0n. On this fine Sunday evening, I present to the fine folks of Metafilter the utter tastelessness, but strangely amusing images of Barbies doing the nasty. Of course, John Asscroft and his PATRIOT Act will surely try to shut down this site, but John Kerry appears to be pro-Barbie fucking. (NSFW)
posted by amandaudoff at 11:13 PM EST - 24 comments

It's already being done in bits and pieces. Why not go whole hog?
posted by pardonyou? at 10:05 AM on October 18, 2004

wah-fucking-wah-fucking-wah!

As an Aussie who mostly comes here for the awesome links, today has offered the slimmest pickings in my many years of visiting here.

Let's just hope everything goes back to "cool links" mode after the election.

uncanny hengeman has posted no links 250 comments to MetaFilter

Yeah, let's just cross our fingers and hope that your "pickings" magically improve.

Seriously, anyone in here who can count the their front page posts on one hand can quit their bitching right now.
posted by jpoulos at 10:33 AM on October 18, 2004

So get off your high horses, go vote, and feed me some good Flash games.

I won't be your monkey.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:42 AM on October 18, 2004

/cheer DevilsAdvocate!
posted by rushmc at 10:57 AM on October 18, 2004

I find the excessive electionfilter a blessing in disguise: it makes the election win/win. If Kerry wins then obviously we're happy, and now if Bush wins at least we can rely on mefi for a daily dose of schadenfraude.
posted by TheCuriousOrange at 11:18 AM on October 18, 2004

if you believe bush is hitler - or even that the comparison is in some way valid - then you'd be committing a moral crime not to post stuff about elections every chance you get.

not passing judgement, just saying that the actions are consistent, so objections to posting political stuff won't be heard.

(in fact, i guess something similar - complete loss of rational thought, treating people as gross caricatures, moral panic - occurred in nazi germany. so in a kind of curious self-fulfilling mirror-image way, it all makes a strange kind of sense).

godwin!
posted by andrew cooke at 6:27 PM on October 18, 2004

Seriously, anyone in here who can count the their front page posts on one hand can quit their bitching right now.


You idiot.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 7:25 PM on October 18, 2004

Probably just fuelling the fire, but one way to get less political posts would be to respond to the non-political ones. I'm probably just bitter because I posted something I thought was interesting lately and it got one freaking reply. But the politics posts around it got all sorts of replies, even ones saying "this is a stupid thread."

I had a bunch of other possible posts lined up, but now I don't feel arsed to put them together, especially since I'm crazy busy right now. I don't want to sound like a diva, but guess what, people like recognition - and if the non-politics threads get ignored, there's just no incentive to keep trying to put them together. In other words - I don't see the desire for non-politics posts, so I have no problem with them dominating the blue.
posted by livii at 8:12 PM on October 18, 2004

One way you can guarantee a response to a post livii is to jump into Seth's sandbox and increase the Hi I'm mefi-xxxx and I disapprove of this post posts. However, of course, you'd actually want to!

It is indeed disappointing when something that interests you gets little or no response, though perhaps less so than dead silence to what one regards as a particularly clever and hilarious joke. Apparently for some, it is even more disappointing when something that doesn't interest them gets many responses.

I'd like to see your other posts when you get the time. Obscurity is eventually known. If they involve something I'm interested in, or spark interest, I might contribute, and many others too of course. If not, I'll ignore...
posted by juiceCake at 10:28 PM on October 18, 2004

"One way you can guarantee a response to a post livii is to jump into Seth's sandbox and increase the Hi I'm mefi-xxxx and I disapprove of this post posts."

Seth?! Has cedar changed his name to Seth? Why is this Seth's fault? Please explain.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 11:38 PM on October 18, 2004

Sorry, I get it now. If only I'd spent an extra 180 seconds trying to take it all in.

Truly awesome post, juiceCake.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 11:40 PM on October 18, 2004

cedar- take a break from Metafilter for awhile. gets you some perspective on the whole thing.
posted by Miles Long at 9:18 AM on October 19, 2004