I should not ever go into the Political forums again.

I'm about to go off on a rant here, and it's going to stay as non-partisan as I can keep it.

I should never look into the Political Forums again.I was deeply disturbed by some of what i founf there, and that's saying a lot.  A little background on me - I work in politics.  I actually live right outisde of DC, in Alexandria VA.  I used to work for a memebr of congress from my home state, then I worked for a non-profit advocacy orgnization and then I joined my current consulting company, which is a one stop web shop for political and public affairs campaigns on the web.

I've also got a Masters degree in Political Management, which is basically a hands-on, how-too degree in executing and running political and public affairs campaigns - dealing with the press, working on issues, lobbying, communications strategy, etc.  So, in a nutshell, this means that I've not only studied the process, and am fairly experienced in it, but it means that I've seen some of the high and low points in political history.  Not normal history, like the civil war or the great depression, but political history, like great ads, smear campaigns, dirty politics and clean policy debates.

This has all led me to a unique persepctive on the system and how it works.  it's also left me disgruntled by how it's stopped being about debate, discussion, consensus and the general good, and begun being about winning, smearing, personal attacks and a "my way or the highway attitude".

When I saw the political section start up, i had high hopes.  I thought, hell, we're all gamers, we all have common threads, surely we can keep this civil and not turn this into a partisan flame fest.  Maybe we can atcually reach consensus, discuss issues, and work together.  In the words of Obi Wan - "i was wrong".  After looking int here and seeing some of what i saw from both sides, I have to refer to that section of the site as nothing more than a "wretched hive of scum and villainy". 

I was offended by what i saw in there, not from a partisan perspective but a personal one, where I watched middle ground disintegrate and the conspiracy theories ignite.  It's sad that though we honor the leaders that we have seen int he past, the ones who didn't have only personal victory in mind but the desires for a better nation, we slander our opponents and attack them personally, ignoring the lessons of the leaders we so revere.

So in the end, I guess, it just means I should never go into the Political Forums again.

Posted by MTK005 on Fri Oct 20, 2006 @ 4:57 pm EDT | 14 Comments