Political Forum?

[Hanna]

I really don't care whether I am a moderator or not.
I just wanted to help, and was offered the opportunity. Feel free to try somebody else, if I'm not the kind of moderator that is wanted. My interest was in keeping the forum alive, and keeping the standards high.

The thread above shows a great deal of hypocrisy in my view. No end of insulting, provocative and ridiculous comments are constantly made about Russia in the forum. There is not the slightest sympathy that any of the Russian participants might be offended. Likewise both Ukrainians and Belarussians have been under fire in the forum, to the extent that they actually dropped off. But woe betide anyone should comment negatively on the US and and accidentally offend the sensitive souls from there. Double standards.

While I have certainly used the forum to vent my own feelings, and agreed that it's not always the best thing to do I'm not interested in censoring either myself or others.

All I'd look for is obvious trolling and rude or insulting posts. One of the reasons I like this forum is because it's always had a relaxed and laid-back style where discussions are allowed to flow freely and people speak their minds without self-censoring. I am aware that a few of the Russian participants have been rude in the Ukraine threads and I am just as much against that, as I am against insults on Russia. However, in general I support people's right to say whatever they like, as long as they are not rude or deliberately trolling.

Right now, I am really put off the whole situation, and I am wondering whether we simply have too many persistent trolls and too much controversy and sensitivities to use the Political Forum at all at the moment. A "self-censored" trollpit is not for me.

It would be a pity because the political forum was once an excellent place to learn about Russian politics, and it was once a haven for unbiased straight-from-the-source info on Russia, in English. Not available anywhere else. But right now it seems in danger of dying a slow death. It was to prevent that, that I offered to help.

[bytemare]

Ok, I will take the bait

Ханночка, I agree with 90% of what you've just said. If you are responding to my comments in this thread, however, it's addressing something completely different than what I brought up. I have only said that it's hard to imagine a person that posts views anti 50% of the world becomes a moderator. To your point, it would likewise be a surprise if someone constantly bashed Russia (or insert country here) and became a moderator.

I also support the general freedom to be able to express views on this site for ordinary members, it's one way we learn not only about different views, but how express them effectively and have others accept our opinion.

[Lampada]

I really don't care whether I am a moderator or not. ...

Да это понятно, но я всё ещё жду ответ Админа на мой запрос. Насколько мне известно, он был вообще против большой (и часто негативной) активности в разделе Политика.