After discussion between a number of the staff members it has been decided to remove the entire politics board from the Off Topics category.
It has proven to be a source of rancor among various members and has lead to a number of posts where reason left and chaos and acrimony remained.
Politics appears to be an area best left to one's own thoughts and beliefs. While one would hope that civil argument of viewpoints (in the sense of "debate") would be the norm that was not what, in fact, happened. All too many threads devolved into personal attacks and that lead to a host of problems.
That board is the one that had the most serious problems and the removal of the board was not taken lightly but with a great deal of regret.
In any and all boards on this forum remember that one can disagree with a viewpoint and debate one's position without resorting to attacks on the person having an opposite opinion. We do not wish to remove any other boards/threads and will take positive steps to remove any offending posts and/or members.
Removal of the entire board and the threads will result, unfortunately, in lowering of post counts for those members who posted in the board. That cannot be avoided as it is how the system works.
If you have any questions concerning this move feel free to PM me and I will try explain it better.
Have fun, keep it light, keep it civil.
Have just been notified that post counts did get adjusted downward. 
