| Be Respectful Towards Other Members |
| No rude or vulgar attacks against specific members or a group of members in the community. No attacks of a personal nature outside the scope of the forums (such as age, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, etc...). |
| Respect Liberal People, Groups & Ideas |
| Constructive criticism or debate is okay. Name-calling or blanket generalizations against liberals is not. No communism, fascism, nazi references. |
| Conservative Viewpoints are Held to a Higher Standard of Conduct |
| Politics is a difficult subject to moderate. We believe the Republican party & the U.S. conservative movement has moved way far to the right over the years and is no longer ground in reality. So viewpoints & ideas from the right are allowed only if they are ground in reality and do not demagogue. Political beliefs are complicated & even some of our most liberal members may have conservative views or play "devil's advocate" on an issue or two. As long as you do not delve into right-wing extremism and are polite, conservative viewpoints are welcome. Right-wing & extremist viewpoints are not. |
| No Extremism |
| No promotion of hate groups or conspiracy theories. No use of bigoted, racist or hateful language (unless in certain cases to expose such use by others). No extremism directed at specific people or groups. No hoping for death or physical harm towards any person (exceptions for violent criminals, etc) or "cheering" if anything bad happens. This counts equally for both the left or the right. |
| Respect the Community Experience |
| Do not do things that diminish the community experience of our members. This includes trolling, spamming, purposely being disruptive or anything that may be bothersome or annoying to a large number of our members. Use common sense here. |
| No Harming Democratic Party Candidates Chances of Winning General Elections |
| This rule deals with the realities of a political forum in a country with primarily a two-party system. If we did not have this rule, opponents of liberal to moderate ideas would use our forums to promote 3rd party or fringe candidates in general elections as a means to create wedge issues & help win elections. Which would distract from the focus on politics & ideas and adversely affect the community experience. So it is okay to argue that the Democratic party or Democratic candidates should adopt a position of the Green, Libertarian or even Republican party on an issue. But not to advocate for or against specific candidates in a general election. |
| Do Not Violate Civil Laws |
| The main two things to watch out for are copyright law and defamation. Do not post entire articles in our forums as the author owns the work and it is copyright violation. Post no more than 2-3 paragraphs and include a link to the article you wish to cite or discuss instead. Also, be aware that you could be liable for what you write on the Internet and be the target of defamation lawsuits. So avoid non credible or unfounded attacks or harassment of people, businesses or groups. |
| Do Not Promote or Engage in Illegal Activity |
| This is obvious. No threats of violence against other members or public figures. No harassment of other members. No promotion or endorsement of illegal activities. No attempts to harm the website. |