Here in !* POLITICS *! you will find an exceptionally open forum for discussing all variety of political and social issues. Please come to this tribe with an open mind and a respect for different points of view. Because of its size and activity, !* POLITICS *! by necessity enforces standards of civil discourse. Freedom of opinion and expression is protected here, but not freedom of abuse.

By joining this tribe you agree to the guidelines below:

1) Personal attacks, threats, insults, name-calling, racist or homophobic remarks - really anything that is mean spirited or intended to degrade or antagonize, directed at members of the tribe, may have you removed. Even if you feel that you yourself have been personally attacked or insulted in this tribe, you may also be removed if you attempt to attack or insult in retribution.

2) Do not post personal information about other tribe members, even if that information is publicly available. Posts revealing other members' personal information (including photos or personal messages) will be deleted, and the violators may be removed.

3) It is your responsibility to report incidents of abuse to the moderator. When you do so, you must include a link to the specific post within the thread in which the incident has occurred. Don't expect the moderator to take any action until you do this.

4) The moderator has the final authority in deciding what crosses the line between acceptable and unacceptable language. He or she may enforce the tribe's standards of civil discourse in whatever way is most appropriate. Please don't make the mistake of assuming that your point of view will be shared by the moderator, particularly in regards to whether or not you have been treated fairly.

5) The violator may, in some cases, request to be re-added to the tribe membership after explaining that they will not engage in such abusive tactics any further.

6) Remember: discuss the ISSUES, not the PERSONALITIES of your fellow tribe members.
Avoid ad hominem arguments.
Criticize and thwart the opposing person's STATEMENT or OPINION, if you wish, not the poster him or herself.

7) Attack threads (i.e., topics that are posted with an intention to attack other tribe members instead of discussing political/social issues) are prohibited.
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Guidelines for Civil Discourse

Recognize a person’s right to advocate ideas that are different from your own

Show respect for others

Discuss policies and ideas, not people

Use helpful, not hurtful language.

Agree to listen. Respectfully hear and listen to differing points of view

When unsure, clarify what you heard

Recognize that people can agree to disagree

Realize that what you say and what people understand you to have said may be different

Speak from your own experience

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"Democracy is a means of living together despite our differences. Democratic deliberation is an alternative to physical violence. It is predicated on the assumption that it’s possible to disagree agreeably, that it’s better to laugh than cry, that one can vigorously contest the positions of one’s adversary without questioning his or her personal integrity or motivation, and that parties to a debate are entitled to the presumption that their views are legitimate if not correct."

-Thomas Mann

"We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. "

-Abraham Lincoln

Moderator's note: December 22, 2008. . . a message from the new moderator. I will make amendments to this statement and will entertain suggestions for other amendments which arise from discussion within the tribe, if there are any such discussions. Lorenzo Claro. .

Moderator's Amendment, December 28, 2008. .

As moderator I will enforce the stated policies of the tribe.

I will generally not be breathing down anyone's back, but will wait until I have specific complaints to consider.

I will not visit the past, but will look to a future where tribe members are respectful of others and their participation regardless of whether they agree or disagree and regardless of what their personal opinion of a fellow tribe member is.

I expect tribe members to be self governing to a degree in calling people on rude or hostile behavior, but I expect that responses will themselves not be rude.

If I choose to intervene following a complaint my actions may consist of a graduated response which may include a sequence of intervention:

1) private warning
2) public warning
3) temporary removal from the tribe
4) permanent removal from the tribe.

My approach to any complaint and to any problem behavior will be to support an environment which encourages civil discourse rather alienating such discourse.

As moderator I will approve applicants to this tribe on the basis of information and participation they have shown on tribe. Persons who are lacking in certain information such as no profile, no image, few friends, no experience with other tribes, and no recent activity listed will not be approved for membership.

for reference, here is the tribe's code of conduct:

. Conduct and Content

While using or accessing the Service--directly or indirectly--you agree to take a constructive tone and practice good etiquette and courtesy and you agree NOT to:

1. threaten, disrupt, inflame, intimidate, libel, stalk, defame, or defraud any individual, entity, or group on any basis including but not limited to age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, religion or disability or encourage any one else to do so;
2. post, publish, or transmit any text, graphics, or material that is illegal or violates local and national laws or that contains, encourages, advocates, or expresses: obscenity, pornography, sexually explicit conduct, child pornography, the making or buying of illegal weapons or illegal drugs, hatred, bigotry, racism, profanity, vulgarity or gratuitous violence or use of weapons;
3. harm or exploit minors in any way including collecting personally identifiable information, including but not limited to name, email address, home address, phone number, or school;
4. invade privacy by attempting to collect, store, or publish private or personally identifiable information, including but not limited to password, account information, credit card number, address, or other contact information;
5. modify or falsify the source of any content or information, impersonate another individual, Tribe representative, or moderator, or falsely state or misrepresent affiliation with a person or entity;
6. disrupt, harm or inappropriately access any computer, network, server or telecommunication system or violate related security or operational procedures, policies or regulations;
7. flood, overload, or mail bomb any mail service or transmit or transfer any harmful or disruptive viruses, worms, computer code, files, or programs;
8. infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights or violate contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as insider, proprietary, or confidential information);
9. encourage or instruct unauthorized copying or circumvention of copy protection or pirating of intellectual property or content including but not limited to software, music, text, photographs, illustrations, and movies;
10. access restricted, password-only, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);
11. distribute or disseminate inappropriate, unauthorized or unsolicited advertising or promotional offers including, but not limited to contests, sweepstakes, barter, junk mail, spam, chain letters, and pyramid schemes;
12. use tribe messages or member profile content to obtain personally identifiable information or to solicit, or sell to any member inappropriately;
13. support or help any organization designated by the United States government as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;
14. include or create links or otherwise refer to external sites that violate these restrictions;
15. create "trolling" posts (trolling is deliberately posting false or provocative information in order to elicit responses from people who would not respond if they knew the motivation behind the post); or
16. attempt (i) to access or search the Service with any engine, software, tool, agent, device, or mechanism other than the software or search agents provided by Tribe or other generally available third party web browsers (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox); or (ii) to "frame," "mirror" or otherwise copy any portion of the Site without Tribe's express written authorization.

Addendum: January 23, 2009. . .The moderator will intervene when there is a pattern of inflammatory, or provocative remarks from a member which are intended to disrupt reasonable dialog and agitate the members of the tribe. The offender may be sanctioned by being removed from the tribe for an indefinite period of time. .

http://USpolitics.tribenetwork.com