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When I first found this site I immediately got excited and started using the techniques found here. I also started telling everyone that I know to look at the site to help them better their mpg. Recently I have noticed that the site has become more political in the articles used on the home page and some members take any opportunity to slam Sarah Palin. I happen to like her and it has become nearly impossible for me to watch the news stations on TV due to the constant bashing of Mrs. Palin. I know I am different than most of the members here in that my motivation to hypermile is to save my family money, not an environmental reason, but this has been my favorite website (I check it daily, several times a day). I am deeply saddened that sometimes I have to leave my favorite site because some people can not pass an opportunity to bash political enemies. Of course I can not say much because I have been so angry I tried to respond on a couple of occasions in like manner. I hope in the future I can remain as a member of this, my favorite, website.

Thanks,
Bart

Hello Bart,

Articles posted in our News section are limited to content relating to environmental and fuel economy issues. There are times when political figures are involved due to direct statements and recently stated positions based on what these figures support.

Some News articles may get a bit political at times when a member states their displeasure of the particular political figure's (whether it be President Barack Obama, Former Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain or former President George W. Bush.) position, but we try to limit direct attacks as much as possible.

Our moderating staff has a well diversified view of politics, but we don't let that intervene with our main goal of informing our members and others about the benefits of hypermiling including financial and environmental and reduced energy dependence. This is a great site in promoting this information and if you find offense to any of the articles, you can always send a message to any one of our moderating staff members and we'll address the issue.

We don't want anyone to feel alienated for any reason as anyone can learn to hypermile and earn benefits.

Bart:
I detest the politically slanted articles that appear as well. If I see a political figure, South Park, Black and White parody of whatever on the home page, I quickly click "New Posts" or "Todays Posts" and move on. Credible websites promote free speech and everyone is not interested in all of the topics. You have to weigh the value of what you receive and hang around if you feel led.

From what you have said, you have found value in the information here. So hang around, read and contribute, or click through.

I think msirach and JusBringIt have it right. Don't let the occasional political barb detract you from a site whose content is 90 % stuff you like. You would just be cheating yourself. I too personally am a bit more right than several here, but they put up with me and I put up with them - after all, that is the American way. I love the content of the site, and I'd never leave over politics. Just click past the stuff which gets you angry. Stay with us!

I too am not a fan of the politics, as a mod I scroll through and see that the conversation is civil, as soon as I see another mod is on the case I'm out.

Though after the events this winter I still check and see if they need assistance keeping things on topic.

I just keep up with the things that interest me and follow threads from people I like to hear their points of views from. I think that there was a poll not to long ago on the forums here and it seemed that most of the people that replied to the poll were leaning to the right, because they too wanted to get better fuel economy and safe money and fuel for other things.

Every site will have both sides and I think that is fine, because then there enough information for anyone no matter why they come to this site.

viva better FE :Banane18:

Please stick around 2000swift.

I've tried to keep partisan politics and religion from going too far because a few will always heat it up until it resembles The Jerry Springer Show. I've seen this get out of hand elsewhere and don't want it to come here.

Sarah Palin has said no on occasion to the oil companies in Alaska, so she's not Dick Chaney - not Al Gore.

I'll admit to doing an article on her and posting Tina Fey's picture, but then people that know me back in the 80's immediately knew who I was doing when I shook me head and whispered: "Well..." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan)....then I voted for him.

I try to limit my banter to energy/environmental issues, and encourage others to do likewise.


As a moderator, I get all kinds of opinions on News Articles and polls....the only way to not offend would be for me to do nothing.

If you like most of what we do, it's probably the best realistically we can do.

Hang in there 2000 swift.

I too really dislike the political stiff, but I accept that it is a significant part of some of the issues in play here.

I choose to respect the freedom of those that wish to discuss it, and exercise my freedom to not participate and click past the items I don't care for.

Don't give up on the forum, it's a remarkable resource and I wouldn't be hitting the mileage I have without these great and knowledgable people here.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! I do love the information on this site and I love having the resources readily available to improve my mpg. I believe the overall maintenance of my vehicle has benefited from the info on this site as well. Looking back I think I was just having a bad media day and needed to express my feelings, I know this resource is too valuable for me to let one thing mess it up. Sorry for sounding so negative yesterday, keep up the good work of finding ways to help any car improve its fuel efficiency.

Bart

Please stick around 2000swift.

I've tried to keep partisan politics and religion from going too far because a few will always heat it up until it resembles The Jerry Springer Show. I've seen this get out of hand elsewhere and don't want it to come here.

Sarah Palin has said no on occasion to the oil companies in Alaska, so she's not Dick Chaney - not Al Gore.

I'll admit to doing an article on her and posting Tina Fey's picture, but then people that know me back in the 80's immediately knew who I was doing when I shook me head and whispered: "Well..." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan)....then I voted for him.

I try to limit my banter to energy/environmental issues, and encourage others to do likewise.


As a moderator, I get all kinds of opinions on News Articles and polls....the only way to not offend would be for me to do nothing.

If you like most of what we do, it's probably the best realistically we can do.
You'd get complaints about posting nothing too, we can't win that battle

I'll add another vote against gratuitous political threads. My perspective on this is the opposite of the OP's - I feel like most voices I see here are very conservative, to the point where sometimes I just don't want to read the forum. The bottom line is that there are plenty of appropriate venues for personal attacks on politicians, discussion of climate science, arguments about industrial policy, etc., but here they detract from the site's well-defined mission. I've been on some other forums that strictly enforced bans on political speech, and I always thought that was much too heavy-handed, but I'm beginning to understand why they went down that path.

As the person who posted last against Palin before you posted this, allow me to apologize if it caused you any bad feelings. On the other hand it was a joke, and I'd apreciate if you would take in in that light. I went back and looked at some of your few posts and noticed that you have said some negative things about politicians who are not of your choice. I do hope you wouldn't ask us to only comment positivily and never negatively, when you have already done so yourself. If you don't like honest comments in both directions then perhaps you should avoid reading the political news/threads.

However, maybe a good point had been brought up. Perhaps front page news stories should be limited to only those envolving hypermiling, fuel economy, and perhaps general energy. Other articles can find a home in the forums, where people can more easily choose to ignore them. I certainly don't feel that cleanmpg needs to keep me up to date on everything in the world. I do read the paper and visit news sites for that sort of thing.

However, maybe a good point had been brought up. Perhaps front page news stories should be limited to only those envolving hypermiling, fuel economy, and perhaps general energy. Other articles can find a home in the forums, where people can more easily choose to ignore them. I certainly don't feel that cleanmpg needs to keep me up to date on everything in the world. I do read the paper and visit news sites for that sort of thing.


Articles posted in our News section are limited to content relating to environmental and fuel economy issues. There are times when political figures are involved due to direct statements and recently stated positions based on what these figures support.



__________________

I get more than my fill of politics at A Politics and Religion Forum and yeah,
it turns me off a little to come here and see political bashing going on.

But, I've learned to just try not to reply and skip over to the good stuff! :)

Jonathan,
No, you did not offend me and I appologize for starting this thread. In hindsight I should not have written anything at all, I was having a day where I had let some things build up. I hope everyone can see that I really do love this site, and have benefitted greatly from the info here. A new day has allowed me to reflect and see that the moderators do an excellent job at maintaining a fantastic site.
Once again, I have no room to complain about something I participated in, and I am sorry for getting this started.

Thanks,
Bart

When I first found this site I immediately got excited and started using the techniques found here. I also started telling everyone that I know to look at the site to help them better their mpg. Recently I have noticed that the site has become more political in the articles used on the home page and some members take any opportunity to slam Sarah Palin. I happen to like her and it has become nearly impossible for me to watch the news stations on TV due to the constant bashing of Mrs. Palin. I know I am different than most of the members here in that my motivation to hypermile is to save my family money, not an environmental reason, but this has been my favorite website (I check it daily, several times a day). I am deeply saddened that sometimes I have to leave my favorite site because some people can not pass an opportunity to bash political enemies. Of course I can not say much because I have been so angry I tried to respond on a couple of occasions in like manner. I hope in the future I can remain as a member of this, my favorite, website.

Thanks,
Bart

you can not expect everybody to like what you like, if you do not like something you see, ignore it and continue to the next thing......

I'm having a difficult time finding one of two polls that clearly show a fairly even split here politically, but long time members will validate this. We do not have an official view, nor a heavy lean.

What happened is a few outspoken members got swift2000 upset - it's their opinion - not the site opinion.

Had to use Google to do it, but here is one of the polls on CleanMPG member's politics. (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21118)

Hi All:

___I just did a CleanMPG search using the term “Palin” without quotes and pulled up 24 total posts with some of them including nothing more than a passing statement by someone within a given thread. Considering there are 218,548 posts and 24 of them including this one include Palin, it is almost statistically insignificant.

___There is no way we can cover exactly what everyone likes and try to keep off the home page what everyone dislikes. That said, the mods and I do try and keep a robust list of on-topic subjects on the Home Page for everyone. By keeping the Home Page up to date and refreshed daily including the weekends for the few members that visit then, I am sure you will not find another site anywhere in the world as updated with the kinds of things each of us deem both appropriate and relevant.

___I know our coverage will not satisfy everyone all the time but I do what I can to keep us moving forward and can only hope it satisfies the vast majority regarding the sites cleanliness (no spam), tirades kept to a minimum, freedom of speech within reason and entertainment when it comes to enjoyment of your time spent here. The mods in particular bring with them a far broader brush with which to paint the canvas called CleanMPG than my vehicle centric posts. Without this broad based look at topics of the day, CleanMPG’s character would be far more limited.

___Bart, I sometimes wish every Political post or thread was scrubbed or eliminated but without them, all of us would be missing out on what really drives our country’s and the world’s actual direction :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I never even see the front page. I bookmarked straight into the forums. Anything that hits main page also seems to show up in a forum thread. If I don't like the title, I don't click.

___Bart, I sometimes wish every Political post or thread was scrubbed or eliminated but without them, all of us would be missing out on what really drives our country’s and the world’s actual direction :(

Very true.
While I keep my heaviest political leanings off of the site, my biggest reason for conserving fuel is politically based.

In hindsight I should not have written anything at all, I was having a day where I had let some things build up.

On the other hand, saying nothing is a bit like not voting...people who do neither shouldn't be surprised when things don't go their way. I'm very glad you started this thread as it was a good reminder to keep things civil and to be aware that what we say, and more importly how we say it, may be hurtful to others.

Politics is one of those really horrible areas where opinion becomes reality. Without naming names, we have seen some politicians that appeared to intellectual to the point they seemed too distant. We have also seen other who were too "good ol' boy" for people to think they have a braincell that doesn't scream beer. Frankly, all politicans are really people who put forth an image that they hope to sell. Those images may not represent the actualy person and saddly don't show us how well the person can do the job. Even without the sales job, there are people of every type who could do the job and people of those exact same types who would destroy us (intentionally or not).

At least as non-politicans, we are free to act as we believe without an excess worry about how the world will view us.

I never even see the front page. I bookmarked straight into the forums. Anything that hits main page also seems to show up in a forum thread. If I don't like the title, I don't click.

x2

I encourage everyone to check a poll taken earlier this year: You're political beliefs (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21118) This poll should assure everyone that the opinions at CleanMPG are a good cross section - not 80/20% one way or another. We occasionally get a few intense opinions and some think it represents a monolithic groupthink against them at times. So....

We have a good diversity of opinions
Whatever your opinion is, not as many agree with you as you might wish ;)
Try not to take it personally
Resist the temptation of getting too intense yourself
Please use the same restraint you would face-to-face
Contact the moderators or report a post if it really gets out of hand


Even now, I'll talk with members in private and on occasion find out we differ on our outlooks more than I assumed. :o