Will this forum remain Politics-free?

[Creaky]

Yeah, the emotionalism of others can't be regulated.  But conduct can often be a valid measure of actual intent.

I get it, politics is interwoven in almost anything 'discussed' in a social media context.  And some things are predominantly political... thus the media sees to it that it is reduced to political theater.  Hence, no resolution, no commonality between arguers. It isn't all that fun... but it can be made to drag on forever.  You're correct that religion also features this kind of thing... although I would say it is common to all institutions in "power," (or at least, I can't think of any exceptions.)

In the final analysis, effective debate relies on "self-regulation."  A discipline that many of ATS's old Mud-Pit dwellers felt "entitled" to refuse.  If you were to debate someone here about a point of political disagreement, at what point would you resort to caustic jabs and mean-spirited prods of an antagonistic emotional nature (also meant rhetorically, not personal)? 

The rub is that if the point is the politics, it's not about how angry it makes you, or how you might characterize others.  But many have been 'conditioned' to think that making someone else appear foolish has some 'value' to resolve the actual politics.  For some people, politics is a cosplay thing... all theater, all appearances.

Anyway, DI is willing to entertain debate of all sorts, but that means discussion,... dialogue,... and not so much the theater of "self." (Otherwise we would just be cosplaying celebrity lawyers on TV.)

I think as our membership grows, you will begin to see more "news" brought here for discussion... for now, we work with what members bring.  News aggregation was a byproduct of the ATS communities' insatiable curiosity... until some time ago, when something "else" happened.  What exactly?  I can't describe it to my satisfaction.

No question, just not going to happen
People are people