But I LOVE electionfilter!

May 24, 2008 6:25 PM

Every time an electionfilter post gets deleted, people say, "There are websites where this post would be appropriate, but this isn't one of them." What sites are those?

I'm looking for a blog or community that isn't just context-less news stories or one person's rantings, a place where real discussion occurs. I learn a lot about American politics just from reading the MetaTalk threads about deleted political posts-- is there a politics community with similarly intelligent and knowledgeable posters?

I'm liberal, but I wouldn't mind a place with alternate viewpoints.

posted by showbiz_liz to computers & internet (18 comments total)

I was prepared to give a list and then I realized I don't know of any that I visit with regularity and would highly recommend. The shills on either side drive me off. So hopefully this will be helpful for many of us who would like to read up-to-date political opinion without the outrage and high horse parade. The op-eds can be good, but give anyone anonymity and a political forum and you rapidly lose all faith in human kindness and decency.
posted by dawson at 6:44 PM on May 24

Talking Points Memo.
posted by Ironmouth at 6:45 PM on May 24 [2 favorites]

Buzzflash.com. Just kidding...
posted by johngoren at 6:54 PM on May 24

dawson, I had the same reaction. I saw the other day Zizek talking about The Lives of Others and he said:

One cannot but recall here a witty formula of life under a hard Communist regime: Of the three features—personal honesty, sincere support of the regime and intelligence—it was possible to combine only two, never all three.

This pretty much applies to the blogosphere, too—it's impossible for a site to be honest, intelligent, and non-partisan all at once. By this point narly all the sites are either so pro-Republican-Party or else so anti-Republican-Party that they're nearly useless for anything but trainwreck-gazing.

MetaFilter came fairly close, for a while, leaning more than a little to the left (just like reality!)—but the Cabal doesn't like those posts and they've been getting killed more and more.

Even the sites I still visit have comments sections that are generally sesspools. Mostly I visit them just to see what sorts of absurd things are being said, rather than to try and wade into the muck.

But just to give you a few places with comment threads that I think are generally better than the rest:

Matt Yglesias
Kevin Drum
posted by gerryblog at 6:57 PM on May 24

That's what Devoter is supposed to be, right?

Some mefi threads to check out: They do ElectionFilter so we don't have to, What would make PoliticalFilter.com good?.
posted by hattifattener at 7:05 PM on May 24

Devoter is a MetaFilter-style group blog. There's a regular stream of posts, but almost no discussion.
posted by russilwvong at 7:07 PM on May 24

DailyKos is pretty much THE biggie for the liberal set. Come home to us, sibling! The comments are the usual combo of flames, drivel, minutia-dissecting, and derails, but often the diaries and main posts themselves are very good.

Mydd.com is another.
posted by Askr at 7:11 PM on May 24

The "Debate & Discussion" forum on Somethingawful.com is actually amazing. Well reasoned arguments, no circlejerks, idiocy is not tolerated, and the level of discussion is much, much higher than any other political site I have ever seen on the internet (I know this is ironic considering it's part of the SA forums).
posted by bradbane at 7:23 PM on May 24

Shakesville is for progressives of the lefter persuasion who hate bigotry in all its forms but like good political discussion (as well as '80s videos and pictures of cats and shoes).
posted by hydropsyche at 7:53 PM on May 24

[a few comments removed - to the extent that this thread is about metafilter, that part needs to go to metatalk]
posted by jessamyn at 8:30 PM on May 24 [1 favorite]

As a longtime reader of many political blogs including Daily Kos (where I've been a commenter [different username] since before the Scoop days & lately abandoned due to its treatment of Sen. Clinton)..

This is surprising but I agree with bradbane. I've only read them a few times, but my impression was, the Something Awful political debate threads have better and more civilized and wide-ranging discussion than any of the blogs and sites dedicated to the subject. Maybe the key to sane political discussion is to find a location where everyone HAS to be pretty much immune to outrage.

There are a couple pro-Clinton blogs where I currently read and comment and I think they're great, but there is a point of view, of course, and not favorable to Obama as one would imagine. Still, I would recommend TalkLeft which is closely moderated and covers legal issues as well. Steve Clemons' The Washington Note is foreign policy focused.. the comments are usually pretty good.
posted by citron at 9:45 PM on May 24

I have to third the Something Awful forums, particularly if you're interested in following all the hoopla surrounding the Presidential Elections.

Like others have said before, the discussion is intelligent, meaningful, up to date, and sometimes hilarious. It can be caustic at times, but that's part of the charm of Something Awful. Many of the posters there are serious political/policy wonks, and a few have even participated in various caucuses around the country at various levels. There is one person who just got elected a National Delegate for Barack Obama, and is heading to Denver. I participate there quite a bit (my name over there is 'Qu Appelle').

And if you like Obama in any way, shape, or form, they are on their 32nd Obama Megathread, and collectively, the Something Awful Obama supporters have donated over $200,000 to his Primary campaign!
posted by spinifex23 at 12:31 AM on May 25 [1 favorite]

Might not be your cup of tea, but I actually frequent the Fark.com Politics tab. It's not without its faults - it has its share of trolls (but what site doesn't really) and the site is noticeably slanted towards Obama, but there's a ton of users, lots of discussion on just about everything that gets posted, and while there can be some heated debates, the general atmosphere is light-hearted and humorous. It's a nice change of pace from some boards that are constantly serious in their discussion, and evident especially in this race so far, fairly mean-spirited attacks at one another.

I'm also a big fan of Talking Points Memo. I don't really read the comments but Josh Marshall & Co. do some great reporting there.

Also also, I read AmericaBlog.com, but sometimes John Aravosis can get a bit overzealous, especially when it comes to gay rights issues. There's no masking their bias towards Obama on that site, as he's currently taking a 'what the hell is wrong with you' approach to Clinton still being in the race.

Thanks to those suggesting the SA forums.. never thought to go there for political discussion, going to check that out.

Finally - if you want to take a trip to another dimension - check out HillaryIs44.org. A rabidly pro-Hillary site.. or should I say anti-Obama. I don't bother reading the articles, I go straight to the comments. Comedy Gold.
posted by MarkLark at 7:48 AM on May 25

Hullabaloo is a personal favorite; leaning left, really well written.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:49 PM on May 25

Balloon Juice, headed up by ex-Republican John Cole, is sharp, but also sharp-elbowed. That last post features a hilarious YouTube link at the bottom, and a link to Obsidian Wings, another great, Dem-leaning group blog with great discussion. They do not have the "anything goes" attitude to commenting that Balloon Juice does.

On the other side, I love Daniel Larison's blog Eunomia. He's a conservative, but not a Republican. I believe he favors the division of the US into 5 or so libertarian agrarian entities. You have to register to comment there, and he has such a unique perspective, that only pretty huge political nerds participate in the discussion. Ross Douthat's schtick as the reasonable movement conservative has landed him a gig at the Atlantic, but he doesn't have much to say. The American Scene is a good conservative group blog.
posted by ibmcginty at 8:14 AM on May 26

Seconding Talking Points Memo -- intelligent conversation, generally well-moderated, and as pleasant to interact with as MeFi.
posted by anildash at 8:03 PM on May 26

This post got me to do something I've been putting off for five years- pay for a SomethingAwful forum account.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:31 AM on June 2

The spinoff site PoliFi is now up and running.
posted by russilwvong at 12:20 AM on August 22