I've made no secret of my preference for unmoderated forums. If someone says something you don't like, you can respond in kind or you can ignore them. You don't go crying to someone to complain about how you're being treated. You need to put on your big boy or girl pants and deal with it. But the sad truth is, this place is all there is. Usenet's on life support (and I blame Usenet's overall decline for m.t.r.'s demise, not any specific problems with that specific group.). Ditto for the Yahoo groups. Facebook groups aren't totally open, either, and we have several here who won't have anything to do with Facebook. (Although there's at least one roadgeek of long standing who refuses to come here; he's expressed his displeasure for php-based forums in the past, but I don't know if he has an issue with the format in general or this forum in particular). So if one wants to discuss roads, by default this is pretty much where you have to go. But I have to say that a conduct of a few members of the roadgeek community (here and elsewhere, and this thread is a good example why) is sucking the joy out of my interest.
But they made a big splash over it, and thus we have the "one size fits all" approach that doesn't differentiate between forum/MTR/roadgeeking veterans and rookies.
To me, the issue was just as much, if not more, about unequal treatment than it was about politics in signatures. How long you've been around, been roadgeeking, etc, has no bearing whatsoever on forum rules. A rule isn't a rule unless one size does fit all - or what's the point of having a rule at all?
You have a lot to learn about how things work in the real world. In just about every aspect of life, things such as age, seniority, education, experience, knowledge, status in the community (this does NOT mean economic status), your personal history, and so on, these things are taken into account into how rigidly the rules are enforced. Different people get leeway with certain things and that's just a fact of life. I had a judge tell me a few years ago that I would be treated differently should I ever come into his courtroom than others because of many of those factors I mentioned. I know that I take those things into account when I interact with others, including on this forum. I will give deference and respect to the long-timers, including those with whom I don't particularly get along, because they have earned it.
Using your logic, cops should write speeding tickets to everyone who goes 1 mph over the limit because a rule is a rule.
Get back to me in about 25 years and tell me how you feel about the matter then.
Nah, I'll stay. I like it better now, not being smacked in the face with unsolicited political opinions
So tell me. If you're driving down the street and you see a bumper sticker supporting a candidate you don't like, what do you do? Do you mutter a few opinions under your breath, or vocalize them if you have a passenger, and then go on? Or do you complain to the DOT and get them to ban bumper stickers entirely? Here's another real-life lesson. You're going to encounter opinions with which you disagree every day, everywhere. You need to learn to deal with it instead of whining and complaining about it. I've had to come to terms with it. (Although I'm sure you didn't mind reading NE2's political comments in his sig/in his profile.) You just didn't want to see something you disagreed with.
"one size fits all" approach that doesn't differentiate between forum/MTR/roadgeeking veterans and rookies.
Rules apply to everyone equally.
Then I expect you'll be removing your profile picture.