Did anyone else (like me) mistakenly end up on YA Politics with the intention of possibly LEARNING something?

> Anyway....is there intelligent political discourse anywhere?

Yes. But not here in YA. YA is where you go when it's too cold to stay out on the playground cruelly taunting other children during tetherball.

I rarely go into the government & politics groups unless I'm feeling wildly optimistic about human nature and need to be reminded that most people on the Internet use their anonymity to be ...well, to be vulgar, puerile and moronic.

"Neener neener neener, my dad can beat up your dad."

The YA politics section certainly does seem like a vast intellectual wasteland at times. There are a few genuinely intelligent people here, but mostly what you see here is pure idiocy from people who often have no idea what they are talking about (that goes for both left and right wingers). Sometimes it's amusing, other times it makes me shake my head in disbelief at how stupid people can be. The problem with not only YA, but the internet as a whole, is that every dumba$s with a modem now has a voice. Few of those voices actually deserve to be heard.

There is no intelligent political discourse here. But remember, the basic format mitigates against it. If you really engage in debate with a questioner, both you and the questioner will be reported for chatting, and the exchange will be deleted. Y/A definitely needs a bit of tweaking in what it allows.

Nah, all the good debates happened during the presidential primaries. It's all gone downhill from there. It might pick up a bit with the up coming 2010 elections but since they are all isolated to the various states I don't have very high hopes. We're going to be seeing allot of crap from people talking about elections they can't vote in.

Like a thousand things everyday about Pelosi from people that don't live in California.

I compare it to a drive by shooter with a machine gun loaded with a 500 round clip. Drive by at high speed, spray all the bullets you can and drive away without a care for repercussions.

It's more or less a point and counter point.

Someone will make a statement guised as a question and people will just comment on it wether or not they agree or disagree with the statement.

If you want to learn something from a political site, you have to pay to view it. They only want serious, educated people to participate.

Sometimes . But Intelligent questions might receive one or two answers maybe three if you are lucky . I use to really research my questions . Then I would get maybe two answers . LOL

these aren't boards, and thus are not constructed or set up for proper debate.

make the right contacts and see the articles they put in, otherwise it's a place to have others criticize your thoughts.

Which is useful in itself.

Learning on YA? Wow! They should make a college! LOL!