Gak, please don't quote this stuff at length. Most of us have [-]sihtbox[/-] soapbox on ignore for a reason...
I certainly understand that. (Before I recently became a mod, I had the Soap Box on ignore, too.)
The goal isn't to move the sewage into other boards, but to stop the sewage. The idea is that FIRE-related political discussion will be moved to the new board, and that existing boards won't be allowed to become toxic.
Look, here's the thing for all who aren't sure of the intent. We're not trying to stop all political discussion. As I see it, there are a couple of primary objectives:
(1) Eliminate disrepectful and "flaming" political discussion;
(2) Eliminate political discussion completely unrelated to FIRE and the Quest for FIRE.
I'd like to think point 1 is obvious; it's simply a violation of the Terms of Service and the Community Rules.
Point 2 is something I'd like to expand on. The closing of the Soap Box "as we know it" isn't intended to stifle all political discussion. The intent is to eliminate political discussion that isn't relevant to FIRE or the Quest for FIRE.
Discussion of Social Security reform is relevant to FIRE.
Someone in Iraq throwing a shoe at President Bush is NOT relevant to FIRE.
Health care reform is relevant to FIRE.
Sarah Palin's church being set ablaze is NOT relevant to FIRE.
Medicare reform is obviously related to FIRE.
The status of Barack Obama's birth certificate is NOT all that relevant to FIRE.
I hope you see the pattern. Anything which very clearly relates to the financial ability to retire early -- or stay retired early if you already are -- is fair game.
If it doesn't relate directly to retirement issues -- it's probably out of bounds.
The bottom line is that there are many other places to go if your desire is to debate full-contact politics. This forum is not the place for that.