[lookout123]

Regardless of the outcome, thanks for the thread Jim. It has led me to look at my own relationship with the cellar and that is a good thing, I think.

It seems the Classic side of this equation has been settled while the Redux/Merc angle is still playing out. Some have said that Merc is a troll and to a degree I agree. In the politics forums he does troll for reactions with his "demoncrat" this and "republickan" that (or whatever his current names are) persistently. I find it unfortunate as I think he has some views which would be quite useful if they were presented in a more professional manner. If this thread causes him to stop and rethink his presentation then great, but I don't really think it will. I may be way off base but I picture Merc sitting at home chuckling to himself as he pushes the popcorn smilie button. It amuses him to stir the shit, which is definitely an attribute of a troll. (which can be fun if not overused) He offsets some of that by actually being a real person in the other threads though, so for me that is a positive.

It seems like the consensus is that Redux is not a troll because he posts grammatically correct spellchecked posts with citations. Fair enough, but imo Redux is every bit as much of a troll as Merc. The only real difference is Redux is better/more subtle at it. His posts drip with condescension for anyone who holds an opposite view. He rarely offers any insight as to why he believes something or what makes him tick. A thread is started and after a couple of people have posted their thoughts (usually without citations) he drops in some citations that would support an opposing view but gives no glimpse as to why his view of the world brings him to hold some things as good and some things as bad. He's like the cellar's resident research assistant, so long as you only want the left leaning research. Without any original thoughts his posts offer nothing of value, imo.

For me, the cellar is about people. 6 years ago I'd try to explain a story or interaction from the cellar to Mrs L and she thought I was an idiot for telling stories about the internet, but after all this time (with only intermittent first hand visits) she gets the cellar. While she doesn't visit often she asks about some of the events described, issues with kids, or someone's view on a particular issue. She understands the cellar is about the people and their personalities, not just a bunch of regurgitated facts. We have political aggregators for each partyline if that's all you're looking for. I don't really value posters, but I do appreciate dwellars.

That being said, this is a self policing community and as such will police itself. If the drama continues more dwellars will drift away which will be a shame, but the cellar will carry on as new people will come in and pick up where they left off. It is up to the individual dwellar to decide if the cellar (or any community) is a net positive or negative in their life and then decide to do something (or not) about it.