Jed, there is still a small handful of good music threads and some folks are hanging in because of those. The problem is that the folks who want to be involved in that type of discussion have answers, not questions - those would come from newbies most likely. Most of the newbies seem to be attracted to the political debates.

Especially the huge number of "GUESTS." There's also the huge number of posts by one guest, and people tend to reply to her when she's being particularly nast as opposed to when she's not.

There is very little self control and no consensus on what 'self control' even means. You can post anything you want, you can respond to personal attacks, and no worries - if it's over the top, Joe will make it disappear.

I've posted "why can't people be nicer" messages before. The responses I've seen to me and others usually include things like:

"I don't see anything wrong" (and the implied: "...and I don't give a shit if you do."),
"There's plenty of music here" (and the implied: "and I don't give a shit if people were so bothered by the anger and/or volumes of BS they left because it's Not My Problem),
"It's Max's/Joe's fault for a) not making the site members only and/or b) deleting stuff that doesn't fit (and the implied: "according to me. Because I/we can't be expected to agree on any 'rules' about what belongs and what's civil"),
"Just read what you want to read" (and the implied: "because you should be able to predict which threads will turn nasty")
--Not including the standard "Use the BS filter, dumbass" because Jed wasn't focusing on BS but the "hate and rage."

There are also people who agree with you but don't think there's anything that can be done. I think there is - not to stop the angry stuff but to create more discussions about music. You can't make things go away, but you can make things appear. The bottom line, the ultimate truth is that you only control your own actions.

You might not have any questions, but a thread doesn't have to start with a question. Rick's started threads about guitar geek stuff. Maybe there's a music issue you feel strongly about or know a lot about? You can simply open a door and lets others come in. It does take a bit of work to think of a topic that will be interesting musically, but it beats sitting around wishing someone else will eventually post something you're interested in. (And no, it ain't easy or others would be doing it.)