Rule 1 of the political/blogging game – there are no rules. But that doesn’t mean it has to operate like the wild west.

Some blogs like to play dirty. One in particular likes to brag about playing dirty and has said a number of times that dirty is they only way worth playing. That blog has also been whining a lot about being cut out of the loop and ignored. And whine about others playing dirty. So they try more dirt. Hypocrites and poor  learners.

Robust debate is encouraged here. Challenging crap from others is encouraged here. That will mean some people will get their noses out of joint and react badly.

It’s important to not lower to their level. Keep to facts and fair opinion.

They insist on the dirty way -they are trying to antagonise and inflame and smear. They have trouble dealing with it when they are politely confronted.

I’m insisting on keeping it decent here. It’s possible, and overall far more effective – to argue reasonably when you argue strongly.

In the heat of discussions things will inevitably get a bit messy at times. We can cut a bit of slack on that usually.

But calculated and deliberate dirt is not welcome here. If that’s your game please disgrace yourself somewhere else.

There’s no rules of the game here. But we should all apply human decency in what we do.

If you get overheated and say anything here you regret then do the decent thing and retract, apologise, or whatever you think is appropriate. If you want to withdraw what you’ve said get in touch and I’ll edit for you.

Keep reasonable alongside robust, and don’t do the dirt here that others do elsewhere.