“Seek first to understand, then to be understood”
1.) First, please READ THIS ENTIRELY – and the full text of any discussion you wish to participate in.
2.) PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC – do not post something unrelated to the specific matter and content of the thread subject. There is ALWAYS a daily open thread available for any subject you feel should get attention. Never place unrelated, “O/T”, or “Off Topic” comments on a thread unrelated to the topic. It is not ok to say: “sorry, O/T but”… or any iteration therein, it is quite rude.
The Treehouse operates on the ‘old school’ standards and practices of civil discourse amid the original blogging community, long before social media took over.
3.) PLEASE NARROW YOUR THOUGHTS – Quality beats quantity. Please construct your comments to target specific areas and not broad generalizations about the discussion topic at hand. If you have four or five disconnected points, break them up into individual comments; that allows people to respond to the specifics.
4.) PLEASE AVOID GENERALIZATIONS – Do NOT speak in riddles. Words like “he, she, they, it, them” should rarely be used. Spell out “who” using the name, spell out who “they” are at the beginning of every sentence in your paragraph; so that there is clarity as to who you are talking about. Please avoid using acronyms.
5.) BLOCK PARAGRAPHS – Do not post huge blocks of text. Think of the reader, and modify your presentation for understanding, not for exclaiming. Do not write to yourself, you are writing to others, so please structure your thoughts so other people can grasp and enjoy. NEVER post massive blocks of text without paragraph breaks.
Do not post huge blocks of text
6.) PARAGRAPHS – Should NEVER be longer than two or three sentences taking up three to five standard lines of text. Again, you are writing to be understood, the emphasis should be on the reader comprehending what you are sharing.
Do not post huge blocks of text
7.) SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION – This is not school, and we do not demerit for poor spelling, nor do we allow anyone to call others out for the same. However, if your construct is too poorly written the context is lost and important details can be missed. Read the comment carefully before you send it. Proofread it again. Does it make sense?
8.) TIME – Everyone ‘s time is valuable. Many of our discussion threads are 500 to 1,000+ comments long. We try to limit the comments to 500 and then post another related thread, but with some research threads it is challenging because we do not want to break a continuity.
9) CITATIONS – There’s a big difference between an opinion and an assertion of fact. Obviously, most comments are providing opinions, the discussion expands when we hear them. However, if you are making an assertion of fact, you must attach a citation for review. If you do not have a citation – don’t post; this avoids spreading rumors, gossip and unfounded claims. Also related, do not post random links without an explanation of the reason, purpose and content that is behind the link.
10.) THOUSANDS ARE WATCHING – For every person writing a comment, there are easily hundreds of thousands of reading lurkers on every discussion thread. Do not disparage our conversation with vulgarity, profanity, or any expressions of any “ism”.
In the modern era of the internet, there are many voices who try to shut down conversation and information sharing. We put a lot of effort, more than anyone could imagine, into keeping this little corner of the internet open for you to research, share and discuss some pretty important stuff. Please do not provide ammunition to those who seek information control through deplatforming.
11.) MODERATION / FILTERING THE HATE – Because of our honest approach at seeking facts and truth, and openly discussing various analytical theories along the way, we are bombarded by those with ulterior motives which include:
- Intentional efforts to distract.
- Intentional diatribes to affix labels to our objectives.
- Intentional expressions of rabid hate, vulgarity, and threats.
- Trolling and professional obfuscation.
- Concern Trolling as a tool of distraction and derailing conversation.
- Psy-ops and intentional efforts to diminish fact-finding.
We do our earnest best to stop the agenda-horde at the moderation gates, however sometimes they get through.
If you see something untoward say something. When a new comment surfaces that we view is likely presented only to argue, we watch carefully – but we also are not perfect. You can help. There is a flag feature that helps identify trouble. Also, feel free to alert us via email.
12.) MANNERS MATTER – Simple kindnesses and courtesy should always be present in tone and content. When writing, ask yourself before you hit send: does this add value?
13.) NO PERSONAL ATTACKS – Ever. The fastest way to lose commenting privileges is to ridicule, bully or personally attack another person’s opinion or comment. Unfortunately, people, often good people, let their passion interfere with good manners and personal judgement. If you cannot be polite or respectful, pause – and – do not comment.
14.) TONE and HONESTY – Often the information and research CTH provides are about challenges we face and/or events that are hidden from larger review. It can be frustrating to see the scale of corruption; however, only you control how that information is absorbed by you. The truth doesn’t care about our feelings. Try to keep an even keel and optimistic disposition.
15.) DEVICES – It is a reality that many people use their phones to browse information and/or comment. Cellular phones and iPads are okay for reading, but also present challenges in commenting. Please make every effort to avoid the run-on issue of text from these devices. Put extra spaces in your paragraphs. Also remember your service provider (ISP) may have filters to limit the websites they permit you to view. It’s not CTH, nine out of ten issues are related to your service provider.
This control issue is worse in 2022 for obvious reasons.
SUMMARY: The Tree House community has historically accomplished a lot. Through exhaustive research and analysis our accuracy and reputation for truthful fact-finding, regardless of discomfort, is well regarded. Retain that distinction of intellectual armament.
We are The Conservative Tree House, not because of any political affiliation, but rather because the word “conservative” expresses our outlook. We would rather be deep, than wide; we would rather be honest, than popular; we avoid semantics in favor of accurately presenting both intention and meaning.
We are bold in our willingness to go into conversational places where others do not, and we are brave enough to stand firm for principles which are time tested.
We would rather advertise our outlook, so the viewer can understand our perspective on a particular subject, than deceptively claim we are something else and deliver an inherently biased view. The entire spectrum of the MSM is based on the latter.
Every reader knows where we stand on almost any issue, and our opinions -while they may be unpopular- are based on solid research and analytical insight into the subject matter at hand. This is why our predictive analysis is routinely more accurate than others.
Lastly, and most importantly, this Treehouse is a conversation. A place to connect and realize you are not alone. There really are more intellectually honest, kind and pragmatic problem solvers, than people who choose to be angry and comfortable with perpetual conflict.
Hopefully, a visit to this little corner of the internet is just like sitting on a porch with friends. And because the “conversation” is the reason we are here, this means YOU are important; do not diminish yourself.
[Remember] …” However, each of us got here, it’s probably a fact that we have the turmoil of those storms in common, perhaps some unease that we could share and always, we also find fresh ground to cover from day to day.
We’re developing valuable relationships as we trust one another in our community in the woods. The chatting in the branches encourages, strengthens and equips for some serious walking.
We think the Treehouse is a good intellectual armory for those who doing long distance walking for the sake of our nation. We hope you’ll think so, too. Find yourself a good branch….or just pull up a rock to the campfire”.
Wolverines faithfully patrol the perimeter.
Humor is also a good way to avoid fear. A laugh in a foxhole is priceless.
Be kind and please be respectful… Manners really do matter… after all, this is a fellowship.
Love to all,
Ok. I’m complying (I think).
The fact you have to spell this out smh.. What ever happened to discourse.. SMH.. Soldier on in any case 😎
New here?
Or new name?
Month or so
Long time reader
A longtime reader who never looked to the top of this site’s home page for Commenting Guidelines?
Interesting.
I was brought up not dragged up. Ya know civil discorse
👍 Welcome to the TreeHouse! Keep posting!
Chingway: “The fact you have to spell this out..”
Also Chingway: “SMH”
My comment you criticized isn’t for you. Obviously, you don’t comprehend it. It’s a courteous comment for Sundance and the mods in acknowledgment of this post. Obviously, the guidelines are needed for people like you.
11.) MODERATION / FILTERING THE HATE
12.) MANNERS MATTER
13.) NO PERSONAL ATTACKS
14.) TONE
What came to mind as I read this was the song “We are all Bozo’s On this Bus” by The Firesign Theater in the 60’s
Sundance, Thanks for the reminders and for articulating a sense of this place for new readers.
I admit to hitting the guardrails occasionally, and apologize for those lapses.
More than anything the fellowship and conversation is top notch.
Thank you for providing this haven!
Thanks all for joining in!
Thank you.
Sometimes the garden needs a little tending.
your a good man sundance
thank you
Person, not necessarily man. I think Sundance is a woman, an exceptional woman.
why?
Man, not necessarily appreciative of being Transed by a noob without manners.
I’m glad you posted this again, we have a tremendous number of new posters – who knows how long they’ve been readers here – and that’s good if more people are learning, BUT my goodness the tenor of the conversation has diminished considerably.
Or maybe everyone is just crotchety because of the state of our current world.
Crotchety my household is
I believe my comments are ok, but I can confirm I am most definitely crotchety due to the current state of the world.
Sundance: Thanks for reminder. Plead guilty to have responded to O/T yesterday.
Will be mindful in future.
I’ve taken to simply dropping “OT BUTT” on those occasions, hoping the treble entendre gets through.
It’s frustrating, because quite often they are actually something I might appreciate reading, but man, what a way to blow a thread completely off course.
As you observed, it’s best to not add to the distraction; just yesterday a single OT BUTT ended up consuming almost an entire page of an important thread.
SD, respectfulness truly requires a higher intellect.
Not to be confused with weakness but offering another opportunities to check themselves before offering a helping hand.
Not sure your number in years but you are well seasoned in respect, courtesy, And intellect.
Thank you sir
Okay. I read it thoroughly and understand. Thank you for all you guys do to keep us all informed.
Thanks!
Do not post huge blocks of text. Thank you!
Humor is always allowed and needed with us mules.
Thank you Sundance. God bless you.
I’m sure I’ve read this missive dozens of times by now.
I never skip it, I never skim it, I soak it up as best I can.
Congratulations CTH on the best and generally most civil conversation on the internet.
Amen Maquis this is without question the best corner in the crapisphere known as the world wide web . Be well stay strong
R.D.
…”crapisphere”…so funny, so true!
❤️
Patriot1783
After reading these guidelines previously, I have to admit that I often find myself correcting my comments before posting. And not just here, I do it everywhere.
My biggest issue is to have to put in actual names, to ensure there is no confusion. I fix that a lot.
After that is punctuation, spelling and paragraphs – but my skills are maths, not English. So it’s probably still wrong 😂
i am mindful on other sites when people get corrected for miner spelling and/or punctuation flubs.
thank you for the reminder
I’m in.
So many trolls are neutralized by, “Seek first to understand, then be understood.”
I use it everywhere..
Perhaps I’m being too literal, but are we really being asked to read everything in the discussion before commenting? Even when there are hundreds of comments?
The no acronym rule is a breath of fresh air. We are drowning in acronyms these days.
IKR?
😁
At a minimum we need to read Sundance’s post in full first. Peeps all too often read the headline and race to post a comment that doesn’t fit or ask a question that was already answered in his post.
I cannot speak authoritatively to a requirement to read every comment before you do, some threads are indeed daunting, but I can attest to the frustration experienced by most when someone bops in after hundreds of comments and asks a question that was almost guaranteed to have been asked and answered already, usually dozens of times.
At such times many of us simply suggest they seek to see how many times their question was already answered, it’s not very kind to demand to know something when they should recognize that by several hundred comments they aren’t likely the first to think it.
Courtesy and kindness and a little common sense go a long way here.
“Love to all,..”
Back atcha, and thank you for this site and forum.
I admit that the last couple days I should have followed your example and just stayed quiet, Sundance.
Sundance, thank you for the reminder, this site, and all that you do!
Love you! MAGA 👊👊🇺🇸🇺🇸🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️❤️
Thank you, Sundance for the reminders.
I appreciate all the work you do and CTH is my most trusted source of real news and I enjoy the comments.
God bless.
So I shouldn’t say: The VP is such a VIP we should keep his arrival on the QT or he may end up a MIA and we will all end up on KP. – Robin Williams – Good Morning Vietnam –
Good morning Everyone, and no I am not mocking Sundance. Nothing but Respect for him.
Thanks for the reminders, Sundance — you are a gentleman and a scholar. Appreciate the civility and love in this forum — best bunch of kindred spirits in the land!
Thank you for sharing this. I starting coming here when American Greatness starting going downhill, and then put comment privileges behind a paywall. I used to visit once in while, but now I drop by multiple times daily. Thank you also for the effort you put in to make this a site conservatives and MAGA can trust. Keep it up!
Oh, one of the benefits of Disqus at AG was when someone replied to a specific post we would be notified in our e-mail. With whatever you use that is not the case here. I’ve started keeping the e-mail with the link to the post on the approval, and click on that to see if anyone has replied. The thing I loved most about AG was the back and forth; I learned a lot.
Thanks again.
Who is Sundance….never mind. I dont want to know. I like my mental image. 🙂
I need to tighten up.
More cats please!
I thought I was awake but was still sitting on my bunk. I appreciate the bugle from CTH.
I suspect people write large posts because they have no one else to talk to. They are surrounded by members of the Church of Man. They think they are alone.
Folks, we will find each other. Hum a hymn in line and meet others [a kind of fish in the sand]. We all look different so no stereotypes.
Most importantly prepare. (Look up “souper” during Irish famine.) Food, water, medicine, supplies. Then sit quietly in your stand. Let the enemy come out of hiding.
The largest crowds at Hyde Park, not matter the topic, were those by speakers who spoke well.
Thanks for all you do Sundance and Menagerie and all moderators!
I’m glad to see this timely reminder. Thank you Sundance and Ad Rem for stepping in with guidance to keep our discourse on topic, informative *and* civil. Your website is second to none!