[Hawkeye]

Man, I don't think I would even want to be on a forum like that. One of the main reasons I don't visit macrumors much anymore is because they are all super liberal... turns into a key party anytime I try and throw some actual facts into the mix.

[mkoesel]

I agree with the moderator that the comment isn't particularly funny, but I would not have given you an infraction for what is ultimately, as the article linked to by another poster above discusses, a statement that can be traced back to fact.

However, depending on context, I may very well have deleted the post. If the thread were regarding the demographics of the Subaru target market or some similar type of academic discussion, I would probably just leave it unless it became the source of conflict. If the thread were regarding someone sharing pictures of their Subaru or perhaps another person's Subaru which they were admiring, I'd probably delete the comment because experience tells me that such a comment is meant to be antagonistic and it almost surely *will* become the source of conflict.

If my memory serves, the OP owns a Hellcat and has created a thread about it. If someone were to go into that thread and make a comment like "Hellcats, rednecks love 'em!", my suspicion is that the OP would likely be inclined to report it to the moderators. Whether that were the case or whether I stumbled onto such a comment myself, I'd delete it.

Forums should be a place to express opinions, but you have to balance that with keeping the place relatively free from hostility and blatant trolling. If you don't, eventually all the folks simply looking for insightful discussion leave and you are left with riff-raff and trolls.

Cheers

[jmg]

Forums are privately owned. If they don't want certain content, they have a right to regulate as they see fit. Imagine using someone's house as a meeting place for friends. One would expect to obey the house rules out of respect of the house owners. It's an infraction, they didn't fine you, it doesn't cost anything, what you did isn't illegal. Its a gesture to let you know you did something they don't want in their house.

As far as them being "democrats". Think of it this way: what if they were hardcore republican conservatives with anti-gay beliefs. What if being gay is highly immoral to them and they happens to also own a Subaru? Associating them with lesbians might be considered an insult. On the flip side, what if they had a relative who was a victim of a hate crime for being lesbian? What if they themselves are victims of hate crimes and discrimination because of their sexual preferences? Maybe they know that the seed of discrimination can grow in the shallowest and dryest of soil?