Try not reading any political or controversial thread. If it bothers you just ignore and move on. There is a huge crisis going on in this country and it is only natural that were people spend their time and with their online friends they want to share their opinions too, regarding what is affecting their lives. It is no different than someone asking others to pray about a sick loved one. Or to talk about their dog, or their favorite car. Rational people are capable of discussing most topics including politics and religion without attacking the opposing person, and exchanging view points. It is nothing but political correctness that has deemed it unacceptable to talk publicly and openly about something that is so important to our lives.
It would be nice that we have one current events forum, for these kind of posts, and that the topic titles of that forum NOT show up in the Active thread list, so anyone that wants to participate in those discussions has to subscribe to see such a forum. That way anyone that wants to ignore that forum can easily do it.
Personally I spend 80% of my online time here at SMF, I want to discuss current events with my online friends and hear their opinions and outlook, I want my thinking challenged. Many of us post a lot here on SMF, we are active net citizens of SMF, I wouldn't think of looking for a political forum on another site, SMF people are very much like me, they seem to enjoy what I enjoy, there is a commonality, thus I care what they think, and hopefully they would be interested in what I think. Based on our posts on the topic we all agree on smoking meat, we learn and come to respect the other SMF members. Because of that earned respect I want to hear those same people on other topics too. So PM Jeff if you want a Current Events forum restricted to subscribers only. (Subscriber as in the UserCp subscription list/forum/threads, not paid membership.)