I think this would be a worthy category.


....and if you don't agree, then screw you.

Most Level Headed Member is the category that goes to the member that is most civil. Just ask Mrs. Pigpen, who has won it more than anyone.

I always took "Most Level Headed Member" to mean most sensible, as in, most likely to listen to reason, see both sides of the debate, etc.

I mean, its basically the same thing.

What ever it means, Mrs. P., would be a good candidane if their were such an award.

leder's right here in regards to the award.

Of course, we could always change the name of the award from 'most level headed' to 'most civil' if we have enough of you who want that. Let's hear from - should we change the name of this award? Either way, we're game.

I don't think it makes any difference, but either way, Mrs. P is still a good candidate.

To me, "level headed" means sensible, wise, and/or rational.

"Civil" means polite, and/or restrained.

I don't think they're the same qualities, even if one person could be said to exemplify them both. (For example, I think Wertz was always the former, but not always the latter ... and I think Blackstone is almost always the latter, but nowhere near always the former.)

I agree that levelheadedness and civility are not the same thing; but if we're going to treat them as the same thing, I would vote to keep the title as it is now.

I think the same way, and as such I think level-headedness is an admirable quality on debate boards, because it's most likely to be constructive and to keep the debate flowing.

I'm not sure that civility without level-headedness is automatically positive. Remembering to say "please" and "thank you" and to call people you don't know "sir" or "madam" would qualify as civil, but if what you say between the niceties is garbage then I don't think anyone could sensibly call you the most level-headed debater.

For example, if I were to say to anyone on these boards "In my opinion, you, sir, are of less than adequate intelligence to contribute meaningfully to this debate topic" that would be perfectly civil, but would be in breach of the Rules.

Therefore, my vote is to leave things as they are for this award.

I think there's a real knack to being able to vehemently disagree with someone without losing civility. I would also assert that there may be some "wingnut" or "moonbat" in our forum who might not qualify for the Most Level-Headed award, but who would appreciate being recognized for not abusing other posters while trying to defend his/her position. Aside from the extreme people on the site, there are just some nice people who post here who might not be recognized as level-headed per se. So I'm in favor of an award for civility. It might inspire the rest of us to try a little harder.

Hear hear!

I second that [e]motion.


I wish I had more of both qualities.

This was my thinking exactly. I was reading a post by a regular contributor (whose will remain nameless unless this becomes a category), and it struck me that this guy jumps into all kinds of threads, no matter how contentious, and always manages to stay above the fray while still making his points. Whether or not his points are sensible (they are) is not important.

's biggest distinction from other forums, as I understand it, is the relative calm on the boards. Sometimes it has to be enforced by a referee, but usually we can count on members to voluntarily keep the atmosphere pleasant enough. I would think that "Most Civil Debater" would be a real honor around here.

Maybe I'm feeling a bit too cynical and shouldn't post this, but...

Not many of you are posting ANY nominations AT ALL in ANY category. Because of this, we're frankly not inclined to make ANY new categories. For this year, we're going to stick with the ones we have.

If you like - let us know who you think is best!

Wow. And here I thought I had a couple of weeks to consider.

Wow, what? What does that mean? See why one-liners aren't useful?

EDIT: Ah, you edited... you're right there ARE a few weeks left. I think my grief over the loss of Wertz & nighttimer's hiatus are making me a bit maudlin. They were always the best at getting the nominations rolling... sigh... you know I love all of you

Sorry... edited to add more.