I thought the Palin one went pretty good, for a while. (with a few exceptions)
One thing that would help:
For example - If a member doesn't know about the differences in the quality of a circuit board in an amp, and how that might effect it's lifespan and / or durability. That member wouldn't dream of offering an opinion and possibly would avoid that thread altogether.
On the other hand, when it comes to political threads, members armed with nothing but an opinion and emotion,
will argue to the death about something they know little about, and have no first hand experience with.
Just my two cents.