It seems that I need to remind a number of you that politics are not acceptable in this forum. It does not matter what day it is today or any other day. This is a travel forum. That means no topics on political subjects, no side comments, no unnecessary references, no jabs... do not bring it up. It almost always devolves into arguments, and arguments are to be kept off our boards at all times. Even when it doesn't create an argument in the moment, nothing is faster at creating division among the members of our community.
When a thread goes off the rails, do not expect moderators to take time pruning a thread to retain useful info further up thread. It takes significant time out of our primary jobs to read through all posts of a thread to determine what should and shouldn't be retained. Moderators are trained to simply remove a problematic thread if it cannot be quickly brought back on topic with the removal of a post or two. With apologies to those who genuinely contributed, this is the way it has been and needs to be for folks to understand that there are consequences for bringing up politics.
Because we all know who Rick is and someone will want to argue the point, yes, he is political. But not here.
Be careful with exceptions. Yes, you may reference someone in politics such as a US president if it is specifically about something they do that affects travel and if your post is devoid of political commentary. You can refer to a protest, demonstration, or a strike if you keep the focus on how it affects travel in the local area. However, to be clear, reference to a political figure or event does not excuse you to reply with political commentary. Keep Community Guideline #4 in mind.
Keep threads on topic (#1). If you're always making your post about travel, you're in the clear.