People come out and say this all the time about the backroom, but I've never seen it actually become a rude place for a month, then followed by a few civil weeks, then a flamefest for a couple days, then all of a sudden everyone breaks out their Emily Post guides.

There really isn't any fluctuation here. It's a forum where politics are allowed to be discussed, so they naturally dominate the conversation. Everyone knows politics are inherently stupid, so tit for tat and mild personal attacks at least keep them from being boring as well. If politics irritate you, just leave for a bit. I duck out for a week or so at a time fairly often and it helps me.