Personally, I try to promote discussions of design and other things that interest me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I as you know occasionally comment on politics, and often regret it for the reasons you suggest. It doesn’t promote anything, it’s just negative. For that reason I’ve significantly reduced both my reading and writing about anything political. The dark side of blogging is too easily accessible into when posting on politics.

On a positive note, discussions on some things seem to work fairly well in this format. Design is one of those things. It often promotes discussion, and benefits those who are in search of design information and assistance.