How right you are. We really do have an enormous diversity of voices and styles here on CP. As DDog states, the community tends to be self-pruning. The heart here is strong. The core ideals tend to pull things back on course when upsets inevitably occur. Those who cannot or will not ride the currents will drift away. And sometimes you've got to give the raft a push.
The fact that a member in good standing can post on such a potentially polarizing topic and get back thoughtful viewpoints is a very good sign. Hell, Swissy made a fistful of great points in his post.
I think that we might try slicing up the situation in another way just to see if it sheds further light on things.
Let's say that as the membership grows, there is a further increase in these fluff/fun/frivolity posts. And let's say that even fairly stringent measures (that do not seriously diminish the open and friendly atmosphere) taken to quell that have met with limited success. I think that in that case, we could conclude that this has become a persistent feature of the community. Maybe one that only emerges as a problem when there are 5,000 members as opposed to when there were 2,000. For anyone who is familiar with dynamic systems theory, you'll know what I mean.
In any case, one option at that time would be to take even harsher actions and risk changing the nature of CP. Alternatively, it might be suggested to Rod that we could use a "Way Off Topic" forum to shunt these impulses. Of course the final decision would be Rod's. But the decision might come down to one of "gripping more firmly" versus "relieving the tension."
Wilkey