To concur, I have been a moderator on a number of forums, far more homogeneous than this one, they have just the right touch in my opinion.

As to the request for a low-moderated sub-forum, I'd say this. Unless you are going to require people to cite sources of informatin (with footnotes or the like), you are going to end up with a "You are wrong because I said so!". This is nigh invariable.

Find virtually any free-for-all political forum out there (and there are many) and that is what you get.