# A plea for political civility (yes, even in the pit) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 24, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529 "2004-11-24T20:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/1 "2004-11-24T20:57:32Z")
As Dopers our mission statement, if you will, is to fight ignorance. As such, I feel it is essential that we refine our usage of language to give it greater resonance with reality. Statements such as “The Republicans blah blah blah…” “The Liberals blah blah blah…” serve no real purpose. I have news for y’all, The Republicans do not exist. They just don’t. Neither do The Democrats. There are people, messy, chaotic, organic people who happen to belong to political camps. But there is certainly no uniformity in their beliefs, attitudes, actions, etc… Any attempt to make groups fungible does a fundamental disservice to the cause of fighting ignorance. Categories are linguistic fictions. The degree to which we act as if they are real is the degree to which we divorce ourselves from reality. It is a sloppy and lazy tactic to describe all of your ‘opposition’ with one-word-generalizations. Instead of discussing what certain people who happen to be republicans think/feel/do, it’s easier to say “The Republicans are…” But it’s also totally false to facts, and ends up painting your fellow Dopers with a brush that they may or may not deserve. This goes double for oh-so-cute phrases like “The Repugs.” Can we just drop this shit? Even in terms of our politicians there is debate and disagreement. There is individuality, growth, change, uniqueness. Let’s play straight here. Please. P.S. As a caveat, I am sure that I’m guilty of this to a certain degree. And yes, I would appreciate being called on it when and if I screw up. P.P.S. No, I don’t have any cites, but any casual browsing of recent threads should turn up enough example to kill a horse. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/2 "2004-11-24T21:01:37Z")
Finn good luck with this, but don’t hold your breath. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/3 "2004-11-24T21:04:57Z")
Hear hear, FinnAgain! That kind of crap just drives me crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/4 "2004-11-24T21:05:57Z")
Nice idea, but it stands no chance in hell. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/5 "2004-11-24T21:06:48Z")
The conservatives are all the same-- they’ll never agree to this. Same thing for the liberals. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/6 "2004-11-24T21:07:14Z")
Yeah, let me know how this thread works out for you. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/7 "2004-11-24T21:09:08Z")
You have my full support! Lets do it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/8 "2004-11-24T21:16:18Z")
A suggestion: let’s turn this thread into a cesspool. No, not right now: do you go out back to your cesspool and splash around in it? If you do, you’re not invited to my house. When you encounter stanky crap, however, you send it to the cesspool. And that’s what I think we should do: when someone makes these types of obnoxious generalizations, instead of responding to them in the thread where they occur, point them here. I think **Lib** pioneered this posting strategy with **Desmo** awhile ago; I like the idea. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/9 "2004-11-24T21:19:57Z")
**Loach** , **Exgineer** : S’okay, I’ve got a place in my heart for lost causes. **Liberal** : ~bows humbly~ Thank you kindly. **John Mace** : 😃 **Lord Ashtar** : You want emails or smoke signals? 😉 **Khadaji** : Alright! You, me, and **Lib** makes an army of three. Soon we will be unstoppable! (mwahahaha) Seriously though folks, the responsibility, and the power, is in our hands. **We** help set the tone of the boards, **we** help define what is acceptable behavior and what isn’t. If, as Dopers, we don’t put up with this sort of stuff when we see it happening, I honestly believe that it will become de rigeur. On preview **Left Hand of Dorkness** : As the OP, I wouldn’t be opposed to that idea. Not totally sold on it however, I still think it would be useful if, in threads where it happens, people are, gently yet firmly, shown the error of their rhetoric. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/10 "2004-11-24T21:28:28Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > On preview **Left Hand of Dorkness** : As the OP, I wouldn’t be opposed to that idea. Not totally sold on it however, I still think it would be useful if, in threads where it happens, people are, gently yet firmly, shown the error of their rhetoric. Perhaps. My experience is that people respond to such gentle corrections with shrill denials that they’ve done anything wrong, often extending to the multiples of pages, and often leading to a fatal threadjack. A link to this thread might keep this as the place for the shrill denials, keeping the original thread (relatively) clean. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/11 "2004-11-24T21:49:03Z")
**Finn** : fuck you! (Oh, and I totally agree with your OP. Even though it won’t work.) Asshole! ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/12 "2004-11-24T22:16:26Z")
**FinnAgain** I appreciate the nobility of your starting this thread in the attempt to bring civility and comportment to this message board _particularly_ with political topics. I agree with you 100 per cent except you are forgetting one important fact. When it comes to uncivil behavior and inappropriate language - the “Repugs” started it !!! Did not Did too Did not Did too Did not Did too I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this topic in a mature and sophisticated manner. * * * I’m George “Dubya” Bush and I disprove this massage. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/13 "2004-11-24T22:34:02Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > A suggestion: let’s turn this thread into a cesspool. To important an idea–it needs it’s own thread. When ready, simply start a thread called “The Cesspool of Peurile Partisanship” or some such and, when ready, begin politely referring people. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/14 "2004-11-24T23:22:28Z")
**Giraffe** : Cool cool, I’m not quite ready to give up on it just yet. (motherfucker) **wolf\_meister** : Noble? Awwwww shucks… ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/15 "2004-11-25T00:05:23Z")
I think we should vote on this. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/16 "2004-11-25T00:22:22Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I think we should vote on this. Honestly? Or have I been wooshed? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/17 "2004-11-25T00:33:40Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > That kind of crap just drives me crazy. Then maybe you should stop doing it. Just a wild thought, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/18 "2004-11-25T00:42:24Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Then maybe you should stop doing it. Just a wild thought, mind you. [see also irony](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5535972&postcount=191) ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/19 "2004-11-25T00:57:22Z")
Applause for a most worthy endeavor. The months leading up to the election really became tiresome. Hopefully all of the goat-felching, otter-sniffing, syphlitic pus bags who like to call others names will be nicely cooperative. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529/20 "2004-11-25T01:09:28Z")
**danceswithcats** : Thank you. I wonder if it wouldn’t be possible to procure a load of Dr. Weird’s phone spiders and modify them for internet use… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plea-for-political-civility-yes-even-in-the-pit/276529.md?page=2)