# Are all the Trump threads diminishing the Straight Dope Brand? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 17, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018 "2017-02-17T00:50:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/101 "2017-02-18T22:07:18Z")
Quartz is right. This place is turning into the Fake Dope. So sad! Cecil should issue an executive order which allows moderators to ban those dishonest posters who post fake comments on our beautiful board. We need to institute a policy of extreme vetting here before it is too late. Let’s Make the Dope Great Again, big league! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/102 "2017-02-18T22:19:59Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Please provide some examples. > > If you’d bothered to check the links I provided, you would have seen that I have already done so. I did when you first posted those links in the OP and I did again today. I don’t agree that your examples show “the hatred and desperation of Dopers to pin fault - any fault - on Trump”. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/103 "2017-02-18T23:26:38Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Do you remember the thread(s?) about liberal hypocrisy and how the lefties told us that pointing out that hypocrisy is not a valid argument and adds nothing to the discussion? So meta. A post complaining about the alleged hypocrisy of complaining about hypocrisy … Makes me head spin. You have your needed trigger warnings in the thread titles. Agreed that Cafe Society and MPSIMS should be available to you as safe spaces. And threads that are not Trump related should not contain gratuitous drive-by comments. But this board’s _brand_ is “Fighting Ignorance” and no matter what your political stripe Trump advocates ignorance as a desired state. He functions with a disregard to actual facts. We attract people who have a _love_ for actual facts … the straight dope … they will be calling out bullshit when it occurs and occurs it does in relation to Trump with more regularity than my toilet habits but more stink. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/104 "2017-02-19T01:48:43Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > But this board’s _brand_ is “Fighting Ignorance” _snip_ And the best way to do that is to call people nazis and white supremacists just for not agreeing with you politically, right? Wrong. That’s spreading ignorance. There are no actual nazis or white supremacists in the Trump administration, no matter how many times someone uses such slurs. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/105 "2017-02-19T02:30:09Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > _snip_ > > And the best way to do that is to call people nazis and white supremacists just for not agreeing with you politically, right? Wrong. That’s spreading ignorance. There are no actual nazis or white supremacists in the Trump administration, no matter how many times someone uses such slurs. What about Steve Bannon? Seriously. Both Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries have publicly called Bannon a white supremacist. So has [former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2017/02/03/stephen-bannon-white-supremacist-or-just-1-fan-white-supremacists/215232): > [@](#): > > There is no ambiguity about which commenters Brannon was referencing. He bragged to Mother Jones at the Republican National Convention in August that Breitbart was “the platform for the alt-right.” And the “alt-right” loves Bannon back. Former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro said that “Breitbart has become the alt-right go-to website, with [editor Milo] Yiannopoulos pushing white ethno-nationalism as a legitimate response to political correctness, and the comment section turning into a cesspool for white supremacist mememakers” (emphasis added). Beyond Yiannopoulos, Breitbart has also hired white nationalists as reporters. Shapiro said the “alt-right” is “shot through with racism and anti-Semitism” and explained the connection with Breitbart at length… Shapiro goes on at length to talk about the anti-semitic ravings of Bannon’s hires. The alt-right may not be literal Swatzika-wearing Nazi party members, but it’s hardly a metaphorical stretch to link this talk with historical precedence. I find the evidence that Steve Bannon is a white supremacist to be overwhelming and convincing. So how is acknowledging that spreading ignorance? How is denying that anything other than not facing up to an unpleasant truth, or worse? Why should anyone believe that he is not once again hiring associates of similar ilk? I can obviously see why you don’t want people putting these truths out in public, but we’re not exactly the ones at fault here. Maybe you should redirect your ire to the proper targets. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/106 "2017-02-19T04:28:47Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > What about Steve Bannon? > > Seriously. Both Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries have publicly called Bannon a white supremacist. So has [former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2017/02/03/stephen-bannon-white-supremacist-or-just-1-fan-white-supremacists/215232): Ah, well, then. Nancy Pelosi said so. It must be true. Don’t you see how unreasonable that position is? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/107 "2017-02-19T04:45:54Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Ah, well, then. Nancy Pelosi said so. It must be true. Don’t you see how unreasonable that position is? It is reasonable as it is clear that she has read about what others reported about what is driving Bannon: [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/27/us/politics/steve-bannon-white-house.html?smid=tw-share&\_r=0](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/27/us/politics/steve-bannon-white-house.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0) > [@](#): > > But if his scathing economic analysis sometimes seemed to dabble in Marxism, on other subjects, including race and religion, he made no concessions to political sensitivities. After Mr. Bannon met Mr. Breitbart at the 2004 screening of “In the Face of Evil,” the two men hit it off, bonding over their similar views and a common irreverent streak. > > Ms. Jones, the film colleague, said that in their years working together, Mr. Bannon occasionally talked about the genetic superiority of some people and once mused about the desirability of limiting the vote to property owners. > > “I said, ‘That would exclude a lot of African-Americans,’” Ms. Jones recalled. “He said, ‘Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.’ He might had gotten better, but as pointed before the clear pandering to racists and neo Nazis at Breitbart does not give one much confidence on that. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/108 "2017-02-19T04:54:42Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > It is reasonable as it is clear that she has read about what others reported about what is driving Bannon: > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/27/us/politics/steve-bannon-white-house.html?smid=tw-share&\_r=0](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/27/us/politics/steve-bannon-white-house.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0) It’s also “been reported” that the moon landings were faked. And? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/109 "2017-02-19T04:59:10Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > It’s also “been reported” that the moon landings were faked. And? There is more evidence then of what Pelosy reported than in a single minute from Fox’s moon hoax show that revived that dumb conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/110 "2017-02-19T15:27:05Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > _snip_ > > And the best way to do that is to call people nazis and white supremacists just for not agreeing with you politically, right? Wrong. That’s spreading ignorance. There are no actual nazis or white supremacists in the Trump administration, no matter how many times someone uses such slurs. Let’s leave aside whether or not Bannon embraces white supremacist thought and the trawling of those sorts of websites for material during the campaign and Trump’s fascist stylings, all in fact reasonable things to discuss, and not calling people that “for disagreeing with me” … seriously … THAT is not what the OP was complaining about nor what I see very much of. The “examples” in the op? Did not contain any of that that I could see. A question as to whether or not Trump may have a reading disability, a discussion about the going into a high-security meeting regarding North Korean nuclear tests in full public view at Mar-a-Lago to the degree that members of the public were taking pictures with what was believed to be the nuclear football, a thread in which the op supported Trump’s wanting to demand NATO pay more, and a thread wondering if the current divide in the country will devolve into civil war. Admittedly I just skimmed them but no calling other disagreeing posters or member of Trump’s administration Nazis or White supremacists in the batch that I saw. So what the fuck are you talking about? In point of fact if someone did call other posters those things outside the Pit I would expect it to be modded. If the threads were all “How does Trump tie his shoes? In little Nazis.” and “How much Führther will Trump go?” and “Who would win a race between all of our modern era’s president’s? Trump. He’s the fascist.” then sure you’d have a point. Discussing a major proposed shift in the relationship with NATO? The recklessness of holding a high security meeting in public view? Asking about Trumps’ apparent reading disability? Riffing on how far our political divide will take us? These, and pointing out all the times he says things that are simply not true, and proposes things that many of us believe are against our country’s core values let alone our best interests, are not unreasonable discussions and mostly (but not completely) intelligent discussion (with sides of humor and snark, and cynicism and skepticism) about subjects of interest, as these are, _is_ the SD brand. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/111 "2017-02-19T16:35:13Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Ah, well, then. Nancy Pelosi said so. It must be true. Don’t you see how unreasonable that position is? What happens if you substitute Trump for Pelosi in that sentence? It’s obviously not an illegitimate comment for posters on either side to quote leaders of their respective parties. It’s the duty of posters to evaluate comments and separate the reasonable from the unreasonable and outright lies, true. But as I said, I evaluated this comment and found it to be accurate. If you’re dismissing all truths said about your side ad hominem then you having nothing to contribute outside the Pit. You’ve written yourself out of existence. Your posts of this kind do diminish the Straight Dope brand. Quartz had it exactly backward in his OP. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/112 "2017-02-19T17:48:18Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > What happens if you substitute Trump for Pelosi in that sentence? IMO, reasonable posters take whatever is said by “leaders” of whatever political party with a huge grain of salt. Quoting the opinion of Mrs. Pelosi or Mr. Trump is an example of argumentum ad verecundiam. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/113 "2017-02-19T17:57:15Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > IMO, reasonable posters take whatever is said by “leaders” of whatever political party with a huge grain of salt. Quoting the opinion of Mrs. Pelosi or Mr. Trump is an example of argumentum ad verecundiam. And cherry-picking one sentence from a post while ignoring linked citation of further analysis is doing what? Your complaint is noted and dismissed for cause. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/114 "2017-02-19T18:04:32Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > IMO, reasonable posters take whatever is said by “leaders” of whatever political party with a huge grain of salt. Quoting the opinion of Mrs. Pelosi or Mr. Trump is an example of argumentum ad verecundiam. But of course I did no such thing. I did my own research and supplied an authoritative cite by a former Breitbart employee. I hope that in the future you will do similar research and check the truth of any words coming out of Trump’s mouth or those of his surrogates before quoting them approvingly. > [@So what is the womens' march supposed to accomplish?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-womens-march-supposed-to-accomplish/777822/68): > > After more than eight years, you’re still clinging to that hope and change nonsense? That tidbit from “So what is the womens’ march supposed to accomplish?” thread tells me what to expect from hope. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/115 "2017-02-19T22:01:25Z")
Finally - a thread where we can talk about Trump without being distracted by a lot of nonsense about this message board. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/116 "2017-02-19T22:30:27Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > And cherry-picking one sentence from a post while ignoring linked citation of further analysis is doing what? Political “analysis” is, by definition, opinion, not factual. One cannot (or at least shouldn’t) attempt to “cite” opinions as if they were facts. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/117 "2017-02-19T22:53:57Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > So meta. A post complaining about the alleged hypocrisy of complaining about hypocrisy … > > Makes me head spin. Not sure how to interpret your post. Just a drive by comment on my part that the liberals hate about call-outs to “Obama did …” yet we have a post (from a mod, not sure how to take that) doing the exact same thing. So a post about hypocrisy criticizining hypocrisy … it’s turtles all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/118 "2017-02-20T21:34:18Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Rasmussen called itself the most accurate pollster of 2016 and the record backs it up. ( [The Hill](http://thehill.com/media/306721-rasmussen-calls-itself-most-accurate-pollster-of-2016)). I think I’ll take their results rather than Gallup’s if you don’t mind. The record “backs it up” if you look at the single narrow number that Rasmussen cites to support their claim (the final spread). But if you look at the overall figures, the closest pollster was… Fox News. They were within 1 point on all four candidates, except Trump who they were 1.9% off on. Rasmussen was three points off on both major candidates, apparently because they had a higher share of undecided/other voters. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/119 "2017-03-02T06:52:45Z")
Micheal and Lindsay Bluth finally do it. Then soon tie the knot. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018/120 "2017-03-02T14:23:29Z")
\*\*Are all the Trump threads diminishing the Straight Dope Brand? \*\* Let’s be realistic. SDMB has been a continuous train wreck for many, many years. The Trump posts are simply a few more cars going off the track. SDMB used to be a place with clever, witty writers that were a pleasure to read. They’re all gone. And it’s sad. This board used to have such potential. Now…we are just watching it circle the drain. Eventually, it will die and we will raise a glass in memory of what it tried to be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-the-trump-threads-diminishing-the-straight-dope-brand/780018.md?page=7)