# Change in Signature Line **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072 "2011-01-18T15:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/21 "2011-01-19T16:02:06Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > OK…maybe I will change my sig to something offensively anti-liberal, and just happen to post with that sig displayed in every thread where the OP uses his offensively pointed political sig. “I hate [name of candidate]” might be stupid, but it’s not offensive, which is why everybody on the staff who responded to **twickster** ’s email agreed there was no reason for us to prevent the OP from using it if he wanted to. It’s also a poor comparison to your comment about “whiny bitches.” > [@](#): > > Or maybe a better rule would be “no political jabs in sigs”. How is that a better rule? It’s more onerous, less respectful of members, and makes an issue out of something that has never been a problem. There’s never been a rule against political statements in sigs in the first place and I can’t think of any board wide signature fights. Can you? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/22 "2011-01-19T16:21:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > How is that a better rule? It’s more onerous, less respectful of members, and makes an issue out of something that has never been a problem. There’s never been a rule against political statements in sigs in the first place and I can’t think of any board wide signature fights. Can you? I don’t think the issue has come up before…but you know me. If this guy gets to drop his little political jabs in otherwise non-political threads, I am going to insist that Conservatives be allowed to retaliate in kind. And then, as a mod, you get to deal with the inevitable complaints along the lines of “Oak wasn’t really participating in the thread, he was just countering the Palin jab with his sig, and all conservatives suck really bad, so you should probably ban him…and all conservatives…because everybody here hates conservatives”. Straight up, I think this has potential to develop into a pain in the ass for the mods, and yet another slap in the face to conservatives. We really are not well treated here…there are not many of us as it is. I realize there are many that likely strongly prefer to never hear a dissenting view. I hope…but am far from certain…that the staff recognizes some value in having some of us around for some diversity of opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/23 "2011-01-19T16:36:18Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I don’t think the issue has come up before… Which doesn’t mean that nobody has ever had a political message in a signature. It just means nobody has asked us our opinion about it. > [@](#): > > If this guy gets to drop his little political jabs in otherwise non-political threads, I am going to insist that Conservatives be allowed to retaliate in kind. You don’t need to insist on anything. “I hate Barack Obama” would obviously be just as acceptable. I really think you’re spending too much energy on this, **Oakminster**. Most people here don’t have signatures enabled in the first place because they’re turned off by default (and the staff has always discouraged overusing them) and I think most people would just roll their eyes at a sig like this (or report it if it was being used inappropriately) instead of taking the bait. That would be the smart thing to do rather than starting a pissing match. > [@](#): > > And then, as a mod, you get to deal with the inevitable complaints along the lines of “Oak wasn’t really participating in the thread, he was just countering the Palin jab with his sig.and all conservatives suck really bad, so you should probably ban him…and all conservatives…because everybody here hates conservatives”. And we’d disregard it. Trust me, we have plenty of experience in dealing with stupid complaints. > [@](#): > > Straight up, I think this has potential to develop into a pain in the ass for the mods, and yet another slap in the face to conservatives. You haven’t convinced me that this would affect conservative posters more than liberal ones. I don’t think it would be a problem for the staff either. You’ve always been able to put messages like this in your sig file or your location and even during the 2008 elections, or for that matter the height of the Iraq War debate, it was not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/24 "2011-01-19T16:44:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You haven’t convinced me that this would affect conservative posters more than liberal ones. I don’t think it would be a problem for the staff either. You’ve always been able to put messages like this in your sig file or your location and even during the 2008 elections, or for that matter the height of the Iraq War debate, it was not a big deal. Maybe not, but I have been heard–and previous experience with you suggests that I’ve also received fair consideration of the points raised, so thank you for that. I suspect that as a member of the majority here, you maybe don’t see the many many barbs directed at conservatives as creating a very hostile environment…nor do I think that you personally would prefer a conservative-free board…but as a member of the minority, I do see the constant barrage of “all conservatives suck really bad” sentiment as…unpleasant. Really wish there was some way to tone down the conservative bashing around here… ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/25 "2011-01-19T18:09:25Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Maybe not, but I have been heard–and previous experience with you suggests that I’ve also received fair consideration of the points raised, so thank you for that. > > I suspect that as a member of the majority here, you maybe don’t see the many many barbs directed at conservatives as creating a very hostile environment…nor do I think that you personally would prefer a conservative-free board…but as a member of the minority, I do see the constant barrage of “all conservatives suck really bad” sentiment as…unpleasant. Really wish there was some way to tone down the conservative bashing around here… If you wish to tone down the conservative bashing around here, tone down the liberal bashing. As in a more civil discourse. Which is the whole point; If Palin has no intention of shutting up, why should I? Or you, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/26 "2011-01-19T18:15:18Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > If you wish to tone down the conservative bashing around here, tone down the liberal bashing. As in a more civil discourse. Which is the whole point; If Palin has no intention of shutting up, why should I? Or you, of course. I generally don’t do much liberal bashing here. The abuse is overwhelmingly directed at conservatives by liberals on this board. And not just from the usual suspects. Otherwise rational posters will throw out the gratuitous “all conservatives are baby-eating bastards” crap in any random political thread. Conservatives are few in number here…and many on the left seem to want us to just go away. That’s…unfortunate. You’ll note that there is no conservative counterpoint to a\*\* Der Trihs, Dio, Brainglutton\*\* type extremist on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/27 "2011-01-19T18:18:16Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > If you wish to tone down the conservative bashing around here, tone down the liberal bashing. We’re all responsible for what we do as individuals, but he’s right that there is a lot of conservative bashing here - although there are times when it’s balanced out by comments about ‘the hive mind’ and similar ridiculousness - and the discource in GD would improve if there were less knee-jerk partisanship. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/28 "2011-01-19T18:23:05Z")
I’ve already said I was insane last night and I really was; I was insanely angry at Sarah Palin, Glenn Back, Rush Limbaugh, and George Bush, whose picture was on the cover of the AARP magazine which I threw away unread simply because his picture was on the damn thing. I would have thrown it in the toilet but I didn’t think it would flush and that would make work for me. I’ve already said that I probably would not change my sig line, even though I have the okay and I’ll admit I took kind of a snarky shot at Shodan, who has irritated me a time or two. Incidentally, Shodan, what is the Location Field? Is that were the cattle hang out? I don’t use the sig line I have and am unlikely to use a new one; it seems to me that I’ve created a tempest in a tea pot; I would suggest that all concerned wait until I actually post a sig line stating my not so secret hatred of Sarah Paling _et al_l before getting in an uproar about something that may or may not happen. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/29 "2011-01-19T18:30:26Z")
The location field is the part of your profile where you can list your location (yours says “Seminole, FL”). Some people leave it blank and a lot of people write other things in there. I think you’d be following the rules if you did make the sig you asked about, but it definitely would not improve civility around here. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/30 "2011-01-19T18:35:20Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I would have thrown it in the toilet but I didn’t think it would flush and that would make work for me. Darned lazy liberal. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/31 "2011-01-19T19:38:16Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > Darned lazy liberal. I wonder how well a toilet plunger that resembled Sarah Palin’s face would sell? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/32 "2011-01-19T19:43:43Z")
Okay, I’ll stop. I’ll do my best to establish a more civil discourse between political parties here although I doubt I’ll set much of a precedent. I will not change my sig line nor will I routinely include any snide comments re Ms. Palin in my posts UNLESS she says or does something so egregiously stupid that I lose my sanity again. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/33 "2011-01-19T19:55:52Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Okay, I’ll stop. I’ll do my best to establish a more civil discourse between political parties here although I doubt I’ll set much of a precedent. I will not change my sig line nor will I routinely include any snide comments re Ms. Palin in my posts UNLESS she says or does something so egregiously stupid that I lose my sanity again. Aren’t we taking about Sarah Palin here? Won’t that be the next time she opens her mouth? I mean she might be a conservative but she is a stupid conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/34 "2011-01-19T20:03:38Z")
Great Debates is thattaway, folks - not that I want to have to read this over there either. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/35 "2011-01-19T20:19:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Great Debates is thattaway, folks - not that I want to have to read this over there either. 😉 Sorry it was a cheap shot based on watching the Daily Show last night and I forgot what forum we were in. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/36 "2011-01-20T16:28:01Z")
During the '08 election lots of people changed their location fields to political messages, at least some of which were Jabs (I think there was a Nobama and an Obamanation (which I could never figure out was pro or anti-Obama, a play on obama-nation or abomination?)). Anyhoo, that didn’t seem to cause any extra strife. I doubt the same thing in sigs would do so either. (kinda a lame idea for a sig, IMHO, which I guess is why the OP is abandoning the idea, but it shouldn’t be against the rules in anycase.) ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072/37 "2011-01-20T17:01:47Z")
Conflating philosophical hostility towards Sara Palin/Beck/Rush with philosophical hostility towards conservatism _in general_ is absurd. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/change-in-signature-line/568072.md?page=1)