# Conservative posters: What's your story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 3, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607 "2010-02-03T23:58:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/1 "2010-02-03T23:58:42Z")
What I’m interested in learning, primarily, is how did you get yourself aware of the existence of the SDMB, and the Straight Dope in general? For me, I was cruising the humor shelves at the bookstore at Pealridge Center in about 1989 (for something humorous and enlightening to _read_, ya pervs), when I came upon a book called _The Straight Dope (A Compendium of Human Knowledge)_. I picked it up, devoured it in a couple of days, and went looking for more the following week. I found it in _More of The Straight Dope_. Both volumes traveled with me as I ended my Naval sojourn and returned to civilian life. I used them as both light reading and reference guides. One evening in 1999, while driving home from work, I turned on the _Mr. KABC show_ on the radio, and was surprised to hear Mr. KABC mention to his guest an interview he had once had with Cecil Adams. Immediately, I called the station, blew off the guest, and inquired about it. Mr. KABC was kind enough to tell me about the Straight Dope website. I didn’t have internet access at home at the time, so I dejectedly resigned myself to not learning much more about the phenomenon that is the Straight Dope. When we obtained our first Earthlink account later that year, I immediately corrected that deficiency. Now, for some reason, I do not think of my experience as being typical. I have the sense that most people who become aware of the existence of _The Straight Dope_ do so by encountering the feature in their local alternative press (what I self-deprecatingly refer to as “commie rags”). Because of this, I also have the sense that the SDMB membership’s left-leaning tendencies are wholly to be expected (right-wingers, by my expectations do not tend to pick up and read commie rags, much less become fans of their featured columns). In point of fact, the presence on this Board of as many conservative posters as we do have strikes me as anomalous. So, all you Reagan-lovin’ tighty-righties, how did you manage to find us here? Everyone’s introduction stories are welcome, of course, although I can’t help thinking that it’s been done before. I’d really like to learn about the conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/2 "2010-02-04T00:16:00Z")
I Googled something work-related back around '03 or so. The very question I had was addressed in a SD column. I found the archive fascinating and it became a daily habit. Didn’t join the SDMB until about a month ago. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/3 "2010-02-04T00:18:07Z")
A leftist friend told me about it. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/4 "2010-02-04T00:23:11Z")
I’d never heard of the Straight Dope until I got here. Hadn’t read the books, didn’t know about the column. But there used to be a small feature on the AOL news page or opening page or somewhere like that, called “Wacky Weird News From the Wires.” I took to looking at that, and one day there was a link from one of those stories. I came, I read, I signed up. The board didn’t, in those days, have quite the obvious slant it has now. But that was a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/5 "2010-02-04T00:44:44Z")
One of my Buffy the Vampire Slayer internet friends had “Fighting ignorance since…” as her sig. I googled the phrase, and found the columns, which led straight to the message boards. StG ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/6 "2010-02-04T00:46:40Z")
I found a link to the Straight Dope on [bored.com](http://bored.com). Then I started reading through the Threadspotting archive. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/7 "2010-02-04T01:09:29Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > The board didn’t, in those days, have quite the obvious slant it has now. But that was a long time ago. I’m more independent than conservative, but I wanted to point out that this board wasn’t always \*nearly \*as liberal as it is now. I wonder if the majority of “conservative” posters are from those olden days? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/8 "2010-02-04T01:22:24Z")
I started reading the books, starting from the very first one. I absolutely loved them. Eventually the internet came along, and I discovered the Straight Dope usenet group. I was active there the whole time, until it became clear that the real action was on this message board. I showed up here in 1999, and have been here since, without even much of a break. Apparently, it helps if you have no life. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/9 "2010-02-04T01:32:05Z")
I thought I was Conservative before I got here, but found out I’m more Centrist, and probably would be considered Liberal by most of the posters in this thread. I got here from Snopes. The message board mentioned a Straight Dope article. I read one, and was hooked. But I stayed away from posting until I heard you were going free to post. I may have been the last person to sign up under pay-to-post, knowing my guest membership would not expire before the switch. As for how I got to Snopes: I’m pretty sure it was a random link on the Net, but, other than that, I don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/10 "2010-02-04T02:13:32Z")
> [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](#): > > I’m more independent than conservative, but I wanted to point out that this board wasn’t always \*nearly \*as liberal as it is now. I wonder if the majority of “conservative” posters are from those olden days? I’ve been around since the AOL days. I imagine there was a short lapse between the time I ditched AOL and the SDMB came online. I was aware of alt.fan.cecil-adams, but I never participated. Mostly all of the fiscal liberals don’t bug me here, and I’m mostly socially liberal (but for a few things) unless it affects fiscal responsibility, so some people would debate that I’m even a conservative. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/11 "2010-02-04T03:29:45Z")
Started reading the books, in 1986. One day after this amazing thingie called the internet was in a glowing box on my desk, out of curiosity I typed “[www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com)” in the url window, and here I am. Before we discovered audiobooks, my wife and I would read Cecil’s books to each other on long cross-country drives. There was nothing political about my arrival here. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/12 "2010-02-04T04:15:54Z")
Found it through a link to Cecil’s excellent “Who wrote the Bible?” series. Kept poking around on the site, and then Scylla’s famous groundhog thread came up on classic threadspotting. I was hooked. EDIT: Oh, and I’m liberal on most issues, but I do find myself on the conservative side of debates with my pinko friends, especially when talking about fiscal policy or gun control. ---
**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 4, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/13 "2010-02-04T04:22:19Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Found it through a link to Cecil’s excellent “Who wrote the Bible?” series. That was actually [**Dex** and **Eutychus**](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1985/who-wrote-the-bible-part-1). ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/14 "2010-02-04T06:01:53Z")
I don’t know that I’m conservative, but I suppose I would be by many Dopers’ standards. In college, I always read the SD column in the weekly paper, I bought the books, and in '99 I found the site. It’s probably not good that I’ve been here for 10 years, but most other forums are boring in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/15 "2010-02-04T13:16:45Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Started reading the books, in 1986. > > One day after this amazing thingie called the internet was in a glowing box on my desk, out of curiosity I typed “[www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com)” in the url window, and here I am. > … Pretty much the same here. I didn’t expect the forum to be the alluring snake pit of Bolshevik degenerates that it is, but oh well, where else can you throw out three random half-remembered facts about a book or film from 30 years ago & get back the title & all relevant info in 30 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/16 "2010-02-04T13:35:02Z")
I enjoyed the newspaper column and the Straight Dope was one of the first things I searched for on line. I’m rather surprised that anyone would think conservatives found this message board through a different process than liberals. ---
**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 4, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/17 "2010-02-04T15:10:35Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Pretty much the same here. I didn’t expect the forum to be the alluring snake pit of Bolshevik degenerates that it is, but oh well, where else can you throw out three random half-remembered facts about a book or film from 30 years ago & get back the title & all relevant info in 30 minutes? IMDB forums, but you’ll also be told to fuck your mother 43 times. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/18 "2010-02-04T23:56:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > IMDB forums, but you’ll also be told to fuck your mother 43 times. WTF? I said y’all were alluring! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/19 "2010-02-05T01:26:23Z")
> [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](#): > > I’m more independent than conservative, but I wanted to point out that this board wasn’t always \*nearly \*as liberal as it is now. I wonder if the majority of “conservative” posters are from those olden days? That certainly fits me, a 1999’er entering my tenth year of membership here. In 1999, the board was much more welcoming of conservative dialoge and I could not have imagine that one day I would be called evil for being a conservative, or told that as a Hispanic I was secretly laughed at as an “Uncle Tomas” by my Republican friends. I was a fan of the books, and found the website as a result. I read the first book before there were any others out! ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607/20 "2010-02-05T01:43:03Z")
I’m categorised as conservative everywhere but in the US, so one answer is I recieved flier for Straight Dope with my subscription to Pravda. More correctly Google found a thread in GQ. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-posters-whats-your-story/527607.md?page=2)