# Do I have to restrain myself? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212 "2004-10-14T16:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/61 "2004-10-14T20:01:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I can’t speak for any of those luminaries, but I’ll certainly say on my own behalf that I am surprised and very pleased with this thread’s progress. I would not have thunk it! 🙂 Ironically I think it helps in proving my point. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/62 "2004-10-14T20:18:18Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Because stupid people aren’t really good at reading between the lines. Ah, **World Eater** ; The Defender Of Ignorance. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/63 "2004-10-14T20:19:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I can’t speak for any of those luminaries, but I’ll certainly say on my own behalf that I am surprised and very pleased with this thread’s progress. I would not have thunk it! 🙂 I’ve wanted for a long time for people to stop trading insults of ‘Commie wimps!’ and ‘Bloodthirsty Fascists’ for the realization that there are good people on both sides. One of my friends is extremely Republican, prolife, and regards seperation of church and state as a bad thing. But he holds these positions because he thinks they are moral and that they will help America and Americans. I’m a bleeding heart leftwing Democrat, prochoice, and I’d like to get the phrase “In God We Trust” taken off of our money. I think these positions are moral and that they will help America and Americans. We both want what is best for our country. We simply disagree on what that is and how to get it. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/64 "2004-10-14T20:27:27Z")
Yeah, some of my best friends are morons, idiots and assholes (but _usually_ not all at once). ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/65 "2004-10-14T20:39:12Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > “Today the President severed diplomatic ties with Canada. When the Canadian prime minister asked her why she had dones this, the President responded ‘If you really cared about me, you’d know.’ In other news, the bill subsidizing free chocolate for all US citizens remains tied up in commitee.” Don’t forget that ONLY bilateral talks would be allowed and ONLY if we were the other party. To North Korea: Where were you last Tuesday? You were talking to China weren’t you. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MEEEE?! And of course, the rescheduling of th SOTU address based on bad hair days and bloat. The horror, the horror! ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/66 "2004-10-14T20:45:15Z")
If anything, this thread is giving me encouragement to go meet some of my newer neighbors and party with them, regardless of their political backgrounds… 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/67 "2004-10-14T20:53:18Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > Ah, **World Eater** ; The Defender Of Ignorance. :rolleyes: You’re saying generally oblivious/uneducated/stupid/ignorant people are _good_ at picking out the subtle and not so subtle nuances in the spin they’re bombarded with? Well dude, I hope that works out for you. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/68 "2004-10-14T21:27:19Z")
The first rule of patriotism: let’s don’t destroy the country ourselves before our enemies get another whack at it. I think the current administration is callous and dangerous and disrespectful of the rule of law. I think that it shows a pattern of witholding the truth or lying outright so pervasive that it amounts to an attack on both the first amendment and the democratic process as a whole. I think that there has been an attempt at concentrating power in the hands of the executive at the expense of the other two branches of government that ought to make conservatives scream in pain. I think that its contempt for international law and foreign relations belies one of the finest phrases of the Declaration of Independence; that as a sovereign nation, we as Americans felt “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.” I regard such abominations as the Clear Skies Act and the Healthy Forests Initiative as a glimpse of an Orwellian nightmare in which government uses language as a political tool, perpetuating its power partly by a refusal to call anything by its right name. I hate the whiff of corruption exuded by Halliburton malfeasence and James Baker’s shady dealings with the Kuwaitis over their Iraqi debt problems. I have problems with an administration that unleashes the most powerful military force on the globe but can neither protect it (and how dare Bush place blame elsewhere for inadequate armor–who sent our soldiers into battle so equipped?) nor control it (see Abu Ghraib). I’m not fond of the fact that we are detaining thousands of “threats” extra-constitutionally, because our government assures us that they know what we cannot, but somehow we cannot manage to prosecute any of them. I distrust a president who denies science and opposes fact-finding investigations and justifies himself in part by saying that he is acting according to what God told him. And my personal reaction to the president and vice-president is that neither displays the character or competence of a man who should be responsible for the conduct of a nation, much less a great one. BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT. I don’t know anyone, Republican or Democrat or neither, whom I suspect of deliberately attempting to destroy this country. And there are 260 million of us, give or take, who are neither government employees nor terrorists. Somehow, though, I suspect that together we have the potential, in our political passion, to do each other far more harm than either of those two groups are likely to. Let’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Venoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/69 "2004-10-14T21:37:49Z")
> [@Sensualips](#): > > Reminder to self…never post about religion, politics or anything that might be considered controversial. Even if it is your right. > > Some people can be extremely kind and alternately cruel as well. How about - never post your unsubstantiated and ignorant opinion on a message board that is _GASP_ dedicated to fighting ignorance. Really, look at this. “This guy is such a sheep! I mean, I never bothered to get to actually know him, but the only reason that he has a flag on display and is asking people to vote for Bush can be that he’s a brainwashed sheep with no mind of his own, unable to form his own opinions.” Does that not strike you as GOD DAMNED stupid? DUMB? Arseholed? Idiotic? Shitforbrained? HULLO! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/70 "2004-10-14T21:58:43Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > Shut the fuck up and think before you post this kind of shit. Why the fuck do you think women aren’t running the fucking country? Because of this sort of bullshit opinion from assholes like you. I don’t think this is funny. I think you’re an inconsiderate ass. > > Oh, and **SensualLips**? Think before you post this tripe also. Hate is also a female thing, and women can be as irrational as men. OBVIOUSLY. > > Excuse me while I go bang my head against the wall. A hundred years of female rights workers for THIS SHIT. You’ve come a long way… … baby. Seriously, chill the fuck out. It was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/71 "2004-10-14T21:59:48Z")
By the way, the OP is an undersevedly condescending twit. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/72 "2004-10-14T22:09:19Z")
> [@Sensualips](#): > > Well that’ll teach me for expressing my views on such an openminded, tolerant, board. I thought that since I placed it in the PIT I was allowed some leniency. Guess not. These are my two favorite complaints from people who start a stupid thread and then get mocked for it. Note to all future OP writers: 1. I think of myself as being incredibly open-minded and tolerant, _except_ when it comes to people saying stupid things on public message boards. (Oh, and black people. I hate black people.) 2. If you think the Pit is the forum where you’ll get leniency if you post something stupid, you are dumber than a turd who didn’t go to school. Seriously, you should hit yourself in the forehead with your shoe to try to kick start your brain back into operation. If it doesn’t work, keep hitting. Eventually it will fix the problem, one way or another. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/73 "2004-10-14T22:13:57Z")
> [@stately plump buck mulligan](#): > > Put a Kerry-Edwards sign on your front lawn, bake your neighbor some cookies and stop being a twat. I wanna be your neighbor! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/74 "2004-10-14T22:29:39Z")
**The King of Soup** , may I have your permission to copy your post verbatim on another message board? With proper acknowledgement, of course. I think the mods frown on linking to the SDMB and I share your sentiments but lack your eloquence. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/75 "2004-10-14T23:09:14Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > You’re saying generally oblivious/uneducated/stupid/ignorant people are _good_ at picking out the subtle and not so subtle nuances in the spin they’re bombarded with? > > Well dude, I hope that works out for you. You and **Sensualips** should hang out together. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/76 "2004-10-14T23:29:52Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > You and **Sensualips** should hang out together. Feel free to actually respond to what I said instead of a lame drive-by post. Politicians _count_ on people not digging far below the surface of their comments. A large amount of people for whatever reason seem to eat up what they’re saying as pure fact. I posit that such people who do so are morons/idiots/ignorant/etc. If you have something to add, say it, otherwise keep your pathetic, witless comments to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/77 "2004-10-14T23:51:48Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Feel free to actually respond to what I said instead of a lame drive-by post. Your fact free drivel? Okay, how about this: You have not data, cites or even clear examples to back up your ammended prejudicial comment. How about this, perhaps the result of the current adventure in Iraq might have increased terrorist activity in Iraq and the middle east for the time being. Can you not look ahead five, ten years when a stable government in Iraq might help dramatically reduce terroism? Could it be people who vote Republican don’t have terrorism as the issue of their first importance? Or other issues that you may have? I surely don’t expect a farmer to support the same politicans I do. > [@](#): > > Politicians _count_ on people not digging far below the surface of their comments. A large amount of people for whatever reason seem to eat up what they’re saying as pure fact. I posit that such people who do so are morons/idiots/ignorant/etc. If you have something to add, say it, otherwise keep your pathetic, witless comments to yourself. Look in the fucking mirror. I’ve seen nighties with more substance than your posts. Try opening your mind for once. Of course, you might have dig below the surface. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/78 "2004-10-14T23:54:54Z")
> [@jlzania](#): > > **The King of Soup** , may I have your permission to copy your post verbatim on another message board? With proper acknowledgement, of course. > I think the mods frown on linking to the SDMB and I share your sentiments but lack your eloquence. Certainly, if you like, though I doubt if you need my words to express yourself. I wouldn’t require personal attribution (after all, we’re all pseudonymous here anyway), since you’re obviously not seeking credit for any particular phrases. The usage “an acquaintance from another message board said it this way…” or some such, would be plenty. If you do decide to quote me directly, though, I would prefer that you do it in full, or at least without ellipses. And thanks for the kind words, which I don’t deserve. I didn’t invent any of the ideas in my post. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/79 "2004-10-15T00:23:10Z")
> [@](#): > > If you think the Pit is the forum where you’ll get leniency if you post something stupid, you are dumber than a turd who didn’t go to school. Seriously, you should hit yourself in the forehead with your shoe to try to kick start your brain back into operation. If it doesn’t work, keep hitting. Eventually it will fix the problem, one way or another. I love you so very, very much right now, **Giraffe**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212/80 "2004-10-15T00:40:21Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Your fact free drivel? Okay, how about this: You have not data, cites or even clear examples to back up your ammended prejudicial comment. My data? Observational study. _every single_ Bush supporter I’ve encountered is fairly dim. I even have a few pro-Bush friends, love 'em to death but [sub]not too smart[/sub] > [@](#): > > How about this, perhaps the result of the current adventure in Iraq might have increased terrorist activity in Iraq and the middle east for the time being. Can you not look ahead five, ten years when a stable government in Iraq might help dramatically reduce terroism? And pray tell, how the hell does a stable gov in Iraq (stable perhap, pro west? not in our lifetimes) _dramatically_ reduce terrorism? > [@](#): > > Could it be people who vote Republican don’t have terrorism as the issue of their first importance? Or other issues that you may have? I surely don’t expect a farmer to support the same politicians I do. We could only wish his inept bungling stopped at Iraq. > [@](#): > > Look in the fucking mirror. I’ve seen nighties with more substance than your posts. Try opening your mind for once. Of course, you might have dig below the surface. I think the only nighties you’ve seen are your sisters. I can’t image a female of any species hanging around you unless they were chained to something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-restrain-myself/269212.md?page=5)