# Ed, at some point you'll need to quell the rebellion. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 27, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670 "2009-02-27T16:25:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/181 "2009-02-28T04:46:06Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > So since that does indeed seem to be the case for at least some of us Pitizens, I’m not really sure what more we can do to ‘ease the rebellion’ issues for you. I feel strongly about this place retaining its flavor, not because I ever post any “fuck you cunt!” remarks to anyone (except once, if I recall correctly), but because the heart of the Pit IS more thought-provoking than any other forum. > > In my humble opinion, the categories that could somewhat serve the same function as here, fall short. Great Debates seems to be the same people covering the same pedantic ground. In IMHO, you can’t really call out (and I don’t even mean in a vulgar sense) someone on blatant, disengenuous bullshit. That leaves only MPSIMS, which while definitely for the better expression of ourselves, you really can’t very well debunk a Holocaust denier well. > > Because sometimes it’s necessary to go directly to the source and not mince words, whether you do that politely or not. Hence I’m a huge advocate for both civility and free speech. Do I think the criticism of the staff here got out of hand? Yes, but that’s been corrected by moving any discussion of such to ATMB. Is there any other good reason to prevent others from behaving as needed when the occasion calls for it? Not that I can see. Certainly keep profanity out of the titles too. There’s nothing wrong with that. But please, allow us to have Come to Jesus meetings with each other when we must and let’s continue to acknowledge we’re all of the emotional maturity to do that. Else we wouldn’t have signed up in the first place. You know, that’s a compelling argument. You half way got me thinking you’re on to the right solution. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/182 "2009-02-28T04:52:11Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > I must admit that there have been a time or 2 when someone made the type of comment **Scissorjack** made and I’d wished we were at Binger’s Bar in downtown Dayton so we could go outside and “work it out.” Careful, Spanky, you’ll be challenging me to a knife-fight next. > [@](#): > > We only have our brains to fight with. That’s it. So you admit you’re outnumbered, then? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/183 "2009-02-28T05:09:27Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > You know, that’s a compelling argument. You half way got me thinking you’re on to the right solution. Shut up, Airlock Boy. The leaders of the Snuggly Puppy Rebellion are negotiating with Ed now. The first thing we all agreed on is stuffing your stupid ass out the nearest window on Battlestar Straight Dope. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/184 "2009-02-28T05:11:09Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Shut up, Airlock Boy. The leaders of the Snuggly Puppy Rebellion are negotiating with Ed now. The first thing we all agreed on is stuffing your stupid ass out the nearest window on Battlestar Straight Dope. I’m sure you know I won’t be going peaceably. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/185 "2009-02-28T05:12:02Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > I’m sure you know I won’t be going peaceably. Good. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/186 "2009-02-28T05:12:37Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > I’m sure you know I won’t be going peaceably. Dude. You’re doing it wrong. You need to say something with feeling! BRING IT BITCH! Something like that. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/187 "2009-02-28T05:13:15Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Good. 😃 Well played. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/188 "2009-02-28T05:14:21Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Dude. You’re doing it wrong. You need to say something with feeling! > > BRING IT BITCH! > Something like that. Choir boys aren’t allowed to cuss. It hurts our delicate constitutions. You got anything else? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/189 "2009-02-28T05:17:01Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > I’m sure you know I won’t be going peaceably. as long as you go. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/190 "2009-02-28T05:18:49Z")
> [@wring](#): > > as long as you go. Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/191 "2009-02-28T05:18:49Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > Choir boys aren’t allowed to cuss. > > It hurts our delicate constitutions. > > You got anything else? Must be a new rule. “In My Day” choir boys and altar boys generally swore like drunken sailors when the “old people” weren’t around 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/192 "2009-02-28T05:45:51Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I have to ask: why are so many Dopers feeding this troll? He is beside himself with joy at all this attention. He’s our poster boy for why we need more vulgar words in the Pit. There aren’t currently enough to adequately mock him with. > [@raindog](#): > > The problem is that message boards offer no such certain end game. And so it seems downright juvenile to me to see the veiled warning like the one **Heffalump and Roo** issued about how I might have “roasted” in the old Pit. That wasn’t a warning. You seemed to think you were insulted in this thread. I wanted to let you know that the level of insult wasn’t even close to what you’d experience if the old Pit rules were in place. > [@raindog](#): > > We only have our brains to fight with. That’s it. The moment you lose composure, you lose. Then you lost the moment you put in that dig about unemployment. The fact that you lost your cool and put in the dig about the unemployment shows that your level of maturity is not above reaching for a low insult. > [@raindog](#): > > The moment you lose sight of the underlying argument----and abandon it to run to rank name calling----you’ve lost. Then you lost there as well. Your underlying argument was that vulgarity (which is what the new Pit rules are about) should not be used in an argument. You seem to have lost sight of that. I used no vulgarity in my post. And to my recollection, I never have in any post except to discuss the word itself or to quote others. So you really should have no issue with it, but here you are feeling threatened by my “warning” and analogizing my words to a call for a bar fight.\* > [@raindog](#): > > The fact is, even without a moral basis, I would object to **Heffalump and Roo** ’s post (which I assume was full of internet testosterone) and consider it nonsense because it endeavors to take the _easiest_ route to victory, not the _hardest._ And what is this victory? What do we win? If the objective was to make your opponent look idiotic, the easiest route to victory is for your opponent to do it himself. Then all that’s left is the mocking and name-calling. That’s why everyone is mocking you and itching to do some name-calling. . . if only the appropriate words were available. > [@raindog](#): > > If you reach for the name calling, you’ve already showed your hand. You lose, and I’ll promptly ignore you. (all official like) Oddly enough, I haven’t called you a single name but you’ve replied to all those who have, and I’m probably the only one you’re not directly quoting and the only one you’re not talking directly to. > [@raindog](#): > > If you’ve got some ideas you want to “work out”—and you’ve got the clarity of mind, a compelling argument, wit, and sarcasm, let’s hear it. I offer that challenge to you. You started this thread. What’s your argument? And why is sarcasm necessary to communicate it? Asking for your argument is slightly unfair at this point because **Ed** has already proven you wrong in so many ways that to go back would just be an embarrassment. But if you still have a point left, please make it. > [@raindog](#): > > Or, if you’re ever in Dayton, Ohio, the first beer will be on me. Sorry, but I don’t go to bars with strange men. \*in case you were threatened that I might actually have been issuing a warning for a bar fight, it might relieve you to know that it’s highly unlikely since. . . I’m a girl. And btw, where do I get some of that internet testosterone? Maybe I could bottle it. Should be worth something. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/193 "2009-02-28T05:51:07Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Sorry, but I don’t go to bars with strange men. I’m a strange man. You thirsty? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/194 "2009-02-28T05:55:28Z")
nvm ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/195 "2009-02-28T06:00:44Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I’m a strange man. You thirsty? 😃 I’m there, baby. 😉 You’re not nearly as strange as **raindog**. I understand most of your points, even if I haven’t seen all of them. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/196 "2009-02-28T06:13:29Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > Good luck with that. I’ve got time. ---
**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 28, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/197 "2009-02-28T06:38:48Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Ahhh… splendid! A sandbox playmate for little **raindog**! I _did_ fear I might have been a bit harsh sending him away all alone. I’ll let your mum know that Ms. Poppins can look after the both of you. I like playing in the sand but honestly that Poppins woman always gave me the creeps. And **Guin** _please_ keep the cats away from me. They make me wheeze. Even if you think I’m a bit of a pussy for not joining up to battle Ed’s deathstar. Yes, **I Love Me** , the definition of maturity is typing out cunt and fuck on an anonymous message board. Yeah. Anyone who doesn’t enjoy playing that way is a little baby. Okay. Yeah, that stupidity gives me a smile (as I build my little sandcastles). Once again, I see no reason not to let you play however you want to play and to give you the corner of the playground to do it in. (Just careful cause that’s also where the dogs shit.) I see no reason why just tightening the definition of how much of being a jerk was okay in the Pit wouldn’t have sufficed and this listing of verboten words stupidly created “an issue.” Yeah, the administration is being stupid for not hearing that these oh so mature and self-aggrandizing posters just _must_ have their section to vulgarly act out in. (I know someone with Tourettes who has the corporalia - not all do - but is okay if he can go to private place to let it out for a while … maybe its like that?) Really. It should be here and the Administration would be wise to revisit the question. There wasn’t anything broken that needed fixin’. But this big of a deal? Over what was a stupidly expressed and overly controlling and condescending “don’t be a real big jerk even in the Pit”? I just can’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/198 "2009-02-28T13:19:39Z")
Nitpick: **DSeid** , it’s _coprolalia_. Shit speak. I also don’t think that anyone has made the claim that typing out “cunt” makes one mature. But that strawman sure burns good, don’t he? ---
**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 28, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/199 "2009-02-28T13:54:43Z")
Ach. Sorry 'bout that. You are correct about the spelling. But **Hentor** while not the exact words, that was the essence of **I Love Me** ’s claim, at least a I read it, that made me laugh at the silliness of his POV: > [@](#): > > Since you can’t handle the rough-housing that sometimes occurs among rancorous adults … > Do be a good little boy and run along–here’s a sweet and a penny-whistle. Let the grown-ups carry on, now. No straw man to make fun of that: it’s stupid. Nothing to do with the issue of whether or not coprolalia should be allowed unfettered, and again I see no reason that it should not (but I can’t get worked up about having some limits placed on its use either), but a stupid comment in the Pit deserves mocking just because. It is not “adult” to “rough-house” in that way, and it is not childish or immature to believe that gratuitous and uncreative vulgarity farted out with no humor attached but just as part of jerkiness is something to be avoided. Saying that is just dumb. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670/200 "2009-02-28T14:30:09Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Yes, **I Love Me** , the definition of maturity is typing out cunt and fuck on an anonymous message board. Yeah. Anyone who doesn’t enjoy playing that way is a little baby. Okay. Yeah, that stupidity gives me a smile (as I build my little sandcastles). Jesus. No one has defined “maturity” as “typing out cunt and fuck on an anonymous message board.” That would be a stupid position. The point is, maturity is also not defined as “_not_ typing out cunt and fuck on an anonymous message board.” That appears to be your position, and that of **raindog,** and it is _also_ a stupid position. Maturity, cleverness, wit, these are all things that cannot be rigidly defined by the specific vocabulary one uses. Removing the words from the list of acceptable insults will no more make the Pit more “mature” or “more civil” or “more intelligent” than removing the word _cashew_ would, because for Pete’s sake, they’re _words_. They’re tools, and they can be used in the service of intelligence or of rank stupidity same as every other word. If we banned every word used by **raindog** to advance the cause of stupidity in this thread, we’d be left with nothing _other than_ fuck, shit, and asshole. That management thinks the way to elevate the level of discourse is to eliminate a certain kind of word used in a certain kind of way is the problem. I’m fine if you disagree that this is a problem, but the constant insistence with which you and **raindog** have mischaracterized the arguments against this new rule is obnoxious and, to my mind, rank trolling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-at-some-point-youll-need-to-quell-the-rebellion/487670.md?page=11)