# Fox: 102 year old woman had to wait in line 3 hours to vote, "What's the big deal?" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380 "2013-02-15T14:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/501 "2013-02-21T01:44:19Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > 😛 After all the embarrassment you’ve caused yourself over, say, the definition of marriage, you still don’t even \*know \*how much of a source of laughter you are here? 😛 All that embarrassment would equal zero. And I fully appreciate that this place is so fucked up liberal that someone who sticks up for traditional values is pointed at and laughed at, and just to be sure he gets the message, the idiots arguing against him start using “we” instead of “I”. And then when they get bitch slapped in some random thread, they try to get the crowd to not notice and instead, out of desperation and their own embarrassment sputter out, “B-b-b-ut you want to protect traditional marriage”, as if it’s relevant. Such is the weakness of themselves and this board. The fact that _you_ decide to revel in it surprises me not one whit. Like I said you’re a one-synapse dolt. You’re also hyper-partisan, which of course you can’t see because you flap your gums and teeny little wings amidst the hive mind. Yaaawwwnnnnnnn. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/502 "2013-02-21T01:48:50Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > All that embarrassment would equal zero. And I fully appreciate that this place is so fucked up liberal that someone who sticks up for traditional values is pointed at and laughed at, For that value of “traditional values” that includes shitting on other people to make yourself feel special. Sad little man. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/503 "2013-02-21T02:38:18Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > For that value of “traditional values” that includes shitting on other people to make yourself feel special. > > Sad little man. Sob. Sniffle. Sob, sob. On the other hand, I’m not one of the hypocrites who demands that SS couples should get all the same stuff and when a plan is proposed through which they’d be able to get all those things, but have to call it something other than marriage, whine they they want that word. Do you think it’s because they view the word as unspecial? Ha! BUt let’s avoid furthering this hijack any further. If you’ve got something new to say on the subject, start a thread. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/504 "2013-02-21T03:05:38Z")
Geez, does this thread have a piece of paper taped to its back that says “hijack me”? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/505 "2013-02-21T06:01:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Why do you remonstrate only with me? Maybe it’s because you’re so much bette than the rest of us. At least that’s what you’ve told us over and over again. If you don’t want to be held to higher standard, don’t broadcast your position on your high horse. ---
**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 21, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/506 "2013-02-21T13:02:53Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Maybe it’s because you’re so much bette than the rest of us. At least that’s what you’ve told us over and over again. If you don’t want to be held to higher standard, don’t broadcast your position on your high horse. I demand that you explain in detail your assertion that he is bette than us. You literally said bette. I have no ability to comprehend any connotation beyond the literal meaning of what you have said. Therefore, I will spend ten pages pursuing you about your beliefs about his quality of being bette. Also, I remonstrate you, although you are not of my kind anyways, so I’m not sure if I get a Broder buck for doing so or not. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/507 "2013-02-21T14:19:29Z")
First question for **John** : Which bette do you compare \*\*Bricker \*\*to, Davis or Midler? Next question for **magellan01** : Have you \*always \*been totally clueless? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/508 "2013-02-21T14:53:30Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Another way of looking it is that there’s a frequently acknowledged problem that the board lacks eloquent conservative voices. We have plenty of eloquent liberal voices (and plenty of non-eloquent liberal voices of various types). This imbalance is to be expected. Given the George W. “Fuckup” Bush Presidency, and the fact that the GOP has moved sharply to the right even since then\*, you’d expect fewer people to identify with the positions that conservatives are actually espousing. Even in the general population, [only 22% of Americans now identify as Republicans](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/02/21/poll-pew-obama-gop-guns-energy-immigration-sequester/1934233/). And the average SDMB poster is a bit smarter than the average bear, so we’ve been running somewhat ahead of this curve. There’s no reason to expect balance between conservative and liberal ideas. What one would hope for is balance between the conservative and liberal ends of the spectrum of _workable ideas that address actual problems_. For better or for worse, practically that entire spectrum is left of center politically. \*Remember “compassionate conservatism”? How 1999! Moochers and takers, baby, moochers and takers. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/509 "2013-02-21T15:08:47Z")
And the actual problem in this case started out as “102 year old woman waits 3 hrs to vote” which got generalized to “wait times” but arguments for the former were still used to support and be attacked for whilst debating the latter. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/510 "2013-02-21T15:28:47Z")
No, the Desiline Victor case was used by Obama as an \*example \*to illustrate the \*broader \*problem of disenfranchisement tactics, and the OP went on to deplore not only that but the rationalization of disenfranchisement tactics by the Republicans and their primary propaganda organ. If this were an isolated case, you’d have a point, but, as it isn’t, you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/511 "2013-02-21T15:50:10Z")
Nah, the OP wasn’t about Desiline Victor as an example of the broader problem of wait times. It was specifically about the assholery of the Fox News crew ridiculing the notion that waiting in line for 3 hours should be a problem for a 102 year old woman. Not that I have any objection to a debate in this thread over wait times generally. (Nor would it matter if I did.) I personally think the digression into citizenship eligibility was a bit far afield, but again, that’s JMHO. ---
**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 21, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/512 "2013-02-21T16:22:40Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > And the actual problem in this case started out as “102 year old woman waits 3 hrs to vote” which got generalized to “wait times” but arguments for the former were still used to support and be attacked for whilst debating the latter. This reminds me of the point in the movie _Big_ that John Heard raises his hand to say “I don’t get it.” Although he was being disingenuous, whereas I suspect you are being sincere. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/513 "2013-02-21T16:28:28Z")
Illuminate me then. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/514 "2013-02-21T16:50:18Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I demand that you explain in detail your assertion that he is bette than us. You literally said bette. I have no ability to comprehend any connotation beyond the literal meaning of what you have said. Therefore, I will spend ten pages pursuing you about your beliefs about his quality of being bette. You say you _will_ spend ten pages unequivocally, as though it were a guaranteed certainty. You didn’t say there was only a 99% chance – and we won’t let you retract your misspeaking now. Can you _prove_ you will _certainly_ spend the ten pages? How about if we send a couple of trained Balinese fan-dancers to distract you? Would you still be certain you could guarantee the ten pages? How about if we hire 99 luscious masseuses from Bangkok’s most expensive parlors, working in shifts until you’re completely boggled? Sheesh. After Bricker was kind enough to educate us on the perils of exaggeration we have to put up with this. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/515 "2013-02-21T17:58:38Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > You say you _will_ spend ten pages unequivocally, as though it were a guaranteed certainty. You didn’t say there was only a 99% chance – and we won’t let you retract your misspeaking now. > > Can you _prove_ you will _certainly_ spend the ten pages? How about if we send a couple of trained Balinese fan-dancers to distract you? Would you still be certain you could guarantee the ten pages? How about if we hire 99 luscious masseuses from Bangkok’s most expensive parlors, working in shifts until you’re completely boggled? > > Sheesh. After Bricker was kind enough to educate us on the perils of exaggeration we have to put up with this. _slow clap_ ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380/516 "2013-02-21T19:07:06Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > This imbalance is to be expected. Given the George W. “Fuckup” Bush Presidency, and the fact that the GOP has moved sharply to the right even since then\*, you’d expect fewer people to identify with the positions that conservatives are actually espousing. Even in the general population, [only 22% of Americans now identify as Republicans](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/02/21/poll-pew-obama-gop-guns-energy-immigration-sequester/1934233/). And the average SDMB poster is a bit smarter than the average bear, so we’ve been running somewhat ahead of this curve. > > There’s no reason to expect balance between conservative and liberal ideas. What one would hope for is balance between the conservative and liberal ends of the spectrum of _workable ideas that address actual problems_. For better or for worse, practically that entire spectrum is left of center politically. Eh, I’d like to think that our left-leaning ideas are in fact so objectively superior to right-leaning ideas that in any forum dedicated to the seeking of truth, we’d naturally end up outnumbering them by a factor of 20 or 30 to 1. But I think that’s a pretty facile and self-satisfied way to look at it. I think it’s more likely that in politically divisive times like the ones we live in, any forum in which politics are discussed is going to naturally move away from equilibrium. The SDMB started out left leaning, but not nearly as left-leaning as it is now… and I think much of the change was due to a vicious cycle in which conservatives were outnumbered, didn’t enjoy it, and left. So remaining conservatives were MORE outnumbered, etc. Which isn’t to say that we aren’t right and they aren’t wrong. But I bet that if there was a forum somewhat similar to the SDMB which was 70/30 conservative to liberal in 2001, it would be 90/10 or 95/5 now. (The disaster that was the Bush presidency probably contributed, however… if you were an intelligent conservative during the 2000s, why would you want to spend a lot of time on a message board having to preface everything you typed with “while I think that the current administration, which comes from the party that more generally has allied itself with positions I support, has made many terrible errors, that has no bearing on the validity of my views on economic issue X…” and so forth?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-102-year-old-woman-had-to-wait-in-line-3-hours-to-vote-whats-the-big-deal/650380.md?page=25)