# Goodbye, Straight Dope **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 20, 2018, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899 "2018-08-20T02:31:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/281 "2018-08-24T18:53:41Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Hell, more like 40. Certainly since the Republicans nominated Reagan in 1980. OK, so bottom line, if someone under the age of 55 claimed to have been a former Republican and current Democrat over deficits and fiscal responsibility, you would presumably be skeptical of this claim, based on the above quote. ---
**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:** [August 25, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/282 "2018-08-25T14:02:42Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > You can look at the graph helpfully linked by JohnT above, and see that what you say is incorrect. The deficit skyrocketed under Obama. This was primarily due to the economy, to be sure, but then Clinton benefited from a strong economy (& from Republican control of congress during most of his tenure) - you can’t play that issue both ways. Reagan raised taxes enough to partially offset his earlier tax cut, but net-net he cut taxes. Bush raised taxes, but this was widely seen as a betrayal by a faux-conservative. Seems pretty clear - Bush43 was a conservative and left a terrible economy for Obama. Bush41 was a faux conservative and left a good economy for Clinton. The conclusion is obvious: conservatives are bad for the economy. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/283 "2018-08-25T14:38:38Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > OK, so bottom line, if someone under the age of 55 claimed to have been a former Republican and current Democrat over deficits and fiscal responsibility, you would presumably be skeptical of this claim, based on the above quote. I wouldn’t necessarily draw that conclusion. As you say, the Republicans have talked a good game about deficit reduction. You have to pay attention, and over the course of multiple administrations, to realize it’s all hot air. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/284 "2018-08-25T14:54:39Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > OK, so bottom line, if someone under the age of 55 claimed to have been a former Republican and current Democrat over deficits and fiscal responsibility, you would presumably be skeptical of this claim, based on the above quote. Much of the ‘liberal’ media still treats the GOP as the more fiscally responsible party, even now. So I’d expect that people who regard this as a big issue, and become more aware of the actual facts, would have left the GOP for the Dems at any time during the past 38 years. FWIW, I left the GOP in 1980 when it was clear that Reagan was going to win the nomination, and he was selling fiscal snake oil. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/285 "2018-08-25T14:59:43Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > FWIW, I left the GOP in 1980 when it was clear that Reagan was going to win the nomination, and he was selling fiscal snake oil. Anderson voter? Miss that man. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/286 "2018-08-25T17:42:51Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Some parts of this (hypocrisy, Trump, environment) have already been addressed in prior posts. I’m not going to keep repeating myself, sorry. (The stuff about Russia is incoherent and doesn’t require a response.) Waffled again. Already addressed in previous posts? Where? If you don’t have the backbone to cite your own points, you do not convince me your views are valid. You fail again. ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reindeer_flotilla/32/3024_2.png) [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer_Flotilla)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/287 "2018-08-25T18:59:47Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > I gave you the opinions of a former conservative and you dismissed it with hair-splitting because you obviously couldn’t stand to lose face. That does not convince me conservatives hold any worthwhile values. You have failed in representing the conservative cause. I agree with everything you said except for the last sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/288 "2018-08-30T17:58:14Z")
Noah Smith: [INDENT] I think most of conservative anxiety over being excluded from respectable debate is due to the fact that the three big pillars of Reagan-era conservatism - Christian conservatism, laissez-faire economics, and muscular interventionism - all failed simultaneously in the 2000s. The Iraq War debacle, the Great Recession, and the gay marriage defeat, all within the space of a decade, left conservatives with no leg to stand on except good ol’ racism. And racism has, since the 70s, been excluded from the bounds of respectable elite discourse in America. Conservatives working at Facebook will naturally feel uncomfortable saying America should deregulate the banks, or legislate a traditional definition of marriage, or invade the Middle East - not because these ideas are suppressed, but because in 2018 **they just sound goofy.** The real driver of the right, the source of all the dynamism and passion on both the national/political and the intellectual level, is now racial exclusion - the idea that nonwhite immigrants won’t adopt American values, that diversity is a threat to economic efficiency, etc. A conservative working at Facebook will tend to spend a lot of time reading about and discussing racially exclusionary ideas - on the internet, with friends, etc. But he can’t discuss those ideas at work, since explicit racism is still (mostly) out of bounds. So basically, conservatives at tech companies and other elite intellectual spaces feel under siege. They’re reading and talking about all these racist ideas outside of work, but they can’t bring it to work. Taboos they wouldn’t have minded 10 years ago now bind them constantly. [/INDENT] Emphasis added.There’s a little more: Thread: > **[Thread by @Noahpinion: "I think most of conservative anxiety over being...](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1034853593482899456.html)** > > Thread by @Noahpinion: "I think most of conservative anxiety over being excluded from respectable debate is due to the fact that the three biReagan-era conservatism - Christian conservatism, laissez-faire economics, and muscular interventionism - all... First tweet: [https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1034853593482899456](https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1034853593482899456) ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/289 "2018-08-30T22:48:58Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > [The reality is that many conservatives warned others about what could happen to the Republican brand and conservatism in America if Trump was elected.](http://drbrianmattson.com/journal/2016/1/23/why-nominating-donald-j-trump-would-be-a-catastrophe) God that Mattson article is one of the worst articles I’ve ever read. He doesn’t even try to hide how completely biased he is. Claims Obama was ‘deeply unpopular’ with ‘horrible approval ratings’ in 2012 (wrong and wrong), claims Obama won despite a ‘horrible economy’ (conveniently leaving out that a) the economy tanked under the Bush administration and b) by 2012 was right in the midst of a strong recovery), claims ‘widespread disillusionment’ on the Democratic side, he generously admits that widespread fraudulent voting ‘probably’ didn’t sway the election, and he calls Obama the ‘Narcissist-in-Chief’. And this little gem of pure comedy gold. > [@](#): > > Evangelical Christians have often been too enamored with politics, to be sure. There have been a lot excesses, a lot of putting our hope and trust in Princes. Nevertheless, in our insistence upon character and integrity we have been a preservative moral salt and effective moral leaven to our political process. We force politicians to pay real tribute to the great moral issues of the day: human dignity, the right to life, freedom of conscience. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/290 "2018-08-31T01:14:54Z")
> [@](#): > > …a preservative moral salt and effective moral leaven… Is that an actual Scriptural quote? No? Well, oughta be! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/291 "2018-08-31T02:09:04Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Is that an actual Scriptural quote? No? Well, oughta be! Add a little moral water and moral flour and he can make a whole, damn, sanctimonious baguette. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/292 "2018-08-31T04:45:13Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > God that Mattson article is one of the worst articles I’ve ever read. He doesn’t even try to hide how completely biased he is. Claims Obama was ‘deeply unpopular’ with ‘horrible approval ratings’ in 2012 (wrong and wrong), claims Obama won despite a ‘horrible economy’ (conveniently leaving out that a) the economy tanked under the Bush administration and b) by 2012 was right in the midst of a strong recovery), claims ‘widespread disillusionment’ on the Democratic side, he generously admits that widespread fraudulent voting ‘probably’ didn’t sway the election, and he calls Obama the ‘Narcissist-in-Chief’. > > And this little gem of pure comedy gold. I did not say that I agree with him in other issues, he was pointed at as an example of what happens when very conservatives like that do bother to reason a bit: they reached the conclusion that electing Trump was going to be a disaster. Of course, many other bad ideas continue to be considered, but they reasoned right about Trump. Unfortunately, most conservatives like that still do not bother to reason properly about what it means to continue to support Trump. Not only does looking like a rubber stamp for Trump not look pretty, but they are also becoming really ugly hypocrites that forget of their morals and claimed character by looking the other way at what Trump is doing. IMO that is one big reason why many millennials are not so keen to follow the old time religion. > **[White Evangelical Support for Trump Grows](https://www.newsweek.com/trump-evangelicals-support-millennials-888267)** > > According to a new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute. That is a non-economical “moral hazard” that many conservatives are leading us after Trump was elected. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/293 "2019-02-26T23:51:32Z")
Last activity date 08-20-2018 08:10 AM. I guess it stuck – unless they came back under another name. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/294 "2019-02-27T04:26:12Z")
I’m curious as to why this was bumped…😕 ---
**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 27, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/295 "2019-02-27T05:51:31Z")
I’m guessing that a spambot bumped it, and was banned pretty toot dang sweet, but not before **StusBlues** got to it. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/296 "2019-02-27T07:19:06Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/297 "2019-02-27T17:52:24Z")
Well you got to respect the OP. His last activity was 8/20/18, the day after he posted his exit. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/298 "2019-02-27T17:54:25Z")
The day after. Gimme a break. Real quitters quit like right now! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/299 "2019-02-27T17:58:09Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’m guessing that a spambot bumped it, and was banned pretty toot dang sweet, but not before **StusBlues** got to it. No, there was no spam post. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/300 "2019-02-27T18:16:42Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Well you got to respect the OP. His last activity was 8/20/18, the day after he posted his exit. Not the usual message board flounce-off, that’s for sure. Usually people who decide to leave simply leave, without the announcement or the drama. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899.md?page=16)