# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/61 "2018-08-20T14:18:58Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > SDMB has never had anything to do with the Chicago Tribune, which is actually quite conservative politically. I was going to say. The Trib was always the Republican paper vs the Democratic Sun-Times. Even if you look at the Wikipedia page, under “political alignment” it says “conservatism.” It may have become more centrist over the intervening years, but it’s a paper whose editorial pages and political endorsements still tend to be conservative. I mean, it endorsed Gary Johnson for president in 2016. It is _not_ a leftist publication. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/62 "2018-08-20T14:21:11Z")
> [@betterlifethroughchemistry](#): > > LOL, there’s no history of me being a “right-wing poster” (emphasis mine). Sure, the problem is everyone else is a left wing poster. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/63 "2018-08-20T14:45:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sure, the problem is everyone else is a left wing poster. _Pod Person Scream_ ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/64 "2018-08-20T14:49:32Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > I guess I must bow to your amazing and absolutely unbelievable core of absolute knowledge. I had no idea you had such profound wisdom and a degree worthy of such high respect. > > “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” -B. Obama > > And with that, I’m gone… So your last contribution is a grossly out of context quote from Obama? I think that’s regrettable. I think the problem is that the more libertarianism is exposed to critical discourse, the worse it fares. If that’s your thing, it seems to me you’re defending the indefensible and want to blame groupthink for it. Sometimes the group is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/65 "2018-08-20T14:58:41Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > And as I type this DN is still onboard, I can see the green light by their name. FYI: That green light is not an accurate indicator of status. It remains green as long as (1) the poster accessed a board feature/page, and (2) has not logged off. There is a timeout of ~20 minutes (my guess) after an access before the host system assumes the poster is no longer there. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/66 "2018-08-20T15:02:35Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > And are pro-choice and believe in a smaller military. No, Libertarians are most definitely not pro-choice. There are huge numbers of people who describe themselves as libertarian, and spout libertarian talking points, and even run for office on the LP ticket who oppose abortion rights. Even among the theoretically pro-choice libertarians, there are a lot who are practically anti-choice, who want to remove federal protections for abortion rights, especially Roe vs Wade, and leave it up to the states, which in practice means lots of abortion bans. Ron Paul, for example, is generally considered libertarian, but actively opposes abortion. Gary Johnson, LP presidential candidate in 2012 and 2016, sometimes claims to be pro-choice, but also has said abortion should be left to the states, and signed a ban on partial birth abortions and a law requiring parental consent to abortions while governor. Bob Barr, 2008 presidential candidate, supported a ban on partial birth abortions and ban on traveling across state lines to get an abortion. Harry Browne, the 1996 and 2000 presidential candidate, stated that he believes that life begins at conception, and that Roe vs Wade was a “judicial fraud” and that abortion laws should be up to the states. ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/67 "2018-08-20T15:21:28Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > You can leave the High Desert, but the High Desert will never leave you … > > What? … no more free sex? … Without reliable birth control and access to abortion, there is no such thing as free sex. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/68 "2018-08-20T15:43:28Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I don’t even know what a Libertarian is, that’s how little I pay attention to politics. I’m sure I’ve looked it up more than once, but it never stuck. [A handy guide](http://leftycartoons.com/2010/06/29/the-24-types-of-libertarian/). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/69 "2018-08-20T15:44:43Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > I’ve been on this board since 2007 and 2,852 posts. While living overseas for 12 years, this board was a bit of a connection back to the US, but in recent years this board has gone so far to the political left that it has become alien to me as a rural Nevadan, business owner and Libertarian. > > I enjoyed many intelligent conversations, but the time has come to close my account here. I’m not sure if there is a way to do that, but I’ve had enough. > > All the best, > > Desert Nomad Well, I guess you won’t see my reply. SDMB is not primarily a political board so I’m puzzled that you are leaving over political differences. It is easy enough to stay away from political threads. I am left-leaning myself but I read right-leaning sites to try to understand both sides of the discussion. I don’t think it’s useful (or fun) for me to have political discussions with a bunch of people who think like me. I don’t think I’ve ever changed anyone’s mind, and I can only think of one time where anyone changed mine, but we shouldn’t live in echo chambers. (I know SDMB tends to be lefty but that is not its mission, it’s just coincidentally correlates to its mission.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/70 "2018-08-20T15:48:56Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I looked them up (again) and it seems that they used to be a Lefty organisation, then somehow the title got co-opted by the Right (a hundred years ago). Also, I think sometimes I conflate Liberal and Libertarian. So, no wonder I’m none-the-wiser. It’s like an offshoot sect. Just think of libertarians as spoiled 13-year-olds who don’t like to share and think that everything in the world exists for their benefit, without thought as to where it comes from or who pays for it. **Extremely selfish** 13-year-olds. And if they are arguing with you on a computer net designed, developed and paid for by governments, they are monumental hypocrites as well. Point this out to them and watch them weasel. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/71 "2018-08-20T15:49:03Z")
I think this board always leaned left. I also thing the population has shrunk mostly because Reddit absorbed most of the web message boards so younger people have less interest in joining this kind of thing so as members leave there are less replacements. The shrinking population can make the leaning get amplified. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/72 "2018-08-20T15:52:19Z")
I’m another of the hoard’s libertarians so I’m sad to see you go but I’ve got to admit that in November I’m going to vote straight ticket Dem because the repubs have turned into nut jobs and I’d rather a nut job who is going to raise taxes and waste my money then someone who exhibits a total lack of critical thinking skills by thinking that Trump is in any way supportable. While its nice having people on this board who think that government should be pushed down to the most local level while still providing an equal playing field we really don’t need someone who runs away because they are told they support a moron. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/73 "2018-08-20T15:53:18Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [A handy guide](http://leftycartoons.com/2010/06/29/the-24-types-of-libertarian/). BTW, you can if course fit into more than one group, but [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21156517#post21156517) recent post by Desert Nomad is an excellent example of the “whitey” type. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/74 "2018-08-20T15:54:55Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > I’ve been on this board since 2007 and 2,852 posts. While living overseas for 12 years, this board was a bit of a connection back to the US, but in recent years this board has gone so far to the political left that it has become alien to me as a rural Nevadan, business owner and Libertarian. We’re sorry that this board is no longer a safe space to express bigotry, promote divisiveness and political obstructionism, and make specious and untrue statements with an expectation that you are entitled to not be challenged with fact. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/75 "2018-08-20T16:30:24Z")
The fact that the board leans left is surely a consequence of the fact that reality has a well-known liberal bias. To me, the OP’s protestations sound like the common misconception that equal rights and freedom of expression somehow imply that everyone’s _opinion_ is equal. Everyone has an equal right to _express_ their opinion, and my sense of this board is certainly not that people are shouted down or “de-platformed” for unpopular views. But some opinions do not comport with reality, some opinions are inconsistent, and some just make you a shitty human being. You have a right to be heard, and a right for your arguments to be considered on their merits; but beyond that you really have no right to _respect_ if you have shitty opinions. If you want more respect, get better opinions. Within the spectrum of liberalism on the board, since the board skews older, it tends more toward traditional rights-based liberalism. Along with pushback against the modern right, I think there’s certainly also pushback against the more egregious excesses of modern left-wing identity politics (along with a certain amount of denial that extremist identity politics actually _exists_ on the left to any significant degree). The ridiculous idea that there’s broad sympathy for left-wing extremism on this board just means (as Mr Dibble says) that you don’t have a clue about the spectrum of modern left-wing views. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/76 "2018-08-20T16:33:09Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > I enjoyed many intelligent conversations, but the time has come to close my account here. I’m not sure if there is a way to do that, but I’ve had enough. Yeah, as many people have said, there’s no way to do this; just stop posting. I had a period of five years during which I didn’t post on or even read the SDMB, although to be fair that might have been because I needed to remove some sources of procrastination from my life (and finish my thesis, for one). While the SDMB has always been quite left-wing, I’d say that it seems to have become extremely social-justicey in a way that I find grating. But then again, much of left-wing discourse has also become very identitarian and social-justicey, and also rather exclusionary. For what it’s worth, I don’t believe left-wing people are better or more open-minded or inclusive than right-wing people, though they certainly believe they are. I guess discourse on the SDMB follows the zeitgeist. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/77 "2018-08-20T16:56:45Z")
Surely I’m not the only one who keeps reading this thread title with the “goodbye, cruel world!” intonation? There’s another thread which, when bumped, has a poster saying “And as for you, \…” which I always read in the tones of an elderly person shaking his cane at some kid. Flouncing indeed. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/78 "2018-08-20T16:59:09Z")
He’ll come crawling back sooner or later. They always do. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/79 "2018-08-20T17:16:40Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > You assume incorrectly. I read that book too. The government paid $70,000 to Langley whose design DID NOT WORK. While the Wrights asked for and received some data from the government, it DID NOT WORK. > > They had to design their own airfoils and did loads of original research on their own and Wilbur spent the rest of his life trying to protect their invention. But that doesn’t mesh with the groupthink here which is why I have elected to leave. It used to be my favorite board online after CompuServe went away. Today it is merely a political board. Believe it or not, sometimes the government funds things that actually DO work – for example: a thing or two that NASA has done, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, DARPA which funded the Arpanet and TCP/IP which became something we like to call the Internet. Sometimes a high failure rate is a hallmark of true leading-edge innovation, which is why governments are often the only entity willing to take the risk, or take the long-term view by funding pure research. As for your comments about the board, one might be able to fathom your perspective as a rural Nevadan, but I’m incredibly curious where overseas you were living for 12 years, because if your rural Nevadan values cause you to see this board as far left, most of the rest of the world should make your head explode. And anyway, I see no particular problem with having political differences. I’m about to get together with a good friend that I haven’t seen in years who is so incredibly conservative that he’d probably be right at home in rural Nevada – or even Nebraska! It isn’t an issue. I tell him that he’s a fucking moron for some of the shit he believes, and he tells me the same, and then we have another drink and move on to something else. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899/80 "2018-08-20T17:21:43Z")
I’m from rural Nebraska, **wolfpup**. Then again, I wouldn’t go back, so I guess you have a point. I don’t think you’d ever see a message like this from me on a message board unless I had some clearly-defined role (like a moderator or keeper of some group file). It’s more my style to fade in and fade out. Maybe people resent that; hard to tell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-straight-dope/819899.md?page=5)