# Hey Monty, what's the deal about Opal stabbing people in the back IRL? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 2, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034 "2015-03-02T19:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**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:** [March 4, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/181 "2015-03-04T20:33:09Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Wasn’t there once a thread about jokes that needed to die? > > :rolleyes: > [@mhendo](#): > > Asks the moron with over 1,300 posts in his own global warming thread, most of them either content-free bullshit or outright misrepresentation. If anyone on this message board is an expert at flogging a dead horse, it’s you. Speaking of jokes that need to die… (the thread, not the OP of the thread) ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/182 "2015-03-04T20:53:35Z")
Why do you hate science? ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/183 "2015-03-04T21:33:08Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > It was Cosby who got me to rethink that position. Cosby is protected from trial by a statute of limitations. (And to make it relevant to this thread, Opal out to be protected from Monty’s decades old vague grudge for the same reasons.) But outside a courtroom, isn’t the victim socially allowed to hold on to her version of events? Not pretend that the person is innocent? Victims’ family? At what point do clear minded members of the public avoid having drinks with Bill Cosby? 5 victims with similar events? 10? 20? 30? 37? We never gave Moammar Quadaffi this presumption of innocence. Saddam Hussein. This guy isn’t Dr. Cliff Huxtable, he’s Dr. Bill Cosby. Yeah, in a courtroom under criminal charges he is entitled to a presumption of innocence, but not anywhere else. This isn’t a situation where one, two or three women got together and may be making it up because they are crazy or greedy. It’s 37, none of whom will get money out of it. The allegations should be the _beginning_ of any investigation, not the end of it. If you’re going to make a choice between presuming innocent or presuming guilty, you should damn well choose innocent - or you could simply admit you don’t know the truth, probably never will know it, and move on. With Hussein there was strong evidence of current and ongoing criminality, and he was tried and convicted for them. Similar evidence for Gadaffi. Neither was considered guilty based on decades-old, unsupported memories. In short, we can say as fact that Saddam Hussein was responsible for many deaths, we can’t say as fact that Cosby committed many rapes. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/184 "2015-03-04T21:34:27Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > With yourself, being basically a mini- **Bricker** in some threads I’ve seen you in. I’ll take that as a compliment. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/185 "2015-03-04T21:43:00Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Mmmm… burghers of Salem… I had the best lobster roll of my life in Salem, with enormous house-made onion rings on the side and a delicious pale ale. It was a fantastic meal. And I’m not telling you where it was because I don’t want everyone going there and ruining it (and I forgot the name of the place) Now, back to whatever\*\* TSS\*\* is flinging shit about by the time I’m done posting this. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/186 "2015-03-04T21:46:39Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > The allegations should be the _beginning_ of any investigation, not the end of it. If you’re going to make a choice between presuming innocent or presuming guilty, you should damn well choose innocent - or you could simply admit you don’t know the truth, probably never will know it, and move on. > > With Hussein there was strong evidence of current and ongoing criminality, and he was tried and convicted for them. Similar evidence for Gadaffi. Neither was considered guilty based on decades-old, unsupported memories. > > In short, we can say as fact that Saddam Hussein was responsible for many deaths, we can’t say as fact that Cosby committed many rapes. There was no evidence of WMD for SH because it simply did not exist, and neither did WMD, but we were assured that there was conclusive evidence of exactly that and that we were in imminent danger of being attacked with them. Congress and the public was actively lied to by Colin Powell and people like him. Colin Powell described the evidence he was about to give as “bullshit” to his cover buddy Wilkerson. The fact is that Bill Cosby is a rapist, and piggies like you, the Paul Wolfowitzes of the internet, don’t give a damn about what happened to dozens (for all we know more) of women, but the known lies to start a war that we will be dealing with for the next several centuries because we didn’t exactly get welcomed as liberators bringing in a millennium of peace. I think people like you cause this sort of reality distortion because you thrive on the chaos and the cost of dealing with the chaos supplies you with an excuse not to deal with the problems of the poor and sick and to perpetuate world misery and fear mongering on which your types thrive. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/187 "2015-03-04T22:12:24Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > There was no evidence of WMD for SH because it simply did not exist, and neither did WMD, but we were assured that there was conclusive evidence of exactly that and that we were in imminent danger of being attacked with them. Congress and the public was actively lied to by Colin Powell and people like him. Colin Powell described the evidence he was about to give as “bullshit” to his cover buddy Wilkerson. > > The fact is that Bill Cosby is a rapist, and piggies like you, the Paul Wolfowitzes of the internet, don’t give a damn about what happened to dozens (for all we know more) of women, but the known lies to start a war that we will be dealing with for the next several centuries because we didn’t exactly get welcomed as liberators bringing in a millennium of peace. > > I think people like you cause this sort of reality distortion because you thrive on the chaos and the cost of dealing with the chaos supplies you with an excuse not to deal with the problems of the poor and sick and to perpetuate world misery and fear mongering on which your types thrive. So, it was wrong to claim Saddam had WMDs without proof, but it’s right to claim Cosby is a rapist without proof because… reasons, I guess. Your hypocrisy is strong. Not actually sure what WMDs have to do with this conversation, though. They are not what Saddam was tried and convicted for. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/188 "2015-03-04T22:22:33Z")
The claim that SH had WMDs was not without proof, there was ample evidence amounting to convincing proof that he did not have WMD. Bush even joked about it afterwards in his WH Correspondents’ Dinner sketch where he pretended to look for WMDs under his own desk. You have to have proof in court of your claims by admissible evidence. Outside of court it is entirely appropriate to accuse Bill Cosby of being a rapist, and his remedy is to sue his accusers for libel, which he has threatened to do, but not done. If Bill Cosby thinks I’m being unfair to him, he is welcome to sue me for libel. He has a lawyer just to make such threats. That he doesn’t follow through on any of those threats, when he is accused of criminal conduct, when he can afford to do so tells me that he knows when I call those 37 witnesses to assert truth as a defense, that he will lose. The public has not lost all remedies against Bill Cosby. Ostracism and telling the truth about him is a remedy in itself. If he wants to sue me, and I encourage him to do so, I’ll be happy to prove my claims in court by a preponderance of the evidence using those 37 women who have come forward as witnesses. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/189 "2015-03-04T22:35:42Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > If Bill Cosby thinks I’m being unfair to him, he is welcome to sue me for libel. He has a lawyer just to make such threats. That he doesn’t follow through on any of those threats, when he is accused of criminal conduct, when he can afford to do so tells me that he knows when I call those 37 witnesses to assert truth as a defense, that he will lose. Dear God, you’ve a hell of a sense of your own importance, haven’t you? :rolleyes: Now I’d much rather get back to the burger puns, if it didn’t mean playing patty-cake with a bunch of penny-ante operators. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/190 "2015-03-04T22:38:02Z")
This thread it delivers ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/191 "2015-03-04T22:38:45Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > If he wants to sue me, and I encourage him to do so, I’ll be happy to prove my claims in court by a preponderance of the evidence using those 37 women who have come forward as witnesses. You’d lose. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/192 "2015-03-04T22:40:09Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > The claim that SH had WMDs was not without proof, there was ample evidence amounting to convincing proof that he did not have WMD. . Actually, SH had tens of thousands of tonnes of them (and even used some vs his own people), but they were mostly destroyed after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Quite a few tonnes were not accounted for. However, they were found later, lost, rotting in the desert, more a anger to the environment than to anyone else. Scott Ritter even said “There’s no doubt Iraq hasn’t fully complied with its disarmament obligations as set forth by the Security Council in its resolution. But on the other hand, since 1998 Iraq has been fundamentally disarmed: 90-95% of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction capacity has been verifiably eliminated … We have to remember that this missing 5-10% doesn’t necessarily constitute a threat … It constitutes bits and pieces of a weapons program which in its totality doesn’t amount to much, but which is still prohibited … We can’t give Iraq a clean bill of health, therefore we can’t close the book on their weapons of mass destruction.” The Allies found: 50 deployed Al-Samoud 2 missiles Various equipment, including vehicles, engines and warheads, related to the AS2 missiles 2 large propellant casting chambers 14 155 mm shells filled with mustard gas, the mustard gas totaling approximately 49 litres and still at high purity Approximately 500 ml of thiodiglycol Some 122 mm chemical warheads Some chemical equipment 224.6 kg of expired growth media Now, that being said- what little remained was in no way a danger to the USA. Utilizing _the threat of force_ to get SH to let Blix back in was perfectly justified. Invading Iraq after Blix found nothing was not. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/193 "2015-03-04T22:44:25Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > You, sir, think that the lyrics to “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah” somehow reference Tennyson and/or Homer. I daresay you don’t need ANYONE to share with you. You know, come to think of it, that was a great thread if I do say so myself. And just to show you my mind can be changed- I went in there thinking it was _likely_ Homer and left thinking it was\* likely \*Joyce. And even tho they were unable to score a knock-out- the Joyce camp did win on points. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/194 "2015-03-04T23:31:21Z")
Let’s see… In brief, we’ve gone from a “nostalgic” glance at a spat between **Monty** and **Opalcat** to an outing of an ancient screen name I haven’t used in 14 years to the Cosby alleged rape scandal to Saddam Hussein’s WMD capabilities. And there are probably others I’ve forgotten. This strikes me as a LOT of topic drift for only 4 pages. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/195 "2015-03-05T00:00:03Z")
n/m Misfired snark. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/196 "2015-03-05T00:04:18Z")
Did you have a point? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/197 "2015-03-05T00:05:52Z")
Just fucking with you man. Yeah, it’s been an awesome topic. I learned shit, and laughed, and cried. OK I didn’t cry, but if I gave a shit I would have. No that’s complete bullshit. I really don’t care much about 15 year old dramas, unless they involve me. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/198 "2015-03-05T02:47:51Z")
This has got to rank as one of the best pit threads in a long while. Hyperbolic shit throwing on both sides about a board legend, who I will always remember best for the buck eyes thread, terrible puns of two different varieties and enought thread drift to move a continent. I’d love to join a side since I thinks its pretty crappy to talk shit about someone who’s not around but damn I can’t jump on board with the crazy train that’s running that side of the argument. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/199 "2015-03-05T03:01:11Z")
WMDs can rot?? I wonder what a “rotting WMD” smells like? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034/200 "2015-03-05T03:01:14Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > Now I’d much rather get back to the burger puns Joke about the patties if you must, but good god, stay away from that shitty bread they serve them on. I can’t stand them. The bun is the lowest form of wheat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-monty-whats-the-deal-about-opal-stabbing-people-in-the-back-irl/714034.md?page=11)