# I pit Bricker for admitting he plans to make posts that are "clearly and utterly unreasonable" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 1, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080 "2014-12-01T22:24:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**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:** [December 2, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/141 "2014-12-02T22:07:44Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > I’ve been on this board… (looks at join date)… going on five years now. Quick, while you’re within the 5 minute edit window …🙂 ---
**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:** [December 2, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/142 "2014-12-02T22:16:31Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > He gets dragged in to threads with derision where he is not involved or posted. Nobody gets “dragged” into threads. There’s no penalty involved in not posting in a thread, and we had a few people who’ve flatly announced that they made a point of never visiting or posting in the Pit in general. So people are talking smack about Bricker and he doesn’t respond. Big whoop, he’s already selective in who he responds to. He intermittently stops responding to ME, for example. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/143 "2014-12-02T22:20:12Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Nobody gets “dragged” into threads. There’s no penalty involved in not posting in a thread, and we had a few people who’ve flatly announced that they made a point of never visiting or posting in the Pit in general. So people are talking smack about Bricker and he doesn’t respond. Big whoop, he’s already selective in who he responds to. > He intermittently stops responding to ME, for example. 😃 He’s using the Der Trihs doctrine… ---
**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:** [December 2, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/144 "2014-12-02T22:22:57Z")
> [@XT](#): > > He’s using the Der Trihs doctrine… Yeah, I couldn’t remember if it was Trihs or Diogenes the Cynic who made a point of saying they were Pitiless. Not the only examples, I’m sure. Wasn’t lekatt a Pitdodger, despite so many invitations? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/145 "2014-12-02T22:26:10Z")
Der is the only one I know who has stated unequivocally that he won’t respond to any Pitting of him. He does post in the Pit, but I don’t think he responds to Pit threads against him (probably a wise move, since responding generally is just putting blood in the water for the sharks to smell). ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/146 "2014-12-02T22:48:31Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Nobody gets “dragged” into threads. There’s no penalty involved in not posting in a thread, and we had a few people who’ve flatly announced that they made a point of never visiting or posting in the Pit in general. So people are talking smack about Bricker and he doesn’t respond. Big whoop, he’s already selective in who he responds to. > He intermittently stops responding to ME, for example. 😃 Sure agreed but moreso, for me, that doesn’t jibe with"raises the quality of the posts of liberals". To use XT’s metaphor, it chums the waters, when he participates, and more’s the pity for it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/147 "2014-12-02T22:49:06Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > Here’s just a quick taste from the first thing I found on the last page of the id card thread. So perhaps not hte most egregious thing I have seen, but close enough for hese purposes. He made an analogy. I will not judge the quality of said analogy, but your response was > > "What a pathetic pile of bullshit. Choosing the posts that interest me to read in full is not the same as ignoring unjust deaths, you whiny little baby. You can’t possibly believe such a load of crap. What’s next, Hitler ignoring the suffering of the Jews? > > Jesus. When did you get so damn pathetic? Can’t you just accept that posters are going to respond to the posts that interest them, and stop whining about it? > > What a fucking baby. " > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17939675&postcount=7969](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17939675&postcount=7969) > > Not exactly high toned debating. Maybe just a simple correction of his post would’ve sufficed. Definitely low toned. I didn’t think you were talking about ‘low-toned’ debating, but derision (which I’ll certainly grant this post qualified) plus something more like the “Yeah, that’s what I would expect from the evil mentally ill conservatives. Just like Bricker. Fucking Cat’lics” that you said, which this one doesn’t seem to match. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/148 "2014-12-02T22:50:48Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Is it the cockroaches that make it racist, or the comparison of a particular group to a non-human thing, or something else? I don’t get it. It’s the comparison of black people to cockroaches, in terms of how their inherent genetic intelligence can be compared to white people, that makes it racist. > [@](#): > > Not everything is racism. Claiming things that are not actually racism as racism weakens all claims of racism. Some things actually are racism. I hold that saying that we can determine black people are inherently genetically less intelligent than white people for the same reason we can determine cockroaches are is a racist thing to say. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/149 "2014-12-02T22:58:03Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Definitely low toned. I didn’t think you were talking about ‘low-toned’ debating, but derision (which I’ll certainly grant this post qualified) plus something more like the “Yeah, that’s what I would expect from the evil mentally ill conservatives. Just like Bricker. Fucking Cat’lics” that you said, which this one doesn’t seem to match. I apologize if I misled. I didn’t mean to imply that as direct quote from you… though I’ve seen each of those sentiments expressed explicitly here on this board. I meant more tone and derision that offers no advance of the discussion at hand. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/150 "2014-12-02T23:03:49Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > I apologize if I misled. I didn’t mean to imply that as direct quote from you… though I’ve seen each of those sentiments expressed explicitly here on this board. > > I meant more tone and derision that offers no advance of the discussion at hand. I’m going to try and make a better effort to condemn sentiments like “conservatives are mentally ill” or “Catholics are evil”, etc, when I see them. I don’t think “Bricker you’re being a fucking baby!” is nearly the same thing, though, and stands in a totally different category. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/151 "2014-12-02T23:06:43Z")
Yeah, as distasteful as I find **Der Trihs** as a poster, I can’t blame him for not indulging [the pittings](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=11622340). I wouldn’t either, if I were him. Christ, that’s a scary thought. What must it be like to be **Der Trihs**? ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/152 "2014-12-02T23:10:12Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I’m going to try and make a better effort to condemn sentiments like “conservatives are mentally ill” or “Catholics are evil”, etc, when I see them. I don’t think “Bricker you’re being a fucking baby!” is nearly the same thing, though, and stands in a totally different category. As our good friend ’ luci says, “Freak freely”. I still see “Bricker you are being a fucking baby” as offering no advance on the topic at hand and utterly useless save for a shot with the cool kids. But it is the Pit and mileage variance etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/153 "2014-12-02T23:17:55Z")
I agree that over-general statements are a bad thing, and I work hard to not use them. But you’d think I use them all the time, given that Bricker has lumped me in as one of the offenderatti. Now, I’m combative and vulgar, but that’s not the same. I would never (except by carelessness) say, all Catholics are evil. Instead, I’d say, “Catholics support an organization that until recently tried to shield pedophiles from justice.” I mean, it does other things too. Feed the hungry and whatnot. But if you like stickin’ it to the gradeschool set, you were, until recently, better off with a collar. On Der: Der’s main problem, to the extent he has one, is he speaks in absolutes. And usually, the Sith do that. He’s otherwise pretty correct on most of the shit he posts. I think if he accepted that most people do things out of ignorance and stupidity as opposed to malice, he’d get a lot less grief. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/154 "2014-12-02T23:28:22Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > Yeah, as distasteful as I find **Der Trihs** as a poster, I can’t blame him for not indulging [the pittings](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=11622340). I wouldn’t either, if I were him. > > Christ, that’s a scary thought. What must it be like to be **Der Trihs**? Possibly quite different than you would imagine. Different people react to this type of thing differently. And anyone who posts forcefully and at great variance to the accepted orthodoxy has to know that he will come in for some abuse. So I would think people who choose this approach tend to be preselected for thicker skins. One thing that doesn’t get remarked about is that - at least per my perception - DT is not a particularly snarky poster. His opinions themselves are what many find offensive, but he is not particularly nasty (if at all) on a personal level. Perversely, this makes it harder and not easier for him, because he can’t just tone it down - it’s not his tone that’s the problem but his substance. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/155 "2014-12-02T23:34:01Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > I still see “Bricker you are being a fucking baby” as offering no advance on the topic at hand and utterly useless save for a shot with the cool kids. I agree about not advancing the topic. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/156 "2014-12-03T00:01:59Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Possibly quite different than you would imagine. > > Different people react to this type of thing differently. And anyone who posts forcefully and at great variance to the accepted orthodoxy has to know that he will come in for some abuse. So I would think people who choose this approach tend to be preselected for thicker skins. Actually, by ‘what must it be like to be **Der Trihs**?’ I wasn’t referring to catching a lot of crap on the SDMB. I just meant, you know, day to day, living life in his skin, in a world where you’re basically in a Hobbesian dystopia, an unceasing war of all against all. Police, soldiers, politicians, religious people, conservatives, etc. – the dominant motivation for most of the country is sadism. Explicit sadism, that is, as in they like making other people suffer the same way I like watching _Mad Men_. What a world. He’d (rightfully) ignore me, but many times I’ve wanted to ask him what they did to him growing up. He’s implied that it was a rough childhood, which … yeah, I bet. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/157 "2014-12-03T00:36:12Z")
Yeah, screw Bricker, his routine is tiresome. Let’s analyze Trihs. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/158 "2014-12-03T03:54:50Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Looks like this might be with you until the day you die. > > Perhaps you should try therapy. No guarantees, of course. Heh. You’re a pompous twit, a moronic gasbag with delusions of sincerity, but you’re good for a laugh, so there’s that, dude! ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/159 "2014-12-03T04:09:28Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > Actually, by ‘what must it be like to be **Der Trihs**?’ I wasn’t referring to catching a lot of crap on the SDMB. I just meant, you know, day to day, living life in his skin, in a world where you’re basically in a Hobbesian dystopia, an unceasing war of all against all. Police, soldiers, politicians, religious people, conservatives, etc. – the dominant motivation for most of the country is sadism. Explicit sadism, that is, as in they like making other people suffer the same way I like watching _Mad Men_. > > What a world. He’d (rightfully) ignore me, but many times I’ve wanted to ask him what they did to him growing up. He’s implied that it was a rough childhood, which … yeah, I bet. I’ve often had the same thought. It’s hard to be sympathetic, though, because the coping mechanism he employs is so full of self-righteousness: it’s not Hobbesean all against all, rather its a simplistic victims and victimizers, good vs. evil worldview, in which those who disagree with him are unremitting enemies of all that is good and right in the universe. Which is in own way more awful: I imagine him having a pleasant conversation with a stranger, making a new friend … and then seeing a “Bush/Cheney” bumper sticker on their car, narrowing his eyes and walking away wordlessly. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080/160 "2014-12-03T05:17:48Z")
> [@furt](#): > > … it’s not Hobbesean all against all, rather its a simplistic victims and victimizers, good vs. evil worldview, in which those who disagree with him are unremitting enemies of all that is good and right in the universe. True, true. It’s actually hard to come up with a good parallel. Even the Nazis and Sith lords weren’t promoting suffering for its own sake. We’re kind of inching towards some _Hellraiser_ shit here. (That, finally, may be hyperbole.) I, too, wonder to what extent his real world interactions approximate his online presence. Normally I assume that even the biggest jerks around here are actually quite charming, pleasant, and accepting in real life (superficially at the very least). **Der** seems like he might be an exception. He’s just so bloody earnest. How could someone with his worldview justify shooting the shit with some friend-of-a-friend who’s a cop or a Republican? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bricker-for-admitting-he-plans-to-make-posts-that-are-clearly-and-utterly-unreasonable/706080.md?page=9)