# I pit exaggeration about SDMB partisan-ness **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 6, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968 "2010-01-06T22:30:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/61 "2010-01-07T21:48:40Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > You realize, don’t you, that not everybody who is a veteran makes a point of letting you know that? I think he means the non-shooty kind of veteran. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/62 "2010-01-07T22:14:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I respond to one, or the other, or both, depending on how I feel. The Usual Suspects, being what they are, ignore all the reasonable stuff and only respond to the snark. You know, you’ve been referring to “The Usual Suspects” for years now, and apparently you don’t think much of them. It’s your favorite go-to backhanded insult. So… who \*are \*these Usual Suspects, anyway? Let’s see the names. We’re in the Pit- feel free to have the courage of your convictions. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/63 "2010-01-07T22:19:24Z")
I find they are mostly volunteers. Every time I mention it, some people clamor to be included. So, if you like, feel free to include yourself, if that is what is worrying you. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/64 "2010-01-07T22:22:01Z")
In alphabetical order? Aardvark, Aaron A. Aardvark, Anthony B…this could take a while, wanna go get a sandwhich?..Aabama, Osama H… ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/65 "2010-01-07T22:24:09Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > But you haven’t answered the question - Why is it necessary for me to ignore all the much more frequent snark aimed at conservatives, instead of you ignoring what you think is snark aimed at you (even when it isn’t). I guess maybe I don’t understand the question or don’t understand what it has to do with the current pit thread. When did I tell you to ignore snark? When did I tell you not to fight back? The somewhat related thing I’m saying is that if you in fact pay attention to the snark and do fight back while ignoring attempts at reasoned debate, then it’s disingenuous of you to complain about how all there is is snark. And I think you’re saying that if others ignore YOUR attempt at reasoned debate and only respond to your snark, then it’s disingenuous of them to complain that all you do is snark. So I guess we agree? I’m not saying “Shodan is a douchebag because he responds to snark”, nor am I saying anything about all conservative posters which presumably includes you. What I am saying is that describing the partisan nature of the board (which is a real and serious (well, serious on the scale of things that concern an online message board) issue) in a hyperbolic fashion doesn’t help anything, and generally makes things worse. It would be a better analogy if I had said something like “gosh, every time I try to have a conversation with conservative dopers they just start getting defensive and whining about how much of a persecuted minority they are, so now I don’t even bother trying”. Once I start thinking/talking that way, though, then I think I’ve pretty much doomed myself to live in the world I describe. > [@](#): > > Sometimes it’s fun to have calm, reasonable debate. With some Dopers, that’s not possible. True, and no one would disagree with that, and I’m certainly not pitting statements of that sort (unless they’re made in a context in which you very strongly imply that “some Dopers” means “all liberal dopers”, but you’re reserving plausible deniability). ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/66 "2010-01-07T23:31:27Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Well…you could ask yourself a couple of questions here. You could ask yourself…why aren’t there more conservatives on this board? One answer could be that conservative positions are so discredited that a large percentage of the boards conservatives have left. Of course, another answer could be that the boards former conservatives were driven out…or chose to leave because they were increasingly harried by other members on this board. Personally, I think the answer is somewhere in the middle (heh). Both of these offered explanations assume that there used to be more conservatives here but they left. I strongly suspect that liberals are more likely than conservatives to visit the SDMB in the first place. It’s my impression that Internet users on average tend to be liberal on social issues, although this is perhaps less true now that Internet access is so widespread outside academia. The Straight Dope newspaper column runs mostly in alternative weeklies, a group of newspapers that also tends to skew left – sometimes very far left. The SDMB also has a significant number of posters from outside the US, many from countries where a political stance considered middle-of-the-road locally would be seen as liberal by American standards. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/67 "2010-01-07T23:40:11Z")
There used to be more (and better IMHO) conservative posters on the 'Dope. Some VERY good one’s, actually, but gradually they have left (or were banned). When I first started posting on this board, the political debate was less…strident. I do agree with you that a lot of 'Dopers are from other countries, and their perception of what left, right and center constitutes is substantially different than that of most Americans. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/68 "2010-01-08T00:28:45Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > There used to be more (and better IMHO) conservative posters on the 'Dope. Some VERY good one’s, actually, but gradually they have left (or were banned). When I first started posting on this board, the political debate was less…strident. I joined several years before you did, and I do not remember a time when the SDMB membership didn’t skew liberal. There have no doubt been good conservative posters who have left, but many good liberal posters have left too. I’d agree that GD did become more strident over time, but I think that was largely due to the existing liberal majority being angry about the Bush administration…and even angrier about his re-election. It has not been my impression that the percentage of SDMB liberals has swelled significantly over the years, although in the absence of formal polls of Doper political views I guess there’s no real way to know. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/69 "2010-01-08T00:33:04Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I guess maybe I don’t understand the question or don’t understand what it has to do with the current pit thread. When did I tell you to ignore snark? When did I tell you not to fight back? The best thing about the board’s longest-running autocrucifixion is watching poor \*\*Shodan \*\*struggle with that last nail. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/70 "2010-01-08T00:44:30Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > There used to be more (and better IMHO) conservative posters on the 'Dope. Fond memories of **december**? ---
**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:** [January 8, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/71 "2010-01-08T00:55:05Z")
He wasn’t who I was thinking of, though sometimes he was interesting. -XT ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/72 "2010-01-08T00:57:10Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > The best thing about the board’s longest-running autocrucifixion is watching poor \*\*Shodan \*\*struggle with that last nail. Best thing I’ve read today. _golf clap_ ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/73 "2010-01-08T02:17:04Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I find they are mostly volunteers. Every time I mention it, some people clamor to be included. So, if you like, feel free to include yourself, if that is what is worrying you. Oh, come now. This is YOUR list. This is the catch-all term you use for anyone you feel is overly partisan… so let’s see some names. You quite obviously feel very strongly about this group, so… again, have the courage of your convictions. I mean, you DO have names, right? Let’s hear 'em. Who ARE the “Usual Suspects”? Put up or shut up. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/74 "2010-01-08T02:45:55Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Oh, come now. This is YOUR list. This is the catch-all term you use for anyone you feel is overly partisan… so let’s see some names. You quite obviously feel very strongly about this group, so… again, have the courage of your convictions. I mean, you DO have names, right? Let’s hear 'em. Who ARE the “Usual Suspects”? > > Put up or shut up. You are. I said that. The Usual Suspects are idiots. You are an idiot. Do the math. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/75 "2010-01-08T02:47:45Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You are. I said that. > > The Usual Suspects are idiots. You are an idiot. Do the math. > > Regards, > Shodan AWESOME handwaving Mr. Conservative. AWESOME. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/76 "2010-01-08T02:48:39Z")
Shouldn’t it just be The Usual Suspect, then? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/77 "2010-01-08T02:49:17Z")
Just where is all this complaint/exaggeration about SDMB partisan-ness that triggered the OP? I’d guess that mention of the board’s liberal bias doesn’t occur once in a hundred conservative posts - and even that is a…ahem…conservative guess. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that it’s less than 1 in 500. But let a conservative poster mention it at all, no matter how justified or appropriate, and howls instantly go up ridiculing the poster for playing the “victim” card. Neither **Shodan** nor any other conservative I can think of around here has ever complained about or even mentioned that they viewed themselves as a victim around here. Still, the board is highly biased in the main, and populated by a certain contingent of posters that is all too eager to gang up on anyone who dares to take a conservative position on almost anything. Another problem here is that it’s virtually impossible to get anything in the way of an honest appraisal or discussion of anything political. A perfect example would be the recent thread asking for examples of Democrat lies, wherein we’re entertained by explanations that the examples cited aren’t really lies, just “hyperbole” - and besides, those guys don’t really mean what they say, they’re just being politicians. It’s to be expected. :rolleyes: I personally pretty much hit the wall after the thread **Bricker** started to discuss my claims that liberalism has created much greater problems with teen pregnancy that existed in the 50s. I would wager that a person could stop 100 people on the street and mention the term “problems with teen pregnancy” and everyone would know what they meant, and they would know that with current rates of abortion, teen girls stuck with trying to raise children in single-parent homes, and an STD rate of 25% among the nation’s high school girls, things are most certainly worse than they were then. But not here. No, we can’t discuss it in those terms. Here we have to keep defining it and defining it and defining it down to the point where either it really isn’t a problem at all (or, preferably, to where things were worse in the 50s). We have to consider whether we’re talking about young teens or 18 and 19-year-old women; we have to consider whether they were married when they got pregnant or whether they were pregnant when they got married, we have to consider whether the father lived with the mother afterward, and if so for how long. We have to debate the merits of the parents living together and whether this makes the pregancy no longer a problem. We have to debate how many continue to live together vs. how many split soon after. Then we have to discuss how many who actually get married split soon after and whether that’s better or worse than just living together… Etc., etc., etc. I could go on for more paragraphs than anyone wants to read about how narrowly people were attempting to define what teen pregnancy really was in that thread and how to compare it with the 50s…if appropriate records even existed to allow us to do so. Then we had the denials that teen pregnancy is a problem in the first place. Did she get an abortion? Then no problem. Did she and the father get married? Then no problem. Did she and the father move in together? Then no problem. A 25% STD rate? Hey, they had high rates of STDs in NYC in the early 1900s. Robeson High School, where 1 in 7 girls is pregnant? A mere aberration. Again, etc., etc., etc. Deny, deny, deny. Nothing was ever the result of decades of liberal permissiveness, and if anything, things are better now. So all in all, it was at this point that I got pretty much fed up with trying to have discussions of any import about things political around here, and that, in combination with the fact that continually pissing in the wind around here had begun to have a negative effect on my own attitudes, has convinced me that continuing to try to argue matters such as these around here is simply not worth the time or trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/78 "2010-01-08T02:53:54Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > AWESOME handwaving Mr. Conservative. AWESOME. Not my whole hand, just one finger. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/79 "2010-01-08T02:55:40Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I could go on for more paragraphs than anyone wants to read about how narrowly people were attempting to define what teen pregnancy really was in that thread and how to compare it with the 50s…if appropriate records even existed to allow us to do so. Ironic, really, because that thread did go on for paragraphs and paragraphs about how you dismissed any objective evidence that didn’t fit in with your preconceived beliefs. ---
**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:** [January 8, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968/80 "2010-01-08T03:03:57Z")
A quick question…are you guys saying that Shodan coined the phrase ‘The usual suspects’? Or just that he uses it a lot? It’s one of those phrases (I’ve used it myself from time to time) that just seems to creep into ones subconscious if you post on this board for any length of time. Just curious. -XT [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-exaggeration-about-sdmb-partisan-ness/523968.md?page=5)