# I Pit the Audience of the GOP Debate **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 23, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331 "2011-09-23T14:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/101 "2011-09-25T03:05:10Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > But the home of the vast majority is the Republican party. Not just jerks but haters of people of color and gays. You will notice none of the candidates were offended . None of them had a thing to say in any of 3 embarrassing occasions. That is because in the repub party, it is accepted. No big deal at all. Eh, Ron Paul stood up a little about the “let him die” idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/102 "2011-09-25T04:30:57Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Two points: what the soldier says, first and foremost. There was a general of intelligence going around back in the Bush years, wearing full uniform and giving lectures on how God hates Islam. “Booooo!” doesn’t get it. > > Second, you are operating under a misapprehension, that somehow Dems and lefties are inherently contemptuous of the service. We have often been contemptuous of the purposes to which their service is used. More often than not, and for good reasons. > > It serves the political interests of our opposition to foster the impression that the left is unpatriotic. If I am the only red-blooded, flag waving, all American radical lefty you’ve ever met, you don’t get out enough. I have no idea what you are yapping about. I asked a question and have yet to hear a response. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/103 "2011-09-25T05:23:38Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > The question was asked to a single candidate, who gave a singular opinion on the subject. None of the other candidates were involved, as far as I know. The only one on the stage that has claimed not to hear the booing was Santorum. Each candidate had plenty of time on the stage afterwords to condemn the crowds behavior. A few of them after being hit with negative press over their lack of reaction have made statements saying they did not agree with the booing. The time to say that was then not after the fact. Their inaction was passive support of bigotry. They at best lack the courage to lead. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/104 "2011-09-25T06:00:48Z")
> [@Cumberdale](#): > > I have no idea what you are yapping about. I asked a question and have yet to hear a response. You can type but you can’t read? How very odd. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/105 "2011-09-25T06:43:31Z")
The ad at the bottom of the page is “stop Obama’s assault on our veterans” from the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign Committee. See the rich irony you paid members are missing out on? ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/106 "2011-09-25T12:24:42Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > You can type but you can’t read? How very odd. Yes, I can read, thank you. I just don’t understand who you can tell what I believe about “lefties” from my post or can tell if I don’t get out enough. In other words don’t assign motivations or beliefs to people you don’t know, you’ll just come off sounding like an ass. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/107 "2011-09-25T12:26:02Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I agree that there are homophobes in the GOP, and I condemn their hateful rhetoric and actions (as seen here)-but this does not represent the views of all the Republican Party. I agree that there are racists in the NPD\*, and I condemn their hateful rhetoric and actions - but this does not represent the views of all the NPD. \*modern right-wing radical party of Germany; commonly seen as the reaction to the banning of the NSDAP as a party. Anti-gay, anti-immigration, strongly anti-turk. Notably fringe and generally worth ignoring. Look, _you_ may not be a homophobe, and I respect that. But that said, it doesn’t matter: you’re supporting the party of homophobia, bigotry, and prejudice. When most of the republican presidential candidates sign a pledge to “family values”; when they will openly speak out against a gay serviceman _because he is gay_; when nobody will dare call Santorum–an _enemy_ in this race–out on his very clear logical errors, either because they agree or because they are scared of being branded as a supporter of gay rights, then it is fair to brand the party as homophobic. And as long as that is part of the party line, people who support the republican party have a duty to either act to _change_ that through whatever means they have, or they lose the right to complain when they are labeled as supporters of homophobia and detractors of social progress. > [@Cyberhwk](#): > > ["It DID disrupt the unit. The unit got over it.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XbPGsLSw1k) That is an awesome clip. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/108 "2011-09-25T14:10:50Z")
> [@Cumberdale](#): > > Yes, I can read, thank you. I just don’t understand who you can tell what I believe about “lefties” from my post or can tell if I don’t get out enough. In other words don’t assign motivations or beliefs to people you don’t know, you’ll just come off sounding like an ass. Let me introduce you to a concept rather popular hereabouts. It’s called a “quote”, by which you illustrate a posters views with their own words, those words being a reliable indicator of views. > [@](#): > > …but please tell me if I am wrong. If at a Democrat debate a currently serving soldier was boo’d, you would not be as outraged and disappointed that it was practically ignored by the candidates as I am in this instance? By which you imply the Dems are inherently less likely to be shocked at dissing a serviceman. A slander of long standing and durable. You present a hypothetical Dem response as though it were a fact, and then offer to compare the Dem regard for servicemen against your own, and find it wanting. You offer a comparison between something that did happen and something that didn’t, and assure us in aggrieved tones of butthurt that if the one that didn’t happen did happen, it would be much worse. Apparently hoping that an insinuation can outweigh a fact. You got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/109 "2011-09-25T16:20:26Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Let me introduce you to a concept rather popular hereabouts. It’s called a “quote”, by which you illustrate a posters views with their own words, those words being a reliable indicator of views. > > By which you imply the Dems are inherently less likely to be shocked at dissing a serviceman. A slander of long standing and durable. You present a hypothetical Dem response as though it were a fact, and then offer to compare the Dem regard for servicemen against your own, and find it wanting. > > You offer a comparison between something that did happen and something that didn’t, and assure us in aggrieved tones of butthurt that if the one that didn’t happen did happen, it would be much worse. Apparently hoping that an insinuation can outweigh a fact. > > You got nothin’. First, you can take your condescending attitude and shove it. I merely asked a question of another poster. I did not preface my comment with “since this is what I believe…” You simply read into it what you wanted to see. Besides, I happen to think that what actually happened is much worse than if it would have been in the reverse. While this may be an unfair stereotype I’d be willing to wager that the boo’ers were right of center on the political scale, conservative Christians and pro military all the way. However the incident shows that they let their bigotry trump everything else. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/110 "2011-09-25T17:57:39Z")
**elucidator** , you’re completely off-base. **Cumberdale** worded his hypothetical a bit poorly maybe, but he’s clearly doing a standard “if the party names were reversed” hypothetical. Going all attack-dog on the unintentional implication that of course the Democratic candidates wouldn’t say anything about booing audience members is overkill. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/111 "2011-09-25T18:14:50Z")
Huh? Looked to me like a jigger of “liberal hypocrisy” on the rocks with a dash of “They hate the troops” bitters. Rather have a swampwater fizz. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/112 "2011-09-25T18:30:30Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Huh? Looked to me like a jigger of “liberal hypocrisy” on the rocks with a dash of “They hate the troops” bitters. Rather have a swampwater fizz. Nope. You were off base here. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/113 "2011-09-25T18:34:50Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Because his original excuse for not saying anything about it (cuz he’s such an upstanding guy who will totally face up to a mob to protect some homo) was that he “didn’t hear the boos”. He thought they were saying “boo-urns.” ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/114 "2011-09-25T18:46:56Z")
The pit is weak. He pits the audience without understanding they are the Republicans. The audience is not filled with people off the streets. It is filled with people who have shown loyalty and given money to the party or have worked for it. They are a fair representative of the Republican followers. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/115 "2011-09-25T18:51:26Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Huh? Looked to me like a jigger of “liberal hypocrisy” on the rocks with a dash of “They hate the troops” bitters. Rather have a swampwater fizz. **Cumberdale** was asking **OMGABC** whether or not he would condemn Democrats if audience members booed service members and the candidates didn’t remark on it at a Democratic Party debate. It’s just a hypothetical, and it’s one intended to expose hypocrisy in _conservatives_ who would condemn Democrats doing so hypothetically but would excuse Republicans who actually did it. So, yes, off-base. And now you’ve made me explain the joke, so no drinks for you. ---
**Author:** ![Lago\_Ys-Transform](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@Lago\_Ys-Transform](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lago_Ys-Transform)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/116 "2011-09-25T20:37:30Z")
How many people were booing (can’t see the link, sorry, I’m limited to 1G right now)? If it’s just like 1% of the crowd I seriously don’t think that it’s worth pitting over. No offense because I support full-on LGBT rights, but if it’s not a significant ratio then it’s just a wee bit hasty. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/117 "2011-09-25T21:22:18Z")
I think people are being more than a little unfair to the audience. That soldier was quite ripped. Considering how many social conservatives have turned out to be repressed closet-cases isn’t there a strong possibility the were going “Woo! Woo!” ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/118 "2011-09-25T21:22:19Z")
> [@Lago\_Ys-Transform](#): > > How many people were booing (can’t see the link, sorry, I’m limited to 1G right now)? If it’s just like 1% of the crowd I seriously don’t think that it’s worth pitting over. No offense because I support full-on LGBT rights, but if it’s not a significant ratio then it’s just a wee bit hasty. You do not know how many. You are making up a statistic. Nor do you tell us how many you would consider significant. Some think 1 is too many. This was not the whole Republican party, but it was all Republicans. It is a representation of the party. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/119 "2011-09-25T23:03:42Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I agree that there are racists in the NPD\*, and I condemn their hateful rhetoric and actions - but this does not represent the views of all the NPD. > > \*modern right-wing radical party of Germany; commonly seen as the reaction to the banning of the NSDAP as a party. Anti-gay, anti-immigration, strongly anti-turk. Notably fringe and generally worth ignoring. > > Look, _you_ may not be a homophobe, and I respect that. But that said, it doesn’t matter: you’re supporting the party of homophobia, bigotry, and prejudice. When most of the republican presidential candidates sign a pledge to “family values”; when they will openly speak out against a gay serviceman _because he is gay_; when nobody will dare call Santorum–an _enemy_ in this race–out on his very clear logical errors, either because they agree or because they are scared of being branded as a supporter of gay rights, then it is fair to brand the party as homophobic. And as long as that is part of the party line, people who support the republican party have a duty to either act to _change_ that through whatever means they have, or they lose the right to complain when they are labeled as supporters of homophobia and detractors of social progress. > > That is an awesome clip. Well younger Republicans and moderates elected in 2010 are starting to change the GOP from within-but I don’t think the Republican politicians as a whole are homophobic but like as you said unwilling to piss off the base. But then on the other hand even Ann Coulter spoke at a GOProud > [@gonzomax](#): > > The pit is weak. He pits the audience without understanding they are the Republicans. The audience is not filled with people off the streets. It is filled with people who have shown loyalty and given money to the party or have worked for it. They are a fair representative of the Republican followers. I think its self-evident that probably most of the crowd is Republican, thus I did not need to include that. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > You’re not sure if Republicans would sponsor or support a bill to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation? > > You might want to look into that. Just FYI, the majority of the party does not share your tolerant outlook. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew\_Shepard\_and\_James\_Byrd,\_Jr.\_Hate\_Crimes\_Prevention\_Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard_and_James_Byrd,_Jr._Hate_Crimes_Prevention_Act) Voila. Well the bill did have some Republican support but opposition to the bill came for reasons of constitutionality (such as the US commitssion on Civil Rights) > [@gonzomax](#): > > You do not know how many. You are making up a statistic. Nor do you tell us how many you would consider significant. Some think 1 is too many. This was not the whole Republican party, but it was all Republicans. It is a representation of the party. No it did not pick Republicans from all varieties from all regions-the audience is skewed toward the locality and whatever groups bothered to make the trip. ---
**Author:** ![Lago\_Ys-Transform](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@Lago\_Ys-Transform](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lago_Ys-Transform)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/120 "2011-09-25T23:27:18Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > You do not know how many. You are making up a statistic. Nor do you tell us how many you would consider significant. Some think 1 is too many. This was not the whole Republican party, but it was all Republicans. It is a representation of the party. I’m not making up anything. I’m asking for a percentage of the audience actually booing. If the OP is going to put the audience you need to show that the attitude is reflective of ‘the audience’ and not just a few random assholes. I’m not quite sure where the line from individual to collective guilt is, but I think that 1-5% of the audience misbehaving is too low for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331.md?page=7)