# If you cry over politics, you're a pansy. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394 "2008-11-06T01:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/21 "2008-11-06T02:07:08Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > Just that you’re being completely ridiculous by crying about it. Why the fuck do you care? I’m kind of a sensitive person. I cry easily. (Well, about real stuff. I NEVER cry from books or movies or TV.) I’m not ashamed of it, although sometimes I make fun of my own weepiness. Pointless thread. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/22 "2008-11-06T02:27:06Z")
Its not amazing that I haven’t spend the last 8 years crying, I didn’t spend it screaming myself hoarse, which would be the appropriate response. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/23 "2008-11-06T02:38:37Z")
I cried at 9-11, and I cried last night. I didn’t cry when Bush took office the first or 2nd time, or when we went to war or when any other political things happened. I cry when I see things that I could not comprehend and when my mind is blown. I’m kinda sensitive like that. Oh hell, I’m probably a pansy- I cry when I see other people crying. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/24 "2008-11-06T02:42:54Z")
I guess Walter Cronkite is a pansy, then? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/25 "2008-11-06T02:46:44Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > Christ, I’d hate to sit through a PETA video with any of you. Shit, that Humane Society ad with Sarah McLaughlin always makes me dive for the remote to change the channel before I get choked up. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/26 "2008-11-06T02:48:26Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Why the fuck do you care? Trolls have to judge what other people do. It’s a defense mechanism so they can avoid their fear that people are judging them, and finding them unworthy. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/27 "2008-11-06T02:51:21Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I guess Walter Cronkite is a pansy, then? And so is Colin Powell. ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/28 "2008-11-06T02:55:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Trolls have to judge what other people do. It’s a defense mechanism so they can avoid their fear that people are judging them, and finding them unworthy. Deeming me a troll simply because I have a viewpoint you don’t agree with is a load of shit - and you know it. Thanks for the drive-by psychoanalysis though. I see inane, generalized and mouth-frothing threads with no substantiation in the Pit all the time - apparently however I have struck a nerve. The fact that somebody would literally shed tears over something as remotely disconnected and intangible as an election means that they’re either… oh, this all sounds familiar. Let me clarify: [things](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/89485) you’d be reasonable to cry over. [Things that are a little](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01010/debate_1_1010139c.jpg) less worthy of an [overwhelming emotional response](http://www.stateofsunshine.com/images/electoral1.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/29 "2008-11-06T02:59:04Z")
I wouldn’t say that if you cry over politics you’re a pansy (although it didn’t help Muskie). If you get choked up over the success or failure of a campaign that you’re not a part of (like some of the people who said they were getting nauseous watching election returns), you’re probably more emotionally invested in the race than is healthy, though. ---
**Author:** ![Phatlewt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Phatlewt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phatlewt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/30 "2008-11-06T03:01:21Z")
I’ll admit that I got emotional watching Obama’s speech. At 8:30 in, when Obama is speaking of the difficult road ahead for our nation, assuring that we can overcome these difficulties, the crowd breaks out into a chant of “Yes we can, Yes we can…” I think that pride in our nation and our people is worth getting emotional about. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Jll5baCAaQU/hqdefault.jpg "President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/31 "2008-11-06T03:02:51Z")
Is it stoopid season all of a sudden? ISOT and Rune seem to be starting lots of inane threads. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/32 "2008-11-06T03:06:46Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Is it stoopid season all of a sudden? ISOT and Rune seem to be starting lots of inane threads. I remember **Rune** from before pay-to-post, and “inane” pretty much describes his posting style. I don’t know ISOT, though. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/33 "2008-11-06T03:10:34Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > If you get choked up over the success or failure of a campaign that you’re not a part of (like some of the people who said they were getting nauseous watching election returns), you’re probably more emotionally invested in the race than is healthy, though. Maybe this is where the disconnect is. If you’re human, you’re part of it. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/34 "2008-11-06T03:10:45Z")
Ah yes, the all important and very Human meme. _I find X unimportant/uninteresting/unpleasant/inexplicable/annoying, etc, Therefore there’s something wrong with you if you feel differently._ Of course, then there’s another one at work; _Your display of emotion makes me feel uncomfortable, therefore I am justified in my display of emotions as I seek to punish you for your display of emotions._ ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/35 "2008-11-06T03:16:53Z")
> [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](#): > > Condescending trolls who say ‘get a life’ will be first against the wall when the revolution comes. See if they aren’t. That is the funniest thing I have read all day. I am a pansy. I cried all day at work, before the election. And when I had to get a court order to vote because they couldn’t find my name on the list, I nearly hyperventilated, which was scary as hell, because I have _never_ done that before. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/36 "2008-11-06T03:17:26Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I wouldn’t say that if you cry over politics you’re a pansy (although it didn’t help Muskie). If you get choked up over the success or failure of a campaign that you’re not a part of (like some of the people who said they were getting nauseous watching election returns), you’re probably more emotionally invested in the race than is healthy, though. Not a part of? So if the outcome of the election makes a difference in whether I might have to fight in a war, or whether I will lose my a job or my house, or whether I can receive healthcare, or whether services that I rely on will be expanded or cut, or how much of my income I will have to pay in taxes, I’m not a part of it? I can think of few things more worthy of nervous anxiety or tears than the outcome of a presidential election, something that will in some way affect every American. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/37 "2008-11-06T03:20:17Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > Or a bullshitter. > > So, either you’re a melodramatic asshole, or you really need to get a life. Maybe both. > > This applies to pansies/melodramatic assholes on political talk shows, in real life, and those posting on message boards. If you can’t understand why what happened last night was an emotional moment for so many people, nothing I have to say can help you. That said, I must observe, for the record, that you’re a fuckwit. ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/38 "2008-11-06T03:25:40Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Ah yes, the all important and very Human meme. > > _I find X unimportant/uninteresting/unpleasant/inexplicable/annoying, etc, > Therefore there’s something wrong with you if you feel differently._ > > Of course, then there’s another one at work; > > _Your display of emotion makes me feel uncomfortable, therefore I am justified in my display of emotions as I seek to punish you for your display of emotions._ This is fucking rich. I’ll be saving this for future reference. Do you even read the political threads on this very forum? Aside from your continual insinuations that I’m some kind of emotionally stunted troglodyte, have you perhaps noticed that thing sort of thing happens around here **all the time**? So, bite me. Or perhaps you’ve spotted the contradiction in your own (very subtle, witty, and clever) attacks on my opinion. While it’s truly a shame (to you) that I don’t leap from my chair in gleeful anticipation with every electoral vote that comes in, it’s not going to change my standpoint that politics, particularly among the laypeople, is an exercise in boorish wankery. FTR, I’ve started three threads here, ever: this one, an admittedly inane Game Room thread, and a query on technological progress’ diminishing returns. I happen to think that the hundred some-odd political threads open at the moment are just as worthless. At least mine don’t have the quality of being hopelessly redundant. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/39 "2008-11-06T03:25:56Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > Deeming me a troll simply because I have a viewpoint you don’t agree with is a load of shit - and you know it. But there are plenty of other good reasons to deem you a troll. The wild blue hair is a dead giveaway, for instance. People cry. It happens. Deal with it, troll. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394/40 "2008-11-06T03:27:49Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > Thanks for the drive-by psychoanalysis though. What do you expect? If you came in here and told us you’re only attracted to abusive partners, you would expect questions about your family life growing up. Similarly, when you make fun of other people for being emotional about unambiguously emotional events, you invite people to wonder what’s wrong with you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cry-over-politics-youre-a-pansy/471394.md?page=3)