# {insert name here} is stupid? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 22, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681 "2004-10-22T21:22:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/21 "2004-10-23T18:40:52Z")
Hey, folks. OP here. This thread isn’t a Bush debate. There are plenty of those over in GD. This is a non-partisan discussion about calling intelligent people “stupid” because they disagree with you. Interestingly, it seems like the anti-Bush people are all jumping in to say “Bush is stupid.” > [@blowero](#): > > Doesn’t anyone know what hyperbole is anymore? Yes. But I don’t see folks like **panache45** jumping in and saying, “Sorry, it was hyperbole. I really don’t think Bush is stupid.” Instead, he just lists a bunch of arguments for why he thinks Bush _is_ stupid, while **Brutus** jumps in to show that there are two sides to all of the points. You obviously know hyperbole when you see it (or use it), **blowero** , but it appears a bunch of people here don’t. They just feel that anyone who disagrees with them is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/22 "2004-10-23T18:57:22Z")
No, I honestly do believe that Bush is stupid. No hyperbole whatsoever. And the \*\*wrong \*\*way to change my mind is to mention the things you don’t like about Kerry. I have many disagreements with Kerry’s politics, but I’d never call him stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/23 "2004-10-23T19:45:58Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > No, ‘retaliation’ is stupid feel-good concept. ‘Retaliation’ would have gotten a stern rebuke sent to Afghanistan, along with a few cruise missiles. GW took decisive action in Aghanistan; you might note that Afghanistan recently undertook its first national elections ever. > …snip… Excellent post, Brutus. Two thumbs up. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/24 "2004-10-23T19:50:11Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > How about the last year when Iraq was proven to have weapons of mass destruction? Actually, FWIW that would be 2004. > **[Military Daily News](https://www.military.com/daily-news)** > > Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/25 "2004-10-23T20:25:19Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > > [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > > > How about the last year when Iraq was proven to have weapons of mass destruction? > > Actually, FWIW that would be 2004. > [http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0%2C13319%2CFL\_sarin\_051804%2C00.html](http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0%2C13319%2CFL_sarin_051804%2C00.html) Whatever became of that story? I remember reading it, and then couldn’t find any follow-up stories. If it was verified, I’d have expected to see it as the lead story on every network (except CBS, of course), and on the front page of most of the newspapers. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/26 "2004-10-23T20:57:35Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Whatever became of that story? I remember reading it, and then couldn’t find any follow-up stories. If it was verified, I’d have expected to see it as the lead story on every network (except CBS, of course), and on the front page of most of the newspapers. Well, the cited story itself makes it pretty clear that everyone involved, including the U.S. government, regarded this as a leftover, isolated shell from the early 1990s, and not as an indication that there was a stockpile of these suckers lying around anywhere. In fact, even Rumsfeld cautioned that the determination that it had sarin in it was not a reliable finding. So, what do we have? One stray old shell that might just possibly have had traces of a nerve agent in it. Another non-story, another straw to be grasped at. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/27 "2004-10-23T22:18:40Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I mean really, do you honestly think that this kind of rhetoric will help convince someone to vote for your candidate? Didn’t work on me. I wound up voting Libertarian. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/28 "2004-10-23T22:37:10Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Hey, folks. OP here. This thread isn’t a Bush debate. There are plenty of those over in GD. This is a non-partisan discussion about calling intelligent people “stupid” because they disagree with you. Suggestion: If you intend to have a non-partison discussion, don’t throw in partisan statements like “Bush acted on bad information from the ‘intelligence’ community”. The implication there is that Bush was simply misled, which is most definitely a partisan view. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/29 "2004-10-23T23:07:36Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Suggestion: If you intend to have a non-partison discussion, don’t throw in partisan statements like “Bush acted on bad information from the ‘intelligence’ community”. The implication there is that Bush was simply misled, which is most definitely a partisan view. Shit. We’re hard pressed to have a discussion about “Mary had a little lamb” for more than 5 minutes without a partisan hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/30 "2004-10-23T23:09:29Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Shit. We’re hard pressed to have a discussion about “Mary had a little lamb” for more than 5 minutes without a partisan hijack. And the reason Mary doesn’t _still have_ a little lamb? Bush! ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/31 "2004-10-24T00:32:38Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Excellent post, Brutus. Two thumbs up. Up where? ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681/32 "2004-10-24T07:31:44Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Excellent post, Brutus. I’ll take “words you never see together in the same sentence” for 500, Alex. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insert-name-here-is-stupid/270681.md?page=1)