# Is Shodan more retarded lately, or has he maintained a consistent level of retardation all along? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 24, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530 "2012-01-24T20:31:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 54
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1061 "2012-02-21T16:01:12Z")
> [@digs](#): > > But where are you when we really need you… over in the **Paterno Pit Thread That Will Not Die**? > > \*\*\*Starving Artist \*\*\*has been defending Paterno, and disproving that Sandusky could’ve been guilty, and claiming it’s a witch hunt due in part to Paterno’s “Well-Known Conservatism”. > _ **SA** _’s claims have been so egregious (read it, I dare you), and his grasp of legal matters is so skewed, that I often refresh the page just in hopes that _ **Bricker** _’s weighed in. I looked at that thread in its infancy and didn’t see much worth commenting on; apparently it’s worth another look. Stand by… ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1062 "2012-02-21T16:06:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > This description applies to me also: a conservative member of a liberal message board, **posting frequently to illustrate how wrong liberals are.** I admit I laughed my ass off at that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1063 "2012-02-21T16:15:25Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > My goal is not to get under anyone’s skin. A claim whose veracity is supported by your choice of **Bricker** as username, rather than something like **Omg a Conservative Lawyer (aka a liberal’s WORST NIGHTMARE!!!11 ROTFL)**. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1064 "2012-02-21T16:15:28Z")
The modesty really shines through. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1065 "2012-02-21T16:43:25Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I looked at that thread in its infancy and didn’t see much worth commenting on; apparently it’s worth another look. If you haven’t already been dragged into it, there’s no point in getting involved now. It’s really pretty strange. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1066 "2012-02-21T16:58:22Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > … So I abandoned that view. You’re smart, we’re right, sooner or later, you’re ours. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1067 "2012-02-21T17:03:36Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Stand by… He’s not coming back, is he? Edit: I was suggesting that he’d get mired in the poop-bog that is that thread, not that he was running from anything. I realized that my meaning would be nebulous. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1068 "2012-02-21T17:24:13Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > He’s not coming back, is he? > > Edit: I was suggesting that he’d get mired in the poop-bog that is that thread, not that he was running from anything. I realized that my meaning would be nebulous. I suggezt we form a search and rescue team. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1069 "2012-02-21T18:23:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > This description applies to me also: a conservative member of a liberal message board, posting frequently to illustrate how wrong liberals are. > > My goal is not to get under anyone’s skin. My goal is to see how well my ideas hold up when subjected to strong criticism. It’s not useful for me to say, for example, that I disfavor same-sex marriage on a conservative board, because I would get nothing but laudatory responses and agreement. Posting the same thing here made me work to defend the claim, and indeed to realize that it’s not defensible. So I abandoned that view. That used to be my view on same sex marriage going back a decade or more. But as a liberal, albeit, Christian liberal, I gave the “were just not going to agree” crowd because we’ve never done it that way and its just wrong very little credit. My conservative friends, even lawyers, just had no decent defense in logic of the traditional view. Most of them, especially the divorced and adulterers (sigh), still see it as an attack on the sacred institution of marriage. As my cohort gets older, the ones who never stray pesonally are less bothered by it, as they have always been less bothered by the gay rights movement than the true believers by all forms of liberals. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1070 "2012-02-21T19:38:36Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > My goal is not to get under anyone’s skin. My goal is to see how well my ideas hold up when subjected to strong criticism. That line would go over better without [your silly ‘gotcha’ games](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14791327&postcount=9). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1071 "2012-02-25T04:19:08Z")
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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530/1072 "2012-02-25T04:37:53Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > This description applies to me also: a conservative member of a liberal message board, posting frequently to illustrate how wrong liberals are. Honestly, it doesn’t describe you. You don’t post to show liberals how wrong they are. As you said, you post to sharpen your debating skills, as well as to actually challenge your legitimately held beliefs. You mostly argue in good faith, and not like you are some guy from on high that is going to tell us how we should think. And, anyways, if it did describe you, that still would be only one piece of evidence I used in my assessment. It wouldn’t necessarily give me a negative opinion of you. I’d be a hypocrite if I said that it was always wrong to make a provocative post solely with the purpose of telling someone they are wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shodan-more-retarded-lately-or-has-he-maintained-a-consistent-level-of-retardation-all-along/610530.md?page=53)