Great Debates is pretty liberal here, but we tolerate and sometimes even respect our conservative posters. There’s plenty of sniping and ganging up, but it rarely melts down into a vulgar brawl. Is there any message board out there like this on the conservative side? I’m getting tired of opening a GD thread and having something to say, but finding ten people have said it already. I’d like to see the arguments from the other side, but somewhere like the SDMB, where the moderators are involved and strong enough to keep most of the nasty stuff where it belongs. Does anyone here know of such a place?
I think the OP was being serious.
That’s one, except for the truth part.
You mean a place where people can debate with each other, assuming they already agree with each other? Sounds fantastic…
I think I outlined what I mean in the original post.
Picked a news thread to read there, one about the European volcanic ash flight disruptions as it’s topical and relatively non-controversial:
http://forum.darwincentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=35120
Within the first few posts it becomes a 9/11 thread, then an Obama bashing one and then moves onto gypsies and immigrants. It’s more like an atheist Free Republic than a conservative SDMB.
Ok, point taken. :smack: I was thinking more of the science threads there: DarwinCentral.org • Login
In any case, if a forum declares a political leaning, you can pretty much expect it to be, well, full of political backbiting. SDMB’s alleged liberal leanings are just that, alleged – if the leanings were declared formal, no one would have any room to complain that a poetry thread turns into Bush-bashing.
I don’t think there would be any conservative-leaning, intellectual forum, just because there just isn’t a lot to be defended about social conservatism. Might have better luck finding a libertarian-leaning intellectual forum.
OK, sorry. But I’m not sure such a place exists, or can exist.
The SDMB has a liberal bias because the world has a liberal bias - if you try to impose a different balance by force, that has the side effect of fettering the discussion.
Obviously, since these terms are mutually exclusive.
I’m not looking for a new board…but I will say that I am occasionally put off posting a response that might be considered conservative because of the very sniping and ganging up you mention. I am sometimes discouraged bythe mere title of a post…something akin to “Poll: Conservatives: Really stupid, or just slightly”.
I too would put the SDMB comfortably in the liberal category, but I would attribute it to the demographic that posts on forums. Younger people, college students, philosophers…
As a right of center independent I find it hard to find a lunch table to sit at here.
Pfft. The SDMB skews much older than that. We’ve done numerous age polls and you can see my kind (I’m 24) are a relative minority. The median age is more like late 30s.
I’ve always had the impression that the SDMB’s demographic skews higher in age than most other forums I’ve been on. Just a spidey-sense thing, but I’m regularly pleasantly surprised to come across posters talking about coming up to retirement, or having seen The Beatles live or some such.
The photo threads also demonstrate this a bit.
So what are you looking for? A GQ-like forum that answers scientific questions & inquiries that leans conservative? Darwin Central is the only one that I know that approaches anything like that.
A GD that leans conservative but not overly so? Dave Ramsey’s political forum fits the bill, IMO… there are a couple of extremists, but extremism does not sit well there. Palin isn’t popular there. For example, a bunch of moderate conservatives basically came to the agreement that Obama imposing a VAT isn’t a bad idea. However it’s a pay site and you don’t generally join DR just to debate politics, and also, the audience generally isn’t very intellectual/skeptic.
A message board filled with “your people” that you can sit down and have chatty posts without feeling like you have 3 eyes in your forehead? Nope. Don’t know a place.
I was active in the conservative community right until about 2005-2006 when it all began falling apart. I learned in politics class in HS that when a side is in the minority, it typically reacts by going to the extreme. I’ve found that to be very true, and I’ve just stopped posting anywhere since Obama’s election.
I try to discourage those types of polls-can you point out any real examples that have occurred recently?
Well, this is really precious, coming from one of the major enforcers of liberal group-think on the board. Not a poll, but sort of what Mosier and TheBori might be talking about.
See Czarcasm’s posts in this gun related thread.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=560338&page=4
Because it is so difficult for the moderators to refrain from injecting their own bias’ into not only their personal posts, but their acts of moderation, it becomes a barrier to posters who might otherwise post but instead remain silent.
While there may be conservative lurking members of the SDMB their posting contributions are limited by what I perceive as a liberal bias on the part of moderators.
In my opinion, that is.
Whereas nobody ever complains about liberals (and their bias), ‘leftists’ and the like.
I’m not saying this board doesn’t lean to the left (of American politics - it’s probably somewhat to the right of centre in terms of world politics in general), but there’s dumb sniping and backbiting in both directions - but people tend to perceive the opposing version most sharply.
It really amazes me that some people will still make “jokes” that conservative and intellectual are mutual exclusives, etc.
Oh, before you come back and say that you weren’t joking, save it. You’re just making my point for me.
Not an example of what was asked for at all. If you have a complaint about a Moderator, please take it to About This Message Board, please.