# Let me be real clear: this message board does NOT need conservatives **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 28, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474 "2021-07-28T02:12:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 63
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1245 "2021-08-08T04:02:40Z")
I will preempt you: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! STOP POSTING! ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1246 "2021-08-08T04:03:41Z")
I just might. I just might. Loving myself extra hard. Loving myself extra hard. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1247 "2021-08-08T04:17:25Z")
I hate to interrupt someone mid stroke but point out where I’ve been unscientific. I just don’t get that critique. I’m not confused by 2nd grade biology nor do I exploit it to advance a bankrupt ideology but I digress. And asahi, if you are going to ridicule a message board name at least don’t plagiarize the mean girls. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1249 "2021-08-08T04:22:59Z")
God damn, fuck Discourse for its AI shit. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1250 "2021-08-08T04:31:03Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > {…} I’m not confused by 2nd grade biology {…} Tell us what you really mean? (I mean it’s not like it’s not clear to some of us, but surely you can actually defend your position once it’s been made clear . . . right?) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1251 "2021-08-08T05:57:21Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > And you can like Democrats while admitting that […] Andrew Cuomo shouldn’t have put all those COVID patients in nursing homes and covered it up, or serially groped his female staff. […] > > And that’s why you need conservatives here - to occasionally remind you that there is another point of view so you don’t become a blind idealogue. But Democrats have been castigating the failings of Andrew Cuomo (and other misbehaving Democrats) without requiring any inspiration from conservatives. It’s not that the general principle of different ideologies providing each other with more balanced perspectives is a bad thing. It’s that the movement identified as “conservatism” in American politics these days is so far off the rails when it comes to facts and ethics that it’s no longer capable of providing useful perspectives to rational responsible people. Nobody needs Trump supporters and Gaetz supporters telling them that it’s wrong for Andrew Cuomo to sexually harass people. The cognitive dissonance involved in that level of glaring hypocrisy just completely overwhelms any theoretical value that the message might have. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1252 "2021-08-08T06:00:22Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I’m not confused by 2nd grade biology You do seem to be confused by the fact that actual biology is more subtle and complicated than the heavily distorted oversimplified version generally considered suitable for the understanding of second-graders, though. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1253 "2021-08-08T10:21:54Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > DemonTree seems to me to be improving lately. There were some posts earlier in this thread – as well as quite recently – that appeared to me to be actual discussion. I’m right here! > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I had finally had a chance to partially work out some response to posts several days ago; but coming back to the thread now I’m not at all sure there’s any sense in bothering to respond to something now about 300 posts back in the thread. I’d be interested to see your reply. You were willing to debate seriously about a subject where there are not perhaps any easy answers, rather than going for the usual black-and-white thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1254 "2021-08-08T10:25:54Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > That’s a bold position for a British person. Never figured anyone would consider the likes of Monty Python or Blackadder “cruel” (not that I’m nearly as clever at mockery as they are). Yeah, you’re not seeing the difference here. [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mocking) > [@](#): > > Mockery can be done in a lighthearted and gentle way,[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mocking#cite_note-1) but can also be cruel and hateful, such that it “conjures images of corrosion, deliberate degradation, even subversion; thus, ‘to laugh at in contempt, to make sport of’ ([OED](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary))”.[[2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mocking#cite_note-2) You can only be pretending to be doing the lighthearted version if people aren’t trying to ban people or hassle the people that they’re mocking. If you’re doing that, it becomes the cruel version because banning/hassling people is the only punishment possible on a message board. And no, it doesn’t matter that it’s not happening physically since words are all people have on a message board. If words on a message board don’t count, then no one would be upset that some people are using the wrong words in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1255 "2021-08-08T10:32:35Z")
I mocked Sam, but I specifically said I don’t want Sam to be banned. I’m not even sure what “hassling” could be on a message board. I can’t believe mockery is such a controversial topic. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1256 "2021-08-08T10:44:10Z")
I don’t understand why you can’t see the issue. Light-hearted mockery is what you do with your friends. You’re talking about bullying, plain and simple. You don’t want to ban Trump supporters, you just want to make the board as miserable as possible for them. Maybe real life too, you didn’t specify. You’re starting down a very dangerous road when you degree some group as not deserving basic respect, and see causing them harm as a righteous action. There’s a thousand examples of this and all of them bad. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1257 "2021-08-08T11:03:09Z")
That’s not what I’ve advocated. If someone says that yes, Trump was right to purposefully hurt migrant families and deliberately separate families such that hundreds of orphaned children will never see their families again, than they deserve mockery and personal attacks, because that’s as horrible as advocating for child molestation, segregation, or dozen other positions that society already sees as beyond the pale. I haven’t said that just saying “I support Trump” deserves this - I’ve restricted it to those who advocate for atrocities or the overturning of democracy. I’ll note this is very different from Sam - I gently mocked Sam for extreme gullibility. If you don’t believe me, go read that thread again and find the worst thing I said about him. I’m pretty sure it was nothing more than “that was a really stupid and gullible post”. If you want to take the position that those who advocate for atrocities shouldn’t be mocked or rhetorically attacked, then feel free, but stop fucking lying about my positions. You’re just a lying fucking troll who makes shit up about other posters so often you probably can’t tell the difference between truth and lies yourself. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1258 "2021-08-08T11:34:43Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > That’s not what I’ve advocated. If someone says that yes, Trump was right to purposefully hurt migrant families and deliberately separate families such that hundreds of orphaned children will never see their families again, than they deserve mockery and personal attacks, because that’s as horrible as advocating for child molestation, segregation, or dozen other positions that society already sees as beyond the pale. I haven’t said that just saying “I support Trump” deserves this - I’ve restricted it to those who advocate for atrocities or the overturning of democracy. This is just confirming that you believe these people deserve to suffer mockery and personal attacks, and you were indeed being disingenuous (or trolling?) earlier when you compared it to lighthearted mockery of friends. And if you want me to think your mockery of Sam was gentle, try not calling it ‘brutal’ yourself. I’d like to hear @Sam_Stone’s opinion on how ‘light-hearted’ it is. You might find he sees things very differently from you. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Sam is not a bad poster, and generally clearly and honestly lays out his thoughts, AFAICT. He’s just monumentally wrong very often, sometimes to the point of deserving a bit of brutal mockery. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1259 "2021-08-08T11:59:27Z")
Up Next: Supporters of the world’s worst dictators ~ Has history been too harsh? ---
**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:** [August 8, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1260 "2021-08-08T12:21:23Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > You’re starting down a very dangerous road when you degree some group as not deserving basic respect, and see causing them harm as a righteous action. There’s a thousand examples of this and all of them bad. **iiandyiiii** already pointed out that you just misrepresented what he said (both in this thread and his thread pitting Sam), so I won’t cover that. But you of all people aren’t able to make this argument in good faith. You have zero problem not treating trans people with basic respect. You have zero problem causing them harm by misgendering them. You have no problem advocating that cisgender women exclude them from women’s spaces. You have no problem arguing that they are a threat and should be excluded. You advocate discriminating against people for innate characteristics. How in the world can you then tell people not to discriminate based on people ideas? Finally, I will remind you that Trump staged a coup attempt against the United States of America. He lost an election, and then did everything is his power to override that result. He pushed his own supporters to storm the capitol, with plans to take hostages and even kill to install him as leader. Imagine this happened in the UK. UKIP loses the election, and so they storm Parliament with guns and other weapons and/or they gang up on the Governor General, planning to hold him hostage until he declares UKIP to have a majority government, despite losing. Are you really going to tell me that you’d think their followers would deserve equal respect to everyone else? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1261 "2021-08-08T12:23:44Z")
Yes, atrocity advocates deserve personal attacks and relentless mockery. I have no idea why anyone would consider this controversial. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1262 "2021-08-08T12:27:02Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > {…} Imagine this happened in the UK. UKIP loses the election, and so they storm Parliament with guns and other weapons and/or they gang up on the Governor General, planning to hold him hostage until he declares UKIP to have a majority government, despite losing. > > Are you really going to tell me that you’d think their followers would deserve equal respect to everyone else? Surely this depends on how UKIP deals with the problem of excluding transpeople from women’s spaces? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1263 "2021-08-08T12:27:57Z")
Wow. Octo has gone full ONAN, hasn’t he? Well, he has always been a coward. Not surprised he looks to strongmen and strawmen to maintain his grip on his delusions. Did I literally see a _Mao_ reference? Going to have to revise my age estimate upwards again, dammit. And, @DemonTree, we have just gone through a year in which we watched the American Right… hell, the Global Right… lie about a disease to the tune of 500,000 excess deaths here in America. This isn’t about politeness anymore, @octopus and his ideological cohorts are literally and deliberately _killing us_. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1264 "2021-08-08T12:35:54Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > You are a bitch man Calling you out for that type of insult, which relies on its being insulting to call a man something associated with women > [@DemonTree](#): > > I’m right here! Apologies if my tone was off; I was in an after-market state of exhaustion. > [@DemonTree](#): > > I’d be interested to see your reply. OK, will get back to it later today. Have somebody coming over shortly to help deal with a broken down work van. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474/1265 "2021-08-08T12:37:21Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > You’re starting down a very dangerous road when you degree some group as not deserving basic respect, and see causing them harm as a righteous action. There’s a thousand examples of this and all of them bad. Ever since Sam Stone decided [to repeatedly](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worst-thread-20th-century-woman/306354/9), and for years, [post the big lie that Rachel Carson was the cause of the death of millions](https://e360.yale.edu/features/rachel_carsons_critics_keep_on_but_she_told_truth_about_ddt), and that he saw people that wanted to defend the environment where we live as deserving of contempt, and he willfully ignored the evidence that showed how wrong he still is, it is clear that he does see the ones that do look at science regarding climate change and other environmental concerns to be on the same group. Really, him continuously following the poisoned wells of information that told him what to think about Rachel Carlson and proponents of Climate Change mitigation, means that he does think that people that defend science when it is inconvenient _to some industries_ are defenders of mass murderers too. What do you think is the respect that he does show when he believes that? Exactly what many on the board did see and continues to see. The point here is that you need, besides getting better sources of info as shown before in this thread, to be careful about whom you defend with your white knighting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474.md?page=62) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-be-real-clear-this-message-board-does-not-need-conservatives/947474.md?page=64)