# lissener, you're a shitstain. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 9, 2007, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344 "2007-06-09T04:25:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/141 "2007-06-13T14:45:44Z")
Funny. This thread started with an actual OP, which on some planets is considered to be the topic of the following discussion. Of course, after a few pages, every thread diverges from its topic, but this one is rare in that the OP is pretty much irrelevant from post #2 on. **ExTank** linked to a thread and culled three quotes from **lissener** ’s participation therein as background for calling lissener a “shitstain.” From the evidence presented, though, I’ll be damned if I can see why. If Larson’s derivitive of Kliban or any other artist, admittedly or not, the issue certainly impacts upon the question asked – and it _was_ a question, as to whether Larson was the greatest ever, even though **ExTank** tries to characterize it as “…folks who are doing nothing more egregious than sharing a few laughs and fond memories over the works of one of the more popular contemporary cartoonists…” Nope, I think, this was no private party, this was a thread asking for diverse opinions. It got one. I’m not that impressed by the fact that the opinion wasn’t prefaced with the humble phrase “I think…” or some equivalent. People tend to say what they think, and it’s not unheard of to express one’s opinions as fact, when the subject is inherently a matter of opinion. Anyhow, the thread from the OP on strikes a casual observer as completely haywire. By my count there are perhaps half a dozen posts which address \*\*lissener’\*\*s behavior in the Larson thread at all, including **Tomdebb** ’s perhaps-unintentional observation that _every_ participant in it is a few bricks short of an intellectual load. Otherwise, it seems, there’s plenty to say. **Vinyl Turnip** scores first in post #2 by dragging in another thread, without linking, as an inside joke, and we’re off. **QED** , relying upon the same undisclosed and irrelevant thread, takes a shot at **lissener** , not for his behavior in the Larson thread but at what **QED** knows, from his target’s own disclosures, at **lissener** ’s management of his personal finances. Smelling blood, **Colibri** makes an appearance. **lissener** ’s behavior in the Larson thread, the subject of this pitting, doesn’t interest him either: **Colibri** ’s contribution consists of (a) the statement that **lissener** calls people who disagree with him a liar (not in evidence anywhere in this thread, the thread the OP linked to, or anywhere in post #35), (b) that **Colibri** thinks **lissener** is delusional (again w/out support or qualification) and © an allusion to other instances of **lissener’s** misbehavior that may or may not (there’s no link or helpful description) have anything whatever to do with this pitting. Or reality, for that matter. From there, **Frank** gets in a shot, **linty fresh** wants to avenge an old slight about the movie _Shogun_, **Colibri** laughs off the notion that he harbors old grudges but still can’t explain his presence in _this_ thread, and in post #65, Charter Member **Kendall Jackson** has a balanced and reasonable post regarding this topic – **lissener** ’s conduct in the best cartoonist thread. **lissener** may be the most obnoxious poster on the SDMB, but you know what? _This_ pitting doesn’t prove it, and the fact that it immediately became almost exclusively the province of posters re-articulating other, older grudges does nothing for its credibility, or theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/142 "2007-06-13T14:59:12Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] From there, **Frank** gets in a shot, … [/QUOTE] Of course I did. What makes you think I wasn’t referencing the CS thread? It was actually milder than the shot I took at him there. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/143 "2007-06-13T15:19:26Z")
So Pit threads are supposed to prove something now? **lissener** annoys a lot of people, **ExTank** ’s OP had some quotes that hit some of the things that annoy me: the “simply a given” “simply no question” stuff that **lissener** lards his proclamations with. Others chimed in with digs, jokes, links, whatever they felt like posting. Not a particularly interesting Pit thread, as these things go, but so what? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/144 "2007-06-13T16:54:36Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] Smelling blood, **Colibri** makes an appearance. **lissener** ’s behavior in the Larson thread, the subject of this pitting, doesn’t interest him either: **Colibri** ’s contribution consists of (a) the statement that **lissener** calls people who disagree with him a liar (not in evidence anywhere in this thread, the thread the OP linked to, or anywhere in post #35), [/quote] Try reading for comprehension. I didn’t say in that post that **lissener** calls those who disagree with him liars (although he does often imply it), he accuses those who disagree with him of thinking _he_ is a liar. What I actually said: [QUOTE=Colibri] This is really classic lissener. He not only asserts that his opinion is the only possible valid one, he also **accuses anyone who disagrees with him of calling him a liar.** [/QUOTE] While I did not provide evidence in that post, this was hardly necessary because a clear instance is quoted in the OP: From the OP and the Larson thread: [QUOTE=lissener] Further, if you want to dismiss my experience as a sentient consumer of culture in the years that spanned Kliban’s meteoric popularity and Larson’s initial forays– **basically call me a liar when I tell you that the similarity was a given at the time** –then, again, not interested, don’t care. [/QUOTE] Now if you really needed further instances, in later posts I provided links to threads in which they occurred. The OP of my Pit thread has a link to **lissener’s** posts in the thread that prompted it, in particular: [QUOTE=lissener] Your accusations of dishonesty notwithstanding, the position I’m arguing is my actual, honest interpretation of all the information I’ve been able to find on the subject. Your different intepretation **does not make me a liar.** [/QUOTE] From \*\*lissener’s \*\* pitting of **Walloon,** which I also linked to: [QUOTE=lissener] How does that **make me a liar** that you need to show up with your “10 times in 10 years across the US” refutation of my egregious exaggeration? [/QUOTE] All bolding mine. In my experience, \*\*lissener \*\* does this frequently, and that seems to be the experience of other posters as well, based on remarks in this thread. [QUOTE=The King of Soup] (b) that Colibri thinks lissener is delusional (again w/out support or qualification) [/QUOTE] I was not aware that it was a requirement in the Pit to document every opinion in every post. However, my Pit thread, together with **lissener’s** remarks on it here, provide evidence that **lissener** is either a pathological liar or severely delusional. As I remarked above, he states that: [QUOTE=lissener] that all of my copious authoritative sources–actual primary and secondary sources, not just the opinions of participants that you refer to–were simply ignored and never addressed, [/QUOTE] This is just an outright falsehood, as even a casual skimming of the Pit thread will reveal. Now I don’t know whether **lissener** is intentionally lying, or actually believes this. In the latter case he would seem to be delusional. This opinion has been reinforced by private e-mails I have received from **lissener** , which seem to indicate that he is out of touch with reality rather than merely posturing. [QUOTE=The King of Soup] (c) an allusion to other instances of lissener’s misbehavior that may or may not (there’s no link or helpful description) have anything whatever to do with this pitting. Or reality, for that matter. [/QUOTE] Again, I was not aware that it was required to document every single opinion in every post in the Pit. Since it seems that you have not read the evidence provided in links in other posts in this thread, and also seem to be entirely unfamiliar with **lissener’s** posting history, your opinion on the reality of the allegations is irrelevant. [QUOTE=The King of Soup] **Colibri** laughs off the notion that he harbors old grudges but still can’t explain his presence in _this_ thread, [/QUOTE] So, your Highness, I am not allowed to remark on **lissener’s** continuing the same kind of behavior for which I pitted him when he does it again? As for “grudges,” as I have mentioned already this is only the second time I have participated in a Pit thread regarding **lissener** in the year since I Pitted him (the other one being one that **lissener** started himself), although there have been several other opportunities to attack him in Pit threads on other subjects if I had chosen to do so. > [@The King of Soup](#): > > **lissener** may be the most obnoxious poster on the SDMB, but you know what? _This_ pitting doesn’t prove it, and the fact that it immediately became almost exclusively the province of posters re-articulating other, older grudges does nothing for its credibility, or theirs. Since you don’t seem to be at all interested in reading the links to other instances of this behavior that have been provided, or in actually determining the truth of the matter, your remarks certainly do nothing for your own credibility. Given the fact that we have tangled in the past in the Pit, I could also equally well claim that your remarks about me here are due to an “old grudge” on your part. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/145 "2007-06-13T17:10:38Z")
**King of Soup** , that was amazing. Is there any way you could provide one of those extended summaries in every thread on this board from now on? I know it would be a lot of work for you, but it really brings the discussion to life in a way that simply reading the posts on my own can’t hope to match. TIA, and keep up the good work! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/146 "2007-06-13T18:21:45Z")
I remember that Lissener said something mean to me, but I can’t remember what or when. Perhaps someone would be so kind as to dig it up and post it here so that I may peck out an appropriate jeremiad. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/147 "2007-06-13T18:32:33Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] I remember that Lissener said something mean to me, but I can’t remember what or when. Perhaps someone would be so kind as to dig it up and post it here so that I may peck out an appropriate jeremiad. [/QUOTE] I’m too lazy to go looking. Would it be OK if I said something mean to you? I’m kind of curious as to whether you’re going to [express bitter lament or a righteous prophecy of doom](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=jeremiad). Yes, I had to look it up. You wanna make something of it? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/148 "2007-06-13T18:49:22Z")
Uh, if you look at the thesauras section you will see ‘complaint’. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/149 "2007-06-13T18:52:10Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] I didn’t say in that post that **lissener** calls those who disagree with him liars (although he does often imply it) [/QUOTE] Believe me, prior to the banning he did use “liar” (also “coward” and “asshole”) directly toward someone who disagreed with him. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/150 "2007-06-13T18:56:01Z")
[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip] **King of Soup** , that was amazing. Is there any way you could provide one of those extended summaries in every thread on this board from now on? [/QUOTE] Bastard. You asploded my Sarcast-O-Meter. Have at ye! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/151 "2007-06-13T19:23:18Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] Believe me, prior to the banning he did use “liar” (also “coward” and “asshole”) directly toward someone who disagreed with him. [/QUOTE] Hm, so you think his tendency to say that a person who disagrees with him is calling him a liar is a strategy to get that person banned or suspended? In other words, **Lissener** has processed the idea that “calling someone a liar” is admonishment-worthy, so by saying that someone is calling him a liar (even though he’s lying by saying that) … … no, wait, I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/152 "2007-06-13T19:38:57Z")
**twick** , all I know is I gave him a little good-natured ribbing and he overreacted, then I posted about his overreaction in his pitting of someone who he thought overreacted after he gave them a little good-natured ribbing. _Something_ clearly ain’t right with him but he has improved. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/153 "2007-06-13T19:57:48Z")
**lissener** , as far as I can recall you and I haven’t had any run-ins. So maybe I can say something without it being colored by previous interaction. You seem to overreact. A lot. I’ve seen where someone states an opinion you disagree with and it has to be world war three. Even worse, to me anyway, you seem to like to bandy about the word “liar” quite a bit, usually when it is not warranted. Not too surprisingly, this pisses people off. Here’s an example from the current fracas: [QUOTE=lissener] Further, if you want to dismiss my experience as a sentient consumer of culture in the years that spanned Kliban’s meteoric popularity and Larson’s initial forays–basically call me a liar when I tell you that the similarity was a given at the time–then, again, not interested, don’t care. [/QUOTE] Human memory is a funny thing. For details on minor events of the past, our own memory often cannot be trusted. I’m not sure what the biological reasons are for this, but it happens. As it so happens, I am old enough to remember when both Kliban and Larson appeared on the scene. When you say “the similarity was a given at the time”, I just don’t remember that at all. Does this mean one of us is lying? Well, it’s a possibility, sure, but it is much more likely that one or both of us is simply recalling the time period incorrectly. Hey, it happens. That’s why a lot of people on this board will, when recalling some vague event of the past, preface it with “IIRC” – “If I Recall Correctly”. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/154 "2007-06-13T20:47:19Z")
[QUOTE=Ponder Stibbons] As it so happens, I am old enough to remember when both Kliban and Larson appeared on the scene. When you say “the similarity was a given at the time”, I just don’t remember that at all. Does this mean one of us is lying? Well, it’s a possibility, sure, but it is much more likely that one or both of us is simply recalling the time period incorrectly. Hey, it happens. That’s why a lot of people on this board will, when recalling some vague event of the past, preface it with “IIRC” – “If I Recall Correctly”. [/QUOTE] Or it could mean that your perspective at the time was different. I find it really pretty funny that someone would say this: [QUOTE= lissener] Further, if you want to dismiss my experience as a sentient consumer of culture in the years that spanned Kliban’s meteoric popularity and Larson’s initial forays–basically call me a liar when I tell you that the similarity was a given at the time–then, again, not interested, don’t care. [/QUOTE] As if no one _else_ was a “sentient consumer of culture” in those years. Yes! **lissener** was the ONLY one! I don’t spend much time in Cafe Society, so I am not really familiar with **lissener’s** posting style, but this strikes me as a really, really weird thing to say. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/155 "2007-06-13T21:10:19Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] Or it could mean that your perspective at the time was different. [/QUOTE] No, it doesn’t! It can _only_ mean someone is recalling the time period incorrectly! Are you calling me a liar?!?!??! Yeeesh, my fingers felt dirty just typing that. You are, of course, quite right Sarahfeena, it could simply be different perspectives. Really, **lissener** , you’ll find life on these boards much more enjoyable if you simply stopped using the word “liar”. Next time you’re tempted to do so, just step back, breathe, and think about it. If you can post, “I see where you are coming from but I disagree” then do so. If you can’t … then just leave the thread. Forget about it. Go read something else. Of course, that’s just my two cents worth. Maybe I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/156 "2007-06-13T21:20:14Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] Funny. This thread started with an actual OP, which on some planets is considered to be the topic of the following discussion. Of course, after a few pages, every thread diverges from its topic, but this one is rare in that the OP is pretty much irrelevant from post #2 on. [/QUOTE] That was a cool post, thank you. This thread, like all the others, is like being back in high school, watching the asshole tough jocks giving a wedgie to the arrogant unpopular kid and smacking him around while a bunch of hangers-on and wannabes stand around laughing and jeering. A few people around the edges either sort of giggle nervously or just look troubled. Most people walk on by. There’s an anti- **lissener** clique here, and above and beyond the fact that he does bring on trouble for himself every now and then with his “tone,”, the clique cannot wait for their semi-regular chance to dump on him. It’s always a given that some dickheads are going to bring up Showgirls, which better filmic experts than any of you, or even **lissener** himself for that matter, have declared an unappreciated classic of subversive cinema (after all, lissener didn’t think twice about the movie until the HIGHLY well-respected film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum mentioned that he saw a critic that HE respected mention the movie in a positive light and began to re-evaluate it himself. God knows that I’ve had my own problems with lissener over the years (such as, he’s so wrong about **Apocalypto** ), but dammit, he IS better in a lot of ways than many of you. And me. He has practical knowledge that when paired with his AWESOME artistic sensibility, is jaw-droppingly impressive. For instance, he’s an expert on aquariums and fish, and could build, stock and decorate an aquarium fit for a palace. He’s an expert on plants and flowers, and could design and plant a garden that when in bloom would make you weep with joy (not to mention his amazing flower arrangements). He’s an expert knitter and comes up with imaginative and innovative techniques and designs for things like hats, sweaters and gloves. He’s a phenomenal cook, who can fix a great meal from whatever’s in the pantry, but give him his chosen ingredients and he can make an unusual and interesting meal fit for the gods. He’s got SO many talents and SO many skills, it’s heartbreaking that he has no head for business or selling himself, or he’d be rich now. Very little of that talent/skill can be conveyed to the Straight Dope Message Board (which is probably why he pretty much sticks to film), and I realize that it has nothing to do with his arrogance and people’s irrational hatred of him (is he a racist? No. Homophobe? Hardly. A Republican? No thank god), but I had to chime in. So he’s hated by a lot of people. Why? He’s got attitude that some people don’t like, and he likes some movies that conventional wisdom says are shit, and that’s all. Until the next eye-rollingly lame pitting of **lissener** …I’m going swimming. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/157 "2007-06-13T21:41:57Z")
[QUOTE=Hung Mung] Krazy Kat was way better. I have a treatise ready to cut 'n paste…but it’s bedtime and I have to Whedonwank beforehand. [/QUOTE] So… you’ll be in your bunk? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/158 "2007-06-13T21:51:32Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] If Larson’s derivitive of Kliban or any other artist, admittedly or not, the issue certainly impacts upon the question asked – and it _was_ a question, as to whether Larson was the greatest ever, even though **ExTank** tries to characterize it as “…folks who are doing nothing more egregious than sharing a few laughs and fond memories over the works of one of the more popular contemporary cartoonists…” [/QUOTE] I’m not necessarily saying that **lissener** isn’t a shitstain, but that bit did sound very much like when **lissener** himself asked dislikers of Verhoeven to stay out of the “Reconsidering Verhoeven” thread. He was shat on for it. I don’t know if **ExTank** was one of the shitters back then, but I’d like to see equal standards applied. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/159 "2007-06-13T21:53:44Z")
[QUOTE=Ponder Stibbons] No, it doesn’t! It can _only_ mean someone is recalling the time period incorrectly! Are you calling me a liar?!?!??! [/QUOTE] 😃 > [@](#): > > Yeeesh, my fingers felt dirty just typing that. You are, of course, quite right Sarahfeena, it could simply be different perspectives. > > Really, **lissener** , you’ll find life on these boards much more enjoyable if you simply stopped using the word “liar”. Next time you’re tempted to do so, just step back, breathe, and think about it. If you can post, “I see where you are coming from but I disagree” then do so. If you can’t … then just leave the thread. Forget about it. Go read something else. > > Of course, that’s just my two cents worth. Maybe I’m wrong. No, I think you are giving very good advice. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344/160 "2007-06-13T22:02:47Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] That was a cool post, thank you. This thread, like all the others, is like being back in high school, watching the asshole tough jocks giving a wedgie to the arrogant unpopular kid and smacking him around while a bunch of hangers-on and wannabes stand around laughing and jeering. A few people around the edges either sort of giggle nervously or just look troubled. Most people walk on by. [/QUOTE] I’ve been promoted to “asshole tough jock” status on the SDMB? Well, my life is…going unexpected directions from this revelation. Look, the issue at hand isn’t whether Larson was the best comic artist of all time. The issue at hand isn’t **lissener** telling everyone else in that thread that Larson is derivative of some other cartoonist I’ve never heard of. The issue at hand is **lissener’s** arrogant, high-handed tone taken towards everyone else in the thread who thinks Larson is original, and swell. The #1 Rule on this board is “Don’t Be A Jerk.” There are ways to raise alternative viewpoints, and to disagree, without being disagreeable. **lissener** has yet to aquire those skills; furthermore, he shows absolutely no inclination towards learning them. But hey; it’s a pay-for-play message board. He pays his money, and posts his posts. Those of us with those skills, and who value and respect others who have those skills, also pays our moneys to posts our posts. If some of those posts are us calling **lissener** a jerkwad, we at least have some precedent for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lissener-youre-a-shitstain/407344.md?page=9)