manhattan has resigned

[Contrapuntal]

@Liberal

Um, was. Manhattan is gone.

I interpreted the comment as referring to Manhattan and reeder as types, rather than specific individuals.

[BobLibDem]

Just out of morbid curiousity, was there a straw that broke the camel’s back? If so, what was it?

[TubaDiva]

@roger thornhill

Stuff and nonsense. I just said he was a wimp for saying he was stopping posting because because the board wasn’t “a comfortable place” for politically conservative posters.

Okay. Then you’re all right.

your humble TubaDiva

[TubaDiva]

@buns3000

Wow. Take things too seriously much? A person leaving a messageboard is like someone dying how? And a messageboard thread is like a funeral? With respect, wtf?

My comment was intended in jest. If I had’ve thought that that wasn’t apparent from the post itself and if I didn’t think smilies were stupid, then I would’ve put the relevant smilie in there to make it plain. To me, its pretty clear from the tone of my post that it wasn’t meant to be taken anywhere near as seriously as you’ve taken it.

Okay, jest is okay, though sometimes in the flat world that is online, it’s hard to tell, it truly is.

It does seem very much like the entire world – and this board, a microcosm of what’s going on outside of this place – the entire freaking world has become much more polarized and political than I ever imagined.

People are at each other’s throats in ways I haven’t seen since I was yet another young hippie on the barricades in the 60s. (In fact, it’s the same damn fight it was in 1969. Will the War EVER be over? Guess not.)

It was unpleasant then and it’s even harder to take now.

I’m always saddened when political differences drive people apart. There’s far too much of it on the board for my comfort, just as there is everywhere else.

I feel like I’ve lost a friend to this fight. This community has lost a friend as well. It was appropriate that Manny be thanked for his contributions to the SDMB – thanks are not near enough – without political carping and argument.

It’s just too bad.

your humble TubaDiva

[Liberal]

I agree with the gist of what you’re saying in your comparison with the 60s, Tuba. But it seems different to me now. Back then, at least the counter-culture was hopeful, bright-eyed, and maybe even naive about changing the world for the better. People didn’t just snipe about the war and call everybody names; they took to the streets, some even giving up their lives and liberty for what they believed. These days, it seems to me, are more cynical than that. There’s no Age of Aquarius looming. There’s no Martin Luther King, Jr. stirring peoples’ hearts. There’s no great cause, the need to fight for which is only symptomized by the war. It’s almost like this can’t end well. Each side is waiting for the doom to be brought by the other: one side fears the establishment of an intolerant theocracy, and the other fears the establishment of an atheistic socialism. It’s not a fight over ideals anymore. It’s a turf war now.

[The_Flying_Dutchman]

What I find interesting is that posters want to compare manhattan to Redder as if they were comparable as extremists on the political spectrum. Actually, nothing manhattan has ever posted would qualify him as a shrill extremist. Why are the two compared?

Typo was accidental, but the lack of correction was deliberate. Make of that what you will.

[Frank]

@grienspace

What I find interesting is that posters want to compare manhattan to Redder as if they were comparable as extremists on the political spectrum. Actually, nothing manhattan has ever posted would qualify him as a shrill extremist. Why are the two compared?

An answer to this question would properly belong in the Pit thread, and not here. Why are you even asking it here?

[The_Flying_Dutchman]

My mistake. I thinkI linked to this thread right from the straight dope message board page, and apologize . It is somewhat ironic that posting in the wrong forum is what estranged me from manhattan when i first joined the board in 2000. Sorry to all.

[kniz]

I wish manny the best and hope he will decide to return. Until then, I think a liberal doper should be gracioous enough to resign (two would be even better). [sup]any volunteers?[/sup]

[Danalan]

I’m sorry to see manhattan go. I’m sorry to see anybody go – even some of our banned members are sorely missed.

I saw this post today at the Huffington Post, it explains some of the problems we are encountering in a very reasonable way. Here.

Why are liberals lying, America-hating traitors while conservatives are bullying, religious fanatic fascists?

…when The Other Side advocates a policy with which we don’t agree, they’re not simply wrong but maliciously so because they know better.

…calling someone a traitor and a liar gets a lot more attention than saying someone has an interesting if flawed argument.

I really try to understand why someone would defend Bush – I still don’t get it, but these few simple paragraphs explained a lot about why I don’t get it.

[Hippodrome]

Moderator Manny made messaging much more merry and amusing.

Moderator Manny will be missed much.

[ktest]

@Ed Zotti

manhattan …writes, “I came to believe that the board wasn’t a comfortable place for politically conservative posters.”

Well now he knows how the non-conservative posters feel in the real world. If that’s his main problem with the board, he should just grow up.

[ReuvenB]

I’ll miss him. I laughed for about 10 minutes straight after reading the “I am the fucking hall monitor” episode. Plus, he had good financial advice. I may be 17, but who knows when I’ll need to understand the world of finance?
Many happy trails, Manhattan.

[Jake]

@Liberal

It is indeed a difficult place for minority views, not minority in the general population, but just here. There is a certain avalanche effect to the pile-ons. After sufficient repetition of tired mantras, perceptions are built out of nothing until sometimes even moderators join in, pacifying the screaming crowds with advice and admonitions to the overwhelmed poster. It is underhanded, really — the tactic of saying that someone is posting an opinion for the purpose of stirring up shit, or to nitpick, or to take over the thread, whatever. It comes to the point where no matter how he responds, he will be attacked: even if all he is doing is drawing attention to the attackers, he is now an attention whore, has a martyr complex, or is hijacking the thread. There is a distinct tendency here to take offense easily but to dish it out readily. I still like the idea I offered sometime back of one-on-one debates. Nobody wins then just by sheer numbers. I wouldn’t be at all surprised this post will be met with exactly what I’m describing here, not because it is a reasonable expectation, but because it is a typical response. I’d like to state my opnion and move on, just like everyone else. Sometimes, I feel a lot like Manhattan. But I hang around anyway in the hopes that opposing views might be heard. But the more the place becomes one-sided, and the more there is of the “don’t let the door” sentiment, the less appealing it becomes.

Agreed. Couldn’t have said it better.
This Board was created for Liberals and Conservatives alike, to bump heads. I consider Manny’s resignation as a sign of, well, if not boredom, a tiredness of people.
Come back Manny!
BTW was it a personal attack?