# Open letter to Bricker **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 6, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263 "2008-09-06T00:51:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/21 "2008-09-06T01:33:52Z")
Hey **iampunha** , long time no see. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/22 "2008-09-06T01:35:02Z")
**Scylla** , give it up. We’re in the minority here. I’ve learned to keep my head down and my mouth shut when it comes to politics. Not because I want to avoid being raped by a bear, but because it bothers me sometimes to see Dopers I admire and whose posts I eagerly await turn into such pile-on monsters. I don’t know, maybe it was the 2000 election controversy, but politics has gotten mean now, and no one is going to change anyone’s mind with a frank discussion of the issues. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/23 "2008-09-06T01:35:19Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > But he made it all the way through Showgirls? Is there a lot of reading in _Showgirls_? ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/24 "2008-09-06T01:35:28Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > You continue to justify my disdain for you. You haven’t had an original thought in, what, like 40 years? What do you, have like a Magic 8 Ball with the same handful of biting insults? That wasn’t really an insult, just a wisecrack. The eagle does not trouble himself to return the disdain of the dung beatle. It is enough to know that it feeds on shit. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/25 "2008-09-06T01:35:39Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Give it a rest Scylla. Bricker made an ass of himself. You guys seem to have the victim terminology down pat. Remember the boy who cried wolf? He got fucked by the bear? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/26 "2008-09-06T01:35:46Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > I find that somewhat over the top. What do you think? Yep. I think that is a bit over the top. So is this: \*And when he wins, I am going to crow for a week. You think I crowed after 2000? I remember that, and I remember 2004 too, when you pussies whined about how shocked and hurt you were and begged me stop rubbing your pathetic faces in your loss. That will be a walk in the park compared to what’s coming up. I’ll fucking buy ad time on this board to crow about a McCain victory. \* Is it worse than **Tveblen** ’s post? I really don’t know, nor frankly do I really care. The fact is that the above statement was in **Bricker** ’s OP. He was asking for a fight. If someone decided to spew bile more heatedly that’s on them. Whatever. But it doesn’t change the fact that **Bricker** started the whole damn thing. He was NOT a shining paragon of virtue in thread, nobly defending himself against unwarranted assaults. He was the instigator of a board brawl in the Pit. He, or rather YOU, as I don’t know if he has complained about this at all, has no cause to bitch about him being attacked after he is the one that launched the first salvo. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/27 "2008-09-06T01:38:33Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Hey **iampunha** , long time no see. 'sup? I keep hijacking threads (and responding to threadjacks) to say hi to folks. Happily (for me), so far nobody has complained about it. Helps, I guess, that I’m not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/28 "2008-09-06T01:39:12Z")
> [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](#): > > This isn’t the truth. It certainly isn’t well-intentioned advice for anyone living in a polite society. It’s merely a carefully crafted appeal for you to descend one more level, with a bestial-rape joke thrown in just to equate civility and honesty on this board with submission to violation by an articulate, liberal bear. Drat! You’ve penetrated my veil of deceit. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/29 "2008-09-06T01:40:49Z")
Superb post, **Scylla** , and for the most part right on the money. I’ll be glad when this board starts to draw participants from the population at large. Perhaps things will become more balanced around here and the posters you mention who are essentially life’s losers and live for the pile-on will get lost in the crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/30 "2008-09-06T01:42:04Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > **Scylla** , give it up. We’re in the minority here. I’ve learned to keep my head down and my mouth shut when it comes to politics. Huh. You know I generally think you’re sensible person. Do you honestly think **Scylla** has even half a point here with this thread? I made nary a peep in that ridiculous bitchfest and am heartily sick of the partisan politics here ( as I always am and on both sides ). But I will repeat myself - _ **Bricker** was begging for a fight._ If you want to make a stand against some notion of the unfairness of an overly slanted liberal board, that is pretty much the last thread any conservative poster should be using to hang their shield on. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/31 "2008-09-06T01:43:47Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > 'sup? > > I keep hijacking threads (and responding to threadjacks) to say hi to folks. Happily (for me), so far nobody has complained about it. Helps, I guess, that I’m not the only one. Who would complain about hijacks to this potential trainwreck. Anyway, it is neat seeing so many seemingly lost posters return. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/32 "2008-09-06T01:46:57Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Drat! You’ve penetrated my veil of deceit. New DeeLeete removes horrifying images quickly and effectively! $19.95, and I accept Pay Pal! DeeLeete! Apply directly to the cortex! DeeLeete! Apply directly to the cortex!.. ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/33 "2008-09-06T01:48:21Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > You know, there’s these things called PM’s. That’s short for Private Messages. You can send them to other members, without having to play up being a whiny, attention whoring victim. > > Just sayin’ Yep. Why is this in the pit if it really was advise for **Bricker**? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/34 "2008-09-06T01:48:57Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Huh. You know I generally think you’re sensible person. Do you honestly think **Scylla** has even half a point here with this thread? > > I made nary a peep in that ridiculous bitchfest and am heartily sick of the partisan politics here ( as I always am and on both sides ). But I will repeat myself - _ **Bricker** was begging for a fight._ If you want to make a stand against some notion of the unfairness of an overly slanted liberal board, that is pretty much the last thread any conservative poster should be using to hang their shield on. I didn’t participate in that thread either. And I do think **Bricker** was a bit _neener neener neener_ in his OP. But I’ve read horribly nasty comments made on this board about McCain/Palin in other threads. I understand if someone doesn’t agree with their views. I don’t agree with Obama/Biden one little bit. But calling Palin the “Witch of Wasilla” just boggles my mind. I’ll be glad when the election is over. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/35 "2008-09-06T01:49:07Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Is it worse than **Tveblen** ’s post? I really don’t know, nor frankly do I really care. The fact is that the above statement was in **Bricker** ’s OP. He was asking for a fight. If someone decided to spew bile more heatedly that’s on them. Whatever. If you don’t know or don’t care, then you and I really don’t have a discussion. IMO, the relative proportions are critical here. I think the reactions were far out of proportion and much more nasty in their personal blanket condemnations than anything Bricker said. I concede the point that he was looking for a fight and being a bit jerkish himself, but I think that hardly justifies the plethora of deeply personal character asassinations, and whole hearted condemnations of him personally. These things rarely occur in a vaccuum, you know? Not to justify it, but do you beleive he simply posted that out of the blue, or was it a reaction to other threads and discussions? On balance Bricker’s a good guy, and that shouldn’t happen to him. Pile-ons suck. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/36 "2008-09-06T01:50:52Z")
I don’t understand what everyone’s fascination with Bricker is. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/37 "2008-09-06T01:51:50Z")
I’ll never understand why people complain about pile-ons. Unpopular opinions posted to a public forum are going to provoke negative reactions. The opinions may be unpopular simply because the majority of the forum is strongly predisposed to the opposing sentiment or it may be because they are presented in a combative, jerkish manner, but either way, that’s how message boards work. Everyone gets a single voice, and sometimes those voices form a consensus. What’s funny is that the OP fondly remembers pile-ons from the old days, of people like Jack Dean Tyler and Phaedrus, to demonstrate how different the board is today. That was just good fun back then, I guess. Now it’s the work of twisted shut-ins lurking in the shadows, waiting to irrationally pounce on any noble beacon of right-thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/38 "2008-09-06T01:52:58Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > The eagle does not trouble himself to return the disdain of the dung beatle. Which one was the dung Beatle? Ringo? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/39 "2008-09-06T01:53:15Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > That wasn’t really an insult, just a wisecrack. > > The eagle does not trouble himself to return the disdain of the dung beatle. It is enough to know that it feeds on shit. Oh, THAT’S why you took so long to respond. You were googling for an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/40 "2008-09-06T01:54:20Z")
I tell a lot of jokes to people, and by far the one that gets the most laughs is the same one in the OP. Except the way I tell it, it’s always the same bear that the guy sets out to kill, which is seemingly dead and then appears behind him and somehow taps the guy on the shoulder. Eventually I even have him blowing it into pieces with a rocket launcher, and yet it still comes back to tap him on the shoulder. There’s no explanation for this, it’s just how I learned the joke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263.md?page=3)