# 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:** 8
**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, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/141 "2008-09-06T17:12:02Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Has it accord to you that maybe everyone hates him because he’s a stupid asshole who deserves it? Everyone doesn’t hate him. The last I heard his approval rating was around 27%. This was weeks (months?) ago. Now, taking into account the fact that many of those who currently disapprove of him don’t actually hate him (for example, I disapprove of several posters here but I don’t hate them), I would say that the majority of the country either likes him or is “meh”. It’s only because you’re here or you move in circles socially where the majority of people hate him that it seems that way. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/142 "2008-09-06T17:29:04Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Everyone doesn’t hate him. > > The last I heard his approval rating was around 27%. This was weeks (months?) ago. Now, taking into account the fact that many of those who currently disapprove of him don’t actually hate him (for example, I disapprove of several posters here but I don’t hate them), I would say that the majority of the country either likes him or is “meh”. It’s only because you’re here or you move in circles socially where the majority of people hate him that it seems that way. Well “everyone” was probably too big a brush. So I retract that. Lets just say he isn’t the most well received president to come around the pike, and a sizable chunk of the population does find major disagreement with him. I also apologize for calling every Bush voter a traitor. Some do find strong moral agreement with him even if his policy hasn’t panned out very soundly. I find no fault with those people if that’s what they truely believe, but I do reserve the right to strongly disagree. What I do find fault with are people who support him mindlessly, because he’s a Republican. Who go “lalalala can’t hear you” to the problems his policies cause and want to ignore the hardship they’re causing in the country. They’d damn us all just to win. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/143 "2008-09-06T17:35:52Z")
> [@](#): > > The last I heard his approval rating was around 27%. This was weeks (months?) ago. Now, taking into account the fact that many of those who currently disapprove of him don’t actually hate him (for example, I disapprove of several posters here but I don’t hate them), **I would say that the majority of the country either likes him or is “meh”.** It’s only because you’re here or you move in circles socially where the majority of people hate him that it seems that way. Thus Mr. Republican Principles explains to the masses what disapproval means _really_: just indifference or shucks, actually kind of deep-down _liking_ the guy. Well gosh, as we 50s fans always said. That’s sure what disapproval meant with Clinton! When his numbers tanked it didn’t mean disapproval _really_, just that people liked him anyway. A person couldn’t make up shit this dysfunctional. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/144 "2008-09-06T18:17:08Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Unless of course you think I’m a one man pile on? You’re _really_ not here for the hunting, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/145 "2008-09-06T19:36:22Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > I know, I know: Don’t let the door hit me in the ass, etc. And I never do. But in the meantime, couldn’t we just try dialing down the drama and hostility a couple of notches? Because we are better than we have been lately. We are just better than this, that’s all. Jodi, I’ve not really read past this point, so forgive me if this has already been said, but I wanna say, I agree strongly with this sentiment. I think it’s possible to fight vigorously on the issues without trying to twist people’s personal lives (i.e., what they do outside of the political arena) into legitimate fodder for debate. I dislike it when anyone does it, no matter their starting position. I’ll sometimes make exceptions for rank hypocrisy (a strongly anti-gay politician who has a same-sex lover, that sort of thing), but even then, it’s for laughs, not for serious debate. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/146 "2008-09-06T19:41:04Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Those days are gone. With them are gone Spiritus Mundi, Satan, John Corrado, Unclebeer, Kaylasdad, David B, Gaudere hardly ever posts. A whole host of other worthies have also left. What have they been replaced with? I’m not sure what makes more of an impact on me: the fact that **Scylla** puts me into a list of posters worth reading, which I find quite gratifying, actually; or that I’m supposedly gone (which is a little alarming). I’m still here, **Scylla** , being your favorite [LEFTWINGCUTESYSEMANTICBITCH.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6786908&postcount=56) 😃 P.S. I enjoyed the bear joke, and will pass it along to my friends. **TVeblen** , I hope things get better for you, and you are able to come up with a budget solution that allows you to sleep nights. ---
**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, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/147 "2008-09-06T19:41:56Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > You’re _really_ not here for the hunting, are you? It was amusing the first time someone wrote that. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/148 "2008-09-06T20:52:24Z")
Psst. Twas me. It’s a literary form known as humor by repetition. As evidenced in the above joke. See, like my uncle Albert in tennis shoes (and if you get that reference, have a pony), it’s a running gag, now. It’s still a little funny. I’m going to try to drive it into the ground every time you post something that _begs_ for the reply. Soon, it will no longer be funny. And then, if I keep it up, it’ll be the funniest thing you ever read. See? So, I says to Scylla, I says, “You really ain’t here for the hunting, are ya?” ---
**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, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/149 "2008-09-06T21:14:27Z")
Touche ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/150 "2008-09-06T22:23:03Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > What I still don’t understand–the source of my exhausted fury–is how anyone can know this level of incompetence, if not flat-out corruption, exists but still support it. The fuzzy idealogical ‘team’ approach to politics baffles and infuriates me because so much damage is done in the name of theory. “Well, I have to support my _party_ because they represent what I believe in!” Corruption? Incompetence? … > > My contempt and fury for them is matched and possibly exceeded by the corrupt, obscene bloated mess of Illinois politics–and that’s the ugly entrenched Democratic machine, baby. You want to see hatred? Get me started on helmet hair, Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor and career dirtbag. He’s in a pitched battle with the rest of his party and nothing, but nothing, is getting done while the state deficit soars out of control. This is the Democratic machine… > > Feh. A long rant, and probably a pointless one. What to say? Modern conservatives need to think harder about cause and effect. I hope to have more to say about this after silly season is over. But let’s face it, rants are self-indulgent. I’m don’t oppose slams or ridicule _per se_, but when you’ve given up on persuasion (either of your opponent (ha!) or more plausibly the lurker), fortifying the converted (does this have a point?) or -dare I say it- fighting ignorance, then all that is left is catharsis. And emotional catharsis only works for a day or so: it is poor self therapy. I haven’t read the **Bricker** thread. **Scylla** : You picked a lousy example, IMO. I blame everything on the move to subscriptions. Fresh blood brings in a few who are on the fence: their presence improves the behavior of the partisans. But then again, perhaps it’s inevitable that a few long time posters will go bat shit after beating their heads against the wall for umpteen years (taking things from their perspective). Also, I fear that the move to free posting may prove me wrong after a couple of years. And for those posters who have nothing substantive to say, there’s really no helping them. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/151 "2008-09-06T22:42:52Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’m still here, **Scylla** , being your favorite [LEFTWINGCUTESYSEMANTICBITCH.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6786908&postcount=56) 😃 It does appear that **Scylla** has entered his “meltdown” cycle again. I suppose this means that in a few months will have to put up with **Scylla** in full-on “how dare you use strong language, you uncivil meanie” mode; he always seems to pivot from the meltdowns into pearl-clutching sanctimony. It’s not at all clear to me why anyone gives a damn what **Scylla** says at this point. This spettle-flecked “I don’t have to listen to you NYA NYA” bullshit is entirely in character for him, just as **Bricker** ’s petulant whining was entirely in character for him. **Scylla** ’s right about one thing: they’ve both been on this board for a long time. Long enough for everyone to know what to expect, I would have thought. ---
**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, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/152 "2008-09-06T23:03:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I > I’m still here, **Scylla** , being your favorite [LEFTWINGCUTESYSEMANTICBITCH.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6786908&postcount=56) 😃 > > P.S. I enjoyed the bear joke, and will pass it along to my friends. > > **TVeblen** , I hope things get better for you, and you are able to come up with a budget solution that allows you to sleep nights. Sorry to spread rumors of your demise. haven’t seen you for a while. Good ta know you’re still hanging. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/153 "2008-09-06T23:38:55Z")
\*\*Scylla \*\*should once again be claiming that we’re all persecuting him, oh, any moment now … ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/154 "2008-09-06T23:41:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I like **Bricker** Yes, aside from his dishonesty and his amorality, he does seem like a hell of a guy. > [@](#): > > I’ve learned a lot about law from him. But nothing whatever about _justice_, right? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/155 "2008-09-07T06:42:41Z")
Well, you know what they say, the law is the handjob of Justice… ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/156 "2008-09-07T06:46:16Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > This, and I probably would say **Shodan** doesn’t deserve it either (though I hold **Bricker** in considerably more estimation than him). > > That \ ***Bricker** \*of all people would get an enormous pile-on Pit thread has pretty much hammered home for me the message of considerable underlying lefty idiocy here. Yup. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/157 "2008-09-07T06:55:29Z")
Our whole country is in a boiling vat of sewer pudding. Pehaps you’d be so kind as to point out for us which lefties you hold responsible? ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/158 "2008-09-08T19:27:01Z")
> [@](#): > > With them are gone Spiritus Mundi . . . Fact check on aisle 6. 😃 Not gone (not even entirely forgotten, apparently) just a shadow of my former self. I can’t really see the issue of your OP, though. I tried to slog through the garbage of the **Bricker** thread, but the interest to expletive ratio didn’t pass muster. From the first page, though, it sure looks like someone staked out a hill in the PIT and yelled “I’m King of the World!” Something very predictable ensued. Maybe my memory of the “good old days” is a bit diffeent than yours, but isn’t that pretty much par for the PIT? [ul][li]You open a thread to vent whatever issue is sticking in your craw. [/li][li]The aroma inevitably draws folks form the othe side of the swamp (assuming you’ve PITTed something that has another side; rants against pedophiles were _usually_ safe.)[/li][li]Vitriol, personal attacks, and other hilarity ensue[/ul][/li] Were the attacks on **Bricker** out of bounds? Pretty much by definition not. He opened a discussion specifically in the one forum where teh boundaries not only include such behavior but invite it. BTW - I still remember your wolfhound thread. Think of it often when I look at the pictures of my own beloved and departed slobber-hound. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/159 "2008-09-08T20:13:41Z")
> [@Orbifold](#): > > It does appear that **Scylla** has entered his “meltdown” cycle again. I suppose this means that in a few months will have to put up with **Scylla** in full-on “how dare you use strong language, you uncivil meanie” mode; he always seems to pivot from the meltdowns into pearl-clutching sanctimony. > > It’s not at all clear to me why anyone gives a damn what **Scylla** says at this point. This spettle-flecked “I don’t have to listen to you NYA NYA” bullshit is entirely in character for him, just as **Bricker** ’s petulant whining was entirely in character for him. **Scylla** ’s right about one thing: they’ve both been on this board for a long time. Long enough for everyone to know what to expect, I would have thought. I remember when he used to be an honest and rational debater, besides being responsible for some of the funniest threads (Nazi groundhogs, blimps, goat porn, etc.) that this place has produced. Part of me keeps hoping that guy will return, even though the rest of me knows better. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263/160 "2008-09-08T20:46:22Z")
**Scylla** , I like you. I even missed you when you weren’t around. It wasn’t even because of the blimps thing- I never found that post all that funny. However, your OP is dumb. I like **Bricker** too, but he was totally asking for it. * * * What I find extremely odd is how this thread has split almost perfectly along party lines. Same with Bricker’s original thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-bricker/462263.md?page=9)