[quote=“Spiritus_Mundi, post:158, topic:462263”]
[ul][li]Vitriol, personal attacks, and other hilarity ensue[/ul][/li][/QUOTE]
And penis. You can’t forget the penis ensuing.
Carry on.
Tsk tsking about the loss of the old Scylla may grant one some smug satisfaction, but it is also suggestive of insular provincialism and a lack of mental flexibility.
How are you so sure that it is I who have changed?
If it is just I who have changed, why have so many Republicans left the boards?
Of course, it is possible that I have changed. I don’t feel that I have, but that doesn’t prove anything.
I have an alternate theory which I will try to provide in the most neutral terms possible.
I have not changed. You have not changed. Circumstances have changed.
Among Conservatives/Republicans I am thought to be a pretty moderate progressive sort of guy.
During '99 Clinton was President. This board was IMO left leaning, but it wasn’t such a big deal because the left held the executive office. Things were relatively good. We weren’t at war. I didn’t think Clinton was such a bad Pres, and I wasn’t actively attacking him. There weren’t that many Republican bashing threads going on. You could be a conservative or a Republican here and it wasn’t such an issue.
Bush was elected under controversial circumstances that caused a lot of bitterness among many posters. Than of course we had 9/11, major economic issues from the wake of the dot com bust compounded by the damage 9/11 did to our economy, war, more economic problems from the housing bust.
There is a lot more that the left is angry about and that anger is much more vocal.
Typically, and a search of my posting history will bear this out, I’m not a big starter of political threads. Usually, I’m reactive. I tend to jump in to provide the conservative/Republican perspective when I see an attack being made that I think is incorrect or worth opposing. There’s a lot more of these now than there was back in the day.
This would explain the Republican exodus, as well.
So, in short I would argue that it is circumstances that have changed. The personalities are the same. I haven’t changed. Probably few have. Circumstances have altered to such a degree that what simply was not a big issue before is now thrown into stark confrontational releif by the geopolitical landscape.
It seems obvious to me that this is what has occured, and I’m kind of dismayed more aren’t seeing it.
But not everybody is as smart as me. 
I don’t think you’ve changed either; I respectfully disagree with RTFirefly on that point. The passage of time has just revealed more of your character, and now permits a more accurate assessment of the worth of your opinion.
Thanks. I wish I could say the same about you, but though you’ve been here since 2000 I just haven’t noticed.
Love the passive voice here, big guy. “Things weren’t so bad, partisan wise, but then a bunch of stuff happened.” It kind of like the kid who reports to his Mom that her favorite vase has flung itself from the table and “it broke”.
You know, and I know, what “happened”. GW Bush happened. Sure, shit happens, but its mostly due to assholes.
Whaddaya think? If he were smarter, could he have fucked things up even worse? Or is there a theoretical limit, an event horizon of sheer stupid?
Who knows? If I have to guess, I think it’s not an issue. I think it’s just the fact that there’s a Republican in the white house.
If I’m right, things will get a lot more friendly towards conservatives if Obama wins.
I’m very self-effacing. Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt, eh?
Sounds like a good strategy for you.
There! That’s why it would be in your own best interest to vote for Obama. 
And one that would have worked wonders for you. Too bad it’s already way too late.
After all you’re the one who proved (as if the need was there amongst rational people) water-boarding IS torture. And yet you are ready to vote for it. Ethics are obviously not your forte.
Stick to fiction, there is a niche for you: pointless writing for those that like that like that sort of stuff.
Verdict: EPIC FAILURE
You would seem to be suggesting that GeeDub hasn’t really done anything wrong, we’re all just upset because he’s a Republican. Since I’m assured that you have more cognitive capacity than a bowl of creamed corn, I must be misunderstanding. Either that, or we have a new candidate for entry into The 100 Dumbest Things Ever Said.
I can’t speak for Scylla, and though I do think you really believe GWB has done things wrong, I don’t think it makes much difference it terms of leftie hatred for the right. One thing this board has taught me is that you guys just absolutely hate conservatives and everything about 'em, and that if it wasn’t “Dub” it would be something else.
Bullfuckingshit. If any American President from either Party had invaded Iraq under the undeniable fictitious ‘arguments’ used by this administration, I’d be railing just as hard as I am now for their murdering ways.
Why is that so hard to process? I mean, really, do you have a “tattooed from infancy, thus lacking an original thought” inked somewhere in your body? Or is it there and only invisible to yourself?
I think his actual performance is a moot point. If he walked on water you’d say “Can’t swim, huh?”
Are you joking? I’ll concede that I (we) weren’t fans of Bush in the first place, but are you seriously ** suggesting there’s ** nothing really bad to say about his performance/administration? If not, your repy here is partisan bullshit, and you shoud admit that you know it.
I meant exactly, precisely, what I said there.
I like both Bricker and Scylla, but one really can’t control the direction that a Pit thread takes. The Bricker pile-on thread seemed rather predictable to me.
Well, OK.
Hands up every Democrat who would not critique Andrew Jackson and his treatment of Native Americans.
See, a lot of the people here start with the position that people who do certain things (like start needless wars, push for horribly mangled and useless policy, etc.) are bad people, note that some of our leaders do these things, and conclude that they are bad people.
Others decide a priori that a group of people engages in a certain behavior (evil, partisanship, etc.) and sticks to that conclusion, even when observation does not bear this theory out.
Plenty of Democrats do not support Democrats in favor of needless war and slaughter. Plenty of Democrats don’t accuse non-Democrats who refrain from war and slaughter of being bad people (at least on the war and slaughter fronts).
Now, I may be wrong here. It may be that yes, in fact, all democrats are mindlessly partisan and I am simply engaging in cognitive bias. But I see no evidence of this.
I’d end with a request for said evidence, or at least a recognition (as has been pointed out many times upthread) that neither good nor bad behavior are confined to a particular party, but frankly, I have seen evidence that you are one of the a priori group, who has made up your mind about Those Other People in the absence of evidence.
Please feel free to offer me evidence that I am wrong about my categorization of you.
(Whoo! Free posting again!)
I dunno: I don’t think I would mind a Lugar administration so much, though I’d prefer it if the US addresses its health care problems in a serious way for reasons of international competitiveness.
An Eisenhower administration wouldn’t bother me so much either.
BELIEVE he’s done things WRONG?
Try KNOW he’s done wrong things.
And done them in such an ineffective manner that they somehow turn out even wronger.
These are not arguable points, SA.
As for the so-called hatred of conservatives, I’ll refer you to the words of robertligouri:
And I’ll take the responsibility of expanding on that to the point that people who encourage, support, and applaud the evil acts are also bad people.
And people who cast their votes in such a way as to allow their own bad leaders to stay in power and continue to do evil are, frankly, incomprehensible.