# Pitting Great Debates

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-great-debates/248019>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [June 1, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-great-debates/248019 "2004-06-01T04:54:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 19

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**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-great-debates/248019/19 "2004-06-01T06:59:33Z")

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> [@Sam Stone](#):
>
> For instance, worrying that Bush is about to ‘take over’ and become a dictator

Uh, excuse me Sam, but you need to actually _look_ at the threads you are criticizing. That happens to be a right-wing thread that was _bitching_ about people who supposedly think Bush wants to become a dictator. From the OP in that thread:

> [@](#):
>
> I’ve noticed recently a kind of histeria that some people seem to have when talking about the President and current administration. They seem to be convinced that the administration is not just wrong, but evil, and that if the administration had their way, the President would become dictator for life and take away all our rights. Am I the only one to notice these attitudes, and more to the point, am I the only one to be worried about them?

The OP is “worried” about the “hysteria” of liberals who are _supposedly_ saying that Bush is becoming a dictator. The thing is, the only people who are saying that are an extreme fringe element of democrats. So not only is it a jab at the left _from_ the right, it’s an extreme exaggeration of the importance of that issue. Yet you cite it as a “liberal” thread.

And it’s not just that. I’ve noticed that as you begin to feel more and more like a martyr for the right-wing cause, you are beginning to resort to more and more disingenous methods of argument. Here’s your latest example:

> [@](#):
>
> it’s KERRY who started this campaign out on an incredibly vicious and personal fashion. You know, things like saying, “These guys are the biggest liars and crooks I’ve ever seen” or something like that? Going around calling them miserable failures, hinting at big oil connection conspiracies, going after Bush’s national guard service again… All of this took place without the media saying a word about how John Kerry’s entire campaign was built on Bush attacks rather than his own positive vision.

You know perfectly goddam well that Kerry WHISPERED the “liars and crooks” comment to ONE person, and it was INADVERTENTY picked up by the microphone, yet you deliberatly left out that fact and presented it as though it were part of Kerry’s campaign platform.

Yeah, the occasional nutball comes into GD and posts a silly thread. Do what I do - DON’T READ THEM. And yes, there are more democrats here than republicans. But I’ve seen bullshit from BOTH sides. I’d hardly say GD is ruined. It was MUCH more of a crapfest when December was around littering it up with right-wing drivel.

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