# Pitting Jim\_B **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 4, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958 "2022-05-04T18:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/61 "2022-05-05T13:15:38Z")
A lot of people think the First Amendment does, or should protect moronically offensive speech that results in criticism and/or sanctions by non-governmental entities. [Another current example](https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2022/05/02/sage-steele-lawsuit-vs-espn-alleges-coworker-refused-to-appear-on-air-with-her). Much angst could be prevented by the realization that _it is not absolutely necessary to say or post the first thing that pops into your head_, without reflecting as to whether it’s a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/62 "2022-05-05T13:20:31Z")
Jim\_B seems to average a dumb thread a day and a trollish thread twice a month. I love his, “some might not remember …” then he mentions some obscure thing he wrote over a decade ago. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/63 "2022-05-05T13:27:01Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Jim\_B seems to average a dumb thread a day and a trollish thread twice a month. So 254 months times 2 trollish threads per month comes out to… lick pencil… carry the 1… why the fuck is ole Jimbo still here? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/64 "2022-05-05T13:28:21Z")
Eh, it’s just the usual ‘snarkers’ and sycophants doing what they do. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/65 "2022-05-05T13:31:27Z")
Oh boy, when the Pink Pimple is taking up your cause, you’re certainly on the side of the angels. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/66 "2022-05-05T13:35:29Z")
Damn good question, but I think maybe he has gotten worse in recent years. I don’t remember him making so many dumb and/or trollish threads in the more distance past. I did mention he seemed to have nearly perfected being a low level troll. Nothing too egregious. Just a lot of small things that only add up when you go digging or have to deal with him a lot. As a mod, he keeps pinging my troll radar. I’m guessing as a poster I just glanced past his threads. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/67 "2022-05-05T13:42:57Z")
Oh, I get it. It’s just that the de facto definition of a troll is whoever the mods declare to be a troll, so there should be some mod fiat that can solve these sorts of problems once they start causing real-world harm to other members of the community. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/68 "2022-05-05T13:44:52Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > So a gay dude can’t post about his own experience or sexuality. How do you know that he’s gay? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/69 "2022-05-05T13:46:11Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’m guessing as a poster I just glanced past his threads. That’s the case with me. I don’t think I ever paid attention before this thread and the ATMB one. I thought, “Jim\_B who?” and then, “Oh, that Jim\_B.” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/70 "2022-05-05T13:53:47Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Now people tell me I am worst than Hitler. No, something here has definitely changed. Oh, fuck that noise. ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/71 "2022-05-05T13:56:41Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Jim\_B seems to average a dumb thread a day and a trollish thread twice a month. Something about this comment tickles me. These seem like potentially useful data for a burgeoning field of SDMBmetrics. “Sure, Jim\_B puts up some flashy stats but if you evaluate his overall impact he’s actually posting well below replacement value. The front office should try to trade him to the YouTube comments section for a couple of prospects.” ---
**Author:** ![SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/72 "2022-05-05T14:02:46Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How do you know that he’s gay? No way to know for sure about anything anyone claims on the internet. But ISTM that Jim\_B has been pretty consistent about that claim, and in non-trollish circumstances. E.g. [Being a Late Bloomer (Gay). - In My Humble Opinion (IMHO) - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-a-late-bloomer-gay/781405) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/73 "2022-05-05T14:08:47Z")
Self-hating Gay is a thing. So are _non_-self-hating Old Man Gays who just hate the younger set for whatever stupid reason. And male homosexuals aren’t immune from misogyny, or extending that misogyny to lesbians. And transphobia is a real problem for parts of the community too. Basically, I don’t care if he is or isn’t gay, in regards to his obvious bigotries it’s no cover. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/74 "2022-05-05T14:15:32Z")
Yeah, my uncle (due to family structure he is closer to a cousin/brother–he’s only 4 years older than me) is gay–has lived with a man for 45 years, and has been out of the closet since the early 1990s. But he’s also a very conservative dude, was a megafan of Trump etc. He was also a practicing attorney before he retired, he was super against _Obergefell v Hodges_, is generally very unfriendly to almost all gay political causes, is extremely anti-trans, and he also is culturally antagonistic to most of “gay culture.” Not quite the same thing, but despite his own part of a historically disadvantaged minority group, he is generally extremely unsympathetic to other such groups in America–he has many bigoted opinions on blacks, Hispanics and Muslims. We actually were close when we were younger, but a lot of these views of his became much more virulent and brash with age, and that and some other things are why I don’t really communicate with him much any more. There are a lot of mental gymnastics I think he has to engage in to believe and say the things he does, but he is a real person who does behave that way, so it’s definitely a real phenomenon. Now, I have no clue if Jim\_B is part of that same line of behavior, or if he’s just a troll and both seem fairly possible. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/75 "2022-05-05T14:16:00Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > First of all, I am not defending what I did. Actually when I say what I am about to say, I want to be clear I am speaking broadly and generally. (Also I am not an atheist FWIW.) > > Something has clearly changed on these boards, especially since I joined over twenty years ago. Back then, if I brought up something like the [DES/Lesbianism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diethylstilbestrol-and-lesbianism/955508/46) thing, I would be applauded. Now people tell me I am worst than Hitler. No, something here has definitely changed. See, this is why I have to go back and forth between troll and pouty child. Technically, the first sentence is an acknowledgement that perhaps something was questionable in the initial offense. But (and it’s HUGE) it isn’t an apology either. In fact, it seems to be nothing more than a pro forma (like the final line where he’ll follow the rule) comment before he jumps into a hand-wringing attack on the board itself for not understanding him, becoming intolerant, and how we’ve forced him to change his POV on the role of internet speech. That, as @What_Exit puts it, seems to be breaking the character of bumbler and into smirking troll. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/76 "2022-05-05T14:26:29Z")
Your writing implies that there is a right way to think based upon biology. I’m not sure why that isn’t considered so-called ‘hate speech.’ ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/77 "2022-05-05T14:28:20Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Technically, the first sentence is an acknowledgement that perhaps something was questionable in the initial offense. He’s made multiple versions of that _mea culpa_ over the years. But he’s never seemed to follow through on self-reflection or change. So, fuck that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/78 "2022-05-05T14:32:12Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Your writing implies that there is a right way to think based upon biology. I’m not sure why that isn’t considered so-called ‘hate speech.’ That wasn’t my point but I would say that self-loathing of your “group” does probably go against biological norms in human species. We are social creatures that tend to dislike “the other”, disliking your own “tribe” in pre-modern human terms, would be antisocial and abnormal behavior. Now we live in modern civilizations and societies and don’t really have true “tribes” any longer, but I would tend to say that it goes against our biological imprinting to dislike your own “group” even if it isn’t quite the same as our ancient tribal configuration. But that wasn’t actually what I was saying with my post, I was literally just saying that I have a personal experience with a gay person who isn’t big on most LGBT people other than himself and his partner, and is also bigoted in a number of other ways. I think bigotry is an immoral way to look at the world, but I don’t think it is necessarily a biological thing, if anything we probably are biologically predisposed to bigotry moreso than not, but as thinking creatures we can choose to learn and improve beyond that. It certainly wasn’t hate speech, and view your claim that it was to be pretty obvious trolling, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/79 "2022-05-05T14:40:42Z")
Although it’s entirely possible he’s a troll and even though people’s stupidity keeps amazing me, having observed stupidity online in various contexts almost daily for years makes me think Jim\_B really is this stupid. He’s an old fool with illusions of intellect and introspection. If he was actually capable of introspection he’d see that all he does is rationalize his internal prejudice, whether that is prejudice about people and society, or basic science and knowledge about the universe. I think he’s not even capable of noticing that he negates his own _mea culpa_ in the rest of the post, and if/once he does he will quickly rationalize how that was the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958/80 "2022-05-05T14:45:53Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I think he’s not even capable of noticing that he negates his own _mea culpa_ in the rest of the post, and if/once he does he will quickly rationalize how that was the right thing to do.⁢ My problem is that his intelligence and coherence level increased too much. He seems like a different person than the guy who makes those other posts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-jim-b/963958.md?page=5)