# Posts that aged poorly **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 22, 2026, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503 "2026-04-22T23:28:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2026, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/1 "2026-04-22T23:28:49Z")
Here’s a thread for SDMB posts proven wrong by history. I’ll start with one of mine that I noticed today when I was looking for something else > [@Second least responsible VP pick](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-least-responsible-vp-pick/942737/55): > > A change in political culture occurred mid-twentieth century. Before then, VPs were such a minor element in the government that Presidents occasionally picked a different one for their second term (FDR had three VPs, Lincoln had two). These days, it’s hard to imagine swapping out a VP. Oops… ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/2 "2026-04-22T23:33:20Z")
… This one comes to mind … > [@Trump is dying](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520): > > Starting this thread in the Pit as I imagine there is little substantive discussion to be had and most of the commentary will be along the lines of wishing Trump a swift journey to Hell. First and foremost, apologies if I am crying wolf here. However, I will remind everyone that the boy who cried wolf wasn’t wrong about the wolf, he was just early. And I am well aware that if I watch one Youtube video on a particular subject, Youtube will do its best to feed me similar videos for the rest of th… … and one might even argue the case that in the long run it will age well, but for the time being, I am getting disappointed on a nearly daily base… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/3 "2026-04-22T23:59:25Z")
I think nearly any hopeful political prognostication of the last 20-ish years will have aged badly. So far. Many of the pessimistic ones have aged badly too. I recall a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth about how impossibly awful Bush-2 was; the bar could never sink lower than that. My, how the scales have been ripped from our eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/4 "2026-04-23T00:14:38Z")
No doubt - but mine was really wrong ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/5 "2026-04-23T00:32:17Z")
I started the “Compendium of Horrors” thread in P&E shortly after the 2024 election to try to summarize the horrors that Trump would likely inflict on the US and the world based on the gross incompetence demonstrated in his first term and the general messaging of the campaign. It was a pretty pessimistic screed, but in retrospect it was incredibly naive in the extent to which it underestimated just how horrifically insane, lawless, and incompetent this regime would be. I could never have believed it could be this bad. Every single senior appointee is a criminally unethical and incompetent toadie, and the Orange One himself appears to be in the grip of dementia. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/6 "2026-04-23T00:59:28Z")
---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/7 "2026-04-23T01:01:44Z")
This thread would probably be fine in the pit, but i doubt it’s going to be okay on MPSIMS. @Andy_L , please DM me if you want this reopened in the pit, or if you have a vision for it that we can clearly articulate that will keep it here. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/8 "2026-04-23T17:53:56Z")
---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/9 "2026-04-23T17:54:14Z")
Moved to the pit, with the permission of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/10 "2026-04-23T18:13:36Z")
I sometimes see old threads I contemplate bumping because of just how outdated they are. Here’s one that I searched down yesterday before I came back and found the thread closed: > [@Talk to me about camera phones.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-camera-phones/261130/8): > > Legislation and corporate policies will probably kill camera phones in fairly short order. > > A lot of schools are banning them, on top of already restrictive policies regarding students’ use of cell phones. > > They’re being banned from places like swimming pools, gyms and locker rooms. > > My employer has banned the use of camera phones in all operational areas. > > Mix that with the fact that they don’t take terribly good pictures to begin with, and this will probably just be a fad, much like the short-lived video phone systems you could buy at Office Depot just a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/11 "2026-04-23T18:22:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I sometimes see old threads I contemplate bumping because of just how outdated they are. Here’s one that I searched down yesterday before I came back and found the thread closed: Oh, wow! Your thread about camera phones is from 2004 and I didn’t even get my first cell phone until 2005. I rarely ever used the camera on my Motorola Razr but these days I frequently use the one on my iPhone. Predicting the future is hard. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/12 "2026-04-23T18:47:38Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > No doubt - but mine was really wrong To be fair, I don’t think it was. Because Trump had two nonconsecutive terms, he didn’t really “swap out” a VP; at least not to the extent that his VP was fired or had to step down. He just picked a different person to run with him the second time he ran as non-incumbent. It’s more like someone running for office twice, and each time having a different VP. Which **has** happened since the mid 20th century. When Nixon ran in 1960, his running mate was Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. When he was elected in 1968, he ran with Spiro Agnew (who then became VP when Nixon won). If Trump had chosen a different VP than Pence when he won in 2020, that would have certainly been remarkable, but I don’t think it was at all remarkable when he chose a different running mate in 2024 after he was unsuccessful in winning reelection with Pence. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/13 "2026-04-23T18:58:24Z")
[**I Pit Over the Top Anti-Trump Hysteria**](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735) As more and more time goes by, it becomes more and more apparent to me that there is no “over the top” to go over. LOL ---
**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:** [April 23, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/14 "2026-04-23T19:56:24Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > As more and more time goes by, it becomes more and more apparent to me that there is no “over the top” to go over. Which is itself an over-the-top statement, but discussing that risks turning this thread into yet another one of those threads. Nothing in the OP of the thread you linked to has happened since then, so it’s a bad example. The closest is that Trump threatened a nuclear war (or at least strongly hinted at it) but backed off faster than you could blink after he got pushback from everyone, even his biggest sycophants. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/15 "2026-04-23T20:12:51Z")
> [@Trump will not debate Biden on June 27, 2024, or thereafter either](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-will-not-debate-biden-on-june-27-2024-or-thereafter-either/1002493): > > I’ll keep this one simple\*: Trump will weasel out of debating Biden this month, since Trump and those in his circle know that doing so would be grossly to his disadvantage. Here are the basic reasons: Trump got trounced in the debates in 2020. He’s a beaten and thereby conditioned dog that has no desire for more of that pain. Trump was at least president, then, however. This time, he will face Biden as the 2020 loser, which status will cause Trump to experience a number of disadvantages that h… ---
**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:** [April 23, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/16 "2026-04-23T20:32:22Z")
To be fair, Aeschines owned up to it in in that thread. > [@Trump will not debate Biden on June 27, 2024, or thereafter either](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-will-not-debate-biden-on-june-27-2024-or-thereafter-either/1002493/724): > > WRONG! I was. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/17 "2026-04-23T21:03:17Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Nothing in the OP of the thread you linked to has happened since then, so it’s a bad example. “The opera ain’t over till the fat lady sings.” — Ralph Carpenter ---
**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:** [April 23, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/18 "2026-04-23T21:21:20Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > “The opera ain’t over till the fat lady sings.” — Ralph Carpenter Oh, I don’t disagree with you at all! I’m not saying that any of that is out of the realm of possibility, not with this administration at least. It’s at least certainly not _beneath_ them. It’s just that none of it has come to pass yet. It’s hard to say that something has aged poorly when (at least so far) it has been accurate. Is it scary to think that any of it could plausibly happen? Absolutely fucking terrifying in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/19 "2026-04-23T21:29:51Z")
Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503/20 "2026-04-23T21:31:44Z")
P.S. It’d be too easy to pick on the various posters picking now-past dates for the end of the world [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-that-aged-poorly/1029503.md?page=2)