# Red Rover, Red Rover, send Rand Rover over **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 25, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739 "2009-03-25T15:22:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/221 "2009-03-26T16:47:00Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I think that your opinion that my opinions are “douchebag opinions” is itself a douchebag opinion. You have therefore threadshit in this thread. > > Now don’t you have to go run your “I totally stole this idea from somebody else” laughingstock douchefest of a messageboard? It’s the way it comes across, too much like the “laughing kid” from the SImpsons. Whenever something bad (or even horrible) happens, he’s always there to point and go “ha ha”. It’s one thing to say “shit happens”, or “better luck next time”. It’s another thing to say everyone who ever had something bad happen, somehow deserved it. If you chop off a finger doing woodworking, it may have been your fault, but people could still sympathize. Then there are those who just get Bad Luck, through no reasonable fault of their own. See the difference? There’s no reason to point and go “ha ha”. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/222 "2009-03-26T17:01:56Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > The **Rand Rover** Method of Life Management calls for an inborn level of superior intelligence, funding for education, endless opportunities and the uncanny ability to always make the right choice on every decision a person makes throughout life. C’mon! Follow along! This, as far as I have been able to determine, is the assumption of most libertarians and Objectivists that I have met in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/223 "2009-03-26T17:05:22Z")
“I hate chocolate” is a minority opinion. “She must be protected from her own decisions, for she is a female and is black and therefore does not know any better!” is being a dick. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/224 "2009-03-26T17:07:07Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > It’s the way it comes across, too much like the “laughing kid” from the SImpsons. Exactly. RR’s post #11 in the Contributory Negligence thread was a good one. It was full of facts and contributed to the thread. A more typical RR post would have found a way to blame all of the ills of the world on liberals, pumped up the randroid, and derailed the thread into a shouting match. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/225 "2009-03-26T17:10:57Z")
There’s a piece missing, is all. Rolling Stones song? “You’re always working perfectly, but there’s part that’s not screwed on…” Genetic, maybe, who knows? Like Down’s Syndrome or any of a number of others, an amino acid turns left rather than right, and bingo! Rand’s Syndrome. In spiritual terms, its not that he doesn’t have a soul, we all do, its just that some of us listen when it whispers, and some of us are stone deaf. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/226 "2009-03-26T17:13:02Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Exactly. RR’s post #11 in the Contributory Negligence thread was a good one. It was full of facts and contributed to the thread. A more typical RR post would have found a way to blame all of the ills of the world on liberals, pumped up the randroid, and derailed the thread into a shouting match. It’s almost like there’s a decent, helpful human being inside, desperately trying to escape. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/227 "2009-03-26T17:17:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s almost like there’s a decent, helpful human being inside, desperately trying to escape. OMG! **Rand Rover** eats nice people! ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/228 "2009-03-26T17:20:52Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Rolling Stones song? “You’re always working perfectly, but there’s part that’s not screwed on…” Nitpick: “Your **organ’s** working perfectly…” It’s even better that way. (And it’s a Mick Jagger solo song.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/229 "2009-03-26T17:30:09Z")
Mick Who? Did he invent that nasty German herbal booze? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/230 "2009-03-26T17:36:30Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > And if it makes you feel better, I’ve never thought _you_ were a troll. Well, that is sort of my point. Not to hijack **RR** ’s Pitting, but there are any number of the Usual Suspects who would frantically, not to say fanatically, disagree that I was not a troll. The accusation is SOP for anyone with a minority opinion who gives as good as s/he gets. I won’t bother with a cite. Anyone who disbelieves it isn’t paying attention. To accept “posting an unpopular opinion with the full knowledge that the Usual Suspects won’t like it” as “trolling” is to say “the Hive Mind does not tolerate dissent”. I don’t watch bullfights, but the process is much the same on the SDMB, when it is done right. Some matador of the non-lunatic fringe waves a red flag of some sort, one or more of the big, dumb, snorting bulls of the orthodoxy here charges, a couple of banderillos get stuck in the neck, and then bing! Right between the shoulder blades. And then there’s hamburger for dinner. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/231 "2009-03-26T17:38:13Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Obviously. > > Put it this way - if a newspaper publishes pictures of people arrested for street crimes, is that commenting on their race? > > Regards, > Shodan Only if you are the type of person to make is so. When I see a picture of a person, criminal or otherwise, I don’t immediately put them in a racial group. Obviously, YMMV. I get the feeling that categorizing people into racial groups is only the start of your and Rand’s thought process. I’ll just bet that the next thing you do is infer something about their character based on their race… Am I right? Be honest now, look deep. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/232 "2009-03-26T17:47:33Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I don’t watch bullfights, but the process is much the same on the SDMB, when it is done right. Some matador of the non-lunatic fringe waves a red flag of some sort, one or more of the big, dumb, snorting bulls of the orthodoxy here charges, a couple of banderillos get stuck in the neck, and then bing! Right between the shoulder blades. And then there’s hamburger for dinner. > > Regards, > Shodan Be honest though. It can be VERY entertaining sometimes. Sometimes I take part, sometimes I just watch, sometimes I’m the idiot who charges the flag. But there’s entertainment to be had. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/233 "2009-03-26T17:48:42Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > When I see a picture of a person, criminal or otherwise, I don’t immediately put them in a racial group. You and Dr. Colbert, it would seem. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/234 "2009-03-26T17:53:58Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I think that your opinion that my opinions are “douchebag opinions” is itself a douchebag opinion. You have therefore threadshit in this thread. And that is a perfectly valid opinion for you to hold. Of course, given that you are a douchebag, it’s an opinion that matters very little to me, but that’s beside the point. All I know is that, for all your demands of other people to take responsibility for everything that happens to them, you seem surprisingly reluctant to take responsibility for the fact that how and where you choose to offer your opinion has consequences. People react to you the way they do because of choices _you_ are making. Live with it. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/235 "2009-03-26T18:07:24Z")
I disagree with \*\*Shodan \*\*that minority opinion holders are automatically labeled trolls by the regulars here. There’s a matter of context, or style, or something. Let me try again, a little differently. “I hate chocolate,” is a minority opinion. “I hate chocolate and all you chocolate lovers are fucking sheep and I hope you die of diabetes,” is being a dick, and possibly a troll, and you’ll get called one when you drop shit like this on people. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/236 "2009-03-26T18:20:50Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > You and Dr. Colbert, it would seem. I assume you mean [this](http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=86681) Dr. Colbert? Or maybe [this](http://www.drcolbert.com/) Dr. Colbert? Or how about [this](http://chmtmc.aug.edu/) Dr. Colbert? Regardless, I don’t get it. You seem to be implying that it is common for the first thing someone to think on seeing a picture of an individual “that person is \.” Really? People think this way? It seems likely that you, **Shodan** and **Rand Rover** do, but you really think this is common? Was this the first thing you thought about President Obama the first time you saw him? The first thing you thought about Tiger Woods? Wow… ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/237 "2009-03-26T18:21:04Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > All I know is that, for all your demands of other people to take responsibility for everything that happens to them, you seem surprisingly reluctant to take responsibility for the fact that how and where you choose to offer your opinion has consequences. People react to you the way they do because of choices _you_ are making. Live with it. Other (idiot) posters have taken this same angle with me. Tell me, what do you think it means to take responsibility for other people’s opinions of me? How do you think that relates to what I’ve said about people taking responsibility for the outcomes in their lives? Bonus question: I don’t like Obama. I think he’s a troll (which means, of course, someone whose opinions I disagree with). What should Obama do to take respsonsibility for this? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/238 "2009-03-26T18:21:25Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > Only if you are the type of person to make is so. When I see a picture of a person, criminal or otherwise, I don’t immediately put them in a racial group. Obviously, YMMV. Well sure - the newspaper could print “So-and-so is black…” and you could ignore that too. > [@](#): > > I get the feeling that categorizing people into racial groups is only the start of your and Rand’s thought process. I’ll just bet that the next thing you do is infer something about their character based on their race… Am I right? Be honest now, look deep. I prefer to draw inferences about **your** character from the apparent fact that I cannot disagree with you on an obvious matter of fact without you starting the process of calling me a racist. Which is fine - you’re entitled to your opinion, even if you are stupid. Especially since it makes it clear that I was exactly correct. Bad father, racist, troll, sociopath, etc. - no doubt you’ll think of something else later. > [@SteveG1](#): > > Be honest though. It can be VERY entertaining sometimes. It can be. One of my favorite parts is the bull limping back to the other side of the corrida with eight pins stuck in his neck, one horn broken off short, and blood leaking from his anus, and the other bulls tell him “Good job! You sure showed that matador who’s boss!” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/239 "2009-03-26T18:27:29Z")
Rand Rover, a quick question before I call you a troll and diagnose you with the designated mental illness of the week. Is this your belief: A person can rent a house, but because it is a business agreement the possibility will always exist that the agreement could end at any time. The landlord could serve notice to evict because he wants to sell the house, because he wants to redevelop it, or because the landlord just plain doesnt like the person renting. In this case the agreement ended because the landlord had to foreclose, but the end result is the same. Is it your position that if we disregard the reason for the eviction, and focus on the fact that eviction was always possible, then you find it harder to have symphathy for the evictee, because this was always a possible outcome. If the risk of eviction is always possible in a rental agreement, why have symphathy for somebody who ended up getting evicted because they based their living arrangements on a rental agreement? Is that what you think? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739/240 "2009-03-26T18:29:09Z")
**Shodan** , I’ll try to put this as diplomatically as possible. The reason that people sometimes pile on you is not because people pile on minority opinions, it’s that your particular opinions are often as offensive as **Rand** ’s. You often don’t merely offer a conservative opinion, you do your best to insult all liberals. Yes, you are going to get piled on for that, because you bring it on yourself. Having said that, I actually like you. When your posts are politics-free, I find you to be funny, intelligent, and likeable. But when you get political, you become offensive and divisive. Pile ons generally don’t happen in a vaccuum. Yes, occasionally someone gets pitted over something silly. Sometimes those threads even grow large and get out of hand. But if someone consistantly gets piled on over and over again, it is usually because that person has done something to deserve it. It’s not because that person refused to drink the Kool-Aid, it’s because that person has been a relentless prick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-rover-red-rover-send-rand-rover-over/490739.md?page=13)