# Should the SDMB have an affirmative action policy for the conservative minority? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 8, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927 "2015-10-08T14:43:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sario/32/18580_2.png) [@Sario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sario)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/81 "2015-10-09T19:32:36Z")
[Off Topic] I think all polls should have a “this is ridiculous” option [/Off Topic] ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/82 "2015-10-09T19:34:37Z")
I, for one, am astonished that we’re still worrying about why a mod left 12 years ago. As if it could have any resonance today or that the MB 12 years ago has any real bearing on the MB today. Not only isn’t the board culture the same it would be horrible if it were. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/83 "2015-10-09T19:59:13Z")
I registered after \*\*manhattan \*\*was long gone, so his situation has little meaning to me. But his name was brought up in this thread and the information was easily found. Someone must think the board’s history is relevant. In fact, the events of a decade ago spawned the same discussion that is happening now. > **[Manhattan: wake up call or whiny bitch?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=318197)** > > Manhattan is leaving. The only comment from manny that I could find was the one quoted by Ed: "“I came to believe that the board wasn’t a comfortable place for politically conservative posters.” I’d like to make three observations before the... ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/84 "2015-10-10T00:55:11Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Cool–then I decline to accept your apology. It appears you offered it only as a rhetorical device, and that if you didn’t see a way to attack your enemies with it, you’d never have offered it. Not true. Every single time I have become aware of a factual error in my postings, I have acknowledged it and apologized for making it, regardless of whatever rhetorical advantage may or may not have come my way. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/85 "2015-10-10T02:19:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Not true. Every single time I have become aware of a factual error in my postings, I have acknowledged it and apologized for making it, regardless of whatever rhetorical advantage may or may not have come my way. **Bricker** is very good when it comes to facts. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/86 "2015-10-10T04:16:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > **Bricker** is very good when it comes to facts. Is that a fact? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/87 "2015-10-10T05:48:41Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Not true. Every single time I have become aware of a factual error in my postings, I have acknowledged it and apologized for making it, regardless of whatever rhetorical advantage may or may not have come my way. What you need is a catch phrase. Here is one: Feynman Integrity. Unfortunately the concept is designed for scientific papers; by necessity message board posts (or even journalism) will have lower standards. But here it is anyway. Here is [Paul Romer quoting Richard Feynman](http://paulromer.net/feynman-integrity/): [QUOTE=Paul Romer quotes Richard Feynman] It’s a kind of scientific integrity, a principle of scientific thought that corresponds to a kind of utter honesty–a kind of leaning over backwards. For example, if you’re doing an experiment, you should report everything that you think might make it invalid–not only what you think is right about it: other causes that could possibly explain your results; and things you thought of that you’ve eliminated by some other experiment, and how they worked–to make sure the other fellow can tell they have been eliminated. ``` Details that could throw doubt on your interpretation must be given, if you know them. You must do the best you can–if you know anything at all wrong, or possibly wrong–to explain it. If you make a theory, for example, and advertise it, or put it out, then you must also put down all the facts that disagree with it, as well as those that agree with it. There is also a more subtle problem. When you have put a lot of ideas together to make an elaborate theory, you want to make sure, when explaining what it fits, that those things it fits are not just the things that gave you the idea for the theory; but that the finished theory makes something else come out right, in addition. ``` [/QUOTE] That bar is rather high, too high except in rarefied circles. But it’s something to keep in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/88 "2015-10-10T09:10:59Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > A factual error from me is ferreted out and a refusal to acknowledge it is shouted from the rooftops. Well, if you refuse to acknowledge your factual error, some metaphorical rooftop-shouting seems a fairly mild penalty. ---
**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:** [October 10, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/89 "2015-10-10T11:58:01Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Not true. Every single time I have become aware of a factual error in my postings, I have acknowledged it and apologized for making it, regardless of whatever rhetorical advantage may or may not have come my way. Not “regardless.” You tend to use it as a rhetorical point, like you did here. You spin what should be a negative–getting something wrong–into a positive. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/90 "2015-10-10T13:46:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Not “regardless.” You tend to use it as a rhetorical point, like you did here. You spin what should be a negative–getting something wrong–into a positive. “Tend to?” No. The majority leader of cases don’t include a observation other than the admission of error. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/91 "2015-10-10T13:56:28Z")
If the mods are allowing their politics to influence their judgment calls then the less moderators they. But I really don’t think they are. Sure, there are occasions when personal opinions may sway a fine decision. Mods are but human (at least, I _think_ so) and such occasions are few and far between. In short the proposal is a solution for a non-existent problem. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/92 "2015-10-10T15:14:41Z")
> [@DSeid addressing Bricker](#): > > Well while you are at it … you seem to have minimally implied that the banning of **Terr** was the result of an overwhelming liberal bias on the part of the moderators, yet we now know that the moderator who warned **Terr** and who initiated the banning action is not liberal by any stretch (albeit some farther right on the spectrum may charge that he is not a “true conservative” or is a RINO). > > Care to apologize for that false claim as well? And maybe an actual one, not a jerky rhetorical device one? … And I guess the answer is “no.” A shock to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/93 "2015-10-10T23:21:36Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > And I guess the answer is “no.” > > A shock to be sure. No, for reasons previously stated. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/94 "2015-10-11T03:24:08Z")
Having been “noted” in the related thread for bickering, I will post appropriately “chilled” here and suggest yet again that while affirmative action at a moderator level seems completely unnecessary, affirmative action for a variety of values of conservative remains as something worthy of consideration, and propose giving them perhaps an extra chance to rehabilitate before banning. And for all of us (be we liberal, conservative, or whatever) to do better at identifying and calling out (be it by reporting or whatever is an appropriate means for the forum) jerkiness that comes from those _who we agree with_ as well as those we disagree with. I say this as someone who self identifies as centrist (perhaps very slightly left of). I really do _not_ want to be the most conservative voice in the thread and this board would be a lesser place with fewer voices that beg to differ. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/95 "2015-10-11T20:39:50Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > No, for reasons previously stated. Because you don’t feel like you can spin your error to your advantage this time? ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/96 "2015-10-11T21:46:14Z")
The mods do an exceptional job of protecting conservative posters, with whom I’m quite certain they are often in disagreement on political matters. It does feel like there is a common theme of “ganging up” on a poster who dares to offer a conservative perspective. More often than not, that just serves as fuel to my fire. I don’t feel that the moderation in any way discriminates against us. If anything, I think they offer a slight extra rope knowing that it isn’t easy to always hold the contrarian viewpoint. I probably could have received multiple warnings in my time but only have 1. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/97 "2015-10-12T08:57:47Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Because you don’t feel like you can spin your error to your advantage this time? This post is – ironically – a taunt and not an argument. It attacks me and my motives you imagined for me, and not any argument I am making. It’s also bickering, but undoubtedly you are safe. I don’t concede error, as previously stated, in this instance, and therefore have no apology to offer. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927/98 "2015-10-12T09:14:58Z")
**Moderator Action** And since this thread is also descending into snippy comments, I am closing this one too. Posts in ATMB are expected to be polite and civil. Arguments belong in the Pit. Thread closed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-have-an-affirmative-action-policy-for-the-conservative-minority/733927.md?page=4)