# So does the board skew left? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 25, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457 "2005-05-25T17:23:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/101 "2005-05-25T21:52:19Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > My belief is that the members of the right are becoming more and more quiet because they are finding it harder and harder to defend their political leaders. No, Deadheart, it’s a symptom of the fundamental diacotomy between the two parties. Call it idealism vs realism, if you will. The idealist position would be to keep explaining, again and again in a sombient monotone (or maybe in a piercing shriek, if that’s your style), about how you are right and why others ought to think just as you. Being an idealist, you would have hope that your efforts are someday going to be fruitful and you will in fact change minds. The realist position is to make a few attempts to get your fellows to see reason, but then, when these fail, to step back and examine the person whose mind you are attempting to mold. Once you assess that the person is deeply, unmovably entrenched in their unfavorable opinions, you give up, rather than beat your head against a fucking wall. I don’t know if the more evangelical of our left-leaning posters don’t mind the bruises, or they’re so consumed by shouting that they don’t even notice the wall is there, but most of the boards conservatives realize there’s no goddamn point to arguing with the idiots so they just…don’t. There’s nothing to be gained by attempting to reason with the unreasonable, but if you’d like to keep at that wall, maybe shout it down, do feel free. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/102 "2005-05-25T21:52:49Z")
> [@Xploder](#): > > No, we do **NOT** have any power whatsoever! The same posters have been pitted many, many times about their behaviour with the result of…um…no change whatsoever. Do you really think that if we just pit them a few more times it’s gonna change anything? You personally do not have the power to reshape the board how you would like it. But if 90% of you are pissed about Bush hijacks, however, I’d suspect you could make whomever indulges in them look like a complete ass if you worked at it. Even if you can’t force said posters to leave the boards, you can fight the perception that they somehow represent the board as a whole, and possibly keep them from dominating discussions. Or maybe not. That’s my feeling, I could be 100% wrong. I think it’s worth a try. > [@Xploder](#): > > That’s the whole point the op was trying to make. If you’re a **Moderator** , then he (and I for that matter) believe that you should not just moderate a poster if they call someone a whorebag or whatever but their on-board behaviour as well. Again, being a one-trick pony and being **ONLY** a one-trick pony is, when all is said and done, detrimnetal to the board and you’ll see even MORE people leave without renewing membership. I know the Reader could care less what someon here on the board’s political leanings are but they SHOULD give a damn that some people, who are not being properly reined in, are causing the board to actually LOSE paying members. You still haven’t told me specifically what you want me to do. Ban everyone who, in our judgement, is annoying? ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/103 "2005-05-25T21:56:58Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Umm… not to change the subject or anything… but who might this be referring to, exactly? That would be our estimable **Evil Captor**. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/104 "2005-05-25T22:00:43Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > No, Deadheart, Whatever that might mean, it doesn’t sound good! > [@](#): > > it’s a symptom of the fundamental diacotomy between the two parties. Call it idealism vs realism, if you will. The idealist position would be to keep explaining, again and again in a sombient monotone (or maybe in a piercing shriek, if that’s your style), about how you are right and why others ought to think just as you. Being an idealist, you would have hope that your efforts are someday going to be fruitful and you will in fact change minds. > > The realist position is to make a few attempts to get your fellows to see reason, but then, when these fail, to step back and examine the person whose mind you are attempting to mold. Once you assess that the person is deeply, unmovably entrenched in their unfavorable opinions, you give up, rather than beat your head against a fucking wall. > > I don’t know if the more evangelical of our left-leaning posters don’t mind the bruises, or they’re so consumed by shouting that they don’t even notice the wall is there, but most of the boards conservatives realize there’s no goddamn point to arguing with the idiots so they just…don’t. There’s nothing to be gained by attempting to reason with the unreasonable, but if you’d like to keep at that wall, maybe shout it down, do feel free. Oh… okay, yeah, that explains it. Sure. But why did you bother to post this, then. Surely you didn’t expect that this would be any more convincing to us mindless, data avoidant, argument impaired brick wall zealots? So why try now? Or is your argument really a pile of pig feces? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/105 "2005-05-25T22:02:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Ban everyone who, in our judgement, is annoying? Oh! Please, please, please, please, please. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/106 "2005-05-25T22:02:43Z")
> [@Xploder](#): > > Again, being a one-trick pony and being **ONLY** a one-trick pony is, when all is said and done, detrimnetal to the board and you’ll see even MORE people leave without renewing membership. I know the Reader could care less what someon here on the board’s political leanings are but they SHOULD give a damn that some people, who are not being properly reined in, are causing the board to actually LOSE paying members. > . What you say has been discussed exhaustively amongst the staff, **xploder** , so I’m not saying for a skinny minute that you don’t have a point. You do. But finding the exact breakoff point on that slippery slope from “passionate” to “one-trick pony” is well nigh impossible. Or at least impossible in any sense that would satisfy most of the readership here, as far as we’ve been able to pin down. Maybe there is a clearly definable, defensible line and we just haven’t found it. Some specific issues will always attract certain posters: religion, gun control, circumscision, Mac vs. PC, feminism, Star Wars, you name it. Yes, anybody who’s been around for a while will pretty much know what certain posters think because they post about it a _lot_. But when does ‘a lot’ become ‘ad nauseum’? What measure should be used to gauge bored exasperation? The number of complaints? Could be, but some of 'em are based on little more than dislike for an opinion or poster. How often someone is Pitted? Again, could be useful as an idicator, but how balanced and reliable? Do you _really_ want mods to lay prohibitions on posters based on their interests and opinions? I know, the idea is tempting. (_God_, is it tempting. I bet there isn’t a mod who hasn’t had those moments of “X is blathering on about Y AGAIN, and I’d rather gouge my eyes out with the rusty lid from a tuna fish can than read it AGAIN.”) Posters hold almost complete power over how discussions go. Shunning is a perfectly valid tool–and it’s a real killer when widely used. When just posting as me, there are some people with whom I simply won’t discuss _anything_. IMO, they’re either flat-out stupid or so rabidly unreasonable I won’t waste time on 'em. It always tickles me when some of our more (ahem!) _reactive_ posters inject themselves loudly into otherwise relatively sane threads and the converstation flows right on past 'em like a river over a rock. Obviously, mileages vary widely. I don’t say the current system is great. I just haven’ t seen a cure that doesn’t present as many, if not more, risks than the disease. Always willing to listen and mull over ideas, though. Veb ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/107 "2005-05-25T22:04:17Z")
_Oh, did I actually post that?_ More seriously, if someone thinks that a _good_ and _workable_ and _fair_ policy could be implemented, I’d love to hear it. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/108 "2005-05-25T22:08:09Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > This was going to be a reply to the [Pit thread discussing Manhattan](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=318197) but it got long enough and off-topic enough (since it’s not about him) And the last two pages are excerpts from the Oliver North trial. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/109 "2005-05-25T22:16:49Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > …Ban everyone who, in our judgement, is annoying? Actually, could you ban everyone that **I** find annoying? I think that would go a long way in the direction or raising the tone around here. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/110 "2005-05-25T22:18:16Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Ban everyone who, in our judgement, is annoying? Whatever. I ain’t giving my coffee mug back. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/111 "2005-05-25T22:22:12Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > And the last two pages are excerpts from the Oliver North trial. Third page before the requisite _Simpsons_ reference? You people are slowing down. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/112 "2005-05-25T22:23:02Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Whatever that might mean, it doesn’t sound good! > > Oh… okay, yeah, that explains it. Sure. > > But why did you bother to post this, then. Surely you didn’t expect that this would be any more convincing to us mindless, data avoidant, argument impaired brick wall zealots? So why try now? I haven’t written you off as unable to listen to reason yet. Ought I? ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/113 "2005-05-25T22:27:10Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Or maybe not. That’s my feeling, I could be 100% wrong. I think it’s worth a try. > You still haven’t told me specifically what you want me to do. Ban everyone who, in our judgement, is annoying? I think that the first disciplinary step should be spankings. Public spankings. Public spankings that would be simulcast over the Internet for our international Dopers and for those who can’t attend in person. The simulcast would have a small fee attached which would go towards the upkeep of the boards. I nominate myself as the SDMB’s _ **Spankmaster General™** _. To begin in a bi-partisan fashion, I shall pillory **reeder** next to **Mr. Moto**. Later they’ll have to anoint each other’s areas with ointment. To watch this will cost _extra_. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/114 "2005-05-25T22:28:21Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > If you are correct and the actions of a few posters are in fact ruining things for everyone else, then yes, I think pitting those few posters for specific actions could potentially make a difference. No, it won’t. Trolls love attention. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/115 "2005-05-25T22:28:58Z")
That’s right, **Hentor** , play nice or the reasonable person won’t allow you to respond to her insulting little snipe. Honestly, **elfkin** , what did you expect when you post something like this: > [@](#): > > The realist position is to make a few attempts to get your fellows to see reason, but then, when these fail, to step back and examine the person whose mind you are attempting to mold. > \ > most of the boards conservatives realize there’s no goddamn point to arguing with the idiots so they just…don’t. There’s nothing to be gained by attempting to reason with the unreasonable So. The board conservatives are reasonable, and the board democrats are idiots. Well, I can’t see why anyone would be offended by that or react negatively. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/116 "2005-05-25T22:31:06Z")
…where’s my brain bleach?.. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/117 "2005-05-25T22:31:35Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > That’s right, **Hentor** , play nice or the reasonable person won’t allow you to respond to her insulting little snipe. > Honestly, **elfkin** , what did you expect when you post something like this: > > So. The board conservatives are reasonable, and the board democrats are idiots. Well, I can’t see why anyone would be offended by that or react negatively. In her defense, she was offering to MOLD other people to act and think as she would want them to. Now, who are we to sully her desire to have a cult of personality? Although doesn’t that require having the personality before starting the cult? Questings, questions, questions… ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/118 "2005-05-25T22:33:10Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > …where’s my brain bleach?.. Well, funny that you mention it but I have a vat here of **DeLay Bleach™** which gets things whiter and redistricts at the same time! ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/119 "2005-05-25T22:45:15Z")
Left, right, centrist. It don’t really matter. If anyone on an anonymous message board let’s something said by an anonymous poster get next to them… They have issues that need to be dealt with. That have nothing to do with the board. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457/120 "2005-05-25T22:46:42Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > Well, funny that you mention it but I have a vat here of **DeLay Bleach™** which gets things whiter and redistricts at the same time! Now that’s a good one…🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-does-the-board-skew-left/305457.md?page=7)