Catch 22. If you’re crazy enough to want the job, you’re too crazy to be allowed to have it.
True. We usually get our new crops of mods by sending out chloroform-filled “staff mugs” to selected posters. They open the box, and next thing they know they wake up chained to a computer in the Reader’s basement.
The worst part is they don’t even let you keep the mug. I have to drink puddle water out of an old tin can.
We’d have let you use a straw, but you made such a deal about the length of your tongue that we’d figured you wouldn’t want one.
You sure that’s water?
:: giggles ::
Dio sometimes makes me cringe with his occasional meltdowns, but he’s certainly not the kind of person we need to reign in. The problem is not the folks with substantive things to say and rational points to make. Folks who don’t like Dio need to step back and honestly assess whether he contributes something to the discussion. And he obviously does, even if his manners are occasionally a problem.
I don’t care about the harping, the shrillness or the blaming of Bush for the clog in your toilet. It’s the smileys that do it for me…
Stop disguising your obnoxiousness as rueful humor you imbecile. 
My reasoned estimation from all the time I’ve been lurking here is “left, but not that left.” The vast majority of the biologically-female posters seem to refer to themselves as women, not as wimmin or womyn or something similar, and there are surprisingly few uber-PC people. I have been a member of Internet Communities where the use of “guys” to refer to a mixed group of men + women (or only women) was prohibited because it’s “masculine-normative”; the same board strongly discouraged the use of words such as vulgar, trashy, and tasteless because they’re classist.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course… 
Naturally, you’re going to have the occasional renegade in either direction. But from my knowledge of the SDMB, the vast majority of the posters here do not seem to be anything approaching fanatic liberals. I can see how it could get uncomfortable for a conservative…but honestly, if you just get yourself involved for a few weeks with a group of people who will leap on you for saying “Hey guys!”, you’ll run screaming back to the SDMB, I promise.
I never really thought that any of the ones hosted at Delphi were very good. I still have a membership there, but it’s in one non-political group and there is no way that I’m ever paying Prospero like I do the Reader.
As for skewing left, I’m a veteran of the old (now defunct) UK Independent forum (which was hosted by Delphi.) You want to see pointless ranting and vitriol from both sides? There’s a forum for you, if any of the messages are still archived. You would not believe the US and Israel bashing that constantly went on. It was like all the extremists here multiplied a thousand-fold. It wasn’t even mostly potshots at Bush and Sharon, but condemnations of the entire nations. Similarly, the liberal and especially the Muslim bashing from the right was unbelievable.
This is the kind of thing that I hate, and fruitbat already layed into rjung. Among other things, saying that “conservaives hate the truth” is both stupid and inflammatory. It’s painting with so broad a brush and is so devoid of content that it’s like saying “liberals hate America” and yet expecting to be taken seriously by people, much less liberals.
I’ve posted before that neither party or position holds much interest for me. I describe myself as personally liberal–practically libertarian–and fiscally conservative. I’m intrigued by ideas to do something to Social Security, which means that we have to talk about Bush–or at least his ideas–as those are really the only ones on the table other than to not change a thing. I’d like to see smaller government, something which neither of the parties appear to be interested in. I don’t see why the government should get involved in private issues unless they can truly make a compelling argument for the public good–and I don’t want any bullshit religious reasons or the version of the same thing that seems to originate from the left.
Most importantly, I don’t like what I see as pointless repetitive bashing. I didn’t like it when it was done to Clinton by the right, I don’t like it now when it’s done to Bush by the left. If I was older, I might feel different–I’ve heard people say the presence of the Cold War made a big deal in how Reagan was perceived, for instance. But hey, I’m young, and I came of age during Clinton’s administration and will be in my mid-20s when Bush’s administration is over. My parents worries are not the worries of my generation. And personally, I believe that the hardliners on both sides are going to isolate more and more of the American people, especially people around my age into a centrist mass. I’m thinking we could finally wind up having a viable third-party or at least a replacement of one of them. But which party would be the Whigs, I don’t know.
<sniff>I LOVE YOU GUYS!<sniff>
Honestly, I’ve come this close to leaving here on several occasions…
BUT WHO AM I KIDDING? This place is worse than crack. And it’s the worst message board on the internet, except for all the other ones.
I am, however, dodging Great Debates more and more. Life’s too short. But to be fair, that attitude isn’t just because of the vitriol, although that’s part of it - it’s also because after a while you get tired of the same old debates coming up over, and over, and over… That’s no one’s fault - it’s the result of being around for six years and umpteen thousand posts.
PETA? Greenpeace?
Just helping out.
It’s “Blessed are the Peacemakers”. Not “Blessed are the Stirrers of the Shit.”
Well, what’s the point of having a BBQ Pit if you can’t fire up the grill once in a while?
Considering that the SDMB resident conservatives do toss out broadly inflammatory remarks about how liberals = traitors, or Muslims = terrorists, or feminists = lesbians, asking them to actually take some of the stuff they dish out hardly seems unreasonable.
This thread is pathetic.
As one of the most conservative posters here I’m very glad this thread was started by a liberal and not a conservative. I leave it to liberals like rjung and Hentor to whine and cry (especially when their side loses elections and can’t figure out why they alienate most of America with their fringe Communist views), me, I work in the trenches and pay little attention to the random bolts of idiot criticism thrown my way by the gutter fish of the screeching left.
OK, I think you need to cite an example of each of those. And it doesn’t count if, in fact, the Muslim is a terrorist, or the feminist is in fact a lesbian.
You can’t throw out a bombshell like that and not expect someone to call bullshit.
Who exactly do you consider to be the “resident conservatives” and where have they tossed out the remarks you mention? If you’re talking about the few wingnuts like **milroy **and millum, they may have done so. But they hardly represent the serious conservative posters here. Can you clarify for us?
Assuming that there are non-trolling posters out there who assert such things, yes, returning the same treatment in kind is unreasonable. One would hope that you’d be willing to reason with your debate opponents by posting in a civil manner. Choosing to constantly insult those same opponents in endless drive-bys will not win anyone over to your point-of-view; instead, you give them plenty of reason to not listen to you should you present a viable argument.
And should your opponents show that they aren’t willing to engage you in a civil discussion even though you tried? Give discussion up with them as a lost cause and move on; there’s nothing to be gained by acting like a jerk just because you can.
Not sure if this counts as what rjung was referring to, but I thought I’d give it a highlight before we all jump down rjung’s throat for being inflammatory.
Don’t forget the factually demonstrably false part (taking “fringe communist views” as an asinine “opinion”: “alienating most of America.” Fucknuts like Mr. Hyde look at a 51-48 percent presidential victory as alienating most of America.
I just can’t stand the lies, deceptions and distortions. This is the kind of shit that gets me riled up, and then I start cursing.
“Mr. McGee, don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”
Nope…new email should be in my profile though…looking forward to it.