# Stan Shmenge **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 13, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323 "2009-03-13T13:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/61 "2009-03-13T18:19:35Z")
Not as such, but Molly Pitcher’s association with artillery is derived from a misunderstanding of the term “five pounder”. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/62 "2009-03-13T18:32:27Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > But no breasts. Plenty of sex, though. You need to read John and Abigail Adams’ correspondence… ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/63 "2009-03-13T18:34:20Z")
And he thinks the Shah was hunky dory, and that because the Iranians got tired of handing over 84% of all their oil profits to the British-Persian Oil Company, the Iranians apparently deserved to live for decades under tyranny and oppression. I’ve seen people like \*\*Stan \*\*around–people whose conservative principles end at the end of their own nose. They complain like little bitches if the government wants to raise taxes on them, but they don’t give two shits about an entire nation being subjugated by a dictator put in place by that same government. It’s not just hypocrisy; it’s moral myopia of a particularly loathesome variety. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/64 "2009-03-13T18:43:07Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > And he thinks the Shah was hunky dory, and that because the Iranians got tired of handing over 84% of all their oil profits to the British-Persian Oil Company, the Iranians apparently deserved to live for decades under tyranny and oppression. I’ve seen people like \*\*Stan \*\*around–people whose conservative principles end at the end of their own nose. They complain like little bitches if the government wants to raise taxes on them, but they don’t give two shits about an entire nation being subjugated by a dictator put in place by that same government. It’s not just hypocrisy; it’s moral myopia of a particularly loathesome variety. It’s just plain “I got mine, fuck everyone else.” Not really “conservative” so much as some of the shittiest parts of human nature. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/65 "2009-03-13T20:03:03Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > And the PTA can suck an egg. They are pinko too. 😃 Dude, seriously? What are you, the reincarnation of Joseph McCarthy’s right testicle? _Those damn parents and teachers with their bake sales!! COMMIES!!1!!!11!1$@_ ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/66 "2009-03-13T20:06:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Let’s see if I have it right. We brought our expertise and labor, and took a stone age culture of poverty into the modern age, and had the fruits of our labor and largess stolen from us and used against us ? Is that pretty much it? Or were the indigenous people going to dig the oil out of the sand with their bare hands? Just asking. So was it all about the White Man’s Burden, or was it “screw them we want the oil”? Either one is pretty bad. > [@](#): > > Except that the United States was not a pre technological civilization with no chance of advancement. We did not need to invite foreigners into the country to help us develop beyond the stone age, and if we had, we probably would not have turned against them at the first opportunity. You are setting up a situation that would never have happened in the first place, so it is a straw man. > > The rights to those resources were legitimately shared, and the actions of Mossadegh was a betrayal of the deal under which we developed the resource, One tyrant was replaced by another, and he in turn was replaced. Sometimes we choose the tyrant (to be our puppet), sometimes someone else chooses. IF the US had “invited” invaders in, and the invaders set up their own puppet ruler, how long do you think he would live? Hell, this is the USA. We kill the good ones that were home grown. Imagine what we’d do to a foreigner? > [@](#): > > How about such conservative community activists as Pat Robertson, Kenneth Copeland, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed? Are they all Marxists as well? Not to mention Sarah Palin, proud member of the PTA, perhaps the largest group of community organizers in the country? Dirty rotten commies, every last one 😃 > [@](#): > > Obama seeks to bring more and more of our private economy under the aegis of the state. His massive government spending programs will necessarily involve the confiscation of more and more private assets for conversion to the purposes of the state. Therefore, Obama’s policies can accurately be described as Marxist. > > Any other questions? Yes. Can we have a cite? Heavy stuff such as this has to be verified. > [@](#): > > I doubt they would call themselves “community activists”. And they are all asshats as well. And the PTA can suck an egg. They are pinko too. This part was classic. Did you know thata in “some circles” simply supporting, contributing to and voting for your preferred candidate could be considered a form of activism? You dirty Commie. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/67 "2009-03-13T20:33:08Z")
While the Proudhon-Trotskyite Alliance (PTA) might well be considered “pinko” (to use your graceless invective), I hardly think they can be fairly considered as “Communist” in the current generally accepted parlance. Of course, anyone who thinks the _other_ PTA is “pinko” needs to consider adjusting the dosage level of his medications. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/68 "2009-03-13T20:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Obama seeks to bring more and more of our private economy under the aegis of the state. His massive government spending programs will necessarily involve the confiscation of more and more private assets for conversion to the purposes of the state. Therefore, Obama’s policies can accurately be described as Marxist. These are the private entities that managed to run themselves into the ground with a speed that would make The Flash wince in admiration. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/69 "2009-03-13T21:30:27Z")
> [@Nancarrow](#): > > Whoa there… **Shodan**? From what I’ve seen, he and **Stan [del]Smith[/del] Shmenge** are like peas in a pod, and comparable to **Bricker** and **Sam Stone** only when the latter two are drunk. I don’t know… **Shodan** can be kind of, well, Shodanesque at times, sure, but his batshit-to-reason ratio is fairly low(ish). Though I don’t often find myself in agreement with him, it doesn’t preclude me from understanding and appreciating what he’s trying to say or the viewpoint he’s expressing. _Is_ there a conservative board out there with good moderation and a low freep-count? It can’t be a right/left thing, can it? ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/70 "2009-03-13T23:14:27Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I don’t know… **Shodan** can be kind of, well, Shodanesque at times, sure, but his batshit-to-reason ratio is fairly low(ish). Though I don’t often find myself in agreement with him, it doesn’t preclude me from understanding and appreciating what he’s trying to say or the viewpoint he’s expressing. > > _Is_ there a conservative board out there with good moderation and a low freep-count? It can’t be a right/left thing, can it? Shodan is nowhere near as stupid as this dude. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/71 "2009-03-13T23:14:42Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > How about responding to a point I have made! The poster was doing what you are doing, making a cheap ad-hominem rather than engaging in debate. How perfectly characteristic, when the ideas run out… Before I looked at the username on this post, I thought it was someone describing the majority of your posts in Great Debates. _::: shrug :::_ You reap what you sow. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/72 "2009-03-14T03:29:01Z")
Things I learned from \*\*Stan Schmenge \*\*today: 1. Iran was living in the stone age 70 years ago 2. Hyde Park is full of Commies 3. the PTA is full of pinkos 4. Jimmy Carter helped overthrow the Shah and establish a Muslim theocracy in Iran 5. the Iraq war has been a great success 6. Hillary Clinton loves Palestinian terrorists Is this seriously the current level of conservative thought? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/73 "2009-03-14T03:40:25Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > Is this seriously the current level of conservative thought? Oh. come on. Just because he is an extreme partisan is no reason for anyone to shut down their thought processes and emulate him. There are idiosyncratic individuals across the political spectrum and it does nothing to “fight ignorance” to ask if the most extreme examples are in any way typical of the philosophies they misrepresent. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/74 "2009-03-14T03:58:53Z")
They only stay away because the SDMB has a reputation for jack-booted liberal thug mods. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/75 "2009-03-14T04:20:14Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > And he thinks the Shah was hunky dory, and that because the Iranians got tired of handing over 84% of all their oil profits to the British-Persian Oil Company, the Iranians apparently deserved to live for decades under tyranny and oppression. I’ve seen people like \*\*Stan \*\*around–people whose conservative principles end at the end of their own nose. They complain like little bitches if the government wants to raise taxes on them, but they don’t give two shits about an entire nation being subjugated by a dictator put in place by that same government. It’s not just hypocrisy; it’s moral myopia of a particularly loathesome variety. IIRC, the people of Iran tried to overthrow the Shah back in the fifties, but we helped the tyrant out-and look where it got us? (Of course, the Ayatollah wasn’t any better!) Oh, and **Stan**? You ARE aware that George III was in the early stages of mental illness at that point? He suffered from [porphyria](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyria). and in the next decade or so, a regency under his eldest son, the Prince of Wales (George IV), would be established. [He was not the tyrant he is portrayed to be.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_iii#American_Revolutionary_War) Merely a poor, confused old man. (Not THAT I’m not glad we seceded! Just that I feel sorry for the poor guy. His life really wasn’t an easy one) ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/76 "2009-03-14T07:06:28Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > IIRC, the people of Iran tried to overthrow the Shah back in the fifties, but we helped the tyrant out-and look where it got us? (Of course, the Ayatollah wasn’t any better!) It’s worse than that. Iran had a democracy. [We overthrew it and installed a dictatorship.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax) After 20+ years of that, it was overthrown and the mullahs installed because–guess what?–people really fucking don’t like living under foreign-controlled oppressors and get really pissed off. In all likelihood there would be no theocracy in Iran if it were not for the meddling of the US. \*\*Stan \*\*doesn’t really seem to grok any of this. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/77 "2009-03-14T08:02:44Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Oh. come on. Just because he is an extreme partisan is no reason for anyone to shut down their thought processes and emulate him. There are idiosyncratic individuals across the political spectrum and it does nothing to “fight ignorance” to ask if the most extreme examples are in any way typical of the philosophies they misrepresent. I don’t think Stan is particularly extreme in his views. Lots of perfectly reasonable people have similar views to his. The only difference is Stan is an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/78 "2009-03-14T09:07:36Z")
> [@glee](#): > > 1. The colonies were British. > 2. What technological developments are you talking about? > 3. King George was an idiot. > [@Gyrate](#): > > 1. Don’t be silly - Americans have always been Americans. That’s like saying that Jesus was Jewish. > > 2. You know - American inventions like the steam engine and the spinning mule. If the Crown hadn’t stifled innovation in Britain, the Industrial Revolution might have started there instead of in America. > > 3. Nonsense! He was an evil mastermind who wanted to crush the colonists under his effete perfumed heel. I’ve seen the Schoolhouse Rock cartoon about it. > > On an entirely serious note I once spent an afternoon in the British Library reading Parliamentary records about the war. It was hugely laughable how clueless the MPs were about the motivations of the colonists. IIRC it was 1778 before someone suggested that maybe, you know, if Britain lowered some of the taxes on the US colonies they might stop all that nonsense. You’re dealing with Stan, remember. For goodness sake, make it clear you were joking. He probably thinks Jesus was American. :smack: > [@aldiboronti](#): > > Actually ir took the US much of the 19th century to catch up to Britain industrially (still a remarkable achievement). And the Crown didn’t seem to stifle the inventiveness and industry of the British, who led the world until eventually overtaken at the end of the 19th century. (And I think you’ll find it was Germany that initially overtook them. The US took the lead a little later.) > > In short, buddy, you are displaying your ignorance of history, and I speak as someone whose politics are to the Right. With friends like you we really don’t need enemies. Well said. But will he bother to read or reply?! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/79 "2009-03-14T16:53:38Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Oh, and **Stan**? > > You ARE aware that George III was in the early stages of mental illness at that point? He suffered from [porphyria](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyria). and in the next decade or so, a regency under his eldest son, the Prince of Wales (George IV), would be established. > > [He was not the tyrant he is portrayed to be.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_iii#American_Revolutionary_War) Merely a poor, confused old man. Yeah, but someone who got all his knowledge of history from Schoolhouse Rock wouldn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323/80 "2009-03-14T17:26:05Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > It’s worse than that. Iran had a democracy. [We overthrew it and installed a dictatorship.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax) After 20+ years of that, it was overthrown and the mullahs installed because–guess what?–people really fucking don’t like living under foreign-controlled oppressors and get really pissed off. In all likelihood there would be no theocracy in Iran if it were not for the meddling of the US. \*\*Stan \*\*doesn’t really seem to grok any of this. Oh yes-now I remember! We did the similiar acts in Guatemala, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, etc. (Latin America-especially Central America-was treated like our own personal fiefdom). And perhaps someone should inform our friend **Stan** here that Sadam was initially a friend of our’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stan-shmenge/489323.md?page=5)