# Thanks december **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 27, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074 "2002-10-27T05:09:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/41 "2002-10-31T15:10:36Z")
**Jackmannii** , you sure the lack of december pit threads isn’t due to the majority realizing that such things are pretty much just a waste of space? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/42 "2002-10-31T17:09:31Z")
Not to mention that it takes all of five posts to realize what **december** is. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/43 "2002-10-31T20:27:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Anymore, his ops are disengenious, usually written with a spin of his own that his source and subject does not support. \*\* In other words, you disagree with his opinions. Gosh, what a tragedy. God forbid you should have to put up with that on a message board. **december** ’s primary sin is that he has a simplistically Republican partisan outlook, which makes him one of at least a dozen posters I can think of with simplistic partisan outlooks, but he seems to take the most crap for it, largely because he starts the most threads. He isn’t pushing the line. He isn’t even approaching it. He raises OPs in the right forums. He doesn’t do drive-bys. His alleged propensity for inventing facts, based on the cites provided, seems to actually be a propensity for choosing to believe sources that support his position, a charge I could level against a hundred people, or to provide genuine facts that are non-sequiturs in the context of the debate. In terms of personal conduct, he’s most definitely not a jerk - he’s one of the most polite posters on the board despite the fact that he’s subjected to more outright insults than anyone else on the SDMB, often for no reason other than who he is. He also does raise some pretty good threads - his current thread on “Should the INS treat Canadians like criminals?” provides a balanced OP with a few choice cites, and it’s a very interesting topic. Sorry, but I don’t see where he’s breaking any rules. Sometimes he seems to be ignorant about some things. I can dig up some threads where you’re ignorant about some things. I can dig up threads were I’m ignorant about some things. Maybe he’s ignorant more often than you, but there’s no quota. There is no SDMB rule, so far as I am aware, against being ignorant, dumb, or heavily politically biased. If extreme partisanship is a bannable offense, **december** isn’t even at the front of the line for banning. I don’t see why any of this merits 1,500 Pit rants or implications he should be banned. Awhile ago I was in a GD thread with a poster who, as near as I could tell, drew all their opinions from two magazines. The poster deliberately dropped every thread of debate when contrary evidence was presented, claimed they were unable to open linked cites that proved their points were wrong, (when everyone else in the thread could open them, mind you) and quite deliberately misrepresented my position and the position of others on several occasions, started changing the subject when things didn’t go their way, and introduced more strawmen arguments than a scarecrow debating society. It never occurred to me to start a Pit thread - it was frustrating, but I’m not going to Pit someone because they’re a bit scrambled. (It was not December or anyone else in this thread.) Being partisan and bad at debating is not the same as being a jerk. Of course, I’m imposing my own personal standards on what “being a jerk” is. I would assume, based on 15 years of experience with newsgroups, FIDOnet, message boards, etc., that “Being a jerk” includes personal abuse, violating specific rules, drive-bys, obvious trolling, etc. Pissing you off because someone is ignorant or doesn’t agree with you or just isn’t fun to debate with isn’t what I’d call being a jerk, but you’re free to disagree. IMHO, the vitriol directed towards December is ridiculous. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2002, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/44 "2002-10-31T21:19:04Z")
Da’hell? I don’t like him because of his political stance? Um, sure. Yeah, that’s it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/45 "2002-10-31T21:33:08Z")
> [@](#): > > He raises OPs in the right forums. . . . > > He also does raise some pretty good threads - his current thread on “Should the INS treat Canadians like criminals?” provides a balanced OP with a few choice cites, and it’s a very interesting topic. On the first point: Nope. 94% of **december** ’s threads belong in **IMHO** and 5% belong in the **Pit**. Instead he fills up **GD** with his fact-free glurge and his “Oh, we Republicans (who are never mean) are so picked upon” schtick and his “Everyone who has ever spoken harshly of any Israeli action is obviously anti-semitic” schtick. On rare occasions, he does, indeed, initiate a thread in **GD** that has substance. He currently has two. (He also had one last month and one over the Summer.) When he actually posts a **GD** thread in **GD** , I do think people ought to respect that and not drag in animosity resulting from his more typical behavior. I certainly agree that he does not deserve banishment. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/46 "2002-10-31T21:59:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > **Of course, I’m imposing my own personal standards on what “being a jerk” is. I would assume, based on 15 years of experience with newsgroups, FIDOnet, message boards, etc., that “Being a jerk” includes personal abuse, violating specific rules, drive-bys, obvious trolling, etc. Pissing you off because someone is ignorant or doesn’t agree with you or just isn’t fun to debate with isn’t what I’d call being a jerk, but you’re free to disagree.** Of course, the opinions that really matter are those of the staff. [Coldfire](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2397031&highlight=december#post2397031) for one appears to disagree with you. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/47 "2002-10-31T22:06:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*Pissing you off because someone is ignorant or doesn’t agree with you or just isn’t fun to debate with isn’t what I’d call being a jerk, but you’re free to disagree. . \*\* Gosh, thanks so much for the clarification. I could have **sworn** that he pisses me off 'cause he continually mischaracterizes my (and other’s ) positions, posts deliberately inflamatory crap in the wrong forums, is condescending while also being wrong, thinks that an OP/Ed piece is gold, while data is ‘misconstrued’, says he’s an accuary IRL, while demonstrates a frightening lack of understanding of routine statistical analysis, etc. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/48 "2002-10-31T22:20:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > and his “Everyone who has ever spoken harshly of any Israeli action is obviously anti-semitic” schtick. Can you provide an actual example of this? (I don’t recall this ever). Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/49 "2002-11-01T05:12:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*Of course, the opinions that really matter are those of the staff. [Coldfire](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2397031&highlight=december#post2397031) for one appears to disagree with you. \*\* Which is fair enough; if their interpretation is different from mine, there it is. I’m sure the staff have varying interpretations. Their own standards aren’t even consistent anyway, as evidenced with the subject of another Pit thread running right now. It’s not my call who gets banned and who doesn’t, but IMHO, December isn’t a jerk by any reasonable standard. It’s just my opinion. > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > RickJay: > > Pissing you off because someone is ignorant or doesn’t agree with you or just isn’t fun to debate with isn’t what I’d call being a jerk, but you’re free to disagree. . > > wring: > Gosh, thanks so much for the clarification. I could have sworn that he pisses me off 'cause he continually mischaracterizes my (and other’s ) positions, posts deliberately inflamatory crap in the wrong forums, is condescending while also being wrong, thinks that an OP/Ed piece is gold, while data is ‘misconstrued’, says he’s an accuary IRL, while demonstrates a frightening lack of understanding of routine statistical analysis, etc. Sorry, wring, but where’s the disagreement here? Sounds like you’re saying he’s ignorant and isn’t fun to debate with. So I wrapped it up a little more concisely. We agree. Look, December’s a crappy poster, at least in debate posts. I won’t argue that. And he has started some inappropriately placed threads, though I scoff at the cited “94%” figure. Technically speaking, I still don’t think he’s of sufficient jerkitude to consider him a Jerk, and the level of vitriol he’s subjected to is absurd; poster after poster insults him in GD and gets nary a word from the mods 85% of the time, and in many cases he gets snide comments in threads that are going just fine, simply because he’s december. (The aforementioned Canadians-at-the-borders thread being a case in point.) On the other hand, Collounsbury’s been an abusive asshole for years, but he’s still around. Why is that? Well, Collounsbury’s smarter, or puts on a better show, anyway. And there’s something to be said for his knowledge around some critical topics. But I sure hope they don’t start applying the board rules selectively based on how smart you are, with Wile E. Coyote Supergeniuses given free rein to break the rules, while the duller lights get heaved left and right. (For one thing, I’m afraid I’m closer to the latter group than the former.) The term “pile on” in the internet message board sense is being absolutely defined in the endless december threads. I mean, I can understand ripping someone in the Pit if you’re just sick of them and think they should be banned, and I just ripped Collounsbury. Once. Beyond that, shit, just send the mods an E-mail and accept their decision to ban or not. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/50 "2002-11-01T07:17:58Z")
I agree with Rickjay 100%. December’s opinions may not be yours, but they reflect those of a pretty big chunk of the country. He has a right to talk about them and debate them. If he can’t represent his ideas well, he’ll lose the debate. But none of this gives any of you the right to continually attack him in rude and personal ways. I can think of a lot of posters around here who are a lot more argumentative, a lot more ignorant of the facts, but who get away with it simply because their political bent fits in more closely with the SDMB average. And then there are people like Collounsbury, who dive bomb threads and start spewing vicious crap all over the place just because someone had the _audacity_ to try to discuss something on which Collounsbury happens to be well versed. And yet, because he fits into that comfortable center-left area, he gets a ton of slack. Let’s see how long the SDMB would put up with some redneck NRA type who came around and continually told the stupid motherfucking idiots to pull their motherfucking heads out of their asses. The day December gets banned from this place, I’ll take a walk with him, because it’ll no longer be the kind of place I want to hang out in. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/51 "2002-11-01T12:04:36Z")
Regardless of wether I agree with Decembers policies, I dislike him because he deliberately chooses to misrepresent information to fit whatever little political bent du jour he is on. When called on it, he rarely answers. > [@](#): > > December’s opinions may not be yours, but they reflect those of a pretty big chunk of the country. If true, the world is fucked. > [@](#): > > The day December gets banned from this place, I’ll take a walk with him, because it’ll no longer be the kind of place I want to hang out in The only way december will get banned is if he breaks the rules. Of course, if he did get banned, and you chose to leave doing the opressed little martyr act, I’ll cry you a river. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/52 "2002-11-01T14:02:32Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by_ **TwistofFate** The only way december will get banned is if he breaks the rules. Which rules would those be ? It seems he can make a mockery of the board’s copyright policy and still have a friendly mod run interference for him. [link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=141858&pagenumber=2) > [@](#): > > _originally posted by_ **Sam Stone** And then there are people like Collounsbury, who dive bomb threads and start spewing vicious crap all over the place just because… Which is precisely what **december** has done in the supplied link. Had he chosen to post massive excerpts from a piece of crap such as the protocols of the elders of zion, he’d have been banned in a heartbeat. Having instead pasted in an unattributed piece about democrats figuratively “drinking the blood of their own dead”, **december** gets **manhattan’s** kindly assist. **Sam** , I agree with you that much of the criticism of **december** is partisan shit slinging, but the guy also gets away with more vile bullshit than half a dozen regular posters. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/53 "2002-11-01T14:19:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > And yet, because he fits into that comfortable center-left area Oh stop your peevish whinging, I’m hardly center left, unless left has become redefined to include hard-core free-trade support, etc.: in the real world I’m usually center-right in a East Coast moderate sense. Center left… As for all this whinging about december getting pitted, what the fuck are you morons complaining about? That’s what it’s for: I don’t mind my pit threads, if I deserve them I deserve them, if not … well so the fuck what, it’s a motherfucking message board for pity sake. Get some fucking perspective you whinging idiots. December annoys people - including me - and there are valid criticisms re his citation method (distortions - funny one forgets this) etc. So, let em air em out, instead of whinging on “oh the poor conservatives, so put upon… blah blah blah…” That’s just whiney bullshit, and there’s nothing more tedious than whiney and incorrect bullshit. And the same goes for me - don’t want any special privs at all, and if there is anything that bothers me it’s the idea that I have them (I certainly never asked for nor expected). I piss some of you off, it is entirely appropriate to complain, criticise and otherwise vent. It can be quite useful, even for me(\*). Won’t see me whinging on about oh how those conservatives this, those on the Right that. (I do agree BTW that a good portion of some criticisms of d boy are indeed of the “I don’t like his politics” variety and they should be dismissed.) (\*: Sure, I sometimes go farther than I thought I had gone. I actually do regret that.) ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/54 "2002-11-01T14:40:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squink \* Which is precisely what **december** has done in the supplied link. Had he chosen to post massive excerpts from a piece of crap such as the protocols of the elders of zion, he’d have been banned in a heartbeat. Having instead pasted in an unattributed piece about democrats figuratively “drinking the blood of their own dead”, **december** gets **manhattan’s** kindly assist. \*\* _Capital Hilil Blue_, which **Squink** compares to _the protocols of the elders of zion_ was given quite favorable treatment in this [article from the New York Times](http://chblue.com/nytimes030899.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/55 "2002-11-01T15:09:12Z")
Yes, thanks to manhattan, now we know that your little diatribe was lifted from Capital hilil (sic) Blue. Whether a reporter at the NYT wrote kind words about the little scandal sheet is irrelevant here. You seem quite eager to link to articles in the legitimate press, yet you make a habit of not providing links when the source is less ironclad. All of which is just a strawman argument to obscure your abuse of copyright law. I have no problem with your bending the rules to push your own evil little agenda, but you’re **NOT** just bending. You seem to think you’ve a special license to break them. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/56 "2002-11-01T15:15:28Z")
Yes, thanks to manhattan, now we know that your little diatribe was lifted from Capital hilil (sic) Blue. Whether a reporter at the NYT wrote kind words about the little scandal sheet is irrelevant here. You seem quite eager to link to articles in the legitimate press, yet you make a habit of not providing links when the source is less ironclad. All of which is just a strawman argument to obscure your abuse of copyright law. I have no problem with your bending the rules to push your own evil little agenda, but you’re **NOT** just bending. You seem to think you’ve a special license to break them. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/57 "2002-11-01T17:15:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by IzzyR \* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by tomndebb_ > > and his “Everyone who has ever spoken harshly of any Israeli action is obviously anti-semitic” schtick. > > Can you provide an actual example of this? (I don’t recall this ever). Thanks. No response from **tomndebb**? OK, I’ll say what I think. This accusation is a falsehood. I have obviously not read every post by **december** to this message board, so I cannot vouch that he has _never_ accused someone of being anti-Semitic based on their speaking harshly of an Israeli action. But I have read quite a lot of them - including the Palestinian ones - and I don’t recall this at all. So I can vouch that this is not a **december** “shtick”. So what have is **tomndebb** misrepresenting **december** ’s positions. This is the type of thing that many have objected to about **december** , including **wring** in this thread. (For an example - just yesterday - of **wring** misrepresenting my position, see [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2557617#post2557617)). Why does this happen? Not because **tomndebb** (or **wring** ) coldly and deliberately decided to lie about things. I don’t think they would do this, or for that matter, think they could get away with it. What actually happens is that people feel strongly about things, and this clouds their memory and judgement. People confuse things that other people have actually said with things that others of the same ideology have said. Or - perhaps more significantly - people ascribe ulterior motivations to their opponents, or interpretations (“what he _really_ means to say is…”) and confuse what the person has actually said with what they imagine the person really means or believes. (And of course, what people imagine their opponent “really means” will invariably be more extreme and less logical than what they’ve actually said). And so it goes, both for **december** and for his opponents. Another accusation is posting unsupported assertions. So, from yesterday’s posts, two fine liberals posting unsupported (and untrue) assertions, and refusing to back them up. First [Tejota](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2557239#post2557239). (Interestingly **wring** , a big believer in cites when challenging **december** , categorized my similar challenge to **Tejota** a “your haste to spank tejote”.) Also, [I am Sparticus](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2557909#post2557909). Of particular interest in the latter case, my request for a cite to back up a ridiculous assertion was itself challenged by two other liberals, who felt that the original assertion was so obvious that it did not need a cite. In sum, **december** is not perfect, but neither are too many other people. The reason **december** gets all the attention is **not** that his debating style is unique or significantly worse that anyone else, but rather because he continually posts threads that rile up many people. As a result, his many opponents pick through his every argument, and his every miscue is the subject of inordinate focus, while the numerous similar transgressions of others slide on by. In fact, most or all of the **december** pile-on threads are themselves full of the very sort of transgressions that **december** is being accused of. Bottom line: if you want to criticize specific **december** posts, by all means take a shot. If you feel it’s not worth bothering with the guy, ignore him. But stop pretending that you’re up there on some pedestal of righteousness and are genuinely troubled by **december** ’s tactics or integrity alone. This is far from true. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/58 "2002-11-01T17:48:58Z")
I should mention that there are other beneficial aspects to **december’s** posts beyond helping one score cheap but satisfying victories. #1: On occasion **december** posts something reflecting an opinion that I hold, at least in part. This prompts me to step back and re-evaluate my views. Is there something I’m overlooking? Am I going on the basis of undocumented assertions or predjudice? **december** has, at times, helped me to focus my thinking and made me a more balanced debater. #2: Most of his posts reflect poor debate tactics, ranging from using dubious sources to making grossly inaccurate partisan generalizations. Since opponents are prone to leap upon these transgressions and severely chastise him, this likely helps prevent other (especially new) posters from falling into similar traps, thereby improving the quality of debate. Of course, it hasn’t sunk in with some posters at the opposite end of the political spectrum, who use similar tactics but are less prolific in **december’s** endearingly passive-aggressive way. Idea: to save annoyance and wear-and-tear on the psyche, why doesn’t some enterprising poster come up with the all-purpose **december** refutation page? All it would require is a couple of pages of webspace, featuring links to some of our boy’s cataclysmic meltdowns, plus characterizations of his most common abuses and how they can be recognized. Then, when another inane **december** post appears, one could simply comment “That’s an example of Tactic #6 in the **december** Code of Bad Debating”, link to the page, and offer a brief rebuttal if needed. That way one can minimize time spent in responses, without fear that new SDMB members will be taken in by flimsy arguments. In my previous baseball analogy, I inadvertently left out one of the biggest thrills in making solid contact against a **december** pitch. That’s when time seems to dramatically slow down, as in the climactic moment of _The Natural_. The fallacy drifts in as big as a watermelon, and you can actually read the “Republican National Committee” logo on it, right before you smack it into the next time zone. And then the stirring theme music begins… Gives me goose bumps. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/59 "2002-11-01T19:05:41Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by IzzyR_ > \*\*The reason december gets all the attention is _not_ that his debating style is unique or significantly worse that anyone else, but rather because he continually posts threads that rile up many people. \*\* Agreed. This is three times now you’ve posted a good working definition of “trolling” as a description of **december’s** activities on this board. If there is something I’ve learned in my life, it’s this. Being of a long-suffering temperment is a good way to ensure that one suffers for a long time. I’m not particularly long-suffering as a consequence of this belief and I’m not particularly inclined to continue to give **december** the benefit of the doubt as to his intentions when he posts the “threads that rile up many people.” Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074/60 "2002-11-01T19:23:14Z")
december is like the middle child of the SDMB family, always clamoring for attention; that’s the only reason he posts the way he does. Nearly everything he posts is just there to get the most attention possible no matter if he really believes in the subject or not. This post is just an opinion, of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-december/134074.md?page=4)