# The Decline of the Angry Left **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 3, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128 "2008-02-03T20:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/21 "2008-02-04T08:10:50Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] I understand that not only did it leave, The Decline of the Angry stole an ashtray and left the bathroom in a real mess. [/QUOTE] And took all the W’s off the keyboards! CLASSLESS LIBERAL VANDALISM! ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/22 "2008-02-04T09:54:40Z")
[QUOTE=JohnnieEnigma] as if the current democratic congress is not part of the status quo. they’ve done nothing to reflect the change they claimed would happen once they had the power. Well they’ve got the power yet they haven’t produced. This explains why their approval ratings are lower than Bush’s. [/QUOTE] Didn’t the Democrats only gain Congress in 2007? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/23 "2008-02-04T11:42:02Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Didn’t the Democrats only gain Congress in 2007? [/QUOTE] Not even then; 60 votes are required to control the Senate, and the Dems have only 51. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/24 "2008-02-04T12:50:12Z")
The Angry Left got swallowed up by the Angry Middle 40% of Americans. The idea that people really want some kind of bipartisanship is a myth. It’s also non-sensical. People want an end to Neoconism and everything it has wrought. They want accountability. It’s actually pretty simple. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/25 "2008-02-04T22:06:49Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Not even then; 60 votes are required to control the Senate, and the Dems have only 51. [/QUOTE] The GOP never had 60 Senators. Guess they never got any legislation passed during the Bush Administration. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/26 "2008-02-04T22:10:32Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] If a Republican wins in November, the ‘angry left’ will be back in full force. [/QUOTE] Y’know, I’m just fucking tired of this unsubstantiated crap. Define this ‘angry left.’ Produce examples. I bet I’d have no trouble matching your ‘angry left’ with an angrier, and more visible, angry right. For some reason, only the left’s anger is worthy of comment. Fuck-all if I know why. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/27 "2008-02-04T22:15:53Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] Y’know, I’m just fucking tired of this unsubstantiated crap. Define this ‘angry left.’ Produce examples. I bet I’d have no trouble matching your ‘angry left’ with an angrier, and more visible, angry right. For some reason, only the left’s anger is worthy of comment. Fuck-all if I know why. [/QUOTE] Well, Coulter, as quoted in the OP, was complaining about being “accused of being a racist, sexist, homophobe.” Whether these charges are just or not as applied to her and others on the right is another discussion; the point is they’re sick of “the politics of personal destruction” on those terms. I hope the “angry left” will still be around no matter who wins this – but its anger will be shifted from cultural issues to economic and class issues. **There’s** a winning formula! (Gays, just be patient, you’ll get married eventually; but people are struggling to make ends meet **now.)** ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/28 "2008-02-04T22:18:29Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] The GOP never had 60 Senators. Guess they never got any legislation passed during the Bush Administration. [/QUOTE] 51% to pass legislation. 60% to overcome the veto from an obstuctionist Executive branch looking to push a failed agenda over the well being of the nation as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/29 "2008-02-04T22:24:54Z")
> [@](#): > > 51% to pass legislation. 60% to overcome the veto from an obstuctionist Executive branch looking to push a failed agenda over the well being of the nation as a whole. No, 60% to overcome the constant threat of a filibuster from the party that only a few years ago had plans to declare the filibuster unconstitutional when it kept them from getting everything they wanted. I’d love to respond more, but it’s hard to type between bouts of laughter over Ann Coulter bitching about “the acrimony of political discourse”. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/30 "2008-02-04T22:34:52Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Well, Coulter, as quoted in the OP, was complaining about being “accused of being a racist, sexist, homophobe.” Whether these charges are just or not as applied to her and others on the right is another discussion; the point is they’re sick of “the politics of personal destruction” on those terms. [/quote] I disagree. I disagree. If Person A calls people ‘faggots,’ and Person B calls Person A a ‘homophobe’ on account of that, I would regard this as a qualitative difference. One’s making personal attacks; the other’s accurately describing the nature of a person who makes such attacks. Equating the two is completely off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/31 "2008-02-04T22:36:37Z")
[QUOTE=DoctorJ] I’d love to respond more, but it’s hard to type between bouts of laughter over Ann Coulter bitching about “the acrimony of political discourse”. [/QUOTE] I’m sure she chose book titles such as ‘Godless’ and ‘Treason’ out of her deep respect for her political adversaries. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/32 "2008-02-04T22:56:36Z")
I see the unwritten assumption in the article is that if elected Hillary will continue the Kos hate mongering and isle division will continue. Do you guys think this is true? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/33 "2008-02-05T03:43:25Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] If a Republican wins in November, the ‘angry left’ will be back in full force. [/quote] [Written on the very same day:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9434190&postcount=12) > [@Sam Stone](#): > > I don’t like people who try to divide the world into ‘us’ vs’ ‘them’ and then claim the mantle of the defender of ‘us’. I don’t like the simplistic soundbite rhetoric Anybody see a problem here? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/34 "2008-02-05T03:53:23Z")
Well, I think so, Brain, but if you bite a sound, do you have to chew it? _Narf!_ ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/35 "2008-02-05T03:57:18Z")
[QUOTE=DoctorJ] No, 60% to overcome the constant threat of a filibuster from the party that only a few years ago had plans to declare the filibuster unconstitutional when it kept them from getting everything they wanted. [/QUOTE] Ah, yes. The party that once decried the “Tyranny of the Minority” and which has now [broken the records](http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13977.html) for the most Senate filibusters. And they’re only halfway through the 110th Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/36 "2008-02-05T03:59:24Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] [Written on the very same day:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9434190&postcount=12) Anybody see a problem here? [/QUOTE] Only if you don’t bother to read the very next sentence of that first post: > [@Sam Stone](#): > > And if a Democrat wins, expect a large swath of Republicans to become equally unhinged. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/37 "2008-02-05T04:38:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] Kos hate mongering [/QUOTE] You misspelled “truth”. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/38 "2008-02-05T05:04:49Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Well, I think so, Brain, but if you bite a sound, do you have to chew it? _Narf!_ [/QUOTE] If you don’t, you end up with chunky sound turds. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/39 "2008-02-05T05:26:06Z")
When the Republicans are in power the far left writes whiny posts in blogs, when the Dems are in power the far right blows up abortion clinics and buildings in Oklahoma. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128/40 "2008-02-05T05:28:45Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] Y’know, I’m just fucking tired of this unsubstantiated crap. Define this ‘angry left.’ Produce examples. I bet I’d have no trouble matching your ‘angry left’ with an angrier, and more visible, angry right. **For some reason, only the left’s anger is worthy of comment.** Fuck-all if I know why. [/QUOTE] Are you blind? In the VERY NEXT SENTENCE I said, > [@](#): > > And if a Democrat wins, **expect a large swath of Republicans to become equally unhinged.** Jesus. At least read my messages before you fly off the handle, will you? That goes for you too, Elvis, seeing as you had to jump on the bandwagon. I’m not painting any side as anything. In fact, in the VERY SAME MESSAGE I said that the root problem was the Balkanization of media, which is pushing everyone into their own camps where they don’t even read the same news any more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-decline-of-the-angry-left/436128.md?page=3)