# The "No, Both Sides Don't Do This" Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 1, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990 "2015-05-01T13:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/261 "2015-06-30T20:01:53Z")
Actually, come to think of it, I know of another. A guy who had a syndicated astrology show on the radio (under the name “Darrell Martinie, the Cosmic Muffin”) who lived in my former town started a recall campaign against the entire Board of Selectmen for not electing the top vote-getter the chairperson, back in the 80’s. It worked too. He and his husband also had the first same-sex wedding in town, and had the best Halloween and Christmas decorations on their house in the entire region. Sadly, he passed away a few years ago, and his widower’s house decorations aren’t quite as fabulous anymore. Unfortunately for the premise, town elective offices there are nonpartisan, so even though I’m pretty sure Martinie was a Democrat, it was irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/262 "2015-06-30T22:24:46Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > If there are any “_Liberal crystal-lovers, anti-nuke and anti-GMO groups, Gaia worshipers, pagans, vortex seekers, [or] astrologers_” among actual officeholders and other major Democratic party figures, I damned sure haven’t heard of them. Carter was a believer in UFOs and thought (and still thinks) he saw one. And Obama is certainly anti-nuke. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/263 "2015-07-01T00:00:42Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Carter was a believer in UFOs and thought (and still thinks) he saw one. And Obama is certainly anti-nuke. Carter saw an unidentified flying object – which it was. It was a flying object, and Carter didn’t know what it was. UFO debunker Robert Schaeffer plausibly identified it as the planet Venus: [http://www.debunker.com/texts/carter\_ufo.html](http://www.debunker.com/texts/carter_ufo.html) Carter did not, AFAIK, claim to have seen an alien spacecraft, so his report of seeing something glowing in the sky that he couldn’t identify was completely accurate – and there was, indeed, something there. (SDchaeffer goes into more detail about it in one of his books). So how does this make Jimmy Carter a believer in outrageous things? As for Obama – IS he anti-nuke? I haven’t heard anything about it. He called for the construction of more, safer nuclear power plants ion the 2010 State of the Union address. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/264 "2015-07-01T04:10:38Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > If there are any “_Liberal crystal-lovers, anti-nuke and anti-GMO groups, Gaia worshipers, pagans, vortex seekers, [or] astrologers_” among actual officeholders and other major Democratic party figures, I damned sure haven’t heard of them. Come to think of it, Bernie Sanders is anti-GMO, though he’s not a group. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/265 "2015-07-01T04:18:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > As for Obama – IS he anti-nuke? I haven’t heard anything about it. He called for the construction of more, safer nuclear power plants ion the 2010 State of the Union address. Well, he shut down Yucca Mountain for purely political reasons. That seems like anti-nuke to me. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/266 "2015-07-01T04:28:11Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > If there are any “_Liberal crystal-lovers, anti-nuke and anti-GMO groups, Gaia worshipers, pagans, vortex seekers, [or] astrologers_” among actual officeholders and other major Democratic party figures, I damned sure haven’t heard of them. According to [this article](http://www.science20.com/science_20/democrats_make_another_run_at_federal_gmo_labels-153294) Barbara Boxer (California Senator) and other Democrats are trying to make Federal GMO labels mandatory. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/267 "2015-07-01T05:29:13Z")
Wanting GMO foods labeled as such is not the same thing as being anti-GMO foods. Many liberals are in favor of labeling laws, believing in the public’s right to full information. There is probably a significant overlap between the two views, but they aren’t exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/268 "2015-07-01T22:22:02Z")
This thread isn’t the place to argue whether it’s anti-GMO. I’ll just say I strongly disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/269 "2015-07-03T04:14:43Z")
I have to admit that Donald Trump is almost–almost–enough for me to acquiesce; he is such a buffoon. But then I think: Al Sharpton. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/270 "2015-07-03T16:02:23Z")
I’m not sure why Sharpton is such a target for mockery and derision. I suspect there are background assumptions I’m not making and/or assumptions I am making that the people moking and deriding him do not. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/271 "2015-07-03T19:09:48Z")
Speaking from the conservative wing of the extreme left, Sharpton is a montebank and a scoundrel, exploiting a worthy cause for his own gain. One Al Sharpton sets back progress on racial equality more than ten Bull Connors ever could. I note that on more than one occasion, I have heard him offer an opinion on current politics that was intelligent and insightful. But outside of that, him and the horse upon in which he rode. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/272 "2015-07-17T14:39:02Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I have to admit that Donald Trump is almost–almost–enough for me to acquiesce; he is such a buffoon. But then I think: Al Sharpton. The difference is, 18% of Republicans currently favor him for the GOP nomination, and [70% of Republicans agree with Trump when he said](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/new-polling-tells-the-gop-what-it-doesnt-want-hear#break) Mexico is “sending people that have lots of problems…. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Point #1: is there any evidence that Sharpton has similar support from Democrats? Point #2: is there _any_ position anywhere _near_ that outrageous that _anything like_ 70% of Democrats agree with? Seriously, this is a poll result that has no equivalence on the left. None. Hell, the mind boggles that it’s true on the _right._ I’d have guessed maybe 30-40% of Republicans would agree with that. But \*70%?! \* This is a party that’s come unhinged. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/273 "2015-07-17T20:07:02Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Point #1: is there any evidence that Sharpton has similar support from Democrats? According to [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rev-al-sharpton-the-refined-agitator/) Obama spoke at Sharpton’s civil rights organization. That seems to indicate that Obama takes him seriously. If I’m reading it right Wiki’s [2004 Democratic primaries page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries,_2004) shows that Sharpton took third place in a number of primaries (and won DC). That seems like viable support. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990/274 "2015-07-17T23:57:18Z")
Sharpton never polled better than 4% according to Wiki. > **[Opinion polling for the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries%2C_2004)** > > Various opinion polls took place ahead of the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries. > Source: Arizona - 2004 Presidential Polls > Primary polling taken by American Research Group during the last few days of campaigning ( January 23 to January 27, 2004 ) showed that former New Hampshire poll leader as well as national leader Howard Dean was steadily gaining ground on Kerry. > Gathered from ARG's 2004 NH Democratic Tracking Poll [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990.md?page=13)