# Welp, Democracy was fun. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 30, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956 "2004-06-30T22:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/81 "2004-07-01T14:42:20Z")
> [@Exgineer](#): > > For the record, if _anybody_ tried to subvert democracy in this country, I’ll be among the first at the barricades. I have some spare guns, too. You should have a nice tan by now from standing at the barricade these past few years. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/82 "2004-07-01T14:43:31Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > The pentagon has plans to invade Canada too, but we aren’t going to use them. Not until after the election. ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Pirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Psycho\_Pirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Pirate)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/83 "2004-07-01T14:44:21Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Brutus you’re a follower who’s incapable of thinking any thought that was not handed to you from a GOP talking points memo. And you are a sheep blindly swallowing up the pablum spouted off by the DNC and their ilk. OR Both Brutus and you have strong beliefs that you did not arrive at through unquestioning acceptance of propaganda, but rather through a reasoned review of the data viewed through the lens of your personal background and experiences, and shaped by your personal convictions. This “I’m right, your wrong” partisan crap gets so TEDIOUS. Full disclosure: I’m a Republican, but not one of the Kool-Aid drinking variety. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/84 "2004-07-01T14:55:16Z")
> [@Psycho Pirate](#): > > And you are a sheep blindly swallowing up the pablum spouted off by the DNC and their ilk. > > OR > > Both Brutus and you have strong beliefs that you did not arrive at through unquestioning acceptance of propaganda, but rather through a reasoned review of the data viewed through the lens of your personal background and experiences, and shaped by your personal convictions. You haven’t debated **Brutus** much, have you? My comment was not a categorical indictment of GOP supporters, many of whom are indeed reasoned advocates of their position. **Brutus** , however, as an individual poster, really is a mindless follower of the party line. Extraordinarily good-looking, mind you, but still an unwitting puppet for the Right. > [@](#): > > This “I’m right, your wrong” partisan crap gets so TEDIOUS. Hel-LO. election year, get ready for a whole lot more in the next 5 months. (and then a whole lot of bitching about the results for a month after that). > [@](#): > > Full disclosure: I’m a Republican, but not one of the Kool-Aid drinking variety. Good for you. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/85 "2004-07-01T15:54:41Z")
Ok…the barricades are firming up nicely. We are getting enough volunteers to at least garner _some_ small TV News time. **Brutus** will make sure that we get attacked just as the cameras start to roll. Then **EddyTeddyFreddy** will charge through the crowd on horseback. **Little Plastic Ninja, Priceguy,** and **Maureen** will man the battlements, looking threatening for the cameras. **Dark Prince** , I want you to wave the batle standard whenever anybody is looking. **El Kabong \*\* and Uvula Donor are in charge of the T-shirt sales. The revolution will need financing. Exgineer and** Silenus\*\* will be in charge of weapons. **Reeder** will be our spokesperson. **Doors** , you have the most important job of all: grab **Reeder’s** legs and keep his knees from jerking everytime he talks to the press. Do we have any volunteers to handle coffee and doughnuts for the troops? I think we also need a medic. Qadgop? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/86 "2004-07-01T16:18:56Z")
> [@](#): > > My comment was not a categorical indictment of GOP supporters, many of whom are indeed reasoned advocates of their position. Damn, too bad the ‘backpeddle’ isn’t an olympic sport. (Or is it?) In so short a timespan to go from “Sorry, Pubbies”, to “Golly poopshit! I was just addressing **Brutus**!!!”. Amazing. > [@](#): > > **Brutus** , however, as an individual poster, really is a mindless follower of the party line. Extraordinarily good-looking, mind you, but still an unwitting puppet for the Right. Damn. You are a brilliant man. A poster without peer. > [@](#): > > Hel-LO. election year, get ready for a whole lot more in the next 5 months. (and then a whole lot of bitching about the results for a month after that). Can’t wait for the polls to be close at the end of October. We will be living in those proverbial ‘interesting times’. Better yet, what if we get a 2000 repeat? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/87 "2004-07-01T16:23:29Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > …Do we have any volunteers to handle coffee and doughnuts for the troops? I think we also need a medic. Qadgop? The coffee had best be Fair Trade coffee, as is delivered by bicycle here in the People’s Republic of Minnesota. And doughnuts? _doughnuts?_ All such combestibles _must_ be whole-wheat, stone-ground, free-range circular pastries fried in granola oil. Crispy Creme, need it be said? is _right out!_ Never mind the medics. We won’t need medics. _They_ will be the ones needing the medics. Don’t get fooled again. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/88 "2004-07-01T16:55:22Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > And doughnuts? _doughnuts?_ All such combestibles _must_ be whole-wheat, stone-ground, free-range circular pastries fried in granola oil. Crispy Creme, need it be said? is _right out!_ And there I was, all ready to fight for my freedoms. But now you can just forget it. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/89 "2004-07-01T16:58:43Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Damn, too bad the ‘backpeddle’ isn’t an olympic sport. (Or is it?) In so short a timespan to go from “Sorry, Pubbies”, to “Golly poopshit! I was just addressing **Brutus**!!!”. Amazing. No backpedealing here; my objections to the GOP agenda stand, and my clarification applies only to the “mindless follower” epithet. I don’t think all Pubbies are obedient drones, but you definitely are. > [@](#): > > Damn. You are a brilliant man. A poster without peer. Nice deadpan irony, but I’ll take that literally, thanks. > [@](#): > > Can’t wait for the polls to be close at the end of October. Election day is November 2, doofus, but sadly, yes, I’m sure Diebold will have finished rigging the results by the end of October. > [@](#): > > We will be living in those proverbial ‘interesting times’. Better yet, what if we get a 2000 repeat? You mean another fraudulent election in which the loser is foisted on the electorate by un-Constitutional means? Frankly, the Dems have taken 2000 a hell of a lot better than the Pubbies would have if the exact same shenanigans had been pulled in Gore’s favor. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/90 "2004-07-01T17:16:38Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The coffee had best be Fair Trade coffee, as is delivered by bicycle here in the People’s Republic of Minnesota. And doughnuts? doughnuts? All such combestibles must be whole-wheat, stone-ground, free-range circular pastries fried in granola oil. Crispy Creme, need it be said? is right out! _whines_ but…but…but… THEIR SIDE GETS STARBUCKS AND CRISPY CREMES!! Can we at least have Peets? It’s independent, and anti corporate, and stuff! I needs my java, I do. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/91 "2004-07-01T17:42:49Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The coffee had best be Fair Trade coffee, as is delivered by bicycle here in the People’s Republic of Minnesota. And doughnuts? _doughnuts?_ All such combestibles _must_ be whole-wheat, stone-ground, free-range circular pastries fried in granola oil. Crispy Creme, need it be said? is _right out!_ > > Never mind the medics. We won’t need medics. _They_ will be the ones needing the medics. > > Don’t get fooled again. So, there I was standing in the lobby of the local Krispy Kreme donut/coffee shop [watching the machinery drop the dough into the little river of grease, flip the dough, then seeing it come out on the conveyor belt which takes it under the falls of sugary goodness](http://www.krispykreme.com/dmaking.html) and thinking about the revolution when it happened. The lady in the shop said “would you like a free sample?” and as quick as that she had scooped up a donut right off the conveyor belt, seconds after it had been drenched in glazing, wrapped it in a pastry tissue and handed it to me. I am not a big fan of sweets in general. My partakings are few and far between, actually, but when I do want something sweet I want the best there is. I’ll be on whichever side of the barricade the Krispy Kremes are. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/92 "2004-07-01T17:49:24Z")
Mmmm… Krispy Kreme right off the belt. Mmmm… ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/93 "2004-07-01T18:05:54Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Mmmm… Krispy Kreme right off the belt. Mmmm… I would comment on this, but who am I to judge? ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/94 "2004-07-01T18:06:17Z")
I am a registered Democrat, I own a gun, and I will be at the precinct polling place on the day before election day, without the gun, and with the appropriate electoral equipment and supplies, making sure that my precinct will be open on election day. I am an election officer. I took an oath, and by God that precinct will open, or someone will have to come in with a gun, and shoot me. I hope my Republican counterpart, whom I have not met, will feel as passionately about it as I do. We have already had the issue brought up, and denied as to whether the Governor has the right to delay the election because of an “emergency.” He does not. A local court may, or may not have that right, but that is also iffy. The Virginia Supreme Court could order it, and arrest us for conducting the election. I’m doin the crime, and will contest as an act of deliberate civil disobedience if required. If prevented, I am going to cause an extreme scene. My precinct is open for voting, at six AM, and will stay open until eight PM, and I will set my watch by the USNO time signal the night before, just to be sure. I work for the county, by the way, not the state. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/95 "2004-07-01T18:07:06Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **Little Plastic Ninja, Priceguy,** and **Maureen** will man the battlements, looking threatening for the cameras. Apparently, you haven’t seen what I look like. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/96 "2004-07-01T18:30:25Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > _whines_ but…but…but… THEIR SIDE GETS STARBUCKS AND CRISPY CREMES!! > Can we at least have Peets? It’s independent, and anti corporate, and stuff! I needs my java, I do. Utterly off topic anecdote: Back in the day, several of my housemates and ideological cohorts were involved, as was I, in the “co-op movement”. By dint of sheer determination, they managed to scrape together the funding and enthusiasm to form a “People’s Bakery”. Wherein once again we are schooled that enthusiasm is a middling-poor substitute for experience. The first relentlessly organic products were better suited for boat anchors than for food. The peanut butter offered for same was an inch and a half of peanut oil afloat on five inches of brown grout. Bob was the assigned peanut-butter-mixer, he was the only one with arms like legs and the muscle power required. “Fuck this shit!” sez I, and would get me a loaf of “dead bread” and a big ol’ jar of Jiffy, just like I used to get at the Piggly Wiggly. Scorn and derision heaped upon my trembling shoulders… And yet, though I only ate one or two such sandwhiches per day, my purchases disappeared at an alarming rate, even though at household meeting I was entirely assured that certainly no one _else_ was so lacking in revolutionary zeal! [/Utterly off-topic anecdote] ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/97 "2004-07-01T18:31:03Z")
> [@Exgineer](#): > > For the record, if _anybody_ tried to subvert democracy in this country, I’ll be among the first at the barricades. I have some spare guns, too. Fair enough. > [@](#): > > **Consultant for GOP admits to jamming lines** > By MARK HAYWARD > Union Leader Staff > > The former head a Republican consulting group pleaded guilty yesterday to jamming Democratic telephone lines in several New Hampshire cities during the 2002 general election. > > Allen Raymond, former president of the Virginia-based GOP Marketplace LLC, waived indictment and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Concord yesterday. > \ > According to court papers released yesterday, Raymond plotted with unidentified co-conspirators to jam Democratic Party telephone lines established so voters could call for rides to the polls in Manchester, Nashua, Rochester and Claremont. Manchester firefighters’ union phone lines also were affected. [http://www.theunionleader.com/articles\_showa.html?article=40105](http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=40105) So will you be taking left, right, or center? ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/98 "2004-07-01T19:04:26Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Back in the day, several of my housemates and ideological cohorts were involved, as was I, in the “co-op movement”. > … I grew up in that kind of environment. We were members of food co-ops, ground our own whole wheat flour(I am not kidding, we had a grinder and a metal can in the garage we kept the grain in), raised our own honeybees, kept gardens, grew our own fruits and vegetables, then shopped the farmer’s market for what we didn’t grow. On more than one occasion we churned our own butter. At one point we kept chickens and harvested our own eggs. After that became too much hassle we gave the cock to a neighbor and ate the hens. I should point out that I’m a city boy, born and raised in Dallas, TX. My mother was a La Leche League leader for fourteen years and I was born, delivered by my father, in the bedroom of our house. As were two of my sisters and one of my brothers. I haven’t met the hippie yet that could out-granola my family. This was during the Regan administration by the way, just in case anyone gets the impression this is some old codger relating his ancient past. To add to the dichotomy that was my upbringing, my parents were the stauchest Republicans you ever met. Dad was the precinct judge for over a decade and the kids helped work every election. Dad was the Republican representative sent to the RNC a couple times and beating out the conservatives in Dallas for this honor should tell you just how right-wing he really was. As a bit of local flavor he referred to The Dallas Morning News as “a commie-pinko rag” and would read nothing but the, now defunct, Dallas Times Herald. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/99 "2004-07-01T19:08:30Z")
> [@mack](#): > > [http://www.theunionleader.com/articles\_showa.html?article=40105](http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=40105) > > So will you be taking left, right, or center? I don’t think that takes all the way to armed resistance territory, but I’d be more than happy to drag that guy’s ass to prison. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/100 "2004-07-01T19:09:06Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > _whines_ but…but…but… THEIR SIDE GETS STARBUCKS AND CRISPY CREMES!! > Can we at least have Peets? It’s independent, and anti corporate, and stuff! I needs my java, I do. Krispy Kremes? Pish-tush, you poor fools! Why settle for corporate comestibles? The Rebel Alliance will be plenteously supplied with ecologically wholesome little cider doughnuts, hot from the cooking fat at [Russell Orchards](http://www.goodaleorchards.com/bakeryandstore.php) here in Exurbia. I will stuff my saddlebags full of the fragrant morsels, and bear them to the barricades! The ones that I don’t eat en route, anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956.md?page=6)