# What happened to Bricker?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [August 25, 2018, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249 "2018-08-25T09:51:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 12
### Author:  [@Project\_Patahhh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Project_Patahhh)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/221 "2018-09-01T06:24:17Z")
I haven’t been reading this thread at all, but I keep seeing it bumped to the top of the Pit, and every time I read the thread title, I think to myself: “Who cares?”
---
### Author:  [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/222 "2018-09-01T06:40:04Z")
> [@Project\_Patahhh](#):
>
> I haven’t been reading this thread at all, but I keep seeing it bumped to the top of the Pit, and every time I read the thread title, I think to myself: “Who cares?”
Brilliant incisive analysis there.
😃
---
### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/223 "2018-09-01T07:17:53Z")
> [@Project\_Patahhh](#):
>
> I haven’t been reading this thread at all, but I keep seeing it bumped to the top of the Pit, and every time I read the thread title, I think to myself: “Who cares?”
> **[Atheists](https://xkcd.com/774/)**
>
> 'But you're using that same tactic to try to feel superior to me, too!' 'Sorry, that accusation expires after one use per conversation.'
Kind of like xkcd, except that you seem to be looking for a way to show that your level of discourse is _inferior_ to both sides.
---
### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/224 "2018-09-01T09:07:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> Wow, you really told me, didn’t you?
Yeah, I’m afraid he kind of did.
Oh, well, time to pick a different topic to go with the crowd on, I guess…
---
### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/225 "2018-09-01T09:28:40Z")
> [@Project\_Patahhh](#):
>
> I haven’t been reading this thread at all, but I keep seeing it bumped to the top of the Pit, and every time I read the thread title, I think to myself: “Who cares?”
Your join date makes you appear to be new here. Let me tell you about **Bricker**.
He seems to be very intelligent; all of us acknowledge that. Perhaps he’s a champion poker player; perhaps he could take my money in a backgammon match. He was the champion debater in his county’s junior high school forensics league.
He makes $2000 per hour defending heinous criminals, though he offers discounts if the criminal is evangelical or Republican. (Christian Republicans who murder abortionists need pay no fee at all.)
Once you realize that **Bricker** is very intelligent, the question _“What happened to **Bricker**?”_ makes great sense. Other intelligent Republicans denounce what the modern GOP has become, to the point where the U.S. political schism often seems to be the Smart vs the Stupid. You can see it on this message board. Besides **Bricker** the only right-winger here with a 3-digit IQ is **Sam Stone** who helplessly whines that there must be something wrong with Braess’ Paradox and if we’d just watch enough Milton Friedman videos, we could be brainwashed too!
**_George Will, whose right-wing credentials aren’t in any doubt_, has called for all Republican voters to vote for Democrats for Congress! He thinks a Democratic majority in Congress is the nation’s best hope now.** \* (\* - Will opposes minimum wage, denies climate change, was a top Reagan fanboi, ridicules feminists who oppose rape culture, and never saw a tax cut he didn’t love.)
Use your browser to zoom in on the last paragraph. _ **Right-wing intellectual George Will thinks Republicans now need to save the nation by voting Democratic!** _
Oh sure, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter have 100+ IQs and still support Trump and the GOP. They do it for money; they’ve brainwashed themselves but still need to take a long shower after preaching hatred before they can talk to their families.
So what _is_ with **Bricker**? He’s smart enough to know he doesn’t persuade any liberal here to come over to the dark side. Quite to the contrary, by demonstrating Republican hypocrisy so vividly he just makes us detest the GOP that much more.
Is he some sort of troll, hoping to build support for liberals by demonstrating that even intellectuals on the right are devoid of human values? I don’t think so.
My best guess is that he has a form of [Locked-in Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome). He’s no longer capable of learning or adapting and has nothing left but to keep reliving his halcyon days as Junior High School debating champion.
---
### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/226 "2018-09-01T17:22:58Z")
> [@septimus](#):
>
> He makes $2000 per hour defending heinous criminals, though he offers discounts if the criminal is evangelical or Republican. (Christian Republicans who murder abortionists need pay no fee at all.)
Y’know, you could have cut down **Bricker** perfectly fine without making up offensive garbage like this.
---
### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/227 "2018-09-01T17:40:31Z")
Public defenders nationwide don’t exactly pull down the big bucks. Maybe friend **Bricker** was an idealist, nobly defending the downtrodden. Maybe he couldn’t do better. That judgement is way, way over my pay grade.
He’s smart, we’re right, sooner or later, he’s ours. Let’s leave it at “He should live so long!”. And pray the Goddess shall make it so. And, me too, so I’m here to gloat.
---
### Author:  [@Project\_Patahhh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Project_Patahhh)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/228 "2018-09-01T19:19:43Z")
> [@septimus](#):
>
> Your join date makes you appear to be new here. Let me tell you about **Bricker**.
>
> He seems to be very intelligent; all of us acknowledge that. Perhaps he’s a champion poker player; perhaps he could take my money in a backgammon match. He was the champion debater in his county’s junior high school forensics league.
>
> He makes $2000 per hour defending heinous criminals, though he offers discounts if the criminal is evangelical or Republican. (Christian Republicans who murder abortionists need pay no fee at all.)
>
> Once you realize that **Bricker** is very intelligent, the question _“What happened to **Bricker**?”_ makes great sense. Other intelligent Republicans denounce what the modern GOP has become, to the point where the U.S. political schism often seems to be the Smart vs the Stupid. You can see it on this message board. Besides **Bricker** the only right-winger here with a 3-digit IQ is **Sam Stone** who helplessly whines that there must be something wrong with Braess’ Paradox and if we’d just watch enough Milton Friedman videos, we could be brainwashed too!
>
> **_George Will, whose right-wing credentials aren’t in any doubt_, has called for all Republican voters to vote for Democrats for Congress! He thinks a Democratic majority in Congress is the nation’s best hope now.** \* (\* - Will opposes minimum wage, denies climate change, was a top Reagan fanboi, ridicules feminists who oppose rape culture, and never saw a tax cut he didn’t love.)
>
> Use your browser to zoom in on the last paragraph. _ **Right-wing intellectual George Will thinks Republicans now need to save the nation by voting Democratic!** _
>
> Oh sure, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter have 100+ IQs and still support Trump and the GOP. They do it for money; they’ve brainwashed themselves but still need to take a long shower after preaching hatred before they can talk to their families.
>
> So what _is_ with **Bricker**? He’s smart enough to know he doesn’t persuade any liberal here to come over to the dark side. Quite to the contrary, by demonstrating Republican hypocrisy so vividly he just makes us detest the GOP that much more.
>
> Is he some sort of troll, hoping to build support for liberals by demonstrating that even intellectuals on the right are devoid of human values? I don’t think so.
>
> My best guess is that he has a form of [Locked-in Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome). He’s no longer capable of learning or adapting and has nothing left but to keep reliving his halcyon days as Junior High School debating champion.
Ah, I see. I had only been lurking a few months before I joined, and whenever I saw a Bricker post it seemed to me he would write in an intelligent sounding way, but the content of what he was saying was fuckin stupid. I’d get to the end of his posts and be disappointed, like I got ripped off when I was expecting something smart. And everyone would be saying: “Bricker is smart!” and I’m like so what, what he’s saying is pointless, pretentious, and trying to avoid the point being made.
So, thinking he must have left I said: “Who cares?”, but I didn’t realize that I had apparently missed the golden age of this person. I do sometimes wish there were more ideological diversity on this forum, but the conservatives here are so disappointing. Right now the only one I can lend some credence to is Fotheringay Phips or whatever the fuck his name is. Much of the time he annoys the fuck out of me, but at least he is mentally capable of admitting that Trump is not awesome 100% of the time.
---
### Author:  [@Huey\_Freeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huey_Freeman)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/229 "2018-09-01T21:35:09Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> Wow, you really told me, didn’t you? :rolleyes:
I just found it funny.
1. You happily participated in the “Is OJ guilty” thread in the Great Debates folder.
2. I write a post decrying that thread (and other threads) as potentially offensive to people of color.
3. You reply to the post - skipping over the substance of the post - and accuse me of being a white conservative.
First, this speaks to the cultish behavior that many of you have here. If someone is new and posts something you don’t like, the new poster is accused of being a sock (yes, this was said), a paid Russian troll (yes, this was said), or a paid troll to foment racial division (yes, this was said). If someone is new and claims to be a person of color, you conspiratorially assume the opposite and label them a white conservative (yes, this was said by _you_ and others) or claim that the person of color lacks intelligence (yes, this was dog whistled). You (and others) do this to delegitimize the experience of people of color by implying my viewpoint does not matter because I’m ostensibly a white conservative troll muddying the waters. It’s bizzaro land, where up is down and down is up. When Grand Dragon Shodan claimed his username was a male, I ceased misgendering him as a female. I took Grand Dragon Shodan at his word that he identifies as male. No questions were asked. In contrast, I had to take a fucking webcam picture to be taken at my word that I’m a person of color. In case you were wondering, that’s the textbook definition of white privilege. Second, it highlights that your frame of reference is white. You cannot countenance that a person of color could write or express these positions, therefore you assume I’m a white conservative pulling some joke on you. This is in itself white supremacy. It drives home why this place is like a family reunion for college-educated white supremacists and latte-sipping white liberals. You’re made for each other and don’t even know it. Lastly, you and others foster an environment that drips with anti-black sentiment that is exclusionary yet have the nerve to act self-righteous when this is brought up; Don’t believe me? Go on Google and type in “SDMB IQ Blacks straightdope” and you’ll get this [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=18227361), and this [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=653191), and this[thread,](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=657074) and there’s even more like this [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=814117) and this [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=622273) on the next page. It literally goes [on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=73536) and[on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=824576)and [on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=315577)and [on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=705779). Even now, you are blinded by your own whiteness to see any of it. It’s much easier to delegitimize my position by painting me as a white conservative. But I know the drill by now: you will equivocate. You will make excuses. You will emphasize intention over impact. You will shift the discussion. You will walk away and the racism that permeates this place will go unabated.
---
### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/230 "2018-09-01T21:39:28Z")
Truth.
---
### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2018, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/231 "2018-09-01T22:08:58Z")
> [@Huey\_Freeman](#):
>
> I just found it funny.
>
> 1. You happily participated in the “Is OJ guilty” thread in the Great Debates folder.
> 2. I write a post decrying that thread (and other threads) as potentially offensive to people of color.
> 3. You reply to the post - skipping over the substance of the post - and accuse me of being a white conservative.
>
> First, this speaks to the cultish behavior that many of you have here. If someone is new and posts something you don’t like, the new poster is accused of being a sock (yes, this was said), a paid Russian troll (yes, this was said), or a paid troll to foment racial division (yes, this was said). If someone is new and claims to be a person of color, you conspiratorially assume the opposite and label them a white conservative (yes, this was said by _you_ and others) or claim that the person of color lacks intelligence (yes, this was dog whistled). You (and others) do this to delegitimize the experience of people of color by implying my viewpoint does not matter because I’m ostensibly a white conservative troll muddying the waters. It’s bizzaro land, where up is down and down is up. When Grand Dragon Shodan claimed his username was a male, I ceased misgendering him as a female. I took Grand Dragon Shodan at his word that he identifies as male. No questions were asked. In contrast, I had to take a fucking webcam picture to be taken at my word that I’m a person of color. In case you were wondering, that’s the textbook definition of white privilege. Second, it highlights that your frame of reference is white. You cannot countenance that a person of color could write or express these positions, therefore you assume I’m a white conservative pulling some joke on you. This is in itself white supremacy. It drives home why this place is like a family reunion for college-educated white supremacists and latte-sipping white liberals. You’re made for each other and don’t even know it. Lastly, you and others foster an environment that drips with anti-black sentiment that is exclusionary yet have the nerve to act self-righteous when this is brought up; Don’t believe me? Go on Google and type in “SDMB IQ Blacks straightdope” and you’ll get this [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=18227361), and this [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=653191), and this[thread,](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=657074) and there’s even more like this [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=814117) and this [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=622273) on the next page. It literally goes [on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=73536) and[on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=824576)and [on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=315577)and [on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=705779). Even now, you are blinded by your own whiteness to see any of it. It’s much easier to delegitimize my position by painting me as a white conservative. But I know the drill by now: you will equivocate. You will make excuses. You will emphasize intention over impact. You will shift the discussion. You will walk away and the racism that permeates this place will go unabated.
Very solid and legitimate criticism of the Dope. I love this place, but it has some big flaws, and this is the biggest one, IMO. And I recognize that I have the privilege of not having my humanity and cognitive ability denigrated on a semi regular basis.
---
### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/232 "2018-09-02T00:21:56Z")
I’m tempted to nitpick because I’ve got that tic, but won’t. Whatever nitpicks may be, the broad strokes of the criticism are accurate.
---
### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/233 "2018-09-02T04:11:34Z")
First, I don’t think you’re a “white conservative” or a “sock” because “you said something I didn’t like”. I think you’re a **[troll](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll)** because you only came here to harp on one subject, and one subject only. Generally, the only people who do that here are well, trolls, and often times they’re people who are pretending to be someone they’re not, simply to make the other side look bad. (Conservatives pretend to be liberals, men pretend to be women, etc. You’ve never heard of this happening? If so, let me be the first to welcome you to the internet.)
You want to consider me a racist, go right ahead. I think most people here know me, and know otherwise. Either way, if some stranger on the internet wants to think ill of me, I think I’ll survive.
(As far as O.J. Simpson, go deal with that in that thread. Although I will point out that, a.) the guy didn’t give a rat’s ass about the rest of the black community until he was accused of a crime and b.) did it ever occur to you, given his history of domestic assault, that the defense of him is offensive to WOMEN, regardless of their race? No, of course not.)
---
### Author:  [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/234 "2018-09-02T05:50:03Z")
> [@Huey\_Freeman](#):
>
> I just found it funny.
>
> 1. You happily participated in the “Is OJ guilty” thread in the Great Debates folder.
> 2. I write a post decrying that thread (and other threads) as potentially offensive to people of color.
> 3. You reply to the post - skipping over the substance of the post - and accuse me of being a white conservative.
>
> First, this speaks to the cultish behavior that many of you have here. If someone is new and posts something you don’t like, the new poster is accused of being a sock (yes, this was said), a paid Russian troll (yes, this was said), or a paid troll to foment racial division (yes, this was said). If someone is new and claims to be a person of color, you conspiratorially assume the opposite and label them a white conservative (yes, this was said by _you_ and others) or claim that the person of color lacks intelligence (yes, this was dog whistled). You (and others) do this to delegitimize the experience of people of color by implying my viewpoint does not matter because I’m ostensibly a white conservative troll muddying the waters. It’s bizzaro land, where up is down and down is up. When Grand Dragon Shodan claimed his username was a male, I ceased misgendering him as a female. I took Grand Dragon Shodan at his word that he identifies as male. No questions were asked. In contrast, I had to take a fucking webcam picture to be taken at my word that I’m a person of color. In case you were wondering, that’s the textbook definition of white privilege. Second, it highlights that your frame of reference is white. You cannot countenance that a person of color could write or express these positions, therefore you assume I’m a white conservative pulling some joke on you. This is in itself white supremacy. It drives home why this place is like a family reunion for college-educated white supremacists and latte-sipping white liberals. You’re made for each other and don’t even know it. Lastly, you and others foster an environment that drips with anti-black sentiment that is exclusionary yet have the nerve to act self-righteous when this is brought up; Don’t believe me? Go on Google and type in “SDMB IQ Blacks straightdope” and you’ll get this [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=18227361), and this [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=653191), and this[thread,](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=657074) and there’s even more like this [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=814117) and this [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=622273) on the next page. It literally goes [on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=73536) and[on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=824576)and [on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=315577)and [on](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=705779). Even now, you are blinded by your own whiteness to see any of it. It’s much easier to delegitimize my position by painting me as a white conservative. But I know the drill by now: you will equivocate. You will make excuses. You will emphasize intention over impact. You will shift the discussion. You will walk away and the racism that permeates this place will go unabated.
It’s not racist to talk about uncomfortable things. Is that black fragility that you are demonstrating?
Now with regards to baseless accusations of trolling, yes, that is a problem. But it comes from one of two reasons.
A. To dishonestly control a narrative by stating that a point of view that doesn’t coincide with a vocal minority’s is not a real point of view.
B. Some actually believe that a point of view that doesn’t coincide with a vocal minority’s is not a real point of view.
It’s the same tactic as crying racist or sexist all the time. It’s nothing more than a manipulation of emotion with provocative language to undermine another poster’s credibility.
---
### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/235 "2018-09-02T07:50:04Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> Y’know, you could have cut down **Bricker** perfectly fine without making up offensive garbage like this.
You’re right. I was way out of line. Apologies.
**Bricker** ’s the one who calls us all “immoral” whenever he’s losing an argument; but I definitely have a tendency to over-react hugely when I feel slighted.
---
### Author:  [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/236 "2018-09-02T13:00:44Z")
> [@septimus](#):
>
> Your join date makes you appear to be new here. Let me tell you about **Bricker**.
>
> He seems to be very intelligent; all of us acknowledge that.
I’m really not sure about that. I mean, he’s clever enough to take advantage of the myth this board has (for reasons obscure to me) erected around him, but other than that, he just emits a lot of smoke, but there’s never any fire.
I acknowledge that he’s hard to ignore, but I find it always repays the effort.
---
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/237 "2018-09-02T14:40:16Z")
It’s invaluable to have **Bricker** around to remind us of what’s really at stake in important matters.
Republicans have carefully constructed logical, compact legislative districts to facilitate the people’s will, and these mostly turn out to be safe Republican districts because that’s what the voters want. Democrats meanwhile are trying to upset the applecart because of a venal desire to win.
Similarly. Supreme Court decisions by conservative justices are made because of a determination to follow the framers’ wishes and personal beliefs are not allowed to influence those decisions. Liberal justices are happy to twist or invent law as excuses for risky social engineering.
Without continual exposure of the hypocrisy of the Left on these and many other issues, we will be at its mercy.
---
### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/238 "2018-09-02T15:07:03Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> ,and these mostly turn out to be safe Republican district…
This may seem a quibble, but it really isn’t. They weren’t going for “safe” districts. They were going for “lean Republican” districts by diluting the Dem vote as much as possible, making _very_ safe Dem districts but betting that, over all, they would win more than they lost. It was a smart bet, sorta kinda.
But if you bet on exploiting a small advantage for a bigger return, that’s vulnerable. If you have a fiver percent advantage in 10 districts, there’s a good chance you win more than half, which you can pretend is a massive mandate. However, if there’s a change of two-three percent in the electorate, you could lose them all. Instead of solidly winning three or four “safe” districts, and skating by in three-four others, you could lose all of them _but_ your totally safe districts.
Risky stuff, like leveraged investments, they look real good so long as there isn’t a margin call. But its about the only way to make 51% of the vote empower you like it was 75%. Math=wise, a smart move, so long as nothing much changes.
Oopsy-daisy!
---
### Author:  [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/239 "2018-09-02T16:01:43Z")
oh and Bricker _haaaates_ cats; I’m totally _contra ad idem_ over this.
---
### Author:  [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-bricker/820249/240 "2018-09-02T16:58:16Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> This may seem a quibble, but it really isn’t. They weren’t going for “safe” districts. They were going for “lean Republican” districts by diluting the Dem vote as much as possible, making _very_ safe Dem districts but betting that, over all, they would win more than they lost. It was a smart bet, sorta kinda.
>
> But if you bet on exploiting a small advantage for a bigger return, that’s vulnerable. If you have a fiver percent advantage in 10 districts, there’s a good chance you win more than half, which you can pretend is a massive mandate. However, if there’s a change of two-three percent in the electorate, you could lose them all. Instead of solidly winning three or four “safe” districts, and skating by in three-four others, you could lose all of them _but_ your totally safe districts.
>
> Risky stuff, like leveraged investments, they look real good so long as there isn’t a margin call. But its about the only way to make 51% of the vote empower you like it was 75%. Math=wise, a smart move, so long as nothing much changes.
>
> Oopsy-daisy!
Also has the disadvantage of being at risk from fringe elements of the party. Setting up the districts in this way has made them more dependent on the far right. This means that they get primaired if they aren’t “conservative enough”. They are afraid of the own radical elements in their own party.
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