# What has our Righties in a lather, of late? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 2, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630 "2005-06-02T22:13:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/1 "2005-06-02T22:13:29Z")
I considered putting this in In My Humble Opinion, given how much our new Mod likes to move things out of the Pit, but given that this is a topic that > [@](#): > > […which are (or are likely to become) too heated > for the other forums…\*](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=318930) I figured that I would take my chances. I don’t really have any one thread or post that I can link to, rahter I will just say that (IMHO) the general vibe that I am getting fromour more right leaning friends around here is that they are seeming extra defensive and put upon of late. Anyone know why? - I love all the disclaimers that we feel that we need now, but that is another matter. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/2 "2005-06-02T22:22:12Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > I don’t really have any one thread or post that I can link to, rahter I will just say that (IMHO) the general vibe that I am getting fromour more right leaning friends around here is that they are seeming extra defensive and put upon of late. Anyone know why? Yeah. It was because \*\*manhattan \*\*left, saying he didn’t think this board was a comfortable place for conservatives. That sparked a bunch of discussion about whether that is true or not. Needless to say, no conclusions were drawn. Any other questions? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/3 "2005-06-02T22:24:15Z")
To me they always seem to either be overly defensive and sensitive or arrogant and smug. Take your pick on the topic, really. The Republican party is in power and is seriously dropping the ball all over the place with misstep after misstep and scandal after scandal. Scandals which don’t seem to be met with outrage anymore because it’s seen as business as usual, but scandals nonetheless. Sam ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/4 "2005-06-02T22:29:26Z")
> [@GaWd](#): > > …misstep after misstep and scandal after scandal. Scandals which don’t seem to be met with outrage anymore because it’s seen as business as usual, but scandals nonetheless. > > Sam Scandals are hardly out of the ordinary for politicial types, regardless of party. Hell, one of the biggest scandals of the past 30 years happened to a Democrat. Outrage is optional anymore because none of these bastards can be trusted, how mad can one group of people get at the other before it’s all meaningless? ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/5 "2005-06-02T22:29:27Z")
GaWd, I do get what you are saying it just seems that the defensiveness is on some uptick of late. Usually, when I have seem this in the past, it surrounds a specific issue or news event. In this case, it just seems more random to me. Even if we go with the manhatten as spark for this theory, his leaving seems sort of random as well. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/6 "2005-06-02T22:35:30Z")
> [@buttonjockey308](#): > > Scandals are hardly out of the ordinary for politicial types, regardless of party. Hell, one of the biggest scandals of the past 30 years happened to a Democrat. Outrage is optional anymore because none of these bastards can be trusted, how mad can one group of people get at the other before it’s all meaningless? Which democrat? Which scandal? (I hope you are not talking about the blow job thing) ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/7 "2005-06-02T22:38:31Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Which democrat? Which scandal? (I hope you are not talking about the blow job thing) I think that it was Carter wearing a sweater and telling us to turn down our thermostats. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/8 "2005-06-02T22:44:07Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > I think that it was Carter wearing a sweater and telling us to turn down our thermostats. Yea cause that was a much bigger scandal than illegally selling missles to Iran and funneling the proceeds illegally to the Contra’s in Nicaragua… ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/9 "2005-06-02T22:52:34Z")
Two things. Part of the Republican party’s source of power is in the sort of talk-radio style demagoguery that tells people that they are victims of some amorphous evil that threatens the way of life of decent, normal Americans. This is why the ignorant masses (which, of course, comprise the majority of any political party) start honestly believing that Kwaanzaa is some sort of a threat to them and that we need to put Jesus back on the walls of courthouses where he belongs. Outside of intellectual circles, GOP pundits sell this sort of persecution complex that lets the average Joe think that women’s studies classes are proposing dangerous ideas and somehow a major influence on American thought. See, there’s elites - in Hollywood, in universities, in the media, out on the coast, wherever. And _they’re_ what’s wrong with the country. _They_ hate you. And _they_ have the power in society. You must valiantly fight against them, and their gay marriages, and their funding for elementary schools. The other part is the fact that some on the left have become truly insufferable here on the boards. I know it’s hard to see how frickin’ annoying the snideness and the hijacks and so on would be to conservatives, but when I try to read threads and imagine how they’d appear to a neutral viewer, it really seems like there’s a lot of unwarranted political nastiness. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/10 "2005-06-02T22:54:02Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Yea cause that was a much bigger scandal than illegally selling missles to Iran and funneling the proceeds illegally to the Contra’s in Nicaragua… Do you know what the word “scandal” means? While he should have been thrown out of office, he wasn’t. Bill Clinton was impeached on the basis of his blowjob. Here’s a hint - “scandal” does not mean “evil act.” It has to do with the public _response_ to an issue. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/11 "2005-06-02T22:55:11Z")
Yea but George Bush…oh never mind. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/12 "2005-06-02T22:59:28Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Do you know what the word “scandal” means? While he should have been thrown out of office, he wasn’t. Bill Clinton was impeached on the basis of his blowjob. > > Here’s a hint - “scandal” does not mean “evil act.” It has to do with the public _response_ to an issue. Heres a hint- Just because a bunch of rightwingnuts TRIED to impeach him for getting a blow job does not make it a scandal. Here is another hint- if it is based on public response it was not much of a scandal either, other than the talking heads and the wingnuts nobody really cared. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/13 "2005-06-02T23:01:15Z")
> [@](#): > > What has our Righties in a lather, of late? [Coingate](http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050529/NEWS24/505290441). ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/14 "2005-06-02T23:03:22Z")
The political nastiness from the left is completely due to the overwhelming assholish constitution-ass-wiping, freedom-hating, intelligence-insulting right. I am no longer apoligizing for the left, because they are correct, and the right is wrong, and wronger in a much bigger way than observance of social niceties. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/15 "2005-06-02T23:08:36Z")
( **askeptic** , they didn’t just _try_. They _did_ impeach Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/16 "2005-06-02T23:08:46Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > The political nastiness from the left is completely due to the overwhelming assholish constitution-ass-wiping, freedom-hating, intelligence-insulting right. I am no longer apoligizing for the left, because they are correct, and the right is wrong, and wronger in a much bigger way than observance of social niceties. Stop being a complete dick for a minute and re-read the OP. The “assholish constitution-ass-wiping, freedom-hating, intelligence-insulting right” who’re doing the _aren’t the board members_ of whom Mr. Drone speaks. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/17 "2005-06-02T23:09:47Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > GaWd, I do get what you are saying it just seems that the defensiveness is on some uptick of late. Usually, when I have seem this in the past, it surrounds a specific issue or news event. In this case, it just seems more random to me. > > Even if we go with the manhatten as spark for this theory, his leaving seems sort of random as well. I honestly think that those true to the right who have been spending the last 5 years pouring their hearts and souls into believing the fucking lie sold to us by Washington, are now just tired of answering for their party and now it’s just nastiness and defensiveness in response to things that are occurring across the country. Sam ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/18 "2005-06-02T23:15:57Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > ( **askeptic** , they didn’t just _try_. They _did_ impeach Clinton. Thats funny, I remember him finishing his term of office. Gee, I should get out more. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/19 "2005-06-02T23:18:48Z")
> [@GaWd](#): > > To me they always seem to either be overly defensive and sensitive or arrogant and smug. And liberals - who are so sure of being right and that the political right is plain wrong and evil - are not defensive, sensitive, arrogant, and smug? WRS ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630/20 "2005-06-02T23:20:54Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Thats funny, I remember him finishing his term of office. Gee, I should get out more. :rolleyes: Thus saith Wikipedia (bold-face added): > [@](#): > > Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body formally levels charges against a high official of government. **Impeachment does not necessarily mean removal from office; it comprises only a formal statement of charges, akin to an indictment in criminal law, and thus is only the first step towards possible removal.** Once an individual is impeached, he or she must then face the possibility of conviction via legislative vote, which then entails the removal of the individual from office. WRS [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-our-righties-in-a-lather-of-late/306630.md?page=2)