# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 148
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3196 "2024-08-18T17:06:19Z")
Well, again they just assume they and everyone to the left of them would vote for the left-most candidate. e.g. If in 2028 the choice is between Manchin (D) & Vance (R), Manchin would win with the votes of the ~50% Ds and ~15-20% disaffected Rs, while the ~30% MAGAnuts went for Vance. Or so they say. In reality the disaffected Rs would vote for Vance too, and whoever wins, the forces of Conservatism or Reactioanaryism would get their way. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3197 "2024-08-18T17:21:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What they want is a ballot with a Bush I or Romney as the (R) candidate, and a trump or trump-clone as the (M) candidate, and no (D) candidate anywhere on the ballot. > > That’s their idea of a good election featuring the full range of (legitimate) American political opinion. I just have to throw in a comment from a Canadian perspective. Most Americans have heard of Canada, right? Though may not know much about it except that it’s relatively sane and peaceful, it’s very hard to buy guns but very easy to get free health care, and you can buy legal cannabis pretty much anywhere. But here’s the thing. We have three main federal parties in Canada, Conservative, Liberal, and NDP. Relative to the American political spectrum, the Conservative Party is somewhat to the left of Democrats on many key issues, including support of universal health care and a variety of benefits for seniors. The Liberal Party is widely considered the mainstream “big-tent” party and is basically the Bernie Sanders style of socialist. The NDP, by American standards, is outright communist. By Canadian standards, the American Republican Party is nowhere at all on any sane political spectrum, and needs psychiatric treatment. The things unrecognized by most Americans is that this political spectrum is actually typical of the vast majority of the democracies in the industrialized world. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3198 "2024-08-18T17:40:47Z")
I don’t think the Canadian political spectrum is like that anymore. The conservative movement has gone through a lot of iterations, fracturing, and reconsolidation in the past couple decades, both provincially and federally. Some things like healthcare and public education are officially untouchable but there are many conservative initiatives to undermine them. The current Alberta government is far to the right of even previous Alberta loonies and they are still under constant pressure from forces further to the right. > **[Inside the pressure campaign on Danielle Smith to make gun ownership (and...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/bill-rights-danielle-smith-alberta-inside-1.7291123)** > > Alberta's premier is wooing UCP members with a pledge to protect vaccine refusers in the province's Bill of Rights. Activists in her party have pushed her government to go much farther. These people are fucking scary. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3199 "2024-08-18T17:46:12Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Turning to @thorny_locust’s quite logical exception to this thinking, the thought of these folks is that if the D’s could be persuaded to move rightward by the same amount the MAGAs have dragged the Rs, well … > > There would still be one party to the left of the other and one party to the right of the other. So 100% of leftists would vote for the more-left party, even though in fact it’s become merely the less-right party. After all where else could they go? Yeah, they probably are thinking that. They’re forgetting that such people could a) stay home or b) vote third party. IMO a hell of a lot of them/us would; the exact number and individuals depending on the candidate, but in any case enough to lose the election. We already have a shitload of people who were threatening not to show up to vote for Biden because they felt that the party wanted their votes but wasn’t actually going to do much of anything for them. Some of them I think will show up for Harris. They sure as hell wouldn’t show up for Manchin. ETA: I think some of it is also that there are a lot of people – all over the political spectrum – who despite evidence think ‘Most people must really think like me. All those folks on the news who seem to seriously disagree with me must just be a handful who get attention so the news sites can draw eyeballs. So of course if the D’s (or R’s, or for some people even a third party) run somebody who I’d be willing to vote for, they’d win!’ ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3200 "2024-08-18T17:49:36Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > > [@Dissonance](#): > > > > And to be fair, the level of bloodthirstiness Ukraine has brought out in people everywhere on the internet can be fairly disgusting. I made the mistake of reading, and worse, interacting with the comments section of some very pro-Ukrainian channels I watch on YouTube. I guess in hindsight not surprisingly, I was accused of being a Putin bot account for the sin of pointing out that the attack on the satellite control center in Crimea had nothing to do with Russia’s early warning network to detect a nuclear first strike against it. > > What point were you trying to make by saying this? Were you trying to to imply that Ukraine striking this facility was an improper thing to do? > > The Russian space control center in question was a military facility used by an invading army on occupied Ukranian soil. Whether or not it is part of a nuclear first strike early warning network, it is a valid target. > > > [@](#): > > > > As for the target itself, the said Center for Long-Range Space Communications is quite a unique object for the russian federation. It is known under the names of the 40th Separate Command and Measurement Complex, NIP-16, and the military unit 81415. Before the russian occupation of Crimea, Ukraine’s National Center for Control and Testing of Space Vehicles was located there. > > [​Space Wars Continue: Ukraine Hits russian Satellite Communication Center in Yevpatoria | Defense Express](https://en.defence-ua.com/news/space_wars_continue_ukraine_hits_russian_satellite_communication_center_in_yevpatoria-10950.html) > > If you were trying to paint Ukraine as bloodthirsty for striking a military target, I would call you a Russian bot (or perhaps a useful idiot) as well. Without commenting on the specifics of this attack, one thing I’ve notices about wars over the years is that they tend to escalate. Particularly if one side is fighting for their homeland against a larger and stronger opponent who has shown no compunction about following the “rules”. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3201 "2024-08-18T18:01:35Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > I don’t think the Canadian political spectrum is like that anymore. The conservative movement has gone through a lot of iterations, fracturing, and reconsolidation in the past couple decades, both provincially and federally. > > Some things like healthcare and public education are officially untouchable but there are many conservative initiatives to undermine them. This is partly true, but only partly. The consolidations you speak of included having the Reform Party folded into the Conservative Party, and the “Progressive” part of the name being dropped (although the “progressive” moniker lives on in provincial conservative parties like the one in Ontario). But lunatics like Harper were eventually banished, and I think a case can be made that the new Conservative Party still reflects predominant Canadian values, although I think the Liberal Party is still the more mainstream. There has never been in Canada on a federal level – and hopefully never will be – anything like the current US Republican Party. This can be seen in the fact that the short-lived Sun News Network – a Fox News wannabe – died a quick a pitiful death. > [@FluffyBob](#): > > The current Alberta government is far to the right of even previous Alberta loonies and they are still under constant pressure from forces further to the right. True. Alberta is truly Canada’s Texas. My theory is that it’s due to the oil fumes affecting people’s brain function. But it’s only Alberta, home of rodeos, cowboy hats, and the crazies who wear them.\* 😉 \* No offense to several fine posters here who are from Alberta. Apparently some are immune to the oil fumes. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3202 "2024-08-18T18:19:47Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I just have to throw in a comment from a Canadian perspective. Most Americans have heard of Canada, right? Heard of? Sure. But we’d be hard-pressed to find it on a map. All tucked away down there… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3203 "2024-08-18T18:47:22Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > ETA: I think some of it is also that there are a lot of people – all over the political spectrum – who despite evidence think ‘Most people must really think like me. All those folks on the news who seem to seriously disagree with me must just be a handful who get attention so the news sites can draw eyeballs. So of course if the D’s (or R’s, or for some people even a third party) run somebody who I’d be willing to vote for, they’d win!’ One attitude I’ve seen very often, especially in the right, is, “You know you actually agree with me - you’re just afraid to admit it!” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3204 "2024-08-18T19:03:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > One attitude I’ve seen very often, especially in the right, is, “You know you actually agree with me - you’re just afraid to admit it!” Yeah, it’s the same as when people confront you with racist and xenophobic attitudes and are irritated when you protest because they are convinced that deep in their hearts, everybody thinks this way. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3205 "2024-08-18T19:44:10Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > > [@Dissonance](#): > > > > And to be fair, the level of bloodthirstiness Ukraine has brought out in people everywhere on the internet can be fairly disgusting. I made the mistake of reading, and worse, interacting with the comments section of some very pro-Ukrainian channels I watch on YouTube. I guess in hindsight not surprisingly, I was accused of being a Putin bot account for the sin of pointing out that the attack on the satellite control center in Crimea had nothing to do with Russia’s early warning network to detect a nuclear first strike against it. > > What point were you trying to make by saying this? Were you trying to to imply that Ukraine striking this facility was an improper thing to do? > > The Russian space control center in question was a military facility used by an invading army on occupied Ukranian soil. Whether or not it is part of a nuclear first strike early warning network, it is a valid target. > > > [@](#): > > > > As for the target itself, the said Center for Long-Range Space Communications is quite a unique object for the russian federation. It is known under the names of the 40th Separate Command and Measurement Complex, NIP-16, and the military unit 81415. Before the russian occupation of Crimea, Ukraine’s National Center for Control and Testing of Space Vehicles was located there. > > [​Space Wars Continue: Ukraine Hits russian Satellite Communication Center in Yevpatoria | Defense Express](https://en.defence-ua.com/news/space_wars_continue_ukraine_hits_russian_satellite_communication_center_in_yevpatoria-10950.html) > > If you were trying to paint Ukraine as bloodthirsty for striking a military target, I would call you a Russian bot (or perhaps a useful idiot) as well. Wow. Did you follow me here from YouTube? Because you’re demonstrating a profoundly incredible lack of reading comprehension. I mean, truly off the scales level of straw manning and reading things that aren’t there. Levels of idiocy that are truly, mindbogglingly astounding. How do you manage to pull any of that shit out of your ass based upon this statement: > [@Dissonance](#): > > I guess in hindsight not surprisingly, I was accused of being a Putin bot account for the sin of pointing out that the attack on the satellite control center in Crimea had nothing to do with Russia’s early warning network to detect a nuclear first strike against it. I’ll try this one time explaining it in small words for you: all I said was the satellite control center had nothing to do with Russia’s nuclear early warning network. Everything else you’ve written exists entirely in your own head and has nothing whatsoever to do with the point I was making or anything I wrote. Now kindly go and fuck yourself. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3206 "2024-08-18T19:49:04Z")
Unfortunately, **Babale** seems to have gone off the rails on a lot of things lately. I hope he comes back around. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3207 "2024-08-18T20:27:12Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > I’ll try this one time explaining it in small words for you: all I said was the satellite control center had nothing to do with Russia’s nuclear early warning network. Everything else you’ve written exists entirely in your own head and has nothing whatsoever to do with the point I was making or anything I wrote. Talk about a lack of reading comprehension! I _asked_ if you had simply said something along those lines, or if you’d implied that there was anything wrong with what Ukraine did. If you did nothing of the sort and people read into your post, all you had to do was say so, that’s why I asked. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3208 "2024-08-18T22:12:16Z")
We all see what you wrote asshole. What, you were Just Asking Questions? By your response, I’m wondering if you are actually saying you supported the 9/11 attacks. So, I could understand why people would accuse you of being a pro- Al Queda shill. Get Fucked. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3209 "2024-08-22T21:47:07Z")
Hey @Max_S? Maybe you should consider this, [![](https://i0.wp.com/www.omnihedron.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/maxresdefault.jpg) ](https://i0.wp.com/www.omnihedron.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/maxresdefault.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3210 "2024-08-22T21:49:04Z")
Yeah, yeah. Who is he supposed to be? Some kind of pseudo-Nazi? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3211 "2024-08-22T21:55:03Z")
That moment when you realize that your chosen ideology isn’t what you thought it was, [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ToKcmnrE5oY/hqdefault.jpg "Mitchell and Webb: "Are we the baddies?"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToKcmnrE5oY) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3212 "2024-08-22T22:35:05Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Hey @Max_S? Maybe you should consider this, Oh my gosh, what an idiot: I have the right to be bigoted and you can’t call out my group (conservatives) on it, because discrimination. What a tool. ETA: for reference, see Max\_S’s thread in ATMB. It’s to laugh. ETA2: I somehow fucked up this post, it shouldn’t be a reply to Dissonance, but only to crowmanyclouds’ post. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3213 "2024-08-22T22:55:59Z")
Just a reminder, Max\_S DOES have a dedicated Pit thread, and yes, he does identify as evil in prior discussions. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3214 "2024-08-22T23:02:02Z")
I love them, my favorite is Angel Summoner and BMX Bandit. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/taCa8qBgIFY/hqdefault.jpg "Angel Summoner & BMX Bandit") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taCa8qBgIFY) Not relevant to the thread, except, I dunno, what was the Angel Summoner thinking in trying to team up with a guy who only boasted bike tricks? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3215 "2024-08-22T23:51:51Z")
He actually claims that it can’t be called malicious if he personally says to us that he personally doesn’t find it to be malicious. What about “butthurt”, “evil” and “troll”, Max\_S? If you put out a claim that you aren’t any of those thing, are you supposed to be protected here? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=147) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=149)