There were some conservative legal blogs with comment sections that I tried, but I quickly lost interest. Maybe I’ll give those a shot. Thanks.
I’ve become a fah-laming liberal from a mostly-conservative over the last decade or so, and I think this board is probably a big part of it, along with some changes in my geographic location and social set. It’s hard to pin down what is cause and what is effect. But I have been here and reading and writing the whole time.
Three things that I feel I generally get from the conservatives (and liberals) here that I would not get at, say, free republic or democratic underground or kos are:
- Thought-out positions rather than regurgitation
- An appreciation for the methodology of debate and a degree of politeness
- A certain je ne sais quoi that probably involves a combination of an appreciation of the effective use of the written word, a general curiosity about life, and a sense of humor. I attribute these three to the fact that many people came here pursuing more contact with Cecil, who has these qualities in spades. If I am to be opposed, I’d have it be by someone clever.
As someone who has voted often as an uninformed person and regretted it, I hate to have the wool pulled over my eyes, even if it is wool that is the right color. The fact that conservatives continue the good fight here makes me more aware of the vulnerabilities of my positions, it strengthens my political empathy, and it seems to have sharpened my wit and my ability to take a punch in an argument. So I’m glad they are here…
#1. I don’t give a rats ass* about peoples political leanings. I do read GD and the pit almost daily, especially the political threads because they are fun to read, but I hardly ever post in them.
*Actually I don’t give anyone a rats ass becaues they’re mine ALL mine.
Not fair! As far as I can tell you only posted in four GD threads:
[ul]
[li]If Not For Medicare, How Would Seniors Get Health Care?[/li][li]Why do conservatives post here? (i.e. this thread)[/li][li]Is walking away from your mortgage unethical?[/li][*]Will We Have a replay of 1994? (Republican Resurgence)?[/ul]I didn’t see anybody respond with hatred and disrespect (even in the Republican Resurgence thread where you kinda deserved it due to your opening post, people responded pretty evenly). If you are doing all your posting in the Pit, all bets are off.
Another vote for #1. Disagreeing over politics does not make one’s opponents evil, immoral, stupid, loathsome, or otherwise undesirable. Rational minds can reach different conclusions from the same facts. I’ve got friends scattered all across the political spectrum. Say one guy’s vote canceled mine in the last election. Does that mean we can’t drink beer and watch a football game together?
Same applies to the Dope. Frankly, some of y’all are batshit insane when it comes to politics–but then you post insightful analysis of issues to consider when constructing a goat cannon; or something hysterically funny in a MPSIMS thread; or contribute to the epic debate over Gandalf’s really underwhelming DPS; etc.
Oh, for god damn’s sake. Why SHOULDN’T conservatives post here? I refuse to believe that liberals are such fragile, weeping, sensitive flowers that they cannot bear the proximity, even the virtual proximity, of persons of a different politcal bent.
Forget it, Oak. These people don’t eat grits, and they think we shouldn’t have guns in our homes. They’re clearly madmen. 
True, but still…a Goat Cannon. That’s not the kind of thing you’ll find on just any message board.
Speaking as a New Dealer, I would say that economically, much of this board is somewhere to the right of the Economist. I think we notice those we disagree with more than those we don’t.
Also, what John Mace said.
#1 & #2, in my case.
[Recently I’ve gone on a strict message board diet, so I’ve had to cut back on debating, which requires more rapid give-and-take. But the board is still a good place to get answers in GQ and a good read elsewhere.]
Many of us post who here do not enjoy or participate in partisan bickering.
I consider myself somewhere to the Right of Ghengis Khan, but I find myself shaking my head in disbelief at what “official Conservative spokesmen” say in public.
The teen-aged son of good friends of ours is one of those media-fed “Conservatives.” I am trying to convince him that criticising how the First Lady dresses was not a legitimate political topic in the '80s when Liberals said things about Nancy Reagan’s wardrobe, and it is not a legitimate issue now just because “Conservatives” are out of office.
Also, he seems to have a big stick up his butt that Obama bowed to some monarch, despite my arguing that a King or an Emporer outranks any officeholder, and due deference and respect should be shown. Showing respect to another does not diminish one’s own stature. And it is not as if he kow-towed to a Prime Minister or other elected official.
These kids today. I sometimes just don’t know what to do.
I guess I’m mostly #1. I love the crazy variety of subject matter here, the esoteric knowledge and the witty observations. Even when the more…um…eccentric and opinionated people threaten to derail a thread or make statements that are guaranteed to piss off the general population, it’s still entertaining.
I can’t stand when the non-political threads get twisted by a political statement, dropped like a turd in a punchbowl. Whether someone is blaming Bush for everything wrong in the world from global warming to bad breath or someone else saying that Obama plans on refurnishing the Lincoln Bedroom as Lenin’s Tomb it is worse than Godwinizing.
On the political threads, though, I love the rational discourse. Convince me with facts and figures, state your opinion calmly and show me where I am wrong. I just get infuriated with the broad brushes being swiped on both sides. Conservatives are not all fascists, liberals are not all socialists. Just because I don’t want my taxes to go up does not mean that I want to see widows and orphans freezing to death on the streets.
I looked at a couple conservative boards and was amazed at how nuts some of the posters were. There should have been ads for secured compounds in Montana on the site. Yeesh.
This is so provocative (or rather interesting) that I have started a thread about it.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12074076#post12074076
They’d call you a pinko radical, Sam? For God’s sake, why?
For my part, I used to consider myself conservative, and on certain issues like gun control, affirmative action, and property rights I still do. I posted here mainly for reason #1: you can throw out a question or idea here and get a lot of interesting and entertaining answers from astonishingly well-informed people. There was also some of #4, although as an atheist I can hardly say I’m on a mission from God. I dislike conflict, but if I see a statement which I think is mistaken or illogical, I want to correct it; even if I know that I won’t convince the person I’m correcting, I don’t want others to absorb the mistake and think that it’s uncontroverted, and I feel cowardly if I don’t do it. (Of course, sometimes it turned out that I was the mistaken one, although I think I was right more often than not).
I certainly wasn’t trying to suggest that. I wasn’t asking about any supposed conservative hostility towards liberals. I was wondering why the conservatives were willing to put up with supposed liberal hostility towards conservatives.
Purely for entertainment. Straight up. That’s all this board means to me anyway.
I delight in the reactions of lefties like Dio and 'luci when they get all twisted up. Like when Brown won in Mass. The midterms will be pure gold.
Castigate me if you must for your "Well I love the intellectual debate, blah blah…
Many of you feel the same way but just won’t admit it.
Because the “Freepers” are rabid, waaaaaay far to the right lunatics, that’s why.
I support gay marriage.
I believe in a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion if she sees fit.
I thought Clinton was a pretty good president.
I generally dislike the Republican party almost as much as I dislike the Democrats.
I’m opposed to capital punishment.
I support drug legalization.
I was appalled at how the Republicans behaved with earmarks, with the Terry Schiavo nonsense, and in general with their pandering to the religious right on matters they have no business involving themselves in.
I thought Bush was at best a mediocre president, and often a very bad one.
I support some form of government-subsidized health care. Catastrophic coverage, coupled with HSA’s.
I like Obama’s new NASA budget and his plan for space.
I think Obama appointee Cas Sunnstein’s ‘nudge’ arguments are pretty interesting, and would support changing some defaults to encourage socially productive behavior.
I accept at least some of the tenets of global warming, and in general I think the ‘base’ of the Republican party has become unscientific in outlook and ignorant on matters of science.
I know Obama is an American citizen, fully qualified to be President, and ‘birthers’ are idiots.
I could go on. I’m actually a fairly moderate guy. It often doesn’t look like it here because I always find myself having to defend Republicans and the right because the attacks on them are often so over the top and batty.
Also, I have no interest in joining a chorus singing praises to one another. I guess that makes me a natural contrarian. I’d rather go where my ideas can be tested and challenged, so I have no interest in having a discussion with the left on issues on which there is widespread agreement. I don’t see that as being particularly productive. If I were posting at Free Republic, I imagine I’d be the one taking the Obama Administration’s side on many issues.
This is not to say I’m an Obama supporter - I think many of his ideas are terrible, and that he’s been a lousy President so far.
That’s me.
Preaching to the choir is for losers. No idea is worth having unless it can stand up to heat. Honing skills by taking on multiple opponents. The challenge. Smacking down smug idiots who treat debate like a social club, posting popular ideas to gain kudos and attacking unpopular posters and ideas poorly but from safety.
Now, I’ve mostly decided that wrestling pigs is futile. You just get dirty and the pigs likes it.