He’s trying to change the subject because he sees that the discussion is not trending in the direction he likes. If you two want to talk about other messageboards, start another thread. This one is about this messageboard.
Regards,
Shodan
And yet the sidetalks about Paul Ryan and Obamacare don’t seem to bother you, and they aren’t about message boards at all.
Interesting.
edited to add: I think the reactions of Conservatives/Republicans to a perceived over-Democratic lean on this message board is on topic, but if a mod says otherwise, I’ll drop it.
So do I. So let’s talk about this message board. This one. Not another one. This one.
Regards,
Shodan
[QUOTE=DSeid]
XT, I was here then too, and I do not remember “all the predictions” being like that. Oh there were a few posters who said things like that. And many others who were hopeful that such would happen. Most were expecting a close election. See this thread right before, and this one. There was no “all predictions” especially not of a landslide and no claims that the polling companies that showed Bush leading were skewing the books. (Some questions afterwards about voter machine sheenanigans, yes.)
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You are missing the point. OMG was also an outlier…not every (or even a majority afaik) of ‘conservatives’ thought Obama was going to lose and Romney was going to win. I certainly didn’t…in fact, I pretty much knew Obama was going to win, since you could see it in the polls in the key EC states.
But when Kerry lost, how many 'dopers that predicted he was going to win fled in shame as folks are claiming OMG did? None? The difference is that when Kerry lost, there was a large group of left wing posters to commiserate with and give support for the disappointment, while OMG and the other right winger types who predicted Obama going down only had the majority of the board jeering at them and wanting to rub their faces in it. Do you see the difference?
Sure, I remember some giving him kudos for fessing up, but there was no support structure here for disappointed righties as there is for posters with a left wing outlook.
The irony factor here is pretty high on the scale. 
Personally, I don’t have a hunted complex on this board…but then, contrary to what seems to be the popular belief, I’m actually not a right wing conservative, and I fit in more with the boards corporate culture than most right winger types since I’m more in agreement with the majority of the board on the majority of issues than not. Being a moderate, however, I can definitely see the point that righties on this board are more likely to be piled on and feel persecuted by this board and it’s culture, and it’s funny to me to see you say that I remember things that fits my narrative, when any unbiased look at THIS thread shows the attitude in a microcosm. Look at the pile on ratio between someone with a more right leaning stance earlier in the thread to someone spouting left wing drivel that gets nearly no response from the majority of posters. Heck, on this page check out the non-response to NotfooledbyW’s posts, and consider what the response would be if a righty came on and spewed tangents like that but with a right oriented theme.
One thing many conservatives on this message board like to do is declare victory in their posts, even when such is not evident to anyone else.
I wonder why this is, and why they think for a moment it is effective. Is it like the “unskewed polls” thing? Does it help them to feel better about their own arguments and their success or lack thereof?
I am. An analogy: Let’s say Robin comes up to Sean and says “I’m leaving you for Bobbie because you are not giving me what I need”. Isn’t “What is Bobbie giving you that I’m not?” a good question to ask? If Bobbie is doing some little things that make Robin feel good then it’s easy enough to make those changes to please Robin, but if Bobbie is being a total submissive and treating Robin like royalty, then Sean just may say “Buh-bye”.
Yeah, but none of that was in the OP, which I think was Shodan’s point. At any rate, what do those other boards give them that they aren’t getting here? A sense of belonging and community. Here, right winger types are definitely given the sense that they are unwelcome. They are piled on. Comparable left winger types…not so much of the pile on thingy, they fit in better even when they are off the wall. I think that’s the bottom line.
As I said, it’s not just politics either. People with a more woo oriented or CT outlook are also pretty unwelcome here, and get no support from the community. They are little islands, constantly under attack and in constant danger of being piled on. Some survive, but those are the stubborn fighter types who have thick skins and don’t mind being in a very small minority. This can be a shark pit if you don’t fit into our little community at least with some aspects…and it can be rough, even if you DO fit in on some things but not on others, depending on what those others are. The folks who have a more scientific outlook AND a more left leaning political outlook, of course, are in the butter zone…the only thing they have to worry about is if they are assholes who cross the mods.
If they have such thick skins, XT why are they constantly crying foul?
Having a thick skin doesn’t make you impervious to the pile on factor, Hentor. Plus, it’s human nature to whine and complain. I’ve heard some woo oriented 'dopers do the exact same thing because their favorite woo was shot down and piled on, and many have said they keep their pet CTs to themselves because they know the response if they trot them out. There have been several pit threads on this that I’ve seen through the years.
So they have thick skins AND whine and complain?
Got it.
Sadly, you don’t. Ah well…c’est la vie.
Two people rarely agree 100% on an issue. Particularly if they come from opposite sides of the political spectrum. I see that when there’s an issue that falls along the right-left divide, that it is not enough for someone to get general agreement, but one must go full in, orthodoxy and all. Take issues like SSM, Global Warming, Bush’s going into Iraq, etc., it’s not enough to agree 99%, one must become a convert. I chose those three examples because I’ve experienced it there repeatedly. It’s not enough to want gay couples to have identical access to the same legal benefits and privileges, it’s not enough to accept climate change and agree that some portion of it is due to humans and that we should take steps to stop it, it’s not enough to say Bush made an error. No, one must embrace gay couples the way we embrace motherhood and apple pie; one must buy into every claim from climate alarmists the way people buy into religion; one must believe that Bush lied and intentionally went into what he knew was going to be a very fucked up situation, intentionally killing thousands of innocent civilians, as if that was part of his goal.
I think if you and I were having a discussion on an issue like these, that we’d be perfectly content having some general agreement, question the other about the points of disagreement, and move on. But when there is a crowd that is lopsided, a pack mentality develops. The group turns into a mob and any deviation is attacked with the same fervor that might exist if there was 0% agreement. This happens time and again. And I’ve commented on it tame and again. Not so much the buy into the whole religion aspect, but the “come on guys, grab your pitchforks”. I chuckle at the lack of self-awareness of posters who employ the “we” and “us” point of view.
Astoundingly, in a current GD thread we have one poster complaining to tomndebb because he provided an answer to a post that was addressed to another poster. The complainant whines that—wait, let me just quote this bit of expert-level self-unaware grandeur:
In other words, it’s perfectly fine for “we” the majority, to band together and set upon a poster like a bunch of hyenas, but if anyone might offer anything that can be construed as being of any assistance to the target, well, THAT IS JUST BEYOND THE PALE!
That help?
I think a rephrasing gets to a more apt analogy: Let’s say Robin comes up to Sean and says “I’m leaving you because you are not giving me what I need”.
So what is a board that is leaning to the left supposed to do? Not lean? Give an equal voice to an unequal number of posters? Censor the boards so that once a certain number of conservatives have given their opinion on a subject, only that number on the left can reply?
What is a possible solution to this perceived problem that would be acceptable to conservatives if the situation was reversed?
Oy. I suppose this is mostly my fault for using “every”. Let me rephrase: are any of your political ideals based on malicious intent towards the rich (or Republicans)? Could anybody mistake your ideals to be based on malicious intent?
It isn’t - you just made that up. My post didn’t declare victory, or anything like it. This is another example of what I mentioned in post 268.
It’s as I have said in the past - it is easy to debate a certain type of liberal. No matter what you say about them, one will be along shortly to prove you right.
[QUOTE=Czarcasm]
I am.
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No, you’re not.
A good analogy has to correspond in some way to that with which it is being compared. Yours doesn’t. Because Robbie made no mention of Bobbie, and didn’t say he was leaving.
Regards,
Shodan
It is what it is. It would be nice if folks simply acknowledged the imbalance and that folks who don’t fit in don’t, well, fit in…and that this left leaning orientation has been reinforced over the years and strengthened to the point where right leaning posters feel the environment is hostile to them and have left or stopped posting in political threads.
I don’t think anything can or should be done, aside from the fact that a bit less rancor and piling on would be nice. I think it would be healthy for the board to have a bit more balance of view point on the political side. On the woo side, it’s just more fun to have folks bring their whacky ideas to the board so they can be picked apart, but we don’t have to mob them under or run them out so fiercely.
Overall, though, obviously I LIKE the board, since I’ve been actively posting here for years now and pretty exclusively…I used to be a member of several boards, but RL and simple inclination have made this the one I actually post to the majority of the time.
For one thing, not say stuff like “…I just think the Republicans are bullies and liars and I’d like to spit in their eye.”
And when someone does, come down on them…just like you would if they weren’t on your side.
Hire conservative moderators…