# You, sir. Yes, you! Are a partisan asshole. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 6, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780 "2011-08-06T23:10:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/121 "2011-08-09T04:31:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Translation: “Dammit, Mom, will you PLEASE turn the lights on and off before coming down here to do laundry! I need my privacy!” > > That from a schmuck who thinks he’s actually smarter, more logical, and better behaved than **Starvy**. :rollleyes: He at least does not act like a kid who leaves a burning bag of dog poop on the neighbor’s porch, rings the doorbell, and runs away giggling. Unlike you. > > Now, if you have an explanation for your unsolicited drive-by threadshitting here, in somebody else’s pitting, then out with it. If you have something of more substance to discuss than fourth-grade-level invective, then out with it. If you have neither, which is the evidence, then you don’t have to do anything; we already know. > > Schmuck. I have to assume you can’t understand more than a quarter of the words you read on a daily basis. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/122 "2011-08-09T21:35:52Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > But since we’re on the subject, I wonder why it is that the conservatives on this board are always expected to be on their best behavior but that same standard never seems to apply to the majority. If you’re gonna be wrong, you might as well be polite. > [@](#): > > That’s all well and good in theory. But in practice what’s “right” hardly sees the light of day if it’s coming from a conservative POV. Anything posted from a conservative viewpoint is immediately set upon by numerous posters spouting insults and straw man arguments so rapaciously that they’re almost impossible to keep up with and refute, and of course the result of that is that the phony accusations and the refutations become the focus of the argument rather than whatever was the original point to begin with. GOP Special Victims Unit. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/123 "2011-08-10T01:15:12Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > …GOP Special Victims Unit. Pip, pip. Good show, that. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/124 "2011-08-11T22:19:35Z")
And we have a new nominee! From the thread [Why do ultra-right-wingers flip out over gold?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=619708) we find **Der Trihs** delivering this zinger in post #22: > [@](#): > > _From Der Trihs_ > And “decent conservative” like “compassionate conservatism” is an oxymoron. You, sir, are a partisan asshole. I, myself know many MANY conservatives (having recently lived in rural Ohio with an R+ quotient way high). I even know founding members of Glenn Beck’s ‘9-12’ project for Ohio. Many, even most, are decent, hard working and community minded individuals. Allow me to toss an example at you. A local businessman. Mid-70s, maybe a touch older. Member of my Rotary group. Conservative, fiscally and socially. Volunteers for a scholarship campaign for poor kids in town, also helps at the hospital as a director and volunteer. Owns several businesses and, until recently, a Director of a national level bank. A thoroughly decent human being. He simply disagrees with you on matters political. For this you feel a need to label him as indecent and to broadcast that labeling to the world. This, indeed, damages the discussion that, frankly, I suspect you are not truly interested in at all. Your statement cheapens the thread in which you are posting. Truly sad, in this case, because you started so well, too. Your first post in the thread was topical, on point, and cogent. I encourage you to keep that up. But, as we say, you are my current nominee for ‘Partisan Asshole’ with all of the apparent vitriol, radicalization, and inability to see anything past your own opinions that entails. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/125 "2011-08-11T22:41:16Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Conservative, fiscally and socially. > > _\_ > > A thoroughly decent human being. No; being a social conservative means you are _not_ a decent human being. It means you are a tyrant and either a sadist or so self absorbed you don’t care what happens to your victims. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/126 "2011-08-11T22:42:57Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > And we have a new nominee! > > From the thread [Why do ultra-right-wingers flip out over gold?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=619708) we find **Der Trihs** delivering this zinger in post #22: > > You, sir, are a partisan asshole. > > I, myself know many MANY conservatives (having recently lived in rural Ohio with an R+ quotient way high). I even know founding members of Glenn Beck’s ‘9-12’ project for Ohio. Many, even most, are decent, hard working and community minded individuals. > > Allow me to toss an example at you. A local businessman. Mid-70s, maybe a touch older. Member of my Rotary group. Conservative, fiscally and socially. Volunteers for a scholarship campaign for poor kids in town, also helps at the hospital as a director and volunteer. Owns several businesses and, until recently, a Director of a national level bank. > > A thoroughly decent human being. He simply disagrees with you on matters political. For this you feel a need to label him as indecent and to broadcast that labeling to the world. This, indeed, damages the discussion that, frankly, I suspect you are not truly interested in at all. Your statement cheapens the thread in which you are posting. Truly sad, in this case, because you started so well, too. Your first post in the thread was topical, on point, and cogent. I encourage you to keep that up. > > But, as we say, you are my current nominee for ‘Partisan Asshole’ with all of the apparent vitriol, radicalization, and inability to see anything past your own opinions that entails. Does that old man want to deny marriage rights to others? Does he want to impose his religious beliefs against abortion or evolution on others? I don’t know of course, I’m just asking. Both of those things are fairly common among conservatives. And both are fairly asshole things to do, imho. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/127 "2011-08-11T22:51:43Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No; being a social conservative means you are _not_ a decent human being. It means you are a tyrant and either a sadist or so self absorbed you don’t care what happens to your victims. We just got done painting a bedroom, including the ceiling, and there is more to do. I wish I could find as broad a brush as you have found… ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/128 "2011-08-11T23:30:26Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No; being a social conservative means you are _not_ a decent human being. It means you are a tyrant and either a sadist or so self absorbed you don’t care what happens to your victims. In the case of the guy the OP knows, what victims, exactly? Your capacity for assuming facts not in evidence is truly breathtaking. Here’s what we know so far about the guy: > [@](#): > > Mid-70s, maybe a touch older. Member of my Rotary group. Conservative, fiscally and socially. Volunteers for a scholarship campaign for poor kids in town, also helps at the hospital as a director and volunteer. Owns several businesses and, until recently, a Director of a national level bank. Hey, maybe he’s got a study decorated with swastikas or a basement stacked with human bones, but we don’t know that from the information presented so far. By your twisted logic, we must likewise assume the OP is a tyrant and sadist, mustn’t we? After all, why would any principled person defend such a monster as someone who is an avowed fiscal and social conservative, or even belong to a club that allowed such a defective person as a member? This is an excellent illustration of how you incessantly attempt to present the contents of your head as fact, and why you are something of a laughingstock. ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/129 "2011-08-11T23:56:03Z")
> [@](#): > > … and why you are something of a laughingstock. Exactly. Though I do feel some pity for someone who is so blinkered. Not much, but some. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/130 "2011-08-12T00:27:13Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > In the case of the guy the OP knows, what victims, exactly? Already answered: > [@Lobohan](#): > > Does that old man want to deny marriage rights to others? Does he want to impose his religious beliefs against abortion or evolution on others? I don’t know of course, I’m just asking. > > Both of those things are fairly common among conservatives. And both are fairly asshole things to do, imho. > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Your capacity for assuming facts not in evidence is truly breathtaking. > > Here’s what we know so far about the guy: You left out “social conservative”. Social conservatism is evil, it’s about malice, bigotry and tyranny. That’s the _point_. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/131 "2011-08-12T00:51:35Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Already answered: Yet another example of a rather shaky grasp on logic. **Lobohan** made a statement of opinion. Nothing has been said about the actual beliefs of the person under discussion. > [@](#): > > You left out “social conservative”. Social conservatism is evil, it’s about malice, bigotry and tyranny. That’s the _point_. What? Not only did I quote the OP’s words, “conservative, fiscally and socially”, I then wrote a sentence that included the words " avowed fiscal fiscal and social conservative". Guess you missed that, being black text on a white backgournd and all. Look, I usually dislike people who say “go back and reread my post”, but for fuck’s sake, go back and re-read my post. Anyway, your statement above again assumes facts not in evidence. Two fucking words: “social conservative”, actually spoken by someone else other than the person being described, and with no further elaboration, and you are already constructing some elaborate edifice of presumed evil. Based on two words. That’s frankly a bit deranged. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/132 "2011-08-12T15:45:29Z")
Again, I hope as a lesson to others, we see Der Trihs making a [i[pronunciamento\* in which he brands all people whom he dislikes for whatever reason with an extremely negative brush. This is classic assholery and, if my readers will allow me to do so, I will expand on my earlier theme with a comparison. “Arguing, as Der Trihs does, that all X are Y (in this case all social conservatives are evil but any other could apply) is **exactly the same as making the argument that all blacks will steal…or all mexicans are lazy…or all women can’t do math.** There is no difference between the broad brush Der Trihs uses here and the racism shown by members of the Ku Klux Klan.” Honestly, like racism and sexism, it shows laziness in thinking. It shows that one is willing to shortcut, as Der Trihs (that name is a bear to type repeatedly) does here, analysis and examination in favor of partisan assholery that requires the belittlement of others as opposed to debate and discussion? I fear so. Or, rather, does it show a certain level of insecurity that you must continually put down those you feel are not ‘your group’? Readers, learn from this example. **Der Trihs** is a classic example of partisan assholery just as much as any extreme white supremacist. And that is why few people listen to him when he screams and why even fewer take him (I assume he’s male but just realized that I don’t know. If I’m wrong I apologize.) seriously. He damages his cause each time he posts a juvenile, hate-filled comment. It is my hope that, in the future, he’ll realize that and participate in discussions as an adult among adults. Capable of disagreeing without demonizing and undermining himself. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/133 "2011-08-12T16:21:40Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > “Arguing, as Der Trihs does, that all X are Y (in this case all social conservatives are evil but any other could apply) is **exactly the same as making the argument that all blacks will steal…or all mexicans are lazy…or all women can’t do math.** There is no difference between the broad brush Der Trihs uses here and the racism shown by members of the Ku Klux Klan.” I’m going to disagree with you here. Being black or Mexican or a woman is not a consciously-chosen intellectual position, with a specific set of articulated viewpoints and moral standpoints about how the world should work. If i make a criticism of someone specifically because they are black or Mexican or a woman, i’m doing so precisely without taking into account the person’s own thoughts and opinions and political positions. But that’s not the case with an intellectual and moral worldview like social conservatism (or liberalism, or Catholicism, or whatever). If someone is black or Mexican or a woman, that alone tells us nothing about what he or she is like as a person, but we CAN make certain inferences about people based on their explicitly-chosen political and moral ideologies. I’m not saying that i agree with **Der Trihs** that all social conservatives are, by definition, not decent human beings. Not all social conservatives are the same, just like not all liberals or all Catholics are the same. I think the broad brush he uses here, as with the one he uses about religion, is rather unproductive and anti-intellectual, and makes rational discussion difficult. I’m simply arguing that the direct comparison you are drawing here is, in itself, overdrawn, and fails to take into account some important differences between categories like race and ethnicity and gender, on the one hand, and moral and political and intellectual positions, on the other. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/134 "2011-08-12T16:49:15Z")
FWIW, an abbreviation for his handle that tends to function tolerably around here is **DT** , if typing out **Der Trihs** multiple times gets to be too much of a PITA. In his defense, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him go ballistic over someone inadvertently referring to him as Der Trish. ETA: noting his partisan assholery at this late date might lead some people to think you haven’t been paying attention… 😛 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/135 "2011-08-13T02:58:04Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Well, it does fit perfectly with his contributions.What’s even more hilarious is that smart conservatives, who might agree with **Starving Artist** ’s politics on particular issues, very rarely actually back him up in debates here, because they apparently recognize that he all noise, no signal. Late to the thread, but I must say… Yep. Totally agree with this one, and have said so in the occasional thread. You got it in one… Go away **SA**. You (and others like you) are the reason that Lefties get away with calling people on the right “fools”. Because _you_ ARE! Especially at a left-leaning board like this one. _You_ (and others like you) are why _WE_ are generally characterized as morons. I won’t engage in a debate you are in, because I WILL NOT RESCUE YOU FROM YOUR OWN FOOLISHNESS!!! You are on your own. Debate away! I’ll try to pick up the pieces/ fix the damage, later. I’d rather _you_ go away, so I don’t have to. Fukkin idiot Righties! They are even worse than Idiot Lefties… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/136 "2011-08-13T03:08:06Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Fukkin idiot Righties! They are even worse than Idiot Lefties… I’d have to disagree with you, there. Idiot Lefties are a PR problem with the potential for doing damage to the causes of Goodness and Righteousness. Idiot Righties are just…idiots. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/137 "2011-08-13T04:26:39Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Late to the thread, but I must say… Yep. Totally agree with this one, and have said so in the occasional thread. You got it in one… Go away **SA**. You (and others like you) are the reason that Lefties get away with calling people on the right “fools”. Because _you_ ARE! Especially at a left-leaning board like this one. _You_ (and others like you) are why _WE_ are generally characterized as morons. I won’t engage in a debate you are in, because I WILL NOT RESCUE YOU FROM YOUR OWN FOOLISHNESS!!! You are on your own. Debate away! I’ll try to pick up the pieces/ fix the damage, later. I’d rather _you_ go away, so I don’t have to. Fukkin idiot Righties! They are even worse than Idiot Lefties… This is getting to be a tad too much! Who the fuck asked you to “rescue” me? Or expected it? The real conservatives on this board rarely come to each other’s defense, **mhendo’s** typically dishonest assertions notwithstanding. Sure, out of tens of thousands of posts, it’s possible to find an instance here or there where two or three conservatives might be posting in agreement with each other, but NONE of them make a practice of it. Furthermore, this is a public message board, I’m a paid-in-full member, and I’ll post however I fucking like within the board’s stated rules. We all have reasons for posting here the way we do and we all get different things out of it. My thing is to give assholes like **mhendo** and **kaylasdad** and certain other of the usual suspects their own shit right back at them, and counter their incessant claims of rightie idiocy by pointing to idiocy of their own. You don’t like it, then don’t read my posts. Either way, I ain’t “going away”, so you can forget about it. P.S. - In case you hadn’t noticed, the reason conservatives get categorized as idiots around here has nothing to do with me, or with anything but the fact that we are conservatives. That practice was going on in full force long before I ever got here, and it goes on still at a ratio of about 1,000:1 to my posts. Countless threads I never even get to are full of it. So don’t give me your nonsense about how I’m the reason righties get portrayed as idiots around here. Read _God and Man at Yale_ sometime and you’ll find that faux-intellectual superiority has been a hallmark of leftie politics in this country since at least the turn of the 20th century. It’s incredible to me that you seem to think that without my presence, political issues could be discussed around here in anything approaching a fair-minded and reasonable way. But you go ahead and knock yourself out trying, and I’ll still be here givin’ 'em their shit right back at 'em long after you’ve given up and gone away. (Assuming you’re really a conservative to begin with. Your profile and posting history gives me pause in that regard, and, frankly, they make me question your motives. One might think that perhaps you’re just pretending to be a conservative in the belief it will add weight to your criticisms of me. Or perhaps you could point me to a few instances where you actully did “pick up the pieces” or “fix the damage” left in my wake, or so dazzled the board’s strident lefties with your intelligent and reasoned approach that they were left with little choice but to admit they were wrong all along…because at this point you’re a non-entity to me, and I can’t help but think that if you were as much of a conservative as you’re trying to come off as here, I would have noticed you before.) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/138 "2011-08-13T04:57:11Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > My thing is to give assholes like **mhendo** and **kaylasdad** and certain other of the usual suspects their own shit right back at them, and counter their incessant claims of rightie idiocy by pointing to idiocy of their own. Correctly parsed, this should read: My thing is to give assholes like **mhendo** and **kaylasdad** and certain other of the usual suspects their own shit right back at them, and support their incessant claims of rightie idiocy by proving them right at every opportunity. Happy to help. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/139 "2011-08-13T05:04:52Z")
I’m disappointed in you **mhendo**. That crack was so obvious that I almost included a countdown to it, but then I thought, “Nah, that’s too easy. Not even **mhendo** would want to appear that lacking in imagination.” I should have known better. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/140 "2011-08-13T05:09:55Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I’m disappointed in you **mhendo**. That crack was so obvious that I almost included a countdown to it… Yeah, suuuuuure you did. Your compulsion to lie is pathological. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780.md?page=8)