Taking a break

[Green Line]

This place is pretty hard left, actually.

[SteveRogers]

Bye! Sorry that the world changes and that the United States didn't stay forever frozen in your preferred decade!

[Mr. Morden]

Bye! Sorry that the world changes and that the United States didn't stay forever frozen in your preferred decade!

He just needs to buy some Cheers DVDs or something, so he can revisit the 80s whenever he feels the urge.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

Bye! Sorry that the world changes and that the United States didn't stay forever frozen in your preferred decade!

He just needs to buy some Cheers DVDs or something, so he can revisit the 80s whenever he feels the urge.

Nah, bootleg VHSes of Family Ties would be more satisfying. I mean, Michael J. Fox is literally a Reaganfan in it. Reagan was a Familytiesfan. The fits are endless!

[Cassius]

I think I've said this before, but this forum (at least in terms of its regular posters) is primarily liberal in outlook. That's not to diminish the great variety within this outlook (spanning the gamut from left to right liberalism, to put it crudely), nor the fact that there are clumps of posters outside this particular umbrella (ie Evergreen in the left and Classic Conservative on the right), but it's basically true that most posters in here have a largely liberal (and "enlightenment" influenced) view of how human society should function, they just disagree on the means as to reach that objective.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Asking any objective Atlas users - Has this forum actually moved significantly towards one ideology or the other over the past 1 - 2 years? Because if this in any way has anything to do with Trump, I'd like to think that no one here is confusing a general intolerance for a sham candidate like Trump with moving left.

not in the last couple, years, no.   

but in the last decade, since Naso's early days on the forum, there's been a huge change in what positions are considered mainstream liberal.  Civil unions but not gay marriage used to be an acceptable center-left position.  Drug legalization was the province of the lefty and libertarian fringe.  Transgender issues were not on anyone's radar and were not politicized.  And this has dramatically affected forum content.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

You're more than welcome over at AAD, Michael.  No colored avatars over there.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

This message board has really vaulted insane left. Like...bad. I can't continue to risk a heart attack due to the political trolling of liberals.

Farewell, friends.

Join AAD, Mike.  It's a can of corn!

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I'm quite surprised that this forum is full of "establishment" friendly Democrats who hate Sanders and love the Clintons. I wouldn't call it a "hard left" forum either, this place just hates Republicans, but it's not like Reddit where they love Sanders.

They hate Sanders because his supporters tended to be too white and male for their taste and being an SJW/PC-warrior is very, very important.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

I'm quite surprised that this forum is full of "establishment" friendly Democrats who hate Sanders and love the Clintons. I wouldn't call it a "hard left" forum either, this place just hates Republicans, but it's not like Reddit where they love Sanders.

They hate Sanders because his supporters tended to be too white and male for their taste and being an SJW/PC-warrior is very, very important.

as (i think) the forum's foremost sjw bogeywoman, i gotta tell you that's all kinds of backwards

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I'm quite surprised that this forum is full of "establishment" friendly Democrats who hate Sanders and love the Clintons. I wouldn't call it a "hard left" forum either, this place just hates Republicans, but it's not like Reddit where they love Sanders.

They hate Sanders because his supporters tended to be too white and male for their taste and being an SJW/PC-warrior is very, very important.

as (i think) the forum's foremost sjw bogeywoman, i gotta tell you that's all kinds of backwards

Didn't say they do it RIGHT. 

[IceSpear]

They hate Sanders because his supporters tended to be too white and male for their taste and being an SJW/PC-warrior is very, very important.

I disagree. For a forum filled with politically-inclined young people, we have remarkably few SJW-type members. Moreover, those members fitting that description who come to mind are mostly Sanders supporters. The crowd of vehemently anti-Sanders Democrats tend to have more in common with what we would have referred to a few years ago as the Very Serious People, and they deploy the Bernie Bro caricature more for the sake of browbeating their opposition than out of any real concern about patriarchy, white supremacy, or anything like that.

Or we're just regular Democrats who think Hillary is the better candidate. My PM scores are both to the left of yours, lol.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

They hate Sanders because his supporters tended to be too white and male for their taste and being an SJW/PC-warrior is very, very important.

I disagree. For a forum filled with politically-inclined young people, we have remarkably few SJW-type members. Moreover, those members fitting that description who come to mind are mostly Sanders supporters. The crowd of vehemently anti-Sanders Democrats tend to have more in common with what we would have referred to a few years ago as the Very Serious People, and they deploy the Bernie Bro caricature more for the sake of browbeating their opposition than out of any real concern about patriarchy, white supremacy, or anything like that.

Browbeating?  Well, speak for yourself, but I hardly find Clintonites intimidating.  I find their claims to what they percieve to be the moral high ground to be cheap and symbolic.  Pretty much, our constituency looks more dark than yours and lol @ rednecks in WV har har har... Check out my moderate pragmatism while you're at it!

[traininthedistance]

They hate Sanders because his supporters tended to be too white and male for their taste and being an SJW/PC-warrior is very, very important.

I disagree. For a forum filled with politically-inclined young people, we have remarkably few SJW-type members. Moreover, those members fitting that description who come to mind are mostly Sanders supporters. The crowd of vehemently anti-Sanders Democrats tend to have more in common with what we would have referred to a few years ago as the Very Serious People, and they deploy the Bernie Bro caricature more for the sake of browbeating their opposition than out of any real concern about patriarchy, white supremacy, or anything like that.

With all due respect, this is some goddamn nonsense. Thanks for erasing me.

To clarify: if you really believe that I'm lying about my motivations when I say that things like harassment and implicit bias are Real Problems... that would be good to know going forward.  In particular I'd appreciate a clarification as to whether you agree that they are problems and you think people who complain about Bernie Bros are all just lying shills, or if you just systematically don't think people are allowed to point those behaviors out from any side.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

They hate Sanders because his supporters tended to be too white and male for their taste and being an SJW/PC-warrior is very, very important.

I disagree. For a forum filled with politically-inclined young people, we have remarkably few SJW-type members. Moreover, those members fitting that description who come to mind are mostly Sanders supporters. The crowd of vehemently anti-Sanders Democrats tend to have more in common with what we would have referred to a few years ago as the Very Serious People, and they deploy the Bernie Bro caricature more for the sake of browbeating their opposition than out of any real concern about patriarchy, white supremacy, or anything like that.

With all due respect, this is some goddamn nonsense. Thanks for erasing me.

To clarify: if you really believe that I'm lying about my motivations when I say that things like harassment and implicit bias are Real Problems... that would be good to know going forward.  In particular I'd appreciate a clarification as to whether you agree that they are problems and you think people who complain about Bernie Bros are all just lying shills, or if you just systematically don't think people are allowed to point those behaviors out from any side.

i wouldn't have put you in the group of "vehemently anti-sanders democrats"

[traininthedistance]

They hate Sanders because his supporters tended to be too white and male for their taste and being an SJW/PC-warrior is very, very important.

I disagree. For a forum filled with politically-inclined young people, we have remarkably few SJW-type members. Moreover, those members fitting that description who come to mind are mostly Sanders supporters. The crowd of vehemently anti-Sanders Democrats tend to have more in common with what we would have referred to a few years ago as the Very Serious People, and they deploy the Bernie Bro caricature more for the sake of browbeating their opposition than out of any real concern about patriarchy, white supremacy, or anything like that.

With all due respect, this is some goddamn nonsense. Thanks for erasing me.

To clarify: if you really believe that I'm lying about my motivations when I say that things like harassment and implicit bias are Real Problems... that would be good to know going forward.  In particular I'd appreciate a clarification as to whether you agree that they are problems and you think people who complain about Bernie Bros are all just lying shills, or if you just systematically don't think people are allowed to point those behaviors out from any side.

i wouldn't have put you in the group of "vehemently anti-sanders democrats"

I'm pretty strongly anti-BernieBro, you know that.  I've historically felt positive about Sanders but certain of his campaign's recent actions raise the depressing possibility that he's been getting high on his own stash and encouraging genuinely bad behavior.  We'll see how he decides to move forward, let's put it that way.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Kinda disappointed with Train in this thread. He's one of my favorite posters.

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

You're more than welcome over at AAD, Michael.  No colored avatars over there.

What IS AAD?

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

You're more than welcome over at AAD, Michael.  No colored avatars over there.

What IS AAD?

side forum with laxer (read: no) moderation. can find it at atlasafterdark.freeforums.net (although you won't be able to read anything until hokey approves your account)

[Gustaf]

They hate Sanders because his supporters tended to be too white and male for their taste and being an SJW/PC-warrior is very, very important.

I disagree. For a forum filled with politically-inclined young people, we have remarkably few SJW-type members. Moreover, those members fitting that description who come to mind are mostly Sanders supporters. The crowd of vehemently anti-Sanders Democrats tend to have more in common with what we would have referred to a few years ago as the Very Serious People, and they deploy the Bernie Bro caricature more for the sake of browbeating their opposition than out of any real concern about patriarchy, white supremacy, or anything like that.

With all due respect, this is some goddamn nonsense. Thanks for erasing me.

To clarify: if you really believe that I'm lying about my motivations when I say that things like harassment and implicit bias are Real Problems... that would be good to know going forward.  In particular I'd appreciate a clarification as to whether you agree that they are problems and you think people who complain about Bernie Bros are all just lying shills, or if you just systematically don't think people are allowed to point those behaviors out from any side.

What a fatuous comment. I wish that I had seen it earlier.

First of all, I do not group you among the "vehemently anti-Sanders" crowd. I can understand why you would assume that you are a member, as you do have a knack for latching on to their critiques in a particularly fervent, me-too-ish kind of way. And, somehow, it seems not to bother you much that many of the most vocal posters in this category are also among the forum's most notorious bullies, which, in terms of character judgments, ought to matter a lot more anyone's failure to repudiate off-site Bernie Bros with sufficient vigor or frequency.* But I was not referring to you.

To be clear, online harassment is vile and stupid. Sexist attacks on Hillary Clinton or any other woman in either public or private life are vile and stupid. Implicit bias, particularly toward women in positions of power, is real. I do my best to be conscious of this, I criticize this behavior when I recognize it, and I mostly ignore those who refuse to listen to my appeals. Moreover, I find it obnoxious that you would ask me to "clarify" whether I really believe that any of this is meaningful or important. If my behavior around here has left the answer to this question in any doubt, what good does even the most unequivocal response do? If I doubted anyone else's credibility on the subject on the basis of his or her behavior, I would probably not care how he or she responded.

* In this vein, there is a tendency, both within this community and among just about any other group with a large share of college-educated members, toward calling out the most obvious and troglodytic harassment while ignoring anyone who is eloquent and savvy enough to be nasty, prejudiced and unfair in a more sophisticated way. What is trivial to recognize in an illiterate rant is not necessarily so obvious when it is couched in the kind of language that (for instance) outwardly sensitive, left-leaning professionals with liberal arts backgrounds tend to use.

The asterisked part is something that bothers me as well. Elements of the left often fail to recognize hatred and bigotry within their own ranks when couched in the right buzzwords and linguistic style.