Going behind the scenes...

[Sam Spade]

I've been extremely busy this week, and as usual when I get particularly busy, it gives me time to think about the way I spend my time (or maybe more appropriately waste my time).  I have done some of that this week.

To start off, I am generally dissatisfied with this site.  I think it has become overrun by political hacks (about 80/20 leftist idiots), trolls and posters with the intelligence of a 5-year old.  Many of the posters I respect post much less than they used to or don't post at all. (and yes there are some posters here I still respect a lot).  When more than two-thirds of the recent threads in the US General Discussion board are posters giving opinions about elected politicians or jfern posting links to Daily Kos, I instinctively know that the level of discussion has fallen beneath juvenile.

To this end, I am cutting down my participation in this forum to rare (like the steak).  I am not leaving, but I will making considerably less appearances around here.  I admit that I will probably become more interested in this site as election time moves closer.  Also, my participation level may move up if conversation improves and posting quality is better.  Or maybe if I have more time.

That is all, really.

[Alcon]

Sorry to hear that.  I hope you'll consider sticking around in some of the demographic/trend topics -- you have a lot to contribute there, and they're pretty much troll-free.

[bullmoose88]

Good Luck Spade

[MAS117]

Sorry to see you go Sam. We all know how hard it is to leave here, lol. We've all tried numerous times. I agree with what you said though, I am too becoming dissatisfied with the overall nature of the forum part of the website.

[KEmperor]

I totally understand.  I have similar opinions about the quality of the political discussion on this forum, which is why I don't debate politics here anymore and only post silly posts nowadays.

[J. J.]

I'm sorry to see you cut back, but a number of liberal posters are thoughtful.

[opebo]

What a pompous lad! 

[© tweed]

I've been extremely busy this week, and as usual when I get particularly busy, it gives me time to think about the way I spend my time (or maybe more appropriately waste my time).  I have done some of that this week.

To start off, I am generally dissatisfied with this site.  I think it has become overrun by political hacks (about 80/20 leftist idiots), trolls and posters with the intelligence of a 5-year old.  Many of the posters I respect post much less than they used to or don't post at all. (and yes there are some posters here I still respect a lot).  When more than two-thirds of the recent threads in the US General Discussion board are posters giving opinions about elected politicians or jfern posting links to Daily Kos, I instinctively know that the level of discussion has fallen beneath juvenile.

To this end, I am cutting down my participation in this forum to rare (like the steak).  I am not leaving, but I will making considerably less appearances around here.  I admit that I will probably become more interested in this site as election time moves closer.  Also, my participation level may move up if conversation improves and posting quality is better.  Or maybe if I have more time.

That is all, really.

I love you too!

[Sam Spade]

What a pompous lad! 

Coming from you, that's quite a compliment.

I assume you're still mooching off your parents, while living in Thailand and banging Thai men who dress up as women, right?

Hope you enjoy your existence and may many STDs hit you as you move into your senior years.

[Sam Spade]

I'm sorry to see you cut back, but a number of liberal posters are thoughtful.

This is of course true.  I can think of a number off the top of my head: Lewis Trondheim and Beet have always been two of favorite posters at this forum.  And a number of conservative posters clearly aren't thoughtful. 

I think the substance of my post may have been misconstrued; the overrunning of this forum by political hacks has occurred by many "recent" posters who tend to be liberal. 

One could handle jfern, BRTD and opebo when they were the exceptions; but when people actually start agreeing with them and parroting their viewpoints, then we're down a road I would prefer not to go.  For those who can't understand, it would be like DWTL cloned himself about 20 times and put the clones on this forum.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

I think the substance of my post may have been misconstrued; the overrunning of this forum by political hacks has occurred by many "recent" posters who tend to be liberal. 

What has also happened is that a lot of us have been on this forum for at least a year and have exhausted many of the arguments that divide us.  In many cases, regular forum members have simply agreed to disagree. 

And then, of course, there are those hacks who simply refuse to confront their own logical inconsistencies, who spew out nothing but labels.  But most of us come to this forum willing to discuss how we arrived at our conclusions.   And we have done just that.

Hopefully, after all has been said, all of us will learn to reexamine our assumptions that led us to our initial conclusions.

[opebo]

What a pompous lad! 

Coming from you, that's quite a compliment.

I assume you're still mooching off your parents, while living in Thailand and banging Thai men who dress up as women, right?

Hope you enjoy your existence and may many STDs hit you as you move into your senior years.

Such hostility!  Anyway you're out of date.. I've been working for a year 'teaching' in a Thai school upcountry.  As for mooching, if memory serves you're a rich boy even more than I, Spadesy. 

[DownWithTheLeft]

it would be like DWTL cloned himself about 20 times and put the clones on this forum.

I tried that once, the account got banned

[Gustaf]

Well, given the last 4 posts I can't really argue that you should stay.

But, as Alcon said, certain sections are still free of the plague. You should stick to those parts. And there are still enough good people here that there is room for interesting discussions.

[Citizen James]

Ah, yet another flounce.   You'll be back like an Austrian bodybuilder with political ambitions.

Have a nice vacation.  See you soon.

[DownWithTheLeft]

It was subtle, but an attack nevertheless, which I tried reporting several times but nothing was done about it. That was the last straw.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=54426.msg1142310#msg1142310

This thread had nothing to do w/u and guess what?  Environmentalists are not immune to criticism. 

[Gustaf]

Like Sam Spade, I will be leaving the forum only I will be leaving permanently. I have become very disappointed that it has gone downhill with the decrease in quality posters (on both sides) and the increase in hacks (on both sides though mostly from the right). Also, the "apology" I got from dwtl for calling me an eco-terrorist was not sincere, since shortly afterward I noticed yet another attack. It was subtle, but an attack nevertheless, which I tried reporting several times but nothing was done about it. That was the last straw.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=54426.msg1142310#msg1142310

I am also quite disappointed that we cannot delete our accounts. This is the only forum I know of in which this is the case.

Lol, talk about over-sensitive. DWTL lashes out at everyone who doesn't hold his own inconsistent weirdo positions. I wouldn't take it that personally.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Sorry to hear that...

I hope I wasn't in any way responisible for this...

[Colin]

Sorry to hear about that Sam but I can't say that I disagree with you.

[Cubby]

Well Sam I am kind of offended. I think I am one of the "leftist" hacks you are referring to, although I didn't join recently. I sent you a PM asking for your knowledge about Texas counties a few weeks ago and you just ignored me. So I tried to have the kind of conversation you say you long for, but you just don't like me for whatever reason.

You have to understand the threat that I feel right-wing Christian Southerners pose to my way of life. You don't have to take my (sometimes comical) South-phobia personally. I know damn well Texas doesn't lynch people anymore, but behind my "elitism" is some fear.

I feel sad when long time posters announce they are leaving. I don't understand their frustration and annoyance. Keystone Phil and PBrunsel left for awhile, even though we never agree, they are smart posters and I'm glad they are back. Hopefully J-Mann, Dazzleman and others will come back too.

Part of the reason you are seeing so many leftists right now is because the Bush Administration is imploding before us and the Democrats haven't had such good luck since 1974-76. If the forum has too many "leftist hacks" (which I don't agree on), maybe its because the times they are a changing.

[Sam Spade]

What a pompous lad! 

Coming from you, that's quite a compliment.

I assume you're still mooching off your parents, while living in Thailand and banging Thai men who dress up as women, right?

Hope you enjoy your existence and may many STDs hit you as you move into your senior years.

Such hostility!  Anyway you're out of date.. I've been working for a year 'teaching' in a Thai school upcountry.  As for mooching, if memory serves you're a rich boy even more than I, Spadesy. 

Just because I come from some wealth does not mean that I'm wasting away my life.  I intend to become self-sufficient as a lawyer, marry, have kids, etc.

All the same, I'm glad to see your parents finally cut you off.  It's about time.

[Sam Spade]

Like Sam Spade, I will be leaving the forum only I will be leaving permanently. I have become very disappointed that it has gone downhill with the decrease in quality posters (on both sides) and the increase in hacks (on both sides though mostly from the right). Also, the "apology" I got from dwtl for calling me an eco-terrorist was not sincere, since shortly afterward I noticed yet another attack. It was subtle, but an attack nevertheless, which I tried reporting several times but nothing was done about it. That was the last straw.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=54426.msg1142310#msg1142310

I am also quite disappointed that we cannot delete our accounts. This is the only forum I know of in which this is the case.

Sorry, you're leaving too, texasindy.  Even though I suspect we disagree on many things, you have always been very courteous to me and on the forum generally. 

I also suspect you might not see what I see happening in terms of the hackery in the forum (perhaps because I remember what the forum was 1-2 years ago), but that's ok.  We're each sensitive to our own versions of what's going on and sometimes we both reach the correct conclusion which is true in this case.

Finally, let me say that I agree 100% with you:  DWTL is quite an idiot, one of the worst on this forum.

[Sam Spade]

Ah, yet another flounce.   You'll be back like an Austrian bodybuilder with political ambitions.

Have a nice vacation.  See you soon.

Didn't see I was leaving.  Just cutting back, that's all.    See you around.

[Sam Spade]

Sorry to hear that...

I hope I wasn't in any way responisible for this...

Nope.  Can't say that you were.  Actually, this is going to sound terrible, but I can't even say I noticed you at all.

[Citizen James]

Sorry to hear that...

I hope I wasn't in any way responisible for this...

I doubt it. 

This is just your typical flounce.  Waaah.  People won't echo my opinions and dare to disagree with me.  Waaah.  It isn't fair!  Waaah.  People should tell me what I want to hear, not what they think.   I'm going to announce to everyone that I'm leaving, and I'm so incredibly important that everyone will miss me and realize the errors of their ways.

There are sites which already exist to cater to this sort of attitude (free republic, DU, etc.)

If this place doesn't work for someone, they should just stop coming.  There are reasons why many boards have rules against this sort of childish behavior.

Notice the amount of name calling in the OP.  Were I to play the therapist, I would wonder if this poster were experiencing cognitive dissonance regarding their previous beliefs compared with current events and evidence.   It's hard to be a Bush supporter these days - there is a lot of evidence of not so nice things coming out of the administration - and for some people changing ones mind in the light of new evidence (known to some as flip-flopping) is considered a fate worse than death.  Well, perhaps not that bad, but when someone has invested so much of their self-esteem and self-image in certain beliefs and political views change can be filled with pain and uncertanty - which is likely why some avoid it at all costs.