Is there any right-wing internet message board that you think is at least "rational?"

[Syrinx]

I guess Free Republic is the most famous right-wing message board. But I don't think it makes the cut for "rational."

Free Republic, and I use that term "loosely," seems to be made up of hard-core, racist, anti-women "traditionalists," hell-bent on preserving whatever shreds of pro-white, anti-black, misogynist gay-bashing that they can save from the flames of history. And they perversely turn those claims against anyone that calls Palin superficial, or Bachmann dumb, or crazy.

And they personally make a millionaire of a Medicare receiving enemy of government programs, that is worshiped by the likes of a hateful, Christ-spouting harpy (defined as either a malicious woman or a fruit bat), sending their hard-earned money to the post office in Fresno.

Then some message boarders get kicked off, and vow to start a more fair site. But it turns out that they are only rebelling against their abusive daddy, and they still harbor the same old hatreds.

They still hate liberals. And gays. And Muslims. And Unitarians. And advocates of peace.

But they still have a certain affection for mid-century Germans, and modern-day dictators.

Is their a right-wing message board that you profess any respect for?

I haven't found one yet.

[Uben]

1. Arguing with idiots goes nowhere.......

...so why bother? I gave that shit up years ago. A total waste of time.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. The terms 'rational' and 'right wing' are polar opposites

I'd sooner sell all my possessions and embark upon a quest for remnants of The One True Cross than waste my time perusing conservatroid message boards in search of 'rationality.'

[baldguy]

3. "Not all conservative people are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative."

[HughBeaumont]

4. I can't.

When you refute facts to believe a story that conforms to your hatred, you've lost all credibility. And that, part and parcel, is what a great deal of Republican beliefs are based upon: fear, hatred, paranoia, distrust, superiority and selfishness.

A prime example would be Reaganomics. It rotates around the myth of "benevolent betters"; the ones who are successful because they, without a stitch of question, "worked harder than everyone else, hence are more deserving of keeping all of their wealth" and need all the wealth possible so they can create jobs. It's utter bullshit because a) everyone works hard but aren't always successful for a myriad of reasons Repubs won't listen to, b) this premise is used as an excuse to get out of paying their fair share of taxes, and c) job creation doesn't always result from stacked wealth inequality (example: the last 10 years).

Another would be viewing social programs as "entitlements"; which, again, is based on hatred/distrust/superiority of a group of people. It's also mired in not-so-veiled racism and misogyny.

[Demstud]

5. I don't see those things as particularly compatable

right wing and rationality I mean. Many of the stances that define the right wing seem pretty irrational to me. In general they are based more on personal prejudices, religious teachings, and tradition. None of which often lend themselves well to rational discussions :-P And yeah, that tends to occur on the left sometimes too, but I usually find the intent more honest and noble. Or maybe I just don't notice it as much sense irrational lefties don't have nearly as much political power as the irrational righties, lol.

[mmonk]

6. No.

The days of intellectual conservatism died with William F. Buckley.

[Submariner]

7. That's an impossibility

If you are right wing then you are for (for starters):

Ruining the environment with mountain-top removal mining, dumping toxins into waterways, eliminating endangered species protections, removing safety nets that results in people dying sooner, and although republicans claim to be patriotic, the truth is that they are NOT.

There is no more fitting proof of that than in the run-up to the 2004 RNC convention. It blew my mind at the time to see republicans mocking our wounded and dead troops by wearing Purple Heart embossed Band-Aids. We all know they were targeting Kerry, but underneath the meaning was quite clear. "You can fight and die for us, but don't ever show that you are a Democrat and run against us, or we will disembowel you via character assassination." To me there is no more low life than a hypocrite claiming support Troops and Veterans, but in reality would lower themselves to mock a Purple Heart veteran, to the point of claiming he shot himself...twice.

How can one have a rational conversation with a repuke who would have no rational defense.

[SpiralHawk]

14. When the chickenhawk Republicons mocked our honorable US veterans

-- while cheering wildly for AWOL Bush and 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney, they lost all credibility with decent Americans who did not SHIRK their responsibilities to the USA.

[Saturday]

16. Exactly. nt

[WVRICK13]

8. Right Wing and Rational

Now that is a true contradiction of terms.

[leveymg]

9. Not a message board, but definitely conservative: National Review Online. Rational? At times.

My Dad, who was an Adlai Stevenson Democrat, started me reading TNR when I was 12. But, he also gave me a copy of Ramparts at the same time. So, I guess he trusted me to make up my own mind about these things.

[Jim__]

10. There aren't many internet message boards that could be labeled "rational"

And, any that can be, are strictly monitored and censored. An unfortunate aspect of an open internet is that the irrational spew their hate all over it. The irrational drowns out anything rational.

[Buzz Clik]

11. Your thread has been up for an hour. Review the responses, and ask the same question about DUers.

Are they all rational?

Is there any justification for the level of hate that oozes from this website on a daily basis?

DUers are so used to being able to puke unbridled insanity that too many of them never pause a moment before pounding out their next screed.

It's the nature of partisan bulletin boards to discourage the expression of rational thought.

[WinkyDink]

13. Wow. "Level of hate," "oozes," "puke unbridled insanity," "screed": KNOW THYSELF.

Are you somehow suggesting that RIGHT-WING---the OP's SPECIFIC term---ideology be given CREDENCE and RESPECT here?

I'd like to hear more on this one. Let's hear your "rational" "respect for" Grover Norquist, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Antonin Scalia, et alli.

[Buzz Clik]

17. Read the thread. I won't apologize for my observation.

[datasuspect]

18. the site traffic here is probably 68% disruptors and trolls

that explains that. next question.

[Buzz Clik]

25. 68%. Yes, that does explain it. And 29.2% are paid teabaggers.

The admins and owners of this site have made the conscious decision to allow all 68% of them to stay and raise hell. We aren't helpless here. We are who we have chosen to be.

[sufrommich]

19. Partisan boards will always attract nuts. And yes, I've seen

the DU equivalent of Freepers too. I don't envy anybody who owns a political board trying to balance between real sane discussion and outright crazy,I think it may be an impossible feat.

[Buzz Clik]

26. True, but the DU brass have decided that this is who we are.

It's a bit ugly.

[sufrommich]

29. I agree. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Then why stick around?

I think I am more fascinated by the DUers who complain about the negativity than the supposed negativity.

:rofl:

[Buzz Clik]

27. What a coincidence! I'm fascinated by people who are fascinated by complainers more than substance.

I'm serious. And I'm staying.

[WinkyDink]

12. Why would anyone here have "respect for" ANYTHING RIGHT-WING? The notion defines "daftness."

[Buzz Clik]

28. Intentional irony, or unintentional?

[Blue-Jay]

15. I wouldn't know.

It's not really something I spend time looking for.

[datasuspect]

20. the point everyone is missing: NEWSPAPER COMMENTS SECTIONS

on websites.

these people either must all be paid or at least all getting their information from similar sources.

they accuse minorities who assert questions based on valid racial grievances of "playing the race card." almost in unison. the message is consistent and it does not vary. the fundamental racist nature of the allegation "playing the race card" is code for racists to understand each other and to reclaim power and lost white prestige.

their posts exhibit a hostile, mean-spirited authoritarianism where people echo "good job" in response to stories about police brutality.

i am always dumbfounded by the sheer illiteracy and sociopathy of the comments that i read. the most unnerving part is that they are so numerous across so many newspapers and so consistent: it's very effective marketing.

but it's batshit insane.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. They also change the subject by engaging in personal attacks

and prying for personal information.

My local paper has also set up a couple political blogs that the wingnuts have completely taken over. And about every third comment they call the paper 'commie' or 'red' or a 'liberal rag'. Yet the majority of the people commenting are right wingers.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Nope. Not that I know of.

[starroute]

24. I've run across libertarian boards that seemed pretty rational

I don't remember the names offhand. But I do recall that back in 2009 they were having an influx of Tea Partiers, and I'd sometimes be googling and find a thread with libertarians or Ron Paul followers trying to explain to the Tea Party types why some of their theories about Obama were just plain nuts.

I've also run across more general-purpose boards where right-anarchists and left-anarchists seemed to be able to have civil discussions.

[treestar]

30. Probably not. On occasion I run across somewhat rational

conservatives - they honestly believe in the free market, but don't believe in racism (though they think the free market alone will solve it, they honestly believe it will work). They don't believe in birther crap or the like.

But get a bunch of them together, and the rational ones are a minority.

[jberryhill]

31. The nature of Internet message boards

...is that highly motivated individuals with a lot of spare time dominate the discussions.

Not all of them are the most rational.