I was looking at the panel on the far right side of the home page, and I noticed that there are more guests and robots on this site than members! Seems as if members posting here has dropped off big time.
I always check to see what the robots are up to. Sometimes they're actually scanning member profiles ... kind of creepy, but I think their perfectly innocent otherwise. I've queried topics on Google that have returned results from PF. I think that robots tasked with the query appear on the PF visitors list. Just my theory though. I've noticed the absence of many forum posters too. I think the election has played a role in that. Noticing some knew members, with very familiar views though. ::
Yep and it's fascinating to see how many of them are very obviously the very same foam-at-the-brain-pan leftists whom were howling that not only would Hillary Clinton be our next president but that she would beat Trump like a cheap rug in the process of winning. Once it turned out to be the complete opposite reality, then a lot of those names vanished and then returned as other posters; but they forgot -- or were unable -- to alter their posting styles as well. Anyway after Trump won I took three quarters of the year off from posting due to 'Giving a Damn' burnout. I'm back simply because it never gets old metaphorically-ramming leftist heads through the walls of their own tissue paper thin arguments. Finest kind!
I'm afraid we're going to be left to debate nothing but Ivankas shoes, and Trumps tweets soon. The Uranium 1 investigations are going to sour a lot of liberal posters.
Perhaps but then again we have all grown accustomed to the Right merely putting on a show where these investigations into Dem corruption is concerned. Neither of the Benghazi investigations ended up going anywhere because despite the towering reputations of the Republican chairs of those committees very clearly they were strictly for vote gathering political theater and were never MEANT to result in anything substantial coming from them. Yes, I am a political cynic. But I am going somewhere with this. What is going to happen is that the investigations will last long enough to more or less spike the Dem generated and controlled investigation into Trump and company in regards to that bogus Russian collusion issue. So while plenty of our leftists will be getting agitated as it becomes more of Bill and Hillary did this and Obama smiled and nodded while they did those illegal things . . . nothing ultimately will come of it because the Republicans in charge of the investigations really don't WANT anything to come of it but more politically advantageous theater. The end result may be the balance of posting re-shifting into the favor of the leftists as more and more of them flood into this forums system to protect their side. Meh . . . but we shall have to wait and see.
I don't know a lot of the old posters well enough to be able to pick them out, but I don't doubt it. Since posting on these forums, I've seen first hand just how dishonest people can be. It's pretty disturbing if you ask me.
Right? I remember basically the outcome of that investigation was that Hillary did it. She leaked classified data. She is just too stupid and ignorant to know any better, so we can't hold her responsible. Ridiculous. That woman should have not even been allowed to run for office. She is so shady and untrustworthy.
Well I was thinking about Benghazi rather than the private server issue; but I will note that no matter how much they discovered not only did she not end up behind bars but she never got arrested and nor appeared before a judge -- or even a grand jury for that matter. My conclusion is that it was all just for political show on the Right and something that they cynically used to keep their base interested and energized for the approaching 2016 presidential contest.
I think that it is hard to jail a politician, just like a celebrity. People who have money and friends in high places, all of that stuff. They have connections and money and that is how they stay out of jail. They aren't "commoners" like the rest of us suckers!
Unless they do something that is a blatant illegal activity, most politicians are going to get their "get out of jail free" card from the powers that be.
I think a lot of what you might think is dishonesty, is simply posters parroting media. MSM lays out a narrative, and follows up with it's talking points. Some are willing to accept media narratives at their face value, because the story simply validates their feelings.
Congressional committees are toothless. Investigation can reveal circumstances that warrant criminal prosecution, but as we've seen, prosecution can be declined. It's critical that Rosenstein & McCabe be removed. Sessions must prosecute suspected conspirators, even if he doesn't think he can win. Political appointees, and cronies have to be put on notice. Either uphold high ethical standards, and transparency, or face legal consequence.
What stops me posting very often is the partisanship from both sides. There is little true debate just both sides parroting the party line and petty point scoring and distractions from the subject at hand when the opposition makes a fair point. I'm begining to think that the majority of Americans are incapable of honest political debate.
I don't usually chat on a personal level. Stories, personal accounts, that sometimes resemble a topic too closely, I take with a grain of salt. I usually suggest that their individual experience doesn't necessarily represent the norm, and move on. No sense in accusing someone of fabricating personal accounts that I can't disprove. Which reminds me of the time I .... ::
No, I mean in threads and about things they are arguing about. They always make up their own "facts." Maybe they just don't know what a fact is?
True, and there comes a point when you just give up on trying and just make fun instead. Lol. Once you get involved, then it kind of is a perpetuating endless and pointless thing. Although there was this one time where I did actually change someone's mind about something, so that was kind of rewarding.
I disagree that there are too few posters. When a thread gets to 500 posts in a couple of days you know nobody has read every page and the same points are going to be repeated over and over again. Half of the posts are just going to be insults and strawmen anyway. I recommend a cull, anyone proved to never engage in good faith should be ex-communicated.
Liberals do muddle facts with their own perceptions. They tend to believe everythings open to interpretation. Popular consensus dictates what their willing to accept as factual. Collectivism is a real phenomenon. ArmySoldier has an excellent quote on his profile. "If everybody's thinking alike, somebody isn't thinking". I've seen outright dishonesty, but usually the poster will feign being misinformed, or double down by citing some blog.
Not necessarily. Claiming judging a person's post by what you perceive to be an "implication" so you can excommunicate them is unjust. Better to just ask "Do Conservatives muddle facts with their own perceptions?" and discuss the answer.
So I've offended you by suggesting liberal posters, for the most part, aren't purposely deceitful? Have it as you like. I'm sure there are conservatives that skew facts as well, but IMO liberals are more prone to it. Particularly when racism is inevitably injected into topics far removed from social issues.