Cloak Room Sucks

[Guest]

2 hours ago, troph said:

It’s not a dilemma - those posters didn’t lose their minds in CR but become amazing contributors elsewhere on the board - not sure if you’ve noticed the Republican Party ran off the road to the far right. There are plenty of former horn fans posters here - myself included - and live and let live types but there’s not a rational second party. If you’d pay attention you’d realize there are dozens and dozen and dozens of reluctant democratic voters here. 

Agreed for the most part. 

2 hours ago, Captainant said:

Hey real quick, just a temp check: was the 2020 election stolen?

Not at all. Which, to this and troph’s post, explain the increasingly leftist movement. I get it. And I realize I’m speaking to two of the most prolific CR’ers. 

So while there’s not much to cheer about while the former president has hijacked a lot and given rise to true deplorables, the tone is absolutely ridiculous. 

Guess we can add $9.95 to the boards hijacked by CR. 

[Neonmoon 38129]

5 hours ago, BP44 said:

And I realize I’m speaking to two of the most prolific CR’ers. 

How would you know that? You just joined 14 hours ago. 

Unless…

[G650 14229]

8 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Then again, humor takes a modicum of self-reflect, wit, and erudite literacy.

And this is the crux of the matter, in this thread that has now been, what the third one spun off the shaggy is dead thread(?), and the one in recruiting.

[YGIFS 19449]

I’m sure I’ll regret asking but what specific thread in recruiting are people butt hurt about?  And when did it go off the reservation?

[G650 14229]

Just now, YGIFS said:

I’m sure I’ll regret asking but what specific thread in recruiting are people butt hurt about?  And when did it go off the reservation?

 

As far as I know, the shaggy dead thread became what can surly do better, then somehow got transported to recruiting of all places and rename state of surly of something, then this one got spun off and put back in board discussion.

[Dbeasy 15039]

5 hours ago, BP44 said:

Agreed for the most part. 

Not at all. Which, to this and troph’s post, explain the increasingly leftist movement. I get it. And I realize I’m speaking to two of the most prolific CR’ers. 

So while there’s not much to cheer about while the former president has hijacked a lot and given rise to true deplorables, the tone is absolutely ridiculous. 

Guess we can add $9.95 to the boards hijacked by CR. 

You keep pushing this view. How about listing out some examples of the looniness? And what on the 9.95 board are you referencing?

 

[Captainant 27618]

37 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

You keep pushing this view. How about listing out some examples of the looniness? And what on the 9.95 board are you referencing?

 

Oh you know, it's the threads that many people are saying

[TwiceHorn 31431]

Well, maybe the "tone is ridiculous" because that former president, that you seem to agree is a malignant shitfunnel, has also hijacked the entire right wing of American politics and turned it into something ridiculous and deplorable.

There really isn't a whole ton of "ideology" in cloak room, it's really mostly factual vs. counter-factual, cruel vs. kind or at least not cruel, and performative pandering vs. policy-based politics.

I'm not a fan of banning/crowdsourcing and labeling dissent trolling.  But it does so happen that most "dissent" from the prevailing anti-Trump, anti-GOP sentiment comes in poorly defended and sourced from counterfactual information.

[The Dude 1244]

15 hours ago, BP44 said:

Your problem - your entire problem - is the lack of separation of Cloak Room from the rest of the site. You’ll never have an anchor sponsor with this setup, unless it’s some rando fringe Austin group. Not only are the politics wildly left, it’s such an echo chamber that the posters there think they’re mainstream. They’re emboldened to post in other forums and are like a terrible virus to the site. I can’t believe how you haven’t learned this. 

Most people want to come here to talk Texas football first, pro sports and other Texas sports second, and then current events / TV/movies / business. If they want a political forum outlet, it should be separate from the group. 

I have no idea what you are talking about. Are you perhaps letting your experiences in the CR taint your perception in other boards?  I don’t go into the CR and I don’t see any of what you are describing 

[956 Worldwide 34692]

DT has some of the very best threads not just on the site, but the internet— Ukraine updates and the dog thread.  CR is not going to be hampering sponsors.
 

And plenty if not most CFB and sports sites have a sub to keep political discussion contained. The What is the motivation to come on here and whine about it.  

[G650 14229]

14 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

The What is the motivation to come on here and whine about it.  

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

You keep pushing this view. How about listing out some examples of the looniness? And what on the 9.95 board are you referencing?

 

I keep pushing it because I firmly believe it, and it’s obvious. I’m not going to list examples for anyone - they are there for all to see. The purpose of the thread initially was to solicit feedback. Now, immamac has oddly separated the threads. The original one was in $9.95. 

[G650 14229]

12 minutes ago, BP44 said:

The original one was in $9.95. 

No it wasn't

[cactusflinthead 27598]

8 minutes ago, BP44 said:

immamac has oddly separated the threads

Because of you. It was rolling along fine until you had to start this shit. 

Your first post was in the OP four hours after registering. So excuse me if no one believes you are a first timer that emerged from lurking. 

[Guest]

Just now, cactusflinthead said:

Because of you. It was rolling along fine until you had to start this shit. 

Your first post was in the OP four hours after registering. So excuse me if no one believes you are a first timer that emerged from lurking. 

I’d never start a thread here bitching about the CR.  @immamacplease delete this thread.  The context is lost due to your separation of threads. 

I never said I was a first timer. 

[cactusflinthead 27598]

Oh fuck no do NOT delete it.

Let it shine. 

 

[YGIFS 19449]

Let me guess, you're gonna list out the evidentiary posts in TWO WEEKS!  ???

There's fair criticism to go all around.  I think after looking at the "site summation going into 2024" threads on football and $9.95, maybe the feeling is that we've all been through a pretty serious ebb and flow as Texas fans the last ~12 years.  The site organically grew out of the need for some of us to leave hornfans' sunshine Mack ball-sucking echo-chamber.  And that kinda filtrated out into other forums on shaggy/surly.  A glaring example of which is Cloak Room.  Political talk on hornfans was just annoying, never really took to it.  Enjoyed it on shaggy as a libertarian who probably voter 40-L/40-R/20-D from 2008-2016.  Got lotsa rep for insightful exchanges around Obama and other socio-political topics of the day back then.  Then just sat out 2017 and 2018 on here.  Everybody was a Nazi or a Libtard.  Got pretty low-brow even by our standards, and that's saying something.  

But I've noticed, it got like football.  And political discussions for many on here became like what they wanted in real life.  They just wanted their opinions validated with offering any evidence or discourse.  I want to turn on the cable news, or talk radio, or open up a social media be told that my view is just and absolute, and everybody else is a libtard.  And that makes people warm and comfortable, and I get it.  But for some reason Surly, being a largely more educated and traveled group of people than the average cable audience or social media site user-base, thought "Okay, maybe.  But here's another track we could take."  I think the frustration with CR stems from our other walks of life.  We don't like hearing/seeing/reading shit that doesn't align with our post-2016 worldview anymore, and if CR doesn't reverberate our likes and dislikes than it's just a thread of the same whiny, idiotic, leftwing lunatics (don't get me wrong, there are a few in there).  CR is just a forum that holds up a mirror to all of us and we if we don't like what we see, most just dismiss it and don't visit.  But for several, it's still a place to double down on futility with no fact-based foundation and a reason to call out and whine to moderators and administrators on this and other threads. 

You don't like to turn on MSNBC or read WaPo because it's uncomfortable, I totally get it.  So you just avoid them, which is really easy to do.  But CR is kinda this lingering thing off to the side of one of your favorite sites and you see people from there on other forums talking about totally non-political shit but it's irking, because you know that person also posts shit you vehemently disagree with on CR even if you don't engage over there.  Totally get that.  But you really do have to stop and understand that so much volume over there is people who aren't passionate Democratic voters.  They're simply posters who post-2016/2017 looked around and thought, "Okay, you can post 'Trump is the Greatest President who ever lived and if you don't think so, you're a socialist who should leave Texas!" without any facts of supporting data.  I mean, that's a bit of hyperbole, but not much.  We didn't just flip a switch one day and decide to abandon our principles to be annoying or run off sponsors.  Some of us just didn't get the memo about "From now on, stupid political takes are to be held in the highest regard with no research or unbiased fact-checking!"  This site is far too educated and successful, with some serious, serious people in politics on it to be reduced to the level of the comment section of foxnews.com   There are plenty of places to go hug stupid people.  We are dumb, to be sure.  But there's a big difference between extremely intelligent people doing/saying dumb shit and kinda somewhat smart people just embracing flat-out stupidity.  /rant

 

[UpperWestside 6159]

14 hours ago, immamac said:

Daily texan and Cloak Room are basically shitholes now because the topics related to both of those things are shit. There isn’t any real news that’s not divisive in the cycle anymore. 

That’s human beings being human beings. Almost everything is divisive. In the middle of World War II we had politicians pushing for General MacArthur to run for president and he went along with it for a good while in order to get what he wanted. Even in times of great national crisis we are a divisive people. The only difference between then and now was the lack of places like this due to them being more than half a century away from existing.

This place is pretty toxic (You can throw the recruiting board and football board right up near the top on that with the other sections), but we all make a choice to come here. You can either deal with the negativity or push back from time to time on it. Either way enough of us like this place despite the drawbacks or we would not keep returning each day.

[mdmost 42997]

47 minutes ago, BP44 said:

I keep pushing it because I firmly believe it, and it’s obvious. I’m not going to list examples for anyone - they are there for all to see. The purpose of the thread initially was to solicit feedback. Now, immamac has oddly separated the threads. The original one was in $9.95. 

Well the burden of proof is on you since you are the one complaining about it. If it's so obvious then point it out. It shouldn't be too hard. 

[Captainant 27618]

24 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Then just sat out 2017 and 2018 on here.  Everybody was a Nazi or a Libtard. 

In fairness, literal nazis were marching in the streets chanting "Jews will not replace us" and killing protesters in 2017. Just to remind you how fucking insane shit was

[bolverk 29644]

33 minutes ago, BP44 said:

I never said I was a first timer. 

Not a sock, not a lurker, not a first timer. What is you?

Also, what's your former username?

['stache 21789]

3 hours ago, The Dude said:

I have no idea what you are talking about. Are you perhaps letting your experiences in the CR taint your perception in other boards?  I don’t go into the CR and I don’t see any of what you are describing 

"Anyone left of Ted Cruz is a raving leftist lunatic." That's where he's coming from. Nothing more, nothing less. OP made me laugh, how completely and utterly pathetic.

Edited December 27, 2023 by 'stache

[Rex Kramer 1330]

12 minutes ago, 'stache said:

"Anyone left of Ted Cruz is a raving leftist lunatic." That's where he's coming from. Nothing more, nothing less. OP made me laugh, how completely and utterly pathetic.

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Rex Kramer

[YGIFS 19449]

44 minutes ago, Captainant said:

In fairness, literal nazis were marching in the streets chanting "Jews will not replace us" and killing protesters in 2017. Just to remind you how fucking insane shit was

In all fairness, those same people are now marching in the street chanting for the support and security of Israel (which I agree with).  Just to remind you how fucking insane shit IS!

[Neonmoon 38129]

So BP44 is Rex? 

[Celery Man 20929]

Maybe if you cry for long enough your feelings will stop being hurt.

[YGIFS 19449]

21 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

So BP44 is Rex? 

We won't know for sure until he posts 7 times/day how long he is on $100/barrel oil.  Or until he whines about something I said.  Or does his annual posting of my real name.  Either way, he's a sharp cat and I take his energy advice for serious sometimes.  But it's a tired schtick.  Then again, we're all just getting older and lamer.  Hard to believe the myriad incarnations of Texas football boards, and the political discussions that ride along with them, are a legit 25 years old.  There's literally hundreds, if not thousands of posters from the various boards over the years who went from rooting for fellow Texan George W. Bush in 2000 to looking around Texas just 15-20 years later and thinking, "What in the ever-living-fuck?"  

[G650 14229]

25 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

Maybe if you cry for long enough your feelings will stop being hurt.

 

Is there a Surly version of the Hurt Feelings Report he can fill out

[Sbbruin 21825]

50 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

Maybe if you cry for long enough your feelings will stop being hurt.

 

[YGIFS 19449]

There really is a Brett & Jermaine song for every mood in life.  

A good Surly/CR motto would be a twist of, "Your feelings don't care about facts."  

I've advocated for 2+ years to have a free for all thread with no rep, no banning, no reporting, no reprocussions, not "what about his laptop".  Just an unabashed opportunity to provide empirical evidence on why Trump was the greatest, why the election was stolen, why we know J6 rioters were FBI/ANTIFA, and how we know we live under a socialist regime where the workers control the means of production.  There can be replies and links, but nothing else.  Just lay it all out there.  NO empty, vague claims.  No whining or hand-wringing.  Just "Here's how we dominated China on tariffs for four years under Trump" kinda stuff.  We can start out with something undeniable like judicial appointments.  You may not like them, but they were tide-shifters.  Then get into the domestic & foreign policy nitty-gritty, before moving onto shit like the lawsuits, criminal probes, indictments, stolen elections, and why he is a man of unabashed moral fiber.  

[Pancho 44685]

6 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

DT has some of the very best threads not just on the site, but the internet— Ukraine updates and the dog thread.  CR is not going to be hampering sponsors.
 

And plenty if not most CFB and sports sites have a sub to keep political discussion contained. The What is the motivation to come on here and whine about it.  

 

that’s really all his post was. Whining and complaining about something happening yet providing no examples or evidence for it.

- He complained no other Texas message board has a politics forum when IT and Orangebloods both do (and most 247 sites do) as well as every college message board in the country.

- Could not provide an example of CR spilling out into the main board 

- Is upset because the surly CR leans left (which I’d argue standing up for certain principles doesn’t mean some of those folks have moved left rather they do not like or want what has become of their current party) and says it hurts UT when it has no correlation to The University in any way. 

 

 

[LCHorn 2612]

7 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

There really isn't a whole ton of "ideology" in cloak room, it's really mostly factual vs. counter-factual, cruel vs. kind or at least not cruel, and performative pandering vs. policy-based politics

I wanted to rebut the OP but @TwiceHornalready hit the main points-it’s hard to take valid claims of “CR loonacy” without citations.  

[locodos 5387]

I honestly can't figure out the OP's position.

• Do they support freedom of speech?
• Are they asking for a safe space?
• Is the market place of ideas bad now?
• Do they feel like culture war was only created by liberals?

OP just seems lost in the sauce, and hasn't realized how far away from mainstream they've drifted.  Or perhaps this is a partisan play to moderate and stifle opposition.

IDK but my experience has been when I run into culture war issues outside of CR, they tend to be sneaky wink wink little remarks, which I just ignore.  Most folks have moderated themselves pretty well or they get moderated quickly, IDK how busy the mods are with all this.

[Dbeasy 15039]

It’s become pretty obvious BP44 isn’t the brightest tool in the shed, who has no idea he’s not the brightest tool in the shed. 

[troph 24781]

5 hours ago, G650 said:

No it wasn't

dragging your ass all over new boards you ain't no nothing about.

[troph 24781]

3 hours ago, G650 said:

 

Is there a Surly version of the Hurt Feelings Report he can fill out

a bunch of dickwads wanted me to be in charge of it. I thought it was stupid anyway so I agreed and summarily tossed that crap in the shredder. fuck your feelings.

3 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

So BP44 is Rex? 

probs not, he actually engaged in a conversation with me.

[troph 24781]

5 hours ago, Captainant said:

In fairness, literal nazis were marching in the streets chanting "Jews will not replace us" and killing protesters in 2017. Just to remind you how fucking insane shit was

The first 2/3 of that sentence I thought you were talking about the 1930s, forgot shit got real the last 6-8 years for a minute.

[troph 24781]

btw the ukraine thread is probably the single best thread on this board. any one who seen... shit, delete, nevermind.

Edited December 27, 2023 by troph

[Da Fino 2772]

5 hours ago, bolverk said:

Not a sock, not a lurker, not a first timer. What is you?

Also, what's your former username?

I think it's that guy from Ohio that doxed his own kid during a rant. 

[bolverk 29644]

6 minutes ago, Da Fino said:

I think it's that guy from Ohio that doxed his own kid during a rant. 

Totally forgot about that guy, but his "voice" does sound the same.

[wildcat09 29338]

I don't follow the football board much, but it sure seems OP's whole gripe is that he wants to see more slurs in football threads and he thinks any objection to that is librul bullshit. Do I have it about right?

[G650 14229]

51 minutes ago, Da Fino said:

I think it's that guy from Ohio that doxed his own kid during a rant. 

I missed that episode

[babysdaddy 2719]

20 hours ago, immamac said:

there are more than 2000 unique posters in CR - this is false. I think you are just pissed off about politics which is fine. 

that's interesting.  Can we see some more stats regarding posting behavior?

 

How many unique posters in football board?  Recruiting?  

Of the 2000 unique in CR, who are the top 20 posters and how many posts do they have in the CR?

[cactusflinthead 27598]

I'd love to see how those numbers changed from the start to now. One of the earliest threads here was the Hilary thread. How many pages back is it now? How many posters in that thread no longer post in CR?

and when did they stop? 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

22 hours ago, BP44 said:

Maybe. But in the other boards, you’ll at least have some discussion.  CR is unchecked looney tunes. 

 

22 hours ago, BP44 said:

Kind of. Where I go to get my sports and entertainment fix isn’t political in the slightest. I’m aware some have politics forums, but I don’t go there. I don’t care what Texags has to say, and I don’t care what CR has to say. Other Texas boards simply do not have such distracting, divisive content. 

 

22 hours ago, BP44 said:

I’m not a sock. I’ve been around since HF days. HF was very discussion-oriented and balanced. Shaggy leaned more left than you recall but certainly was more balanced. I’m not politically inclined and don’t really care too much - except CR makes Texas look as bad as Texags and their idiotic politics forum. 

 

22 hours ago, BP44 said:

Boards like this don’t have political forums. Cloak Room is an embarrassment to the university. 

It spills out to Daily Texan, 6th Street Journal, and Board Discussion in every other thread. It turns off would-be newcomers and advertisers. 

That forum is not a discussion forum. It’s an ideology circle jerk. It doesn’t belong with the other forums and certainly not one designed around school sports. 

 

On 12/26/2023 at 5:16 PM, BP44 said:

Your problem - your entire problem - is the lack of separation of Cloak Room from the rest of the site. You’ll never have an anchor sponsor with this setup, unless it’s some rando fringe Austin group. Not only are the politics wildly left, it’s such an echo chamber that the posters there think they’re mainstream. They’re emboldened to post in other forums and are like a terrible virus to the site. I can’t believe how you haven’t learned this. 

Most people want to come here to talk Texas football first, pro sports and other Texas sports second, and then current events / TV/movies / business. If they want a political forum outlet, it should be separate from the group. 

 

22 hours ago, BP44 said:

There are very, very few posters that engage in CR. It is the epitome of groupthink. There’s no original thought or discussion that isn’t anger-laced and emotionally-driven. 

 

21 hours ago, BP44 said:

Hence @immamac’s dilemma. 

 

There’s a lot to be upset about politically these days. I understand. But CR is an embarrassment and you know it. 

My first pos rep. 

HF was center. I know several that got banned by Katy for abbreviating “Palis” during an aughts Levant conflict.  Shag was very balanced. We’ve gone increasingly right to left over the last 20 years which is very understandable (as have I). 

It’s the fucking Hanna Barbera cartoon soundboard.  It’s nuts. There is no room for any opposing viewpoint (and in a lot of cases with the right these days, there IS no opposing viewpoint).  Your summary judgement about me versus them is par for the course. I’m only commenting in the thread asking for opinions. 

This. 

 

18 hours ago, BP44 said:

Agreed for the most part. 

Not at all. Which, to this and troph’s post, explain the increasingly leftist movement. I get it. And I realize I’m speaking to two of the most prolific CR’ers. 

So while there’s not much to cheer about while the former president has hijacked a lot and given rise to true deplorables, the tone is absolutely ridiculous. 

Guess we can add $9.95 to the boards hijacked by CR. 

 

9 hours ago, BP44 said:

I keep pushing it because I firmly believe it, and it’s obvious. I’m not going to list examples for anyone - they are there for all to see. The purpose of the thread initially was to solicit feedback. Now, immamac has oddly separated the threads. The original one was in $9.95. 

 

8 hours ago, BP44 said:

I’d never start a thread here bitching about the CR.  @immamacplease delete this thread.  The context is lost due to your separation of threads. 

I never said I was a first timer. 

BP44 sure whines a lot.

[YGIFS 19449]

That's what real men do.  Play the victim card.  Over, and over, and over again.  That's how they assert their dominance over beta cucks and women alike.  

I'd tell you where they learned the playbook, but I suspect you already know.  

[Covri 6244]

I blame Lobo

 

 

[SizzleChest 8283]

11 hours ago, BP44 said:

I keep pushing it because I firmly believe it, and it’s obvious. I’m not going to list examples for anyone - they are there for all to see. The purpose of the thread initially was to solicit feedback. Now, immamac has oddly separated the threads. The original one was in $9.95. 

Dude, what the fuck are you talking about?

[Willfully Horn 7994]

On 12/26/2023 at 8:44 PM, BP44 said:

Kind of. Where I go to get my sports and entertainment fix isn’t political in the slightest. I’m aware some have politics forums, but I don’t go there. I don’t care what Texags has to say, and I don’t care what CR has to say. Other Texas boards simply do not have such distracting, divisive content. 

I negged all your posts. The CR is the only forum on Surly where you are allowed to speak your mind, and be judged on the truth of your beliefs, and not judged for the forum in which you have expressed your beliefs.

Focus on how to make bank sucking ass. It is one of your skills.

On 12/26/2023 at 8:49 PM, BurntOrange&White said:

The point is FATWA is being used not only for posters you see but anyone who disagrees with group think of this board. To get rid of the latter you have to allow the former to happen. If it gets bad enough a moderator can remove that user. 

You ought know more about the subject about which you opine. Factual disagreement is the standard in CR. 

[Poe It Up 126]

On 12/27/2023 at 6:59 AM, Dbeasy said:

You keep pushing this view. How about listing out some examples of the looniness? And what on the 9.95 board are you referencing?

 

Sponsors are going to shy away from a forum that wants Republicans hanged. I know it sounds crazy to you guys, but it’s reality outside of nutjobville.