I made the mistake of sharing the DR with my brother. He is a highly educated and respected MD. His response after reviewing a variety of current and past threads for about an hour was to ask me why I wasted so much time with obvious idiots. I didn't have a good response.
He didn't even have a response other than to snort after reading a few of the Sarah Palin threads. While he was less antagonistic toward the threads on finance, he did note that even on this subject most of the posters were idiots just blowing partisan smoke. I was taken aback by his vehemence and disgust.
As if reading the idiotic words posted by so many here on the DR confirmed his fears that most Americans have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, yet (in this day and age of the blog) feel empowered to post their stupidity and treat it as truth or wisdom.
I felt at the end of the discussion that somehow I was diminished in his eyes based on the idiots I chose to hang around with here on the DR. It was definitely food for thought over this Thanksgiving holiday....
Nothing personal, Moder8, but your brother sounds like an elitist snob.
The majority of us don't post on DR with the intention our opinions will be included as a part of our Master's Thesis or hoping to "wow" the MENSA Review Board into accepting our application for membership.
There are many posters on here with varying levels of education and professional backgrounds. While working at their regular occupations they likely would not, or could not, make many of the same comments, jokes, and banter they display on here. DR provides an often "much needed relief" from having to always act and behave in the proper, professional manner often required in one's real life dealings with others.
DR also allows you a chance to meet people from many varied backgrounds whom you might never have gotten to know otherwise. And -- if one is open-minded -- DR provides a chance to hear differing viewpoints you might never have heard by staying only within one's closed social and/or professional circles.
On DR we can give our opinions, pretty much say whatever we want, and have fun or be serious on a variety of subjects without worrying what kind of impression our words might make on our boss, family members, friends and neighbors.
You can just be yourself for an hour or two when you're here on Drudge Retort. We all put up with each other's moods and opinions -- whatever they happen to be on that particular day -- and we take each other as we are. We can have fun, blow off steam, whatever, and come back the next day and do it all over again with no reprecussions.
Real life and society in general don't always allow one that liberty.
And I'd say that's why the posters on here -- each in our own way and for our own reasons -- value having the Drudge Retort available to us.
