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Reading through the thread about Wu's article on the character of Samus and the social media posts surrounding it gave me a thought.
Now, I'm pretty confident in my assessment that the vast majority of people on this site have "enemies on either side of them", meaning that if they are not strictly "centrist", then they're at least close enough to identify harmful extremes on both ends of the political spectrum that they are opposed to. (Obviously I'm using an overly simplistic model here, but it is what it is.) With that being said, multiple times in that thread I just mentioned, and several more in the past, I have heard this sentiment expressed: "Just ignore it. It only spreads because you bring attention to it." But here's the thing: I have never- not once- seen that sort of comment attached to a discussion about an article/campaign/etc associated with conservative ideas or written/advanced by a conservative individual/organization. Maybe it has happened at some point, but I at least don't remember it.
So with that being established: Is there a double standard? Can that double standard be justified beyond "these people are closer to my position, so it's okay"?

Westboro

I never liked the "Ignore it and it will go away" mindset mainly because it assumes that haters are the only reason they get attention, ignoring that they have thousands of followers who believe their crap and will make it known anyhow, and ignoring it just makes it unopposed.

I think it has less to do with Left and Right and more with the fact they say this sort of thing to ideas posted on the internet, where the Left usually is, but not to TV and Radio, where the right usually is.

What the hell does left and right mean anyways? Why can't we just identify our opinions as opinions and not label it as what side we're on?
Edit @9999 its still pretty dumb to label opinions as politcal sides, it should be just that, opinions.

(Obviously I’m using an overly simplistic model here, but it is what it is.)

Left and Right refer to the typical political beliefs.
The Republican party is typically full of right wing people.
The Democratic party is typically full of left wing people.

We most likely continue to use them because it is easier to say "I agree more with the right wing", than it is to go off on every little issue. When you say that you are summarizing your political beliefs.

Now It isn't a 50/50 split right down the middle, it is a transitional thing. Plenty of people sit in the middle, and plenty of people are extremists on either side.

Maybe there's a bias, but I can't be sure. Some of the people I see who go "just ignore it and it'll go away" also tend to do stuff like comment on gamergate content or participate in the riff raff thread about them. One could argue thst this is biad behavior, as they tell some to "just ignore it to make It go away" but then make threads and buml discussions giving this subject attention while bemoaning why it won't go away.

Of course another chunk of people going "just ignore it" maybe practice whst they preach and hate all internet arguments and e-drama. They could be just sick and tired of all the angry comments on everything and wish for others to stop getting mad at anything all together.

Personally I think there is a abias involved. But that the bias itself is not harmful in itself, just a bit irritating.

Maybe we could, for real "ignore it and it will go away" because, well if you ignore it, it will go away or in logical terms, it won't matter. This is because it never matters and should never matter because it doesn't really affect anything or anyone. So why don't we just ignore it because it doesn't matter.

I think its quite obvious. Conservative ideologies are generally based on religion while liberals are by default not as much. The neurosurgeon Ben Carson running for president said "I want a system that's based on biblical principles, because it seems to me that God is pretty fair," in an article I found, which I found pretty extreme. He wants to move the country forward by relying on principles written thousands of years ago by sheep herders and whatnot. That's crazy, but no one that's anything but zealous will say that its too much because it would imply that too much religion can be bad.

On the other hand there are no pillars of atheism or liberalism so anything people say on those sides are their own ideologies and beliefs so it makes sense that if you ignore them they will go away or quiet down. No one says to ignore extreme conservatives because it doesn't make sense; why stop one evangelical when there are churches mass producing more each year? Those kinds of extreme ideologies fall down to religion wars because why cut the leaves when you can go for the root?

EDIT: I want to give my most sincere apology in advance for making an analogy that says liberals fighting against conservatives is like killing a living organism. I didn't mean to be so insensitive and I only meant it as a figurative device. I am not saying that being a liberal means you are a plant killer or that they are equally as bad.

^ Ben Carson was talking about the tax system, his tax reform plan is a flat 10% rate based on the biblical practice of tithing (donating one-tenth of your income to the Church).

{ no one that’s anything but zealous will say that its too much because it would imply that too much religion can be bad. }

What? Nobody criticizes religious extremism/religion in general? In what country?

I can't say I've seen very much of a bias on the subject.
The kind of people who simply turn their cheeks to the issues generally do so towards all parties.
& the left's "progressive" policies get shut down after public rage just as often as the right, I don't see a whole lot of people ignoring public college professors who are trying to ban words like "male" and "female" from their classrooms because they're offensive.

^ I know exactly what he was referring to. If he has a certain opinion on a tax system then he should state it and state why it is beneficial. Don't try to pretend like he wasn't using his faith to appeal to his audience. I don't have time for that.

{What? Nobody criticizes religious extremism In what country? }
In the united states. I have never heard of a moderate Christian (keep in mind the OP is about the middle) say anything about someone being too Christian. I have never heard of a moderate christian saying to keep church and state separate. What I have seen is people ask in presidential campaigns things like "What is your favorite bible verse?"

That's my point nobody criticizes what individual conservatives say they criticize religion in general. Did you even read what I wrote?

In Phoenix? Where the growing majority-minority population is mostly Hindu?
idk if using the Bible appeals to that audience.
Even if he were, he was talking about taxes, not his whole Presidency.
Don't try to pretend like you didn't assume he would convert the USA into the Christian version of Sharia.
"He wants to move the country forward with sheepfucker stories wahhhh"
No.
He wants to move tax reform forward.

{ I have never heard of a moderate Christian (keep in mind the OP is about the middle) say anything about someone being too Christian. }

Really, how about all of the moderate Christians who turn out to support LGBT rights and other liberal social policies? If you didn't close your eyes whenever a moderate Christian was around and you might see more of them.

{ nobody criticizes what individual conservatives say }

……….did you not in your OP criticize what one conservative, Ben Carson, said? Are there not hundreds of thousands of people who did the same when the quote was initially reported? What is your basis for claiming nobody criticizes individual conservatives?

{Really, how about all of the moderate Christians who turn out to support LGBT rights and other liberal social policies? If you didn’t close your eyes whenever a moderate Christian was around and you might see more of them.}

Sure, lets turn this into a case-by-case scenario because clearly if you can find one counter example then generally means shit right? How about all of the moderate Christians that are at the presidential campaigns and say "Hey I'm a Christian too, but this isn't the time to ask him/me about his/my favorite bible verse" Oh wait there weren't any.

{……….did you not in your OP criticize what one conservative, Ben Carson, said? Are there not hundreds of thousands of people who did the same when the quote was initially reported? What is your basis for claiming nobody criticizes individual conservatives?}

No, I did exactly as I explained in my post. I mentioned a conservative and I turned this thread on left wing vs. right wing bias slowly into a religion and politics thread. That was my point. When there is a conservative remark or something about conservatives it usually devolves into religion. But when Brianna Wu says Samus is trans the focus remains on her "she's crazy ignore her" or "these particular people talking about this are crazy" it doesn't often trail to "all liberals are crazy" or even as distant as atheism bashing. Its just the phenomena and that's what OP sees…

Hundreds of thousands of individual Christians that support moderate social policy is "one counter example"? & then you go on to give… yet another singular example. How many times has someone asked a politician for the fav Bible verse this election season? Barely enough to count on two hands and feet? Good comparison.

{ When there is a conservative remark or something about conservatives it usually devolves into religion. }

Yes. Every single conservative is a hardcore Christian fundamentalist and all of their arguments actually boil down to religion. Like immigration, damn it, we obviously need to enforce the borders BY THE LAWS OF GOD. Or maybe God will direct our foreign policy, or environmental policy, or literally any other policy that is not the social policy question of abortion or gay marriage. :| You're the one clinging to the "they're all religious end of story" angle and refusing to let go.

{ it doesn’t often trail to “all liberals are crazy” or even as distant as atheism bashing. }

Have you ever talked to any actual conservatives before?

That is a mantra put on bumper stickers, t-shirts, hell it's even the title of political books written by conservative authors.

Clearly you're only able to see the side you're standing with.