I have been in this forum for about a month and when I first arrived

[searchingforlight]

it was like a breath of fresh air. Finally I was not alone in wondering what in the world was going on in our country and why no one seemed to care.

I came here also with no specific candidate to support, ready and willing to learn all that I could about each one of them. You all have taught me a great deal and I am thankful for all the other websites, links, etc.

However, the rancor with which supporters of one candidate or another attack the positions of other members and their candidates is reaching epic proportions. It is beyond informative. It is becoming mean and petty. No supporters are blameless in this. I see just as many from Dean, Kerry, Kucinch, Edwards, Gephardt, Lieberman and to a lesser degree Graham. The only candidates whose supporters don't seem to be too confrontational are the Sharpton/Braun supporters.

I respect the intelligence of the people here and hope you all have a wonderful election year. Don't "kill" each other in the process. See ya.

[Clete]

1. Hey brigadoon.

I know what you are talking about. Do yourself a favor and stay out of those threads. I know I do and I feel a lot better about things. Much of the rancor is caused by disruptors as well. They want everyone fighting among themselves. Don't let them drive you away. This is what they want.

[Frances]

4. When I see that people are bashing each other

I quit reading the thread. If I want to be bullied, I can listen to Tom DeLay.

[Rick Myers]

2. It's the primaries!!!

Politics is a contact sport!!! In fact, it will get worse before it gets better... Relax, everyone is venting their frustration at living in a nation ruled by a brain-damaged userper!!!!!

Stick around!

[w4rma]

3. I totally agree. But, I also think that what is going on is trolling

by folks who want to try to divide the Democratic Party. Yes, some long long time DUers get caught up in this, but there are a few people who go from thread to thread to *try* to incite flame wars.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. Good!

You noticed! I thought it was just me and my propensity to wear a stainless-steel colendar on my head, with copper grounding straps that drag behind me.

Some peeps are working overtime here, and they mean ill.

[alcuno]

5. Hey brigadoon,

For the most part, I ignore them; I rarely click on the posts against Dean, Kerry, Kucinich, Gephardt, or Edwards. I kind of like the ones about Lieberman. It's "just" political debate and I can't wait to vote for somebody.

[Catch22Dem]

6. Almost 600 posts in a month?

Damn, it took me over a year to hit 500. Methinks you just need a break is all. Don't sign off just yet. It's getting ready to get fun around here.



For the pukes who might be reading - Watch this -

[talkinghand]

29. No kidding!

Good Lord that's 20 posts a day... written! No telling how many read!

Anybody would burn out at that rate!

Take a break and come back... that's what I've been doing for a couple of years now.

[dflprincess]

8. I've been concerned about this too

I've seen the DFL self destruct many times after bitter fights prior to the state convention or the primary. Supporters of other candidates just won't get behind the endorsed candidate. (Or supporters of the endorsed candidate won't support the one who won the primary.) We've lost a lot of elections that way.

We all have to keep our eyes on the end result - and that is defeating Bush*.

I'm supporting Kucinich but I am prepared to support whoever gets the nomination. With the exception of Lieberman, I will not have a hard time doing that (In that case I'll still vote for him, even if I'm gritting my teeth when I do it). We have a lot of good candidates, all have their good and bad points. We cannot get so caught up in supporting one person now that we aren't able come together after the convention.

[Clete]

10. Unless we have stepped into an alternate universe,

I don't think Holy Joe is going anywhere.

[liberalhistorian]

9. Lieberman has supporters on here?

Seriously, just ignore those threads. Every group, no matter how good, will always have troublemakers, disruptors, those with thin skins, and narrow-minded people who refuse to listen to any facts that don't fit what they believe or what they want to hear. Fortunately, they're a minority on here, but unfortunately, a very loud one. Just ignore those threads, and don't feed into them!

[Julien Sorel]

11. I think some of y'all are missing the point.

You keep saying to ignore it, skip those posts, and so on, but you can't skip them. It's primary season; the primaries are the only game in town. That means a lot of these threads are devoted to the candidates -- as they should be. But it's impossible to get into a serious discussion about the merits/demerits of the candidates, because a certain class of poster quickly shows up on these threads and turns them into flame fests. A reasoned criticism of a candidate is met with anger and personal attacks, while some people don't bother to make reasoned criticisms, and instead, attack candidates with whatever they have on hand, however dubious or irrational it may be. Telling people to skip over the bad threads is like telling someone who is walking through a sewage treatment plant to just hold their breath until they are done. It's too much to expect.

*On edit, see exhibit A, post 12, below for the kind of dubious attacks I was talking about. On a thread trying to achieve some kind of conciliation, someone pops up and starts spewing a conspiracy theory to smear a candidate.

[NNN0LHI]

18. I don't post to many of them but I watch them pretty damn close

I want to see which ones say after their guy does not get the nod "well then, I am just going to vote third party then, and you all should too". Then I will begin posting like a motherscratcher. And it won't be pretty either Billy. Promise.

Don

[fishnfla]

31. I'm with you brother

I haven't been here that long, but I get a feeling that this is a lurking sentiment, the rancor and the vitriol I see coming out of the partisan wolfpack, as I call them, leads me to believe we'll see a number of hardcore crybabies around here when their boy's not in the race anymore.
I have been avoiding the candidate threads like the plague, but I'll trust your judgement.

[seventhson]

12. I plead guilty to bashing Kerry at every opportunity

to remind people that he comes from the same skull and bones background as Bush I and II.

These guys are dangerous and I don't think it is wrong to say it loudly and boldly.

Kerry, in my opinion, is the worst choice (except Bush).

Even Lieberman is better (but not by much).

ANYONE but Kerry and Bush.

I honestly feel that Kerry is of the same ilk as Bush. I really do. And I am compelled to say it as many times as it takes.

The history of the Yale spooks from Skull etc. is horrific.

Kerry would be too.

[KC21304]

14. Let's have another round of Bull and Scones.

[Wonk]

21. Ok.

http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archive_skull_and_bones.html
http://www.nyobserver.com/pages/story.asp?ID=4136
http://www.nyobserver.com/pages/story.asp?ID=2947
http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/01/1557710.php
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/Skull_Bones_1.htm

Happy reading, though I'm pretty sure you won't bother to, Kerryfan.

[Mr. Brown of MD]

13. It's been that way for more than a month, heh

I took a hiatus from DU over my summer break and now that I'm back, it's like GD never even changed.

Well, I guess that's just the nature of the beast. I hope you don't let this one bad example sour your opinion of the place.

-CollegeDude
Has managed not to

[Pastiche423]

15. W/b, CollegeDude!

I was just thinking about you and the Senate Watch threads.

[Mr. Brown of MD]

20. Will those ever be as fun as when we started?

I don't know if there'll be any sessions as fun to watch as when it was Byrd and his small number of allies who were spending days railing against the Iraq resolution, as well as the creation of the Homeland Security department.

But, I suppose you never know unless you tune in. I just need to get a TV hooked up in my dorm room this year!

-CollegeDude
Needs to find the coax jack first

[searchingforlight]

16. Thanks for the food for thought. I will take your advise and step back

a little for perspective, maybe finish Will Pitts book. I will avoid the candidate threads for awhile and just enjoy the good thinking presented here. "Separate the meat from the bones."

[never cry wolf]

17. good thinking

arising from good advice. i joined july 26, 800+ posts and i swore off the candidate threads a while ago. i will maybe read the article that is linked and a few posts but i've got over 6 months til my primary and by the time i get to vote the field will be narrowed down quite a bit and i will have more info, i have no need for a hasty decision or to be persuaded by one camp or another.

[madfloridian]

19. I did a search at google and found some interesting things.

I searched on "banned at DU", "banned from DU", "kicked off DU" and other such phrases. Most of the links lead elsewhere, some very interesting. A few lead to other political forums, not always the usual suspects.

I think you will find that a lot of folks come here to upset things.

Now, that said, I don't feel as comfortable here anymore either. This candidate stuff is just too too much to go on for a whole year.

I have noticed something else. I have been here over a year. I am daily now seeing names I have never seen, not once, and they have over 1000 posts. They act like they are trying to cause trouble. Usually when post count gets that high, you sort of know who to ignore etc. I at least remember seeing them in passing.

Brig has about 500? (can't see it while posting) and I have seen them a lot. Just a curious thing I mention. Heck, I have so many on ignore now it is ridiculous. One thing to note: I seldom see the ignore message.....does that mean they hit and ran?

:evilgrin:

[Catherine Vincent]

22. Geeze....it's politics man.

I don't like some of the discussion between us Democrats but I'm not goanna leave because of it.

[Cha]

23. "Politics"...and our Country's at stake!

It's like Life ..there are bumpy days and smooth sailing ones!

Or like a day ..good moments and some not so good!

At least we're fighting for our Democracy! I think we can all agree that it Is on the line here.

I've learned a lot on DU and am able to take that out into the real World(as opposed to virtual) and put it to Good Practical Use! :-)

[Booberdawg]

24. Stick around brigadoon

A lot of us have noticed the same thing. I don't even read most of the candidate threads anymore. A quick way to decide whether a thread is worth reading is how the initial post is framed. You can always tell if it's obvious flamebait. You can always tell if the purpose is to simply intelligently inform on one particular candidate too. Then there are some people who I've come to recognize as simply not credible and I don't need the Ignore feature DU provides to ignore what they have to say.

I hope you stick around. I'd like to see more people like you here when all the dust settles.

Linda

[niceypoo]

25. almost 600 posts in a month?

20 a day, roughly, you need a break. That much DU would drive anyone nuts

[dudeness]

26. I agree ..

I think its a problem with the structure of the primary process..i did propose some reforms for everyones input but..nevermind..yeah stick around :)

[ScreamingMeemie]

27. Yes, some supporters are blameless in this.

There are several of us who may post our thoughts about a candidate, but who rarely or never get into a flame war. Look again. That's a little bit too generalized of a comment. Thanks.

[Skittles]

28. YOU'LL NOTICE SKITTLES IS VERY COMBATIVE

but I have for the most part resisted this RIDICULOUS "my candidate" BULLSHIT. IT SERVES NO F***ING PURPOSE EXCEPT TO DIVIDE US ALL.

Welcome to the DU, brigadoon. What took you so long to get here?????

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

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