Don't get sucked in

[grantcart]

Sometimes in the fervor in supporting the President we get sucked into the same level of animosity that the hatefilled anti Obama fanatics get.

We should take care not to let them get us of our game, advancing not only the President's policies and strategies but emulating his patience and forebearance.

There are many in GD and GDP who are getting tired of the over the top attacks on the President but don't agree with us on all of our policy points.

Some are unwilling to join with us in a more visible way because they see some of us responding with the same kind of personal attacks that have become common.

Don't get sucked in. Stay positive and use humor. Remember besides the person you are responding to there are other potential allies that are reading our replies.

Don't get discouraged, don't get personal, don't let your spirits get down keep being positive in fact I plan on being obnoxiously optomistic and cheerful - that really drives people crazy!

[rebel with a cause]

1. Sorry, I just informed someone that I was putting them on ignore.

I told them that it was due to the content of their post but did not insult them other than that. Oh, I used he puke smilie also. :shrug:

Will try to do better....maybe.

[dcsmart]

3. what does ignore do..

is it that you no longer see someones posts.

[rebel with a cause]

4. Yes,

Nor can you go to any thread that they begin. I usually don't do it, but right now it comes in handy. :shrug:

[JohnnyLib2]

2. Thank you for this one!

I've been shying away from all the cross fire and suspect I'm not alone. It just isn't productive.

Good to hear the voice of reason. :thumbsup:

[HughMoran]

5. I agree

We all fall off the wagon at times, but for me concise (or not - I'm generally concise) logical arguments & humor when attacked is all one can do. Count to 10, remember that most assaults are distractions due to a lack of a solid argument and keep a smile on your face. :)

[Cha]

6. Everything you say is

exactly right. And, I try I really do..that's why I put so many on ignore so I wouldn't be even tempted to respond to them the way they attack our President.

I should just banish myself to the bog for life..bring in the good articles for me 'cause I don't trust myself out there in the land of ......

[Fire1]

15. Yeah! I saw you in some threads this a.m.! You DID try!! LOL!!!

[Cha]

20. lol..

You're prolly refering to the ones where I more or less let it all hang out. I've been good for days or weeks and then burst into flames:nuke:

I need to add more to my I list.:(

[cliffordu]

7. Sheesh. Now you tell me.

:rofl:

[Born_A_Truman]

8. Yes!

I have a growing ignore list and have hidden threads as well.

Mostly I read and sit on my fingers, especially when I see that it's just a flame-fest gripe-session.

I see many that seem to want to discuss issues but they are getting drowned out.

[greenbird]

9. Civility!

Yes!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. we need an official whipping boy

I nominate cliffordu.


Thanks for this post gc. This is what I was trying to say a few days ago. You said it perfectly.

[NJmaverick]

11. This is sound advice and I will try

it's a real challenge though. The animosity toward the President and party is equally (if not more) directed at those of us that support them.

[greenbird]

12. I've read several threads in GD and GDP this morning

Where things seemed to be going fine. Then anger, personal attacks and bitterness enter the picture. Dialogue breaks down, learning stops, and critical thinking goes right out the window. It's sad to see the development of ideas deteriorate like that.

[azmouse]

13. We need to invite everyone to come here who posts indicate

they are tired of the hate-filled rants against the President and the Democratic party. Maybe we can empty out GD.

[Fire1]

14. Fine. But how do you respond tactfully to nut jobs that keep

yelling "corporatist" and don't realize they live in a capitalist society???? Defining "corporatist" doesn't help cause, I honestly don't think they can read.:cry:

[RoyGBiv]

17. Respond indirectly ...

... or very blandly.

This is the age-old (age of the Internet anyway) question about what to do with trolls. The standard advice is not to feed them. When you feed them, it gives them strength. However just ignoring them doesn't work in practice because it is both unsatisfying for you and doesn't offer anything that allows others to see how bizarre the person is acting if those people happen not to understand what's going on. In addition, trolls run in packs and feed off each other. Ignoring them entirely just gives them an open forum.

With that in mind, what I *try* to do is respond indirectly. It doesn't shut them up (*nothing* shuts them up) but it allows me to say my piece in a way that doesn't offer them an almost unlimited context to continue spouting nonsense.

One of the reasons I didn't initially want to start my recent controversial thread was because I knew what kind of irrational reactions would come, and I knew I wouldn't be able to force myself to ignore all of it. So, I made a rule for myself that I would wait a bit, let it develop, then pick a couple of posters to use as context for a blanket response to everything. This allowed me to control the context of the discussion, even though they tried their damnedest to redirect.

It also kept me from getting frustrated and lashing out.

I do this with threads I don't start as well, which is most of them since I start very few. If a particular poster is being incredibly vile, I'll usually avoid that poster directly and either make some sort of comment that refers to things that person is saying, but is itself a response to the OP. Or, I'll pick someone else who may be on the same wavelength as that other person, but not quite as irrational.

It doesn't work all the time, but it works a lot of the time.

A closely related key is not allowing the person you are involved in "debating" at the moment to change the terms of the debate in mid-stream, which is done often in order to avoid having to answer for irrational, unsupportable assertions. People whose debate style is to inject as many non sequiturs as possible can easily be shown as a fool. But this is where I see people on all sides of various debates make their biggest mistake. Person A makes a point, and Person B makes a completely different point and/or focuses on a single point that, by itself, is meaningless outside the context of the original point. Person A will often respond to this quite reasonably but in such a way that the original point they were making is completely lost, thus, rhetorically speaking, giving Person B the "victory." The subsequent discussion then gets bogged down in unrelated asides.

You specifically hold your own quite well, btw, if my opinion matters. The way you handled a thread on racism the other day was about as good as could be done under the circumstances, I think.

Anyway ... these are just my random thoughts on the subject.

[Fire1]

18. Thank you! Coming from such a articulate communicator with

such a tremendous command of the english language, that is certainly a compliment that I value.

I will bookmark this thread to refer to your suggestions in the future, in hopes of not getting sucked into, for lack of a better term, 'stupid' debates. You've exhibited great humility and obviously possess a great deal of patience. I've been working on these virtues for many years and patience seems to be more difficult for me. Nevertheless, I strive to improve as the years march on. Thanks again.

[Arkana]

16. The unemployment numbers came out today.

And the pissants are laughing and cavorting in victory because they get to tell the "cheerleaders" to shut up for a while.

[treestar]

19. They practically salivate over the misfortunes of others just to be "right."

It is only one month's numbers, anyway.

I don't believe they if they claim to be unemployed. Someone who really was would hang onto every bit of good news and deny the bad news or minimize it. It is just human nature.

[SeattleGirl]

24. I alerted on that one.

(I think it's the one you are referring to.)

Not only calling us cheerleaders, but "cocooners". What the hell?

[Cha]

21. There's a

fucking idiot in PV saying Obama is a warmonger just like cheney and spouting all kinds of shit. Yeah, I just alerted.

[rebel with a cause]

22. I alerted on them also.

Let's see what happens now. I am hoping something. :shrug:

[Cha]

23. We don't even have to be in another

forum..they can't keep their nose out of this one. Busybodies want to spread their venom everywhere..infestation knows no boundaries.

[DevonRex]

25. They want to control this entire site. And DU is letting them so far.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cha]

27. They better get

out of this forum.

[DevonRex]

28. Well, apparently somebody over there has to come here daily to cause trouble.

Pathetic little people.

[DevonRex]

29. Oh yeah, check your PMs. nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. I understand what you're saying, but it's hard. When you see the administration...

attacked for every single thing that's happened in this country since Reagan, you get a little defensive. I thought I'd seen it all, but there was a thread blaming the President because Rick Warren met & exceeded his fundraising goal. They find a way to blame this president for everything. I stepped in, and was immediately swarmed, with claims that I must anti-gay, simply because I asked the poster to explain how the president had suddenly become Rick Warren's personal fundraiser.

That being said, I will definitely try to do better.

[NYC_SKP]

31. K and, well... K.

:hi:

Great post, grantcart.

Thanks!

[get the red out]

32. I've just lost interest in GD and GDP

I have just lost interest in GD and GDP lately, it seems when I get online I would much rather go to the several groups here on DU that I relate to and learn from than to get into the big fray. I vary on being good and non-combative and going in for the kill on the left-baggers, depends on my mood. Lately though I just spend my time on what I enjoy and what does me good, groups like this one and some others.

Trying to talk to them seems a waste of time.

[goclark]

36. That is how I feel and that is exactly how they want us to feel

They want to break us down so that we don't have a voice.

grantcart is correct however

[goclark]

33. You are right ~ I will try my best

to not say ****** to a fellow member of DU.

I will think those words but I will not put those words in print.

My grandmother would always tell me, " Never put anything in writing that you would not be proud of the next day."


I will try to do better.

[rebel with a cause]

34. I was told, not by a grand parent, but by a boss

'never put anything in writing that you can be held accountable for.' :rofl:

[goclark]

35. Excellent

:hi:

[johnaries]

37. You are right. I have found that many of my posts have become

shorter and angrier. Which means I am allowing them to "control" me. I will try to remember that in the future. Thanks!

[OregonBlue]

38. Where's the fun in that? Okay, you're right but sometimes it is soooo hard to stay civil.

[rebel with a cause]

40. Ain't it the truth.

I am posting late at night, and I dread what I will find on 'My DU' tomorrow in response to my late night rantings even though I have kept them civil. OH OH! Maybe I should take a DU vacation. :rofl:

[Scurrilous]

39. Great post.

:thumbsup:

[akbacchus_BC]

41. You know Grant, it is hard to stay positive when one reads .. "I loathe Barack

Obama, I hate him, I will leave the US". Tell me something, is he that evil!

[Cha]

42. Kick for an important reminder.

[TicketyBoo]

43. I think the only way for me not to get sucked in

is to just stay out of there.

I'm dejected about the whole thing.