A couple of concern trolls bitch about Edwards house and DU goes looney.

[trumad]

Looks to me as if their mission was accomplished.

[liberal N proud]

1. What is it anyones business. The size of John house is his and Liz's business

Unless he stole it or something. I doubt that.

Let's face it, who ever is the front runner between now and 08 on the Democratic side, will be subject to these attacks, here and in the media.
Character assassination is as real as it gets and the repukes are experts in that area.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. There are reasons to discuss the size of his house, but there are no reasoned discussions

happening. I doubt that the size of his house will cost him the election, but it is an example of American excess and our apparently unwillingness to connect the dots on resource usage, poverty, and global warming. We do need to discuss the sizes of our houses, the lengths of commutes, and other resource issues. That's been mentioned in the Edwards house threads, but most have been in the vein of out-of-touch-rich-man-builds-mansion.

Unfortunately, focusing on whether someone who is wealthy "deserves" to live in baronial splendor is a much more reliable way to start a buzz. I agree with you that this sort of sidetracking attack will be made on the leading Democratic candidates and that's why I'll sit out of discussions that just stink of diversion.

[LoZoccolo]

2. I'm not sure if the term applies here.

I think it's ridiculous, but I don't think you can be a concern troll in a place where people are expected to argue about the primary candidates.

[sojourner]

23. trolls exist here, for sure. and their purpose is to sidetrack discussion from

legitimate and useful debate about the qualifications of candidates and their policies to inane arguments over distracting issues. and they do it in the name of "concern" over this or that. somewhere around here is a great piece on how to identify a troll.........worth reading, imo

[still_one]

3. I have issues with Edwards, but NOT because of this house BS,

and in the end if he got the Democratic nomination I would vote for him. I cannot say the same for Clinton. At least Edwards admits that the IWR which violated the war powers act was wrong, and he made a mistake voting for it. Hillary Clinton makes every excuse in the book, but does admit her vote was a mistake.

There are very few politicians that live in small houses. The issue should be what they will do for the country, and not a "means" test

[derby378]

5. I'll make this simple: Elizabeth is recovering from BREAST CANCER

If any of us had the money and/or credit to build a house like that for our SO after they went through cancer or some other health crisis, we probably would. We'd want our loved ones to have a safe space in which to recover and enjoy life.

And thanks to ginbarn for pointing this out.

[Pale Blue Dot]

6. Is name calling part of the "looniness"?

If so, I think that this thread is merely contributing to that atmosphere.

[Pacifist Patriot]

17. I find these types of threads far more amusing than any topic that...

seems to strike a nerve. Especially when they garner Greatest Page honors. Correct me if I'm wrong, but here's the cycle.

Something happens that has the potential for strong opinions.
It gets posted to Latest Breaking News
It gets posted three to forty times to General Discussion
It gets posted two or thirty times to General Discussion: Politics
A post at the Lounge makes fun of people discussing it at LBN, GD and GDP
At least three or fourteen of the above get voted on to Greatest Page

The following day we're treated to at least one (if not several) threads telling everyone how silly it is and complaining that all craziness has broken out at DU. We should be ashamed of ourselves for a) sinking to the level of discussing the issue, b) being sucked in by obvious trolls who brought it here in the first place, and c) making DU look bad. At which point that thread(s) make(s) it to the Greatest Page.

Within 48-72 hours less than ten people are likely to remember what the event was or why anyone cared.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

:)

[Nikki Stone1]

7. Which ones are the trolls? (I'd like to put them on Ignore)

Thanks

[H2O Man]

8. I agree. n/t

[watrwefitinfor]

9. If this was a test

DU failed miserably.

Wat

[caseycoon]

10. Sometimes being loony helps...

We come here day after day & learn more & more terrible things about what is happening in the world. We have a steady diet of the horror show that is our White House, made so by our "leaders". We hear more & more about global warming & know that not enough.. not nearly enough.. is being done to even slow it down. We watch our Constiution crumble thanks to Bushco. WEll, the list goes on & on.

Is it too terrible that some of us have to go off the horror diet & post some lightweight stuff? A couple of those silly house threads were hilarious. Laughter is a necessity for me after all the sadness, anger, & despair we see here. Personally I don't want to get totally burned out. I get a few giggles & I can go right back to being horrified by the real stuff & do what I can to help.

Just sayin'

[Forrest Greene]

11. Popular Topic

Wasn't it?

[devilgrrl]

12. I'm with you on this one...

total "Concern Troll-O-Rama"

[JNelson6563]

13. Amen Trumad!

Oy.

[Pacifist Patriot]

14. I only saw three posts about it.

One introducing the topic.
One polling people on their opinion.
One making fun of people bothering to discuss it.

This makes four out of how many threads posted in the last 24 hours? I've had a bit more to occupy my time at DU than Edwards' house. I'm not sure I'd make the generalization that "DU goes looney." Anything a candidate does is up for discussion I'm afraid. I don't care about rich people buying expensive houses, but I'll admit the environmental footprint of the size of the house does rub me a bit the wrong way given the environmental crisis.

[Liberal Veteran]

16. I just counted, there are SIXTEEN fucking threads on this on the first page of GD.

Don't believe me, count them.

[Pacifist Patriot]

18. I believe you, it all has to do with how you navigate the site.

I guess because I go in through Greatest Page, My DU or Latest Page instead of browsing through one forum at a time. I miss the craziness. I highly recommend it!

[TorchTheWitch]

15. And this doesn't add to the "mission"?

You know how this thread is going to end up... just like all the other Edwards house threads. Seems to me this new thread is just part of the very problem you percieve. Since when does continuing talking about something make it go away or make it a "non-issue"? It is, like it or not, an issue that is apparently important to people on either one side or the other. Adding to it is the last thing that will make it go away.

[madokie]

19. I just think my lucky stars that I recognize those kind of threads for what they are

divided and conquer, so I just stay away

[applegrove]

20. Yup. DU went nuts. Seems calmer now.

[philosophie_en_rose]

21. Yes. They looked like real estate agents.

:bounce:

[AspenRose]

22. The RW talking points yesterday were all over wealthy Democrats

From Pelosi, to Kennedy, to Rockefeller....

so it's no surprise that they'd attack Edwards as well. I'm just surprised (and disappointed) how much mileage the RW talking point got here on the DU.

RWers are so freaking transparent.

[stranger]

24. I doubt these repub trollers accomplished all that much-talking to each other

basically they were talking to each other-despicable incestuous little
vermin that they are.

The true dems on this board have the good sense to realize that regardless of
whether Edwards should have been able to anticipate the easily predictable reaction,
we also realize he MAY become the running mate for our favorite candidate-so its not
smart to give repubs ammunition to use on any dem candidate.

Moral of the story: Never criticize any dem on this board-no matter how much they piss you off. it could come back to bite YOUR candidate-unless of course you are a member of the GOP (Gay Old Pedophiles) GOP acronym copyright Jay Leno)

[InvisibleTouch]

25. Looney is right.

The guy earned his money honestly - he has the right to build himself a house. As far as I know, he didn't bulldoze a little old lady's home in the process, or bribe an EPA official so he could get around wetlands protection regulations. So it's a big house - so what? Which of us, if we had the sudden means, wouldn't build ourselves a dream home, especially if we'd spent our early years poor? It's okay to do something nice for yourself - because then you have even more energy to help others. Keep in mind he has young kids, too, and he surely wants to provide them with the best life he can.

I struggle to make ends meet too, but I don't have any prejudice against the rich just because they're rich - especially when they worked their own way up from poverty like John Edwards did! It's what they do with their money and their influence, how they reach out to help the rest of the world, that counts.

[WHAT]

26. SPAM

ignore

[Texasgal]

27. Your spam

is turning into SPAM. Knock it off.

[Laurab]

28. You're right, I think

One of the silliest f'ing things I've ever seen on here....I think we need pictures of ALL Presidential candidates homes, past and present, so that we can spend weeks, hell maybe even months, discussing them...