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Democratic Underground, an ostensibly politics oriented forum, does not have a place conducive to discussion of politics.
GDP is a nasty place where most GDers will not set foot. It takes two sides to make a riot. It doesn't matter who, if anyone, is to blame for GDP's alienating nature... it's just what it is.
GD is too big and fast moving for discussion. Posts drop too fast... more like a bulletin board. And most posts in GD are not about politics. (Except insofar as everything is about politics, including celebrity scandals and shocking tales of retail-clerk misbehavior.)
When a forum is too large or wide-ranging then the only posts that succeed are flame-bait and "me-too" check-ins. Posters come to recognize that if it isn't flammable it will not be seen and post accordingly.
DU really could use a General Discussion: Politics (in ADDITION to GDP) where people can talk about politics without every nuance of discussion boiling down to a vote in an imaginary binary referendum on President Obama, or--worse yet--a vote on the merits of cliques dedicated to the two sides of that proposition.
In the most literal sense, the Presidency (ostensible topic of this forum) is not the entirety of politics.
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