General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDU Class of 2004, check in.
I notched up 15 years last month but I know an absolute heap of you joined in 2004. Check in now, lurkers especially welcome.
CottonBear
(21,596 posts)I joined DU on October 6, 2004. Id lurked for a few years before that date.
I cant quite remember how I found my way to DU. It must have been a link on another site. I came and never left. Time flies.
I finally signed up and joined right before the 2004 elections.
I used to go to our Georgia DU meetups. Mike and Kathy Malloy came to one of our East Atlanta meetups. I met Catwoman at that one! I even hosted a meetup in my town. Good times and great memories.
FightingIrish
(2,716 posts)I wrote articles during Bushs first term. I was very active protesting the Iraq war during the run up to the invasion.
CottonBear
(21,596 posts)The run up to the invasion was a frightening time. We all knew it would turn out to be a disaster.
Im so fortunate to have found DU and so many great DUers like you!
DU keeps me informed, entertained and sane.
leftstreet
(36,103 posts)canetoad
(17,149 posts)Close enough is good enough.
Polly Hennessey
(6,793 posts)2003.
marlakay
(11,446 posts)I saw a link to the site on Michael Moores website. I was volunteering full time for Kerry in between jobs. At the time I thought Bush was the worst no one could be more awful.
I had no clue!
Hugin
(33,112 posts)It seems like a Brazillian years ago.
I recall fighting the cave trolls with our bare hands. Copy cat threads in GD. The pizza dough was stone ground. Flip phones you could slip in your pocket. Columbo and Star Trek: Enterprise were still new on the satellite television.
:sigh:
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,661 posts)canetoad
(17,149 posts)Rhiannon12866
(205,105 posts)canetoad
(17,149 posts)How the hell are ya?
Rhiannon12866
(205,105 posts)And I'm hanging in there, but I miss my buddies! (Just not AdamR )
canetoad
(17,149 posts)And AdamR hasn't let up.
Rhiannon12866
(205,105 posts)As for our mutual "friend," I know! I've seen him around! The only good thing about his persistence is that pretty much everyone knows him by now!
tishaLA
(14,176 posts)I came during the CA recall effort.
BeyondGeography
(39,367 posts)I was a Clarkie. Part of my lifelong patron saint of lost causes routine.
spooky3
(34,428 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Wow! Can't believe it has been that long!
VOX
(22,976 posts)Were so awesome, we let everyone play.
Kidding, of course. DUers of all stripes and vintages are THE BEST!
Kind regards,
2003 before July 6th
wryter2000
(46,032 posts)My profile says before July of 2003
A HERETIC I AM
(24,365 posts)Jesus! I've been a member of DU for longer than I was in school. Longer than I have ever worked for a single company, longer than I have ever lived in one place, longer than any romantic relationship.......
Damn.
H2O Man
(73,528 posts)though it was December 29th of 2003.
LibinMo
(533 posts)Longtime lurker before that.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)I know I read the front page and lurked the forums for a bit before that.
Bluesaph
(703 posts)Iraq war did it for me. Became Dem and never looked back.
Kali
(55,007 posts)pretty sure I had been reading Top Ten Conservative Idiots and Bob Boudelang the year before
Maru Kitteh
(28,333 posts)Yeah. Okay. Checking in.
quaker bill
(8,224 posts)Hekate
(90,627 posts)I distinctly remember being much younger in 2002....
Decrepitly,
Hekate
canetoad
(17,149 posts)So do I.
Brother Buzz
(36,410 posts)What's up with that?
canetoad
(17,149 posts)Ancient history.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,365 posts)Crunchy Frog
(26,579 posts)Get the dates listed. Pretty sure that started with DU2. I was lurking during the transition.
Brother Buzz
(36,410 posts)I missed out on a lot of stuff happenings on DU, watching that circle thingy go round and round, trying to download a 600 and 1000 reply threads. Things got better with DU2 when they introduced that view all feature and I was able to download a post at a time to get a flavor of what was going on.
xmas74
(29,673 posts)Joined November 2004
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)Saw the sign at Bush's first inauguration. Registered that day.
Changed my name and signed up again in 2007.
uriel1972
(4,261 posts)I started lurking, joined later... couldn't say exactly when, but maybe the 2nd term of Shrub.
bluecollar2
(3,622 posts)2001 as Bluecollar.
Had you re-register after the election hack.
Ernesto
(5,077 posts)[Saw the sign at Bush's first inauguration. Registered that day.]
lindysalsagal
(20,648 posts)And the world started to make sense, again.
canetoad
(17,149 posts)But you posted earlier about a Trump foldover - remember those paper cutout dolls with cutout clothes? I'd love to sketch one of trumps head with folding directions (a la origami) for the hair.
LostinRed
(840 posts)canetoad
(17,149 posts)I've been an infrequent poster at times. Stints in the old mods hot tub and MIRT do wonders for your post count!
alwaysinasnit
(5,063 posts)PCIntern
(25,518 posts)Great group. Like family but better.
You don't have to put up with them at birthdays and Christmas.
spooky3
(34,428 posts)CottonBear
(21,596 posts)BigBearJohn
(11,410 posts)sprinkleeninow
(20,235 posts)Curtailed in '06 when mom needed us. I read but no posting. President Obama then gave me peace and calm.
THEN after that dreadful nite in 2016 I joined up again being in need of like minded community for support and commiseration.
Cattledog
(5,914 posts)canetoad
(17,149 posts)Lost him last December age 14 y 9 mo. Still laugh at thought of him escaping into paddock with three bulls and giving them hell. He showed them!
Cattledog
(5,914 posts)She's a Red also.
Sancho
(9,067 posts)TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)shenmue
(38,506 posts)blogslut
(37,997 posts)uponit7771
(90,335 posts)Mike Nelson
(9,951 posts)
Where does the time go?
democrank
(11,092 posts)is when I became a member of this motley crew.
sazemisery
(2,608 posts)I was a member of a message board in Oklahoma and saw a link to democraticunderground.com.
Been here since, mostly lurking but adding my 2 cents worth from time to time.
SleeplessinSoCal
(9,108 posts)Rather than lurking. Though I still read more than post.
Member since November 10 2004
mnhtnbb
(31,381 posts)for a long time. I had thought I was 2003. Big Dean supporter. He had a blog site where a lot of us posted. Daily Kos was also big. Both places had people mentioning DU and that's how I found my way here.
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)Eom
TexasBlueDog
(43 posts)...and finally signed up just before the '04 election because if things got crazy (and they did) the admins would restrict access to registered members.
When we had to re-register last year I never got the admins to clear my account after two tries. I think I had 25 posts after 15 years so they probably figured I was a zombie account. Kinda pissed me off.
quickesst
(6,280 posts)Can't remember exactly how I got here, but to this day I'm thankful that I did.
underpants
(182,736 posts)October of 2001 I think.
babylonsister
(171,054 posts)to be exact! I could not believe what I was seeing, needed comfort.
livetohike
(22,133 posts)from losing what is left of my 66 year old mind .
Tanuki
(14,918 posts)alittlelark
(18,890 posts)BootinUp
(47,138 posts)Vinca
(50,255 posts)DU got me through the Dubya years and now it's getting me through the worst nightmare the country has seen.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)It was one of the best things I ever did. It kept me sane.
woodsprite
(11,910 posts)And in that time DU has been checked daily and has been my go to source for news and info of all kinds from political news, homework help for kids (science, GoPo, History), cooking questions you name it.
Even when there was a large amount of police activity at my sons high school due to a bomb threat, I found out about it on DU before parents had been notified, just as the news helicopters were arriving. Same with a suspected shooting on the campus where I work. We had been told a section of main campus was closed but not told why. A DUers son was here at the time, and was filling me in on what was happening.
DU admins run an awesome show here! Its been my connection to like-minded people. Because of DU, my entire family is more politically educated, aware, and politically active.
I didn't even realize it has been so long until I looked at my profile.
ahimsa
(426 posts)You come pretty close though!
tavernier
(12,375 posts)Keysdisease
MelissaB
(16,420 posts)Class of 2004 checking in.
Trailrider1951
(3,414 posts)March of 2004. I could not stand Shrub, and had high hopes for his defeat by John Kerry.
I'm more of a lurk-n-learn person. Just because someone has a low post count, please don't count them out.
flvegan
(64,407 posts)PA Democrat
(13,225 posts)Gothmog
(145,079 posts)My first real memory of DU (other than W's election) was of Cindy Sheehan's protest at the ranch.
mopinko
(70,071 posts)found the place googling around because my button website got turned down for ads. too political.
the guy who did the bush cards had posted here about the same issue.
been here ever since.
Maven
(10,533 posts)And almost at the 10,000 post mark.
sinkingfeeling
(51,444 posts)tblue37
(65,274 posts)H2O Man and followed it here.
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)I lurked before then. Kerry not winning was what did it for me!
ginnyinWI
(17,276 posts)Kerry Campaign volunteer. Was crushed by the re-election of Dubya. Found this group!
edhopper
(33,556 posts)over 20,000 post, which is chump change compared to some.
Fix The Stupid
(947 posts)Lost all my credentials when getting a new computer, lost some time between, I think, 2008-2012 where I didn't come here at all...
Anyone old enough to remember the SeventhSon threads?
Bettie
(16,086 posts)Keeps me relatively sane.
Less so right now, because sane is relative in Trump World.
ok_cpu
(2,049 posts)BlueWI
(1,736 posts)Still posting occasionally and lurking frequently. The second Gulf War motivated me to find an online progressive community.
Lefta Dissenter
(6,622 posts)Time flies!
ananda
(28,856 posts)Wow! I didn't realize it was that long ago.
ismnotwasm
(41,975 posts)But then my daughter got deployed to Afghanistan and I signed up in 2004. DU was great solace to me during that time
BarbaRosa
(2,684 posts)and still not much of a posting count.
BuddhaGirl
(3,601 posts)yardwork
(61,588 posts)I hung out in the Lounge for a year.
struggle4progress
(118,273 posts)themaguffin
(3,825 posts)Fla Dem
(23,637 posts)Roland99
(53,342 posts)rzemanfl
(29,556 posts)AirmensMom
(14,642 posts)Finally joined on August 19, 2005.
Itchinjim
(3,085 posts)DU was my lifeline during the Bush years.
RT Atlanta
(2,517 posts)love this site, the forum and the community.
RockaFowler
(7,429 posts)Coming up on my 15th anniversary
Crazy 15 years here . . .
Generic Other
(28,979 posts)I was young when I made my first post! 2001.
obnoxiousdrunk
(2,909 posts)Member since Thu Mar 4, 2004.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)The longest-serving active DUer. The 13th user to create an account after DU's creation.
Still active to this day - Most recent post on Monday.
Sid
dumbcat
(2,120 posts)under a different name. I was mostly a lurker and didn't post much. I took a long break in 2012 or so and forgot my login password so I joined again anew. Still mostly a lurker. Certain subjects get me riled up enough to post, but not much.
It's been interesting to see the change in moods over the years. It's been subtle mostly, but still interesting to watch.
importDavid
(219 posts)Woot!
lapfog_1
(29,199 posts)21,372 posts
DU has been my place of refuge during dark times (the darkest have been the last two years).
lillypaddle
(9,580 posts)Nevilledog
(51,063 posts)But I did lurk a bit before.
PassingFair
(22,434 posts)Says 2003, but Im pretty sure I was here before that. Definitely here during the run up to the Iraq War.
demmiblue
(36,838 posts)couldn't stand the the name (never posted under it... lol), lurked for four more years and joined on Valentine's Day 2008.
GusBob
(7,286 posts)Feb 2003 for me under a different handle
This place has changed alot since then
madinmaryland
(64,931 posts)cry baby
(6,682 posts)Been here every day! Many thanks to admin and DUers who have made this my go-to site!
Liberal In Texas
(13,542 posts)about wtf is going on and gravitate to like-minded people.
Crunchy Frog
(26,579 posts)BeeBee
(1,074 posts)I lurked for quite a while and joined right after the 2004 election.
backtoblue
(11,343 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)VOX
(22,976 posts)Class of 2003 before July 6th.
Lets chase these dang newbies off our lawn! Cheers!
budkin
(6,699 posts)I remember when I thought GWB winning a second term would be the absolute worst thing ever...
VOX
(22,976 posts)Possibly Class of 2002, but I changed my DU handle, back when one could do that (sorry I did); but in doing so, I lost some of my credits.
Ryano42
(1,577 posts)Had to take a break on occasion due to circular firing squads...
But this is my sanctuary since Bush v. Kerry.
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)Al Franken's book "Lying Liars..." came out in September of 2003 (just looked it up) and I remember O'Reilly tried to start a campaign to ban the book. So, naturally, I went out and bought it and read it and thought it was awesome.
However, when I tried looking for liberal forums on the internet, I had a distinct lack of luck. I finally found a site called OReilly Sucks or something like that - when I posted a more general question on the forum rather than just anti-O'Reilly, the site owner responded that I could probably found better information on DU, and I signed up right away.
And, now I'm heading towards my 16th anniversary here and have over 50K posts.
rurallib
(62,406 posts)Thanks to a suggestion from a new friend at a county Democratic function.
15 years - woooeee.
miyazaki
(2,239 posts)Initech
(100,059 posts)Man we've been through a lot in 15 years but nothing like we are seeing currently. Also in that time I went from just reading the Idiots lists to making them!
hillary
(66 posts)Turin_C3PO
(13,952 posts)Joined in 2004 under a different handle. Posted for a few years then went back to lurking. Finally rejoined in 2015 in time for the primaries.
JimGinPA
(14,811 posts)I was a lurker for a couple years before that though.
Heddi
(18,312 posts)Newbies. Heh.
CTyankee
(63,901 posts)I remember it was a cool but sunny and beautiful day and I was certain that Kerry would be our next President. It was a nice thought while it lasted. I don't remember my first post but I'm sure it was giddy over John Kerry being our next president.
It was a nice thought, wasn't it?
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)Created an account after I got out in 2008.
My mom has an account here (trueblue) so that's how I know the place.
BBG
(2,531 posts)Had been lurking for a while. Heck, Im still lurking most of the time.
Iwasthere
(3,158 posts)Iraq war
Dale Neiburg
(698 posts)at 11:19 a.m.
shraby
(21,946 posts)KG
(28,751 posts)Member since: 2001
now get off my lawn!
BootinUp
(47,138 posts)davsand
(13,421 posts)We used to WELCOME the new people back in 2001 when I got here. Now, we call them newbies and suspect them of being infiltrators or bots. So, if I missed you when you got here, HELLO, and Welcome!
Laura
Greybnk48
(10,167 posts)I have popped in her almost daily since then! Hi to all of the Class of 2004!
aikoaiko
(34,165 posts)customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)Qanisqineq
(4,826 posts)I'm not much of a poster, more a lurker.
Doremus
(7,261 posts)Bok_Tukalo
(4,322 posts)<OPE>
Martin Eden
(12,862 posts)It's not on my RADAR.
I joined DU when GW was making his bogus case for war in Iraq.
yellerpup
(12,253 posts)But I lurked a long time before that. Possibly 2001. The first time I came here there were 1,200 members.
Horse with no Name
(33,956 posts)Gee...wonder what prompted that???lol
RANDYWILDMAN
(2,667 posts)Been lurking ever since, joined the old website but never posted, been posting the last month or so.
I just remember Kerry being robbed by Shrub and being so pissed off. The actual true war hero being shafted by a draft dodging national guard deserter. I was proud of DU for posting truth on that day, like no other.
Boxerfan
(2,533 posts)So I joined then I remember that much.
And boy howdy what a post count I've gained. Just cracked 1k a few years back.
Phentex
(16,334 posts)God, I thought Bush was horrible. I still do but a certain orange turd takes the cake.
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)In a stream of sun broke through the clouds and shown on the White House. I just knew it was a sign. We had seen the exit polls that afternoon at work and they looked really good for Kerry. The rest is horrible history and I took solace at DU. Never forget somebody saying they curled up in a ball and stared at a dust Bunny on the floor for 3 days.
malaise
(268,885 posts)stillcool
(32,626 posts)made it official in 2004....and what a trip it's been!
iwillalwayswonderwhy
(2,601 posts)I read so much of DU, I dont post much.
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)couldn't recover my password and had to create a new one.
rennaisance man
(8 posts)I joined around 2001-2001 timeframe, was very active in the Kerry campaign, and was here for the great meltdown after the election. I was absent for some time and when I tried logging in again I was unable. I have been lurking and reading posts for years now, then yesterday I signed up again under my same user name.
Turbineguy
(37,312 posts)Member since: Tue Apr 20, 2004, 07:45 AM
CanonRay
(14,097 posts)boguspotus
(286 posts)I lurk here daily.
Voltaire
(2,639 posts)I just don't post much
Poiuyt
(18,122 posts)suffragette
(12,232 posts)snacker
(3,619 posts)Texasgal
(17,042 posts)2004 here!
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,831 posts)GOPGoindown
(74 posts)Lurking for about 17 years.
Evergreen Emerald
(13,069 posts)I can't believe it has nearly 15 years.
Cadfael
(1,296 posts)AwakeAtLast
(14,124 posts)I went by WakeMeUp back then.
I have loved every minute being a part of DU. I have learned so much and I believe I'm a better person because of it!
A toast to the founders - Skinner, Elad and EarlG!
milestogo
(16,829 posts)canetoad
(17,149 posts)milestogo
(16,829 posts)Dream Girl
(5,111 posts)ellie
(6,929 posts)and I have been here since 2001!
Mudcat
(179 posts)Stinky The Clown
(67,786 posts)I seem to recall it was soon after The Horse (MWO) went away.
Bartcop and MWO were our haunts. And then DU.
Hard to believe we've been here for FIFTEEN years! Wow!
Lotta water under the DU bridge!
JudyM
(29,225 posts)the amount of time they wanted to put in, and demystifying how to get instantly connected with his campaign. I found DU while looking for useful places to post this info.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)Back when hair still grew on the top of my head.
Dem_4_Life
(1,765 posts)wishstar
(5,268 posts)DU was a lifesaver during Bush years and again now. I had over 2,000 posts on old handle but couldn't login after ditching old computer so rejoined under current handle. In 20 years online I have never posted on any other political site or social media