General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Surprised by the atmosphere here.... [View all]
I have been a lurker on DU for years. I love it here, for many reasons. The most significant reason, I believe, is that DU is a place that offers thoughtful, mostly informed compliments and CRITIQUES of politicians and events, critiques being the more important of the two. The criticisms found here are not the criticisms found anywhere else. You do not haggle over Obama's birth certificate, or whether he is a secret Muslim, but rather, you DO talk about his environmental record. You do not give false credence to the idea that there are 2 sides to every story. You do not give false credence to the idea that both sides are equally terrible. Not giving in to these popular misconceptions tells me that members here have an informed and mostly fair perspective, and perspective is key. Facts without perspective are certainly valuable, but without perspective, they are useless. For example, knowing the concentration of methane in the atmosphere is certainly important. But only perspective will determine if you think there is too little or too much of it, and what actions we might need to take.
It is with this in mind that I tell you how sad I am to see this attitude around here that you are either with us or against us. People that critique Obama's record on global warming are being treated like the people that think he is trying to steal our guns. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a person offer a reasonable criticism of Obama, only to be bombarded by snark or insults saying how the person would clearly rather have Bush back in the White House.
This isn't an either/or proposition, and too many people here treat it as such. One can be critical of Obama, but still think he was the rational choice to vote for. Similarly, one can be a fan of many actions the president has taken, but deeply upset by other actions. One can sincerely appreciate and admire some of the actions he has taken in regards to the environment or gay rights, but still be justifiably disappointed in other areas of the environment or gay rights.
I am very disappointed in many elected Democrats right now, but that does not mean I regret who I voted for. And I am sure that 99% of the people that critique Obama here feel the same way. I am sure many people here dislike Clinton or Obama for doing certain things, but still understand that they were the best choice they had available.
Similarly, I have seen people that compliment Obama treated as if they were mindless patsies. This is not fair either, and I think it should stop. That being said, I have seen incidents like this in FAR fewer numbers than the aforementioned dynamic. My focus is mostly on the oppression of dissent.
Dissent is not the same as disloyalty. We can learn from criticisms. This is the Democratic UNDERGROUND, not the Democratic CHEERLEADERS Association. I hope that seems reasonable.