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We have all seen the crap flinging going on over the last many weeks and months, steadily escalating in intensity and general stupid childishness day by day. There have been people in both camps from the beginning who have had trouble keeping things civil but it's been spreading and poisoning the atmosphere of the entire forum as it does.
A while ago some people launched the "Let it sink" initiative on the Obama side. On the one hand as a response to genuine trolls and disrupters that's a good policy. On the other hand it tends to get out of hand and applied as a response to any post that says anything that isn't pro-Obama, and doing that isn't productive or helpful. Ignoring people with serious concerns isn't going to change any minds. You want to get them on board you need to talk to them and explain where you think they're going wrong in their reasoning. On that front the "Let it sink" tactic is hindering things, nobody responds well when they post a serious question and the other side immediately responds with a declaration that they are to be ignored. So... by all means ignore obvious trolls, but try to maintain a little objectivity and recognize that not every post or thread critical of Obama is automatically in that category.
Now, beyond that, I think the "Let it sink" strategy is flawed for another reason. It doesn't accept responsibility for the tone of the message coming from our own camp. And I'm hoping Clinton supporters are listening to this part too because this applies to both sides. If we really want to see this forum become more mature and civil and issue-based then we cannot get there by only calling out the people on the other side who pull childish petty disruptive crap. That doesn't work, especially in an environment this polarized. An Obama supporter is going to have little to no luck getting someone acting like a 6 year old on the Clinton side to straighten out and act like a grown-up by confronting them, and the same goes for any adults on the Clinton side trying to straighen out an Obama disrupter... people acting like that want to get a rise out of the other side. That's the whole point. What they do NOT want to do is become an obvious and visible pariah to the people they're claiming to be on the same side as, that ruins their fun. So if we really want to clean things up in this forum the way to do it is to make the consequences of unacceptable uncivil behavior something that those engaging in it don't derive satisfaction from.
Obama supporters, if someone posts something clearly offensive and disruptive just to get a rise out of the Clinton people WE should be the ones to call them out on it. WE should be the ones sending the message that that is not what the Obama campaign is about. WE should make it clear that anyone pulling that crap needs to reconsider their approach.
Clinton supporters, same goes for you. I know there are level headed civil people over there. I've seen you posting. I know you hate this rhetoric flinging crap as much as your counterparts on this side of the debate do. Do something about it. Please.
Here is what I am proposing. If you are sick of the childish antics of certain people on both sides of this issue then sign up right here for a joint effort between both the Obama and the Clinton camps to start cleaning up this forum for the benefit of all involved, with the Obama people taking responsibility for calling out anyone who posts out of line comments about the Clinton people, and Clinton people taking responsibility for calling out anyone who posts out of line comments about the Obama people. If someone posts something idiotic and petty about Clinton or her supporters there should be an Obama person there, clearly identified AS an Obama person, making it clear that the wider community of Obama supporters don't stand for that. If someone posts something similar about Obama or his supporters there should be a Hillary person there taking them to task for giving their camp a bad name.
Will this stop trolls from being trolls? No. But it will create an atmosphere of common purpose and reconciliation among all the NON trolls on both sides if they can come together to oppose trollish behavior engaged in in the name of their own factions. It will make trolls less effective, it will marginalize them. And that's in everyone's best interests who really cares about this primary, this community, and future efforts in the GE.
If you're on board, let me see you check in below. For my part I'm getting started now, I've called out two people today so far who I saw making comments that served no purpose but to provoke the Hillary camp (one delightful individual called me Hitler for doing it, I kid you not...) and I'll keep doing it where I see it.
Anyone with me? I won't speak for the Clinton camp's motivations, but Obama folks... how about we look to his example? Reach across "the aisle" and get things done that are in the best interests of those on both sides instead of drawing lines in the sand and digging in for pointless partisan battles between Democrats of all things. Let's make it clear we're not just going to silently condone anyone undercutting that principle from our end. Let's not rely completely on the Mods to clean up the act in here... that's top down thinking. They work hard, but there aren't enough of them and there's only so much they can do. If you want to really get things done on the ground it needs to be bottom up. If we should have learned anything from his campaign that's it. We can do a lot of our own housecleaning if we put in the effort.
Or I could get 50 responses calling me an anti free speech fascist for daring to suggest we hold the community to a higher standard of discourse and then we can watch the trolls continue to whip the entire forum into a frenzy all the way until a nominee is finally official. Let's see what happens.
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