I have had it, I'm through.

[zbdent]

I discovered DU in 2002, finding a place in which I could get a lot of information from various people who generally shared my opinions in politics.

There were a number of times in which I disagreed with posters, agreed with others more often than not.

There were also a few (very few) times where I faced some real nasty people. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to last very long here.

I have enjoyed the humor shown by a lot of people, including the relatively new DUzys, the captioning contests, the general goofiness which populated the Lounge. I have bookmarked many of the best threads I’ve read. I’ve shared some of the humor with Mrs. ZBDent, and even many of the political insights I’ve gained through reading the forums.

There was a dark time, for a while, as the primary season of 2004 was under way. I had been afraid for our candidates because of the sniping which happened. However, we did seem to get through this, and DU remained out on the net. The morning after the 2004 election was an emotionally depressing one, having seen the candidacy of Johns Kerry and Edwards go from likely to dashed. But the people of DU helped get us all through that tough time, and we renewed our efforts, and took back the House of Representatives, and, to a degree, the Senate in November 2006.

How things change …

Here we are, in the midst of the 2008 primary season, and all the attacks from the Obama haters and the Hillary haters have really brought me down. Many times, I have despaired at the attitudes shown – the “win at all cost” which threatened to tear our good candidates down and give the election over to the Republicans. Our loss in 2008, against the weak Republican candidate and Bush clone, may just bring forth the demise of the Democratic party.

It may continue on, hooked up to life support, but the fatal blow will have been administered, and it would just be time before the brain gives up and lets the heart stop beating.

It is with great sadness that I watch DU disintegrate with the constant fighting over the candidates, tearing them down just to score a few points. Many times, I have begged my fellow DUers to stop shooting ourselves in the foot, or forming circular firing squads, giving the Republicans all the free ammunition they could have to destroy our chances.

It is thus with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to the Democratic Underground. I hope that we will be able to join together once again, but I fear it is not the case.

Goodbye to all my friends that I have worked with here ...

April Fools ...

[LostinVA]

1. Believe me, I understand

I've thought about this very thing alot lately.

If it's goodbye for good, good luck.

[Debi]

23. You can't leave! Who will I spank on Fridays???

:cry:

[zbdent]

32. I'll be here ... check the last line ... in white text ...

usually can be seen by selecting all or highlighting the OP ...

(twenty bucks, same as in town, right?)

[Debi]

35. Aaaccckkk

:banghead:

(Um...that was a joke for LostinVA...but for you ...since we just met and all .... it's not really cheating ....)

[Cooley Hurd]

2. I have days when I can't bear to log onto DU...

Take a breather, zbdent - perhaps even a month of so. After PA, the race should be essentially over.:hi:

[cboy4]

7. At least you got in a little dig.

Well done.

You're one of the reasons the he/she is leaving.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. I did?

What if Senator Clinton wins w/ 95% of the vote? ;)

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. Never miss an opportunity, do they?

[shadowknows69]

3. Just take a break until after the primes

People will mostly come back to their senses or be quickly TS'ed after that. We'd hate to lose a veteran member like yourself. Don't let the petty BS get to you if you still have friends here.

[Vickers]

4. I only come to GD-P when I need my blood pressure to spike.

:thumbsup:

Stay out of this place, it's poison for the most part.

[JayFredMuggs]

5. As Harry Truman said.... if you can't stand the heat...

get out of the DU kitchen!

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. Nice.

:eyes:

[rox63]

6. I've got the worst of the haters on ignore

The ignore button is truly your friend. Take a break. But please consider coming back after the primary madness is over.

[LTR]

29. Ignore makes GD-P pretty mild

And it can be customized, so you can set it to ignore particular users' started threads or replies.

I'm not ashamed to use this feature.

[xchrom]

9. i hardly ever post here anymore -- well i mean for me.

i used to enjoys hours a day being here.

not so much nowadays -- i don't know if it'll be different or better.

if not i guess i will just dwindle my way out.

[JPettus]

38. I never posted that much to begin with,

but I really enjoyed reading.

Now, except for Mondays when I read the Top Ten Conservative Idiots of the Week, and the Computer User's forum, I mostly stay away.

I understand, I truly do, about the passion for a candidate. The last time I felt it was in '68.

I was a lot younger then.

But I can't understand the mean-ness, and I get really tired of threads entitled things like The End of Civiliation As We Know It if so-and-so doesn't drop out of the race, or which candidate made the error that dooms them and the campaign and should just quit now.

Personally, I would feel no shame or regret with either of our candidates being President, and I feel that both of them have a very good chance of winning the general election provided that they don't kill each other in the primaries.

And I don't understand the nonsense that if someone's favorite candidate fails to win the nomination that they would refuse to vote for the candidate that did win.

After six years of essentially Republican rule and the complete mess they've made of the country that I went to war for, I can't understand that.

[HelenWheels]

10. Reconsider

Please stay because we need people like you to keep things real. I took a political break to refresh myself and now am back ready to go. We have had a nasty race in WI for state Supreme Court judge that turned me off but I am going to vote today in spite of it. And to make things worse our city has had a nasty race for mayor. I think it is now the nature of the beast to be nasty but we have to hang in and fight against it.

[screembloodymurder]

11. Never, never, never, never, never

quit!

[Bonobo]

12. GDP is not DU. It is the work of...

THE DEVIL!!!

[Apollo11]

15. I predict - you will be back

This place is the most addictive site on the internet. :hi:

[LaurenG]

16. What is this, why you April fooler or what!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3091854

[sniffa]

17. um, bye?

:shrug:

[lumberjack_jeff]

18. Embrace the madness.

The hate around has risen to the level of performance art. It's as if Andres Serrano were writing political punditry.

"Gaaa! I am boiling, hopping, irrationally angry! Did you hear Hillary tell a joke today! That awful, horrible, horrible woman! How dare she ridicule the chosen one's bowling skillz!!! She can go straight to purgatory and take Edwards, Krugman, Maya Angelou, Helen Thomas and Larry Johnson with 'em!!!"

Just roll with it baby! You're living in a time which you can tell your grandchildren about!

Did I tell you kids that I was there back in ought-eight during the formation of the singularity of hate? Yup, once you suck all the hope from people vampire-style, all that's left is irrational hate and condescension. We didn't know this at the time, of course.

Now there's a black hole of hate, from which no logic can escape, in a server farm in Sacramento. I tried to straighten 'em out, of course...

[mudesi]

19. LOL

Highlight it, people.

[oregonjen]

20. Go to the Lounge and hang out until the primaries are over

Fun place, it might even make you smile. :hi: I don't post very often and hardly at all in the Lounge, but when I read the threads there, I laugh a lot.

[DarkTirade]

21. Smooth.

:P

[Forkboy]

22. Hope you change your mind, but you got to do what you got to do.

Take care, and best wishes. :toast:

[RememberWellstone]

24. Damn

This is serious, but GDP is'nt all of DU.

[zbdent]

25. Folks, like lynyrd_skynyrd said ... highlight it ...

and think about what today means to you as you get to the bottom ...

[corkhead]

34. U Bastid!

:spank:

[Arugula Latte]

26. All I can say is, your candidate sided with McCain over her fellow Democrat.

Talk about a "win at all costs" attitude.

Outrage is selective, it seems.

[rodeodance]

40. McCain agrees with Obama on RW education idea: Looky here:

and don't forget how BO falls all over Bush I and Ronny.




snip-

Today, McCain also ventured into some educational policy areas –- albeit relatively safe territory for a conservative candidate -– calling for merit pay for teachers and school choice.

"We should reward the best with merit pay, and encourage teachers who have lost their focus on the children they teach to find another line of work," McCain said. He then added that the country should encourage "military veterans to enter the teaching profession," because the honor they learn in the armed services are also important for children.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/200.../01/847461.aspx

Obama and McCain are for it, Clinton and 99% of Democrats are against it. To understand why Democrats oppose it:

-snip-

"Teachers understand that politically motivated panaceas such as merit pay and eliminating tenure do nothing to improve teacher quality," said NEA President Reg Weaver. "Our members are open to alternatives, but we will always oppose quick fixes designed to weaken the voice of teachers and effectiveness of education employees in all jobs."

The Public Agenda study looked at three key issues currently under consideration at the local, state, and national levels.

*
Merit Pay: Public Agenda found that most teachers oppose merit pay - based on favoritism and test scores - but many support other non-traditional compensation plans, including extra pay for extra work, incentives to work in schools in need of improvement, and incentives for National Board certification. None of those alternatives are merit pay, and NEA and its affiliates have supported those proposals.

http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2003/nr030604.html

[Megahurtz]

27. Maybe a little break is all you need...

hopefully things will calm down?

[liberaldem4ever]

28. Cute one

You really got me-I thought you were serious. :applause:

[zbdent]

31. seems like a lot of people don't get that it's an April Fool's message

(although, truth be told, not a funny one, especially considering the fact that I feel a lot like that about the circular firing squad)

They just don't get that the last, and most important line, is in pure white text ...

[TK421]

30. Try hanging out in the Lounge more often...that's what I do when this

place pisses me off. I think everyone could use a break from here every now and then :thumbsup:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

33. Politicians slinging shit at each other is as old as the republic.

You're taking it all much too seriously.

[knixphan]

36. si

[FlyingSquirrel]

37. Sadness

:cry:

I am sure you'll be missed

[LaurenG]

39. When you hit select all at the OP you will see

at the very bottom, this ....



I have had it, I'm through.
<snip>
Goodbye to all my friends that I have worked with here ...

April Fools ...

Try it yourselves!