GD: P Lately More Resembles the Message Board I Quit Going to When I Found Democratic Underground

[NashVegas]

That was in the spring of 2001.

At first, I tried to keep up with both. The board I started out in was attached to a MMO and to be a liberal-minded person on their political board was like being the needle in the haystack, and you were hated for it. I used to say it was the kind of place where you needed a crash-helmet to participate.

At first I kept going there when I found DU, because I didn't want to be in an echo chamber. But eventually, you get tired of the personal insults and the more stubborn dimwits. They would relentlessly move the goal-posts; if you called the firetruck red they'd call it blue, demand to see your proofs and after you took the time to find the research to back up your statements, it still wasn't good enough. They'd find some way to challenge it. For every one liberal-minded poster, there would be 15 hyper-conservatives who made it their business to drag you down to their level.

That's why it's so hard to believe that so very many of the posts and threads I read here were written by liberals - I certainly don't believe very many of them were written by people who put any great amount of thought about their political preferences.

You can talk about intra-party divisions, but I'm sorry, I don't believe it's that simple, because of those who are hurling the worst of it here, I don't believe they'd be any less antagonistic on a message board devoted to barbeque grilling.

Anyway, have fun y'all, cause I'm looking for something more productive to do with my time than get bogged down with ankle-biters.

Before I try to leave this area for good, something you may want to think about:

The Pwning of the Progressive Movement

In our present I find it impossible, in the end, to support HRC for the nomination. Her blunders in judgement are too many and too frequent to be an accident. When the large issues come up, she jumps the wrong way. HillaryCare was an accident. But in being a backer Iraq, she was her own boss. And Iraq is clearly the largest post-cold war strategic blunder. In this sense I back Obama by default, simply because I know that Hillary will blunder the next big decision. Something we cannot afford.

However, in that context there is now a struggle for what kind of Obama nomination and presidency there will be. The explosion over Krugman's comments indicate that struggle is lost. We are going to be treated to a nice huge vat of "shut the fuck up" Obamism.

I just hope that the people now outraged over Krugman telling the truth, will remember this moment the next time that Obama tells the blogosphere to shut the fuck up, which he has done several times. He must, because as a representative plutocrat, he not only must create a loud noisy ball of people, he must have control over them, and will crush anyone who attempts to swim in that environment and direct it. He has promised his backers control over that ball, and anyone who moves it in another direction will be seen as a threat. He's already done this, and therefore, I am sure he will do it again.

http://agonist.org/stirling_newberry/20080211/the_revolution_returns_obama_and_the_cult_of_personality

[BuyingThyme]

1. Things aren't always as bad as they seem.

:P