So What's the Bigger Issue?

[last1standing]

It looks like there are only three real issues out there today so I wanted to see which of them is considered the bigger issue.

[OhioChick]

1. Other:

When is Grey's Anatomy on?

[2rth2pwr]

2. Obama's credibility as a viable candidate.

[last1standing]

6. You didn't understand the question, huh?

Not much I can do to help then. You'll just have to figure things out for yourself.

[swishyfeet]

3. He needs to get out NOW before the next issue becomes an issue

[IndianaJones]

4. Obama supporters having the man they defended slapped down by their own savior....

then having to like it.

[chknltl]

5. Looks to me like DUers are concerned with the issues

The majority are into REAL issues while the minority are into faux issues. Well at least we are into the issues...big sigh.

[last1standing]

7. It's interesting that most people have voted for the real issue...

but most of the current threads in GDP are screeching about Pastor Wright.

Squeaky wheel, I guess.

[chknltl]

8. Noticed that huh????

I figured I'd be coming back to defend against a Senator Clinton supporter. Pleasant surprise, thanks. :pals:

[last1standing]

9. 6 to 1 so far, yet the threads are probably the reverse.

Its sad what this forum has become, isn't it?

[chknltl]

10. ...mmm no, not so much to me.

I am a newbie relatively speaking but this particular forum is even newer. From what I understand the DU has gone through changes since the last primary cycle. I hear it was pretty 'hot-n-heavy' back then but in a different way. This forum was created to resolve this new and different 'hot-n-heaviness' and frankly it appears to be doing it's job of containment. I am glad that the spillover into the rest of the DU has not been as bad as it would have been had we not had GD-P.

As to the over-the-top fans of either candidate, I suspect more than a few of them here in the DU are not Democrats. (Being a supporter of Senator Obama, I naturally place the preponderance of repuke provocateurs in the Clinton supporter camp). These saboteurs have been for the most part kept in check on this board because they are stuck posting their filth here. I have noticed time and again where these rabble rouser's are chased back here to GD-P or even tomb-stoned when they try to post elsewhere.

So am I sad regarding the current state of GD-P? Nah. As soon as Senator Obama gets the nomination the GD-P will likely be gone...perhaps to be replaced by a GD-G

[last1standing]

11. GD: P has always been here.

At least it has since about 2003 or so. During the primaries they just change "General Discussion: Politics" into "General Discussion: Primaries" in order to segregate the worst of the infighting. It'll go back once the primaries are over.

But it's definitely worse this season than it was in 2004. There were plenty of trolls back then but they were taken out quicker and there was more control by the administration. I can't say I'm a fan of this hands-off approach they have going this time around but it's their forum so we play by their rules.

[chknltl]

12. I didn't know this.

See? Tol' ya that I was sorta new. Here I was thinking that the addition of a 'new' forum was a good idea. I wish that I could have been around DU since it's inception just because it has had such a profound influence on my view of our world. I always instinctively felt that the Dems were what is best for the world, now I can argue why that is true as well as why that is not exactly true.

I confess that all the anger gets to me too. I generally avoid fights but I am not afraid to stand my ground when I know that I am right. I have been dragged into fights by a few of the usual suspects around here lately, none were nice and none changed my opinion. Am I just stubborn? Well frankly NO. These fights are nothing like the debates I used to have prior to these primaries. I can recall one debate prior to the primaries that I engaged in with a feminist. It went on for three days believe it or not and when it was over I was VERY happy to admit that I had been wrong. She utterly disrupted my worldview and forced my thoughts down new roads. I am grateful for such encounters.

These new debates, (fights), with those who support Senator Clinton, have never started, progressed or ended nicely. A few of those ladies* know where my buttons are and insist on pushing them DELIBERATELY. This advances their cause HOW???, this makes me want to switch who I support WHY???? Needless to say I am not at all fond of this and sometimes my anger continues on where it need not be.
*(In each case they were indeed females)

I think that these particular folks intentionally want to stir up animosity here in the DU. Truth be told I can not fathom their ultimate goals in doing this because in the end they change no opinions. It's like a war of words with no victories and never the hope from the start of having a victory. What is the good in that??? The truly sad part to me is when I see folks i have come to respect get caught up in the fracas with these disruptors. It pains me to see these folks whose threads I had learned so much from get turned into a DU version of an angry Freeper.

I have utterly no idea what has changed here in the DU, (if that is what has happened), nor do I have any thoughts on how to remedy this...that is a few pay-grades above my station anyway. I am, by and large, still happy with the DU and I figure at some point things will settle down here. I have no doubts that some of the disruption IS deliberate by those who do not have a democratic bone in their bodies and sooner or later they will get outed... well i hope so at any rate. Gees I just looked back on what I wrote, sorry for the ramble. I'll blame what I was eating,... better yet I'll give ya the recipe:

'chknltl's' pear salad:
Take two pyrex bowels
In the bottom of one place a handful of crushed walnuts
Then add another handful, equal amounts dried cranberries and dried raisins
add a handful of Feta Cheese
toss in a half handful of fresh raspberries and another half handful of fresh blueberries
add one crunchy green pear all cubed or sliced up into bite sized chunks
then mound in a nice amount of salad, (spinach and field greens are my faves, baby Romaine works too)
next add a bit of Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette-DON'T OVERDO THIS!!!
Take the other pyrex bowel and cover your creation. Shake it gently then flip it over.
Grab a fork.
(Feeds two easily and provides a nice assortment of tastes and textures)