In honor of DU's 5th Birthday: 7 DAYS UNDERGROUND

[CatWoman]

I can't read this article too many times.

Pull up a chair and treat yourself.

This is how this wonderful community began:

Seven Days Underground

Democratic Underground had its official launch on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2001. Much has happened since then. To mark the passing of our first week, we felt that our faithful visitors might like to read a SLIGHTLY EMBELLISHED first-person account of the highs and lows of launching an underground political website. by Skinner

DAY 1 (SAT) - A GIFT FROM MSNBC
On Friday night, we were up until about 3:00am getting ready for the website's big Inaugural Day Launch. We were hoping to be in bed by midnight, but our intern — a young radical from one of the local community colleges — spilled paint all over our banner at around 11:30, and we had to start from scratch. EarlG thought the intern was trying to sniff the stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised if it were true (he kept mumbling something about how "acrylic lasts longer than this latex crap", but we weren't clear on the context). The rest of us are too old for that sort of thing, but we'll keep him around because he is the only one here that knows anything about programming perl. (Fortunately, he got the "Nuclear Button" script working by 10:00pm, before the can of paint arrived.)

On Saturday, we met at our makeshift "office" in Northwest DC sometime around 11:00am. We were supposed to meet at 9:30, but the intern overslept. He showed up with his own homemade "George W. Ass" sign, but we wouldn't let him bring it to the protests — Newshound thought it was "off message."

We got down to Pennsylvania avenue around noon, and were fortunate to claim a prime location right in front of the press bleachers. Protesters were confined to a few "designated protest areas," and it seemed strange to me that one of those spots would be right in front of the media. I guess the communications geniuses in the Bush camp didn't think of everything.

The other protesters seemed to be a mishmash of left-wing types: Some dancing polar bears to protest oil drilling in ANWR; Some free-Mumia folks; Anti-death penalty activists; A pretty large contingent of Seattle-style anti-globalization college kids; and even a guy on stilts to protest, well, I don't know what he was protesting. Like us, lots of folks were protesting how Bush stole the election, but there were far fewer of us than I expected. A sizable chunk of the protesters I spoke with voted for Nader. I thought, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be out here freezing my ass off in the rain. But I digress.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/01/01/010127_7days.html

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

1. OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!

I always wanted a detail of the birth of DU. Mwah Catwoman!

:*

[CatWoman]

2. lol

I post it every now and then.

Such an enjoyable story!!

:D

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. You are one of the DU matriarchs, CatWoman!

hope to see you at the next SE get-together!

[CatWoman]

7. wouldn't miss it for the world

:hi:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. I never knew this article existed. I just got done reading it. But You've

JUST GOT TO TELL ME! What is the screenname of the intern???????


:rofl:

[CatWoman]

6. that you will have to get from Skinner, Elad or EarlG.

:D

[JeffR]

3. Thanks!

And Happy Birthday!

[annabanana]

8. What a GREAT read!

I feel like I was there... all wet and cursed out right next to you all.

[madokie]

9. Thank you

I hope before the night is over I will know the story of DU
America is truly blessed, we shall prevail

[rwheeler31]

10. Thank you, this is very interesting.

We need more, how soon we forget.

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. I've never read that! Thanks for posting it.

It wasn't too long after that horrid inauguration day that I found DU. I STILL thank G-d for my luck the day I just happened upon this place. It really has saved my sanity. :)

Happy Birthday, DU!:[arty::toast:

[sundancekid]

12. K&R -- meow, meow -- let's get this thread rated up for Greatest Page

I wasn't here 5 years ago, and I am grateful for the nostalgic tour ... thanx, CatWoman

[serryjw]

13. Little did you know we would need a home on 9-11

When did the left membership pick up to a real forum?

[babylonsister]

14. Thanks! nt

[AuntiBush]

15. Thanks CatWoman for the DU History FYI

I would never have know. Wish I could have been there from day one. Just really glad I found this place, thanks to a GOOGLE search!

Happy Birthday, Du founders. You're earned your stripes. Commend each and everyone of your dedicated staff.

:patriot:

[cyberpj]

16. Recommended. I didn't find you until the 2004 election season but

I'm so very happy to be here and support you.

I check in with you daily and remain slightly closer to the sane end of things because of you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
AND THANKS DU!

[byronius]

17. This was my first-ever discussion board. Your post got me all teary-eyed.

And I didn't even show up until 2004. Long Live DU. Long live Hope in the Human Heart.

[Rex]

18. Only place that keeps me sane.

Awesome! I had no idea how DU began. Thanks!

Happy B-Day DU!

:yourock:

[EarlG]

19. Lol

Heavy on the "slightly embellished" :D

[CatWoman]

20. We are dying to know, Earl

what ever happened to the intern? :D

[EarlG]

26. I think he and Newshound

disappeared back into the dark recesses of Skinner's imagination.

But the rest of that story is actually pretty accurate :D

[dalaigh lllama]

31. Happy Birthday to DU and its founders

Can you tell us how many hits per day DU gets now?

[EarlG]

33. We don't check our stats very often

because while we do have software that records the stats accurately it doesn't present them in a very user-friendly fashion, and it takes several hours to crunch the numbers. But the last time we looked, it was around 10 million page views per week. At any given time there are thousands of people browsing the site.

[dalaigh lllama]

45. That's fantastic. 10 million!

I've noticed that every time there's something major happening, like the Downing Street minutes or Hurricane Katrina, there's a quantum leap in registration. Thank you guys for being here for all of us liberals. You'll have to come up with another name for the site after Dems get back in power in '06 -- we won't have to be underground anymore.;-)

[jaxx]

21. I confess. A winger told me about DU.

He accused me of getting my ideas here, and I'd never heard of DU before. But I came and checked it out, registered, and read what you have to say. What a great place to come when the outside gets nasty and you're at your wits end for comebacks.

Thanks DU, and all the posters who came and stuck it out when it was getting started. It must have been a wild ride.

[Maru Kitteh]

22. I LOVED that!

Good for you guys. I probably didn't see you on the tee vee because I was busy pressing my ham against the screen. :patriot:

[DemoTex]

23. I heard of DU very early on and started lurking.

DU was a great website from the get-go. I probably saw DU first in March 2001. I think I registered as DemoTex in late April 2001. When I started at DU, Will Pitt was a teacher in Boston. We planned a meeting for beers at the Brew Moon, but I never made it back to work (I'm on long-term-disability from my job as an airline captain).

DU helped me through 9/11 and I helped DU through 9/11. I think the admins would verify that (eh Earl G, Skinner?). As an ALPA accident investigator, I literally pumped my expertise into those bad days. As one who lost a dear friend in the Pentagon crash, I fought the extremely crazy tin-foil-hatters.

I do not know what I would have done without DU over these dark, dark Bu$h days. Some of my dear DU friends are gone for ever, and some others have just disappeared. But old DemoTex stays. Checkin' in and loving the DemocraticUnderground!

Things will be better after the revolution!
Mac

[CatWoman]

24. Mac

you know where the archives are of September 11, 2001?

[DemoTex]

27. No, but my posts probably start at about 9am CST (I was in Dallas)

I think that was pre-DSL on our end (dial-up), and DU and all internet sites were locked up most of the day. Funny what you remember. I had been grounded (from my airline captain job) on 9/10 for high blood pressure (170/105). On 9/11 it hit 225/145 (stroke-ville!).

[Cooley Hurd]

30. I found the 9/11 threads and posted it a few weks ago:

Here's the first LBN thread right after the attacks started:

Plane Crashes into World Trade Center Building ON CNN NOW

It really brings you back when you read it...:scared: Kef :( and bpilgrim were all over the story...

Here's the link to my GD thread on Jan 10, 2006 (with links to GD, and other threads fron 9/11): http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=96096

[greendog]

60. Here's a link to the GD archives...

...the 9/11 stuff starts at 99.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=list&forum=DCForumID35&mm=3920&archive=yes

[Loki]

52. DemoTex

I checked in about the same time as you. I had been so deeply disturbed by the election that I started looking for websites in frustration and found my first anti-bush site at BushWatch which pointed me here. The first person to welcome me was Crewleader, WillPitt was a posting newby and I watched in amazement as Khephra's posting numbers climbed daily as he had the fastest fingers on the planet and kept us all informed of the Latest Breaking News. I think it was Kef's post that I read that first alerted us to the horrors unfolding on September 11.

I am so grateful to Skinner, Elad and EarlG and to all the people who came to this wonderful place. It's provided refuge from the storm and a launching pad to help us take our country back. It's given birth to a whole new generation of grassroots activists, and we will work to restore our country back into the hands of "We, the people."

Thank you DU, to all who have been and all who will be.


Lee in Texas

[EarlG]

25. This has prompted me to go back and look at some of the other

old stuff from way back when...









From "George's Big Day" at http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/01/01/010122_bigday_01.html

Then there was Strom's Secret Diary: http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/01/01/010120_stromsdiary.html

Conservative Madlibs: http://www.democraticunderground.com/madlibs

The Supremos: http://www.democraticunderground.com/supremos

George Goes to Spain: http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/01/06/13_spain_01.html

The 2002 Christmas homepage images: http://www.democraticunderground.com/images/02xmas

The first ever Top 10 Conservative Idiots: http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/01/top10_2001_01.html

Ah, memories... :D

[stevedeshazer]

34. RE: that very first Top Ten Conservative Idiots

Four of the ten could be on that list this week! :)

[cally]

35. I've never seen some of this stuff

You should post some of this stuff in separate threads. I like the 2002 Christmas images. It's surprising much the same some of the jokes are and yet how different. Here's one I laughed at:

[EarlG]

36. Yeah, some of the pre-war stuff is a particularly weird

Here's an article from March 2001 called "The Case for War in 2004":

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/01/03/010313_war2004.html

The last paragraph reads, "What will the team who stopped at nothing to take the 2000 election do in 2004? George W. Bush has repeatedly reached back into previous Republican administrations for his policies and his staff. He doesn't have to reach farther than his father's administration to find a suitable answer: another war like the Gulf war. Daddy Bush's ratings soared to over 90% and defense contractors got fat orders. We were so proud of our Patriot missiles, our bombs bursting in air. Remember the great Gulf war photo-ops on CNN? What could be better? The people who might be killed are too stupid to vote anyway."

The last line is sarcastic; it refers to statements made in the rest of the article. But that paragraph is spooky.

[cally]

38. DU had some of the best analysis of the upcoming

Iraq war. Most here knew why we were going to war. That paragraph is spooky.

[dalaigh lllama]

28. What a great article!

I'm grateful every day for this site. Thanks to Skinner, EarlG, Elad, and the bemused intern for getting it started. And thanks, Catwoman, for posting this!

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Happy Birthday DU!!

I think this is the best site on the internet. It's definitely my favorite.

I have made good friends here. I look so forward to our meetups.

I would never have gone to Crawford if not for all I read about Cindy here on DU.

I could never pay for the education I have received from DUers. I know so much more now than I did even a year ago.

This place just rocks. Thank you Skinner and EarlG and Elad. You guys really rock.

:yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

32. Just as funny today as the first time I read it

Happy B-day DU. We're both older, wiser and better. :toast:

[Ernesto]

37. Alright Cat Woman!

I'll never forget when you smacked me down for not including a link on one of my earliest posts (link, what's a link?) ......... Seems like yesterday (in reality, about 58 months ago).
Anyway, the reason DU exists is, unfortunately, still alive & breathing . Let us continue the struggle.
Happy New Year!

[CatWoman]

42. ROFL!!!

I must have been PMSing that day

:hi:

[ClayZ]

39. Thanks for sharing the GRAND opening!

DU seeds!

:grouphug:



:kick:

[WillyT]

40. Happy Birthday Baby !!!

And you know what I'm talkin about...

:bounce::loveya::bounce:

:hi:

[qanda]

41. That was great

Thanks for sharing. DU has certainly come a very long way.

[fortyfeetunder]

43. Thanks this is a must read

Happy 5th B-day DU!

This was the one place I truly felt underground and kept my sanity over the years. It's like eating nice fattening chocolate without the calories showing on the hips!

:party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party: :bounce:

[Lugnut]

44. Thank you CatWoman!

I never read that before. I found DU a few months later, thank goodness.

[SPKrazy]

46. I think your cats are winking at me!

:tinfoilhat:

[IndyOp]

47. Trinity doesn't wink - she sticks her tongue out!

Maybe you do need that :tinfoilhat:

:hi:

[CatWoman]

51. that's the power of MoPaul

he did the animation.

Isn't he great?

:hi:

[SPKrazy]

67. I was ignoring Trinity

I thought Trinity was just licking the Tuna off her lips, but now that I look at her, it scares me even more.:scared:

[kpete]

48. Thanks is barely enough

but THANKS anyway...

[geckosfeet]

49. I love you guys (n gals).

[never cry wolf]

50. Does anyone have a pic of the banner?

I never saw it, I couldn't bear to watch the installation festivities.

Thanks for posting this Catwoman & happy b-day DU.

[AzDar]

53. Happy Birthday to the website I credit for saving my mental/intellectual

bacon on many an ocassion. Love you all!!!

D.

[On Par]

54. Better Than The DiVinci Code!

Can't wait to read the next installment!

[hyphenate]

55. I'd been on other online boards

since about 1996, though I used the chatrooms on AOL from 1993 on (before that it was Prodigy--anyone else remember Prodigy?).

By 1996, we'd already run through several boards at server.com, and were onto EZBoard. I was also on Yahoo by that time, belonging to the "IhateGeorgeBushfanclub" for one (there were others as well, with many similar names). That's where one of the members originally posted the "invading Afghanistan" article and another posted one where he met GWB and GWB said the famous line, "who cares what you think?".

On one of our EZBoards, someone was posting the Top Ten Conservative Idiots list with their favorites of the week, and that's how I found DU. That was about May or June, 2001. I stayed with EZ, but picked up DU as one of my posting places. For a long time, I came over to just post a couple of things, but about two and a half years ago, I started to come here more than the couple of EZBoards, and while I still have a couple of EZBoards I still frequent, this place has been my real posting home.

There is, for me, a lot of difference between DU and a board that caters to both sides. Since one of those EZBoards featured a couple of real freepers/nutjobs, there is a lot of frustration in dealing with someone who is not quite "all there" mentally--I mean, who in their right mind would still be behind GWB now? Only real losers, bigots, psychos, mental midgets, and those beholden to Rush, Coulter or the RRR. I'm glad to be rid of those kind of people! (I know--others still frequent there, but I've given up. My own mental health became more important along the way.)

There is no place to compare with DU now. Back in 2000, I lamented the lack of an all-inclusive Democrat/liberal/progressive place to hang out, but now we have found such a place that unites us all under one banner. And it's got to really be good to get the whacked-out willies from freeperland so riled up! While we've watched their "dictator" break the law more times than any other regime in history, and while we have accumulated evidence and proof of the utter disdain of law by the right, we have managed along the way to vindicate some of the treatment that Bill Clinton received at the behest of the wingnuts, and shown that in comparison to GWB, Clinton was, and always will be a saint. Hey, turnaround is not only fair play, but required with such morons as conservatives.

[Midlodemocrat]

56. Was and still is, a great read. Thanks for posting, CatWoman!

[uppityperson]

57. Thanks CaWoman, thanks Skinner, EarlG and all the rest

[ClintonTyree]

58. Great story.....

I didn't find DU until shortly after 9/11. There was a link on a site called, "The Unknown News". I thought THEY were great, they posted REAL news stories, not just the pre-packaged crap from the Corporate media. Little did I know that clicking that link would change my life. Finding DU was like a starving man falling into a super-market....all of these people who felt disenfranchised, bitter and helpless after the GOP coup d'etat. I had found a release, a place to commiserate and share like, progressive views.

I've been a DU denizen ever since. I was "DumpGump" up until the second stolen election then took advantage of the screen name amnesty and changed to "ClintonTyree", a fictional character from Carl Hisasen's works.

Sure, we at DU have our disagreements sometimes, just like any large family, but I wouldn't trade this place for all of the Republicans on the planet. Vive la DU!

[sakabatou]

59. Tsuduku, ne? (To be continued, huh?)

Can't wait for another installment... if it ever comes.

[Trevelyan]

61. Thank you for being one of the Founding mothers of DU

Great story and great messageboard. Happy Birthday Democratic Underground!

:party: :toast: :party: O8) :party: :toast: :dem: :grouphug: :pals:

[lucca]

62. Love it!

The birth of the DU!
How great it that!

Thank you guys for coming together and creating the DU.
You have done a great service to us and our country.

[mirrera]

63. Thank You!

Democratic Underground IS my news. My friends wonder why I know everything so far ahead, it is because of this board. I went to see Syriana tonight and in the ladies room of this really cool old fashioned theater in Maine they put a blackboard in each stall. I erased all the crap and wrote three websites in chalk-DemocraticUnderground.com/truthout.org/VoteTrustUSA.org
I wish I had the capability to post more instead of just reading, reading, reading. I'm a "1000" poster wannabe! I loved reading about the beginning of DU. It reafirms for me that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. I didn't find DU until the 2004 stolen election and I googled just that. My rage and frustration was overwhelming and I had no one to express it to. I found the election forum and gained 8 pounds just hanging on the computer to feel connected to a tribe of people that care. THANK YOU ALL!!!



http://NoBullshiRt.com

[frankly_fedup2]

64. I remember that day. Except I called it the day of the "Coronation"

of Bush. I was watching the protesters and the car had stopped just before getting to them. Then someone threw an egg or something. Then the car moved faster through the crowds that were still rejecting Bush. Then I remember seeing this sign DEMOCRATICUNDERGROUND.COM. I thought, "Hmmmmmmmmmm, I haven't seen this site before.

I immediately cut on my computer and keyed in the URL and there it was. I joined that day; however, my day of membership posted by the powers that be on this board have my date of membership starting on the day that I started contributing monthly to the website to keep it up and going. I really enjoy DU. I just wish someone would fix my membership date to Jan 21, 2001, because that is the date I joined.

One thing is for sure, if you had not had the longest sign there, I don't think many would have seen you and picked you out.

One thing I have always wanted to know and that is did you take any pictures why you were on Pennsylvania Ave. while the coronation parade passed you? I for one would love to see anything about that day.

[CottonBear]

65. All hail kskiska! The very first DU poster! She rocks! She was the first!

and she still posts! :) :toast: :hi:
She was the very first (non-RW/Repub/disruptor DUer). I posted a question about this last year and either Elad or EarlG posted back and let me know that she was the FIRST! I'll try to search that post and post a link.
Happy B-Day DU! :toast: :hi: :)

[AZBlue]

66. What happened to the intern?

LMAO - thanks for posting!!!

[Paradise]

68. Thanks :) n/t