I used to believe that demeaning others in public for humor or politics was strictly a right wing ta

[Toots]

Rush Limbaugh makes a fortune doing so. He makes up cute little names for people he dislikes such a "femi-nazis" or "ozone man" or "whacko environmentalists" etc. etc. All the right wing radio jocks do that. It is a very tenet of Republicanism. Demean others to make themselves or their candidate look better. I always assumed the main basic tenet of Liberalism was "Respect". Respect for the earth, respect for others, respect for themselves..But Du in this last year or so has changed my view on that. People here have no respect it would appear and in fact that lack of respect became so bad the Owners of this site had to create an entirely separate forum just for them so as to not offend all of the other posters..Do these people actually consider themselves Liberals, and if so how would they describe a Liberal. It sure as hell doesn't meet my definition of Liberal. RESPECT is most basic. Respect other humans where ever they amy live and be happy for your own candidate or fellow American but do so on their merits and don't demean another just to make your guy seem better. IMO It is beneath our dignity...Have Respect....It is something you should have learned in kindergarten.

[countingbluecars]

1. Good post.

Respect is definitely lacking in GD-P. I suspect more than a few posting there are not Liberals.

[zanne]

2. Unfortunately, Limbaugh's lack of respect...

Works for the Republicans. Big time.

[Toots]

3. That speaks volumes for American culture.

:shrug:

[GrpCaptMandrake]

4. With all due respect

How do you fight back against kidney-punchers? Do you calmly attempt to reason with a schoolyard bully? John Kerry patiently explained, in slow, respectful, monotonous, stentorian tones exactly why another four years of Bush was a bad idea. How'd that work out?

[Subdivisions]

5. I keep seeing these rants about in-fighting and trolls and

troublemakers and childish immaturity and disrespect...but you never seen to provide links to examples of what you are complaining about. Sure, I see some head-shaking stuff here and, unless I'm actually working like I'm supposed to be, I'm here most of the day EVERY day and I guess I'm just really good at avoiding wasting my time with threads that look to me like they may trend in any of those aforementioned directions.

Please, if you're going to rant about these things, please provide examples to reinforce your position, otherwise you just look like someone who didn't like a response to one of your posts and are now whining about it.

[DFW]

6. I had had a hand in the making of this video--some might find it demeaning

But I make no apologies for it. I meant no offense to anyone who
might be a sincere contributor to the DU.

Did we go overboard?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7dPISoH6Ok&mode=related&search=

[GrpCaptMandrake]

7. If you had a hand in the making of that video

let me give you another one: :yourock:

Learning to fight back with things like satire and parody are part and parcel of playing in the Big Leagues.

[DFW]

9. Well, I am now part and parcel of The Freedom Toast project

And while we may not be "Big Leagues," we do try to get our point across!

I'll bet some didn't find "The 12 Debates of Christmas" quite as amusing though ;-)

[devilgrrl]

8. Excuse me but if remember correctly, you seem to enjoy demeaning people who smoke

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Get over yourself.

[niceypoo]

11. Have you tried Nicorette?

Worked for me

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[aquart]

14. Calling an addict an addict is demeaning?

When do you consider the truth appropriate?

[TahitiNut]

20. Have you even bothered to read DU's Rules??

Pay particular attention to the last sentence in this excerpt:

Do not post personal attacks or engage in name-calling against other individual members of this discussion board. Even very mild personal attacks are forbidden.

Do not hurl insults at other individual members of this message board. Do not tell someone, "shut up," "screw you," "fuck off," "in your face," or some other insult.

Do not call another member of this message board a liar, and do not call another member's post a lie. You are, of course, permitted to point out when a post is untrue or factually incorrect.

Do not publicly accuse another member of this message board of being a disruptor, conservative, Republican, FReeper, or troll, or do not otherwise imply they are not welcome on Democratic Underground. If you think someone is a disruptor, click the "Alert" link below their post to let the moderators know.

Do not draw negative attention to the fact that someone is new, has a low post count, or recently became a member of Democratic Underground. Do not insinuate that because someone is new, they are a troll or disruptor.

Do not accuse entire groups of people on Democratic Underground of being conservative disruptors, or post messages which spread this type of suspicion. Do not post topics that arouse suspicion against new members, or members with low post counts.

Do not say that you are hitting the alert link to report another member. You are permitted to tell someone that you are adding them to your ignore list, provided that you actually do so.

Do not "stalk" another member from one discussion thread to another. Do not follow someone into another thread to try to continue a disagreement you had elsewhere. Do not talk negatively about an individual in a thread where they are not participating. Do not post messages with the purpose of "calling out" another member or picking a fight with another member. Do not use your signature line to draw negative attention to another member of the board.

You are permitted to post polite behavioral corrections to other members of the message board, in direct response to specific instances of incivility, provided that your comments are narrowly focused on the behavior. But you are not permitted to make broad statements about another person's behavior in general, and you are not permitted to post repeated reminders about another person's mistakes.

You are permitted to criticize public figures, who are not protected under our rules against personal attacks. However, if a public figure is a member of our community, that person is protected by our rules and you are not permitted to personally attack that person. (You are permitted to offer constructive criticism of their activities as a public figure.)

If you do not like someone, please be aware that you have the option of putting that person on your ignore list. Just click the ignore icon on one of their posts.

There are no exceptions to these civility rules. You cannot attack someone because they attacked you first, or because that person "deserved it," or because you think someone is a disruptor. We consider it a personal attack to call a liar a liar, to call a moron a moron, or to call a jerk a jerk.

[Cheap_Trick]

10. respect is a two way street

if they show none, they get none.

[aquart]

13. No. It isn't.

How many years are you out of the playground?

[stray cat]

15. A friend told me the extreme right and left eventually complete a circle

and DU has convinced me he was right. Depersonalization and biased hatred are not unique to either side.

[AllyCat]

16. Frankly, I'm tired of people calling McCain "Gramps". That's ageism

There are enough issue points on which to attack him without going for his age. We're all better than that. Actually, I've heard people call Gravel that too.

Lets grow up.

[Fire Walk With Me]

17. Republican tactics by anyone merely create an environment where Republicans will prosper.

In the same manner that a fevered body is the perfect environment for creating more fever. You don't cure it by adding more disease.

[blues90]

18. If people are going to not agree then at least stop the name calling

Even the stupid names given to the candidates , like Hillbot or others I see all the time . It's to the point where you can't even tell who they are talking about .

[mitchum]

19. One of the greatest and funniest political pranksters was a Democratic strategist...

Google: Dick Tuck (yes, that was his real name)

brilliant and hilarious