When I came to DU I was not as liberal as I am now

[Indenturedebtor]

Please try to be patient with some of the newbies who say things that are further right than your views. We all have differences of opinion, but FACTS are incontrovertible. Please make an effort to share the FACTS that underpin your beliefs... maybe whoever you disagree with will have better FACTS, or a better analysis of the available FACTS.

Either way the truth will out so that we can all be closer to the truth, and closer to a consensus for progressive action.

[Skink]

1. It's a fact that W was put in charge to screw this country.

If you don't agree you is in the wrong place.

[WheelWalker]

11. Second voice....

[Fumesucker]

2. I made an OP today that I like being insulted..

Because of the number of insults I have suffered over my FISA position..

You can't share FACTS with people who insult you and then put you on ignore, their minds are completely closed.

I've never put anyone on ignore in my entire life, and I've been online since the days of 300 baud acoustic modems.

[Rowdyboy]

3. I was a bit more traditionally liberal when I found DU in 2002....

I often find the demand for orthodoxy here restrictive and limiting. Not every issue can be broken down to simple right/wrong, progressive/conservative. Not every issue should, but that doesn't stop asshats from demanding conformity and screaming "troll" when their expectations aren't met

[Indenturedebtor]

7. Yeah some people really are trolls and will never change

But the "troll stick" is used a little overmuch. We shout people down with insults rather than presenting them with facts. It is true that the most die-hard republicans can "see the light" so long as they are not stupid. The stupid ones are hopeless.

I've slowly even managed to pull my own family left. They've been Republicans for years, but you can't really blame people who succumb to the propaganda and the lies... the propaganda and lies are flashier, take less effort, and are far more comforting to believe. It is our duty to help people see the truth. Even though it can be very hard to swallow.

If we shout them out though we've lost our chance to show them that our fight is truly their fight!

[John Q. Citizen]

8. I suffered many a sling and arrow for suggesting that people shouldn't be calling the bush twins

whores and sluts, etc.

The group think was hot heavy and brutal.

I said, hey, they are just kids, they didn't ask to be born or to have bush as there dad.

People accused me of being a freeper and worse (if that's possible)

[Rowdyboy]

9. And I'm sure many of the same people will be stunned and sickened

when the attacks on Barack and Michele's daughters get started-and you know they will be trashed. Just like they trashed Amy Carter and Chelsea Clinton.

I have to agree on this issue. The kids, regardless of the parents politics, should be left alone until they hit 18. Once they're adults, however they should be as responsible for their behavior as anyone else.

[izquierdista]

4. Are there more newbies?

I have noticed, since about the time that the presidential contest became a two-man race, that there seem to be more newbies with opinions as you describe (i.e. further to the right). I would chalk this up to many people out there finally seeing the Republican platform as it really is, terrible for the economy, terrible for energy, terrible for everyone except the oil companies and the munitions makers.

I think that these newbies should be disabused of the remaining notions they have that something can be salvaged from their cherished Republican values as the whole content of it is garbage. The homophobia, racism, tax cut greed, creationism, Bible-thumping, they are all incidental to the centerpiece of the Republican ideal: that government doesn't work. Yes, government doesn't work when people who believe in "every man for himself" are in charge.

They must be re-educated to believe once again in a government that insures your health and old age (Social Security and Medicare), builds for the future (bridges and levees and mass transit), regulates markets (the mortgage meltdown), inspects food, and solves the problems of the day (where to get the energy we use).

[annabanana]

13. Well .. education is better affected when you concentrate on the facts

that most clearly refute these lingering notions. The trick is to get THEIR gears in gear. You don't do that if you chase them off too fast.

[Runcible Spoon]

16. there are a LOT of people who have been here less than 6 months running around with more posts...

than I have accumulated in 6 years! These power poster newcomers really aren't here to change their minds on anything, and they are overwhelmingly trying to swing DU to the right. Of course, this is anecdotal and based on my personal observations but I've been around here for a long ass time. I never thought I'd see the day a DUer with thousands of posts would seriously support Chuck fucking Hagel for VP. Posts like that just go beyond my patience and ability to try to talk sense. :nuke:

[Lars39]

24. You're not alone in thinking that.

I can think of one individual in particular who has been instrumental in the rw turn. :grr:

[QC]

5. It's not their politics that bothers me so much as their authoritarianism.

I can't remember the last time I saw people so eager to impose their will on others. The bullying has been going on since the beginning of the year, and it's gotten worse with time, not better.

When someone dares to advance an opinion they do not like, they try to browbeat him or her into submission and then make a Broadway song and dance of using ignore (some of them are as fascinated with their ignore lists as little boys are with their penises). This place has turned into a daily remake of Lord of the Flies. It really sucks, and it's time for the four or five worst bullies to get the axe--then this place might be fit for decent people again.

[Runcible Spoon]

17. yeah there's that too.

There has NEVER been so many "Shut the Fuck Up if You Do/Don't X" and "Get the Fuck Off of DU if You Do/Don't X" than there has been in the last few months. It's gotten so that there really is no sense of DU community, just various factions. Some of those factions are aggressive, and they seem to revel in spamming their whole "action alert list", and getting many people to alert on a single person they don't like with the intention of getting them banned. And they do, then they post and gloat all about it.

Whether or not the those who got tombstoned deserved it or not is irrelevant to me. I think alert button humping abuses the system and I find that behavior disgusting. I also have never put someone on ignore but I understand why some people need it. However, the fucking people who post garbage like "oh, what's that? All I see is ignore" just drive me up the wall. :grr: :nuke:

[ColbertWatcher]

6. Thank you for your post. n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. I am getting...

A little bit tired of the rudeness and nastiness. There are still those around here who are wonderful, but there are a lot of people who could use a lesson in tact and manners.

And yeah, since I have been around here since 2002, I DO feel just a bit territorial, you know? Not inordinately, mind you, but hell, I was here when some of these people were waiting for their other testicle to drop. ;-)

[madrchsod]

12. we " put a spell on you".....

[MiniMe]

14. I think BushCo has made a lot of people more progressive than they were before

He has been the most divisive President ever, and his positions have made things so bad that it makes everybody push the other way much harder. But Rush has made it difficult to tell those who are now looking for a better way from his operation chaos crowd.

[Indenturedebtor]

15. I agree. I think we've scared a few back to the right with our "DIE FREEPER DIEEEEEEE!!!" attitude

Not everyone was born a Democrat you know. I was raised a Puke.

[Runcible Spoon]

18. oh we do try, we try so hard...

I have my patient days and my not so patient days. However, I have my deal-breakers, and supporting a repuke bigot for VP is not something I have very much patience for!

[Political Heretic]

19. When I came to DU I was more "liberal" (by some definitions) than I am now.

[Runcible Spoon]

20. you're....something...that's for sure

:eyes:

[Political Heretic]

21. Oh no, what have I done to offend thee?

Other than tell the truth

[Runcible Spoon]

22. hahaha that's cute, throwing around the word "truth"

goodbye.

[Political Heretic]

23. You want to address your complaint? Or just trade one liners?