I would like to take a moment to introduce myself.

[Dawson Leery]

First, I am not a "troll". I am not being paid by anyone to be here.

Though being "tech savvy", this is the first blog/website I have joined.

I first noticed Democratic Underground during the
early days of 2001(since DU came online in the early days of
the unfortunate Bush administration). I began reading this blog/site
for about the first year then lost interest. Life happens. I never joined until now because I do
not do blogs. I work(no offense to anyone here, but I do work, ALOT).

As it says in my "signature line", I am an IDEALIST!

I am registered as an Independent. I consider myself
an overall moderate(not a Blue Dog as they are NOT moderate, rather right wing).
I hope that these discussions are civil and that
any disagreements do not result in nasty fights,
which should be reserved to be used against the right wing/reactionaries.

I admit that I am no idealogical purist.
An example of this would be my beliefs regarding capitalism.
I believe in properly regulated markets.
The government should run and or/manage basic operations, such
as fire, police, the roads, justice, military, and healthcare.

As I said, I do not usually write on blogs, but there some
matters that I would like to have a discussion about in the forthcoming time.
These problems matter to me and I believe that
most here would agree that they matter too.

There are many things/events that bother me greatly.
Some of these things are unjust.
And others are just, to put it bluntly, strange(and I look forward
to sharing some of these with all of you, hopefully soon).


The matters that I would like to discuss
are
-The crisis in healthcare(and the inability for a Democratically controlled congress to do anything about it)
-Constitutional Matters/Civil Liberties
-Economy(and the lack of regulation over the markets)
-Police Powers
-America's future role in the world
-The future of the (ever dwindling) middle class(which I was raised in)

I have been greatly distraught with the Bush years. The country/world was in good condition when
Mr. Bush took office. During his tenure, he played a sizable role in bringing
the world economy to it's knees, not to mention the disaster of foreign/security policy he created.

I voted for Barack Obama, he is my President, though he was by no means my first choice during the primary season.

I believe in a just world, a fair world, were no privilege is given to anyone, only equal opportunity.

Thank you.

:hi:

[villager]

1. Welcome aboard!

It's usually a pretty fun place to hang your virtual hat....

The occasional asbestos suit is sometimes required, though.... ;-)

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Welcome to our highly dysfunctional family

:hi:

[Dawson Leery]

5. If this place is anything like the Democratic party, then

yes, I have just joined a highly dysfunctional family.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. it is like herding cats...

yep.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Welcome ot DU

:hi:

[knowbody0]

4. welcome home

[madeline_con]

6. Welcommen

:hi:

Be warned: You WILLreceive shit if you disaagree with certain posters. I don't have to mention names, they'll be along.

[Dawson Leery]

9. Thanks for the warning.

[Swamp Rat]

7. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[babylonsister]

8. You can start a discussion about all those issues you mentioned.

If the ads annoy you, a very reasonable donation to DU will make them disappear.

Welcome aboard! :toast:

[crim son]

10. Do you believe we actually LIVE in a just, fair world?

Because right off, we disagree, though that isn't a bad thing. Welcome to DU!

[Dawson Leery]

11. I said I believe that is the way the world should be.

I am FULLY aware that the world is F-A-R from being just.

Justice is an ideal what we are constantly working for.

[RagAss]

12. Justice is an illusion......hey, welcome to DU !

[crim son]

22. You said you believed "in" that world, and I wasn't sure what you meant.

Some people are under the illusion that we all enter this world with equal gifts and handicaps which is clearly bullshit.

[Dawson Leery]

26. I agree that all are not given fair opportunities.

That is apparent.

[HughMoran]

13. Welcome to DU

Hope you have interesting conversations.

[JohnnyLib2]

14. Welcome--

It's addictive! :hi:

[grantcart]

16. welcome to DU

[varelse]

17. Welcome to DU

I look forward to reading your posts :)

[Dawson Leery]

19. I will make a note to ensure you get them.

:thumbsup:
:kick:

[UTUSN]

18. K&R #11 n/t

[Mrs. Overall]

20. Welcome, Dawson!

[blue neen]

21. Welcome to DU!

Best of luck to you....:toast:

[Cetacea]

23. Welcome, Dawson!

"...fights...
which should be reserved to be used against the right wing/reactionaries..."

:hi: :thumbsup:

[Froward69]

24. Welcome to DU

I have to warn you, the bar is cash only.

[asdjrocky]

25. Welcome aboard. We love dialog here.

[MrMickeysMom]

27. Welcome to DU, DL!

My kind of subjects... From one busy person to another, I hope to meet you here again.

MMM :hi:

[madmax]

28. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[Louisiana1976]

29. Bienvenue!

[Lugnut]

30. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[TorchTheWitch]

31. Welcome Dawson!

A bit of friendly advice...

You don't have to hit the enter key after each line... just type and the words will "wrap" on their own. Just makes posts easier to read if you let the system determine line length.

Every post has an "alert" function so if you see any post that breaks the rules you can alert the moderators as to the problem by using that function. With so many people here it's mostly up to the members to police the board and let the mods know of what needs looking into.

There's also a handy "hide thread" function that you can use to hide a thread you aren't interested in or otherwise don't want to see by clicking the little box with the "x" in it beside each thread title on the thread title pages or you can hide a thread within that thread using the function that says "hide thread" in each OP.

Many good forums here other than this General one... browse around and see where you want to spend your time. I mostly hang out in here or Latest Breaking News but sometimes venture into the other forums when I have the time.

There are many interesting DUisms you'll find odd at first but they're sort of inside jokes... like you'll notice the use of "moran", "hugh!1!!", "pwned", "series", etc... also references to pizza, Freepers, teabaggers, Tweety, etc. I think somewhere there's a list of the various oddities and where they came from. If you don't understand these things when they show up, just ask.

Unfortunately, because you are new a lot of people will be suspicious of you, and you may encounter nasty posts directed at you that are mostly for that reason. I don't like judging people just because they're new, but it happens here. Try not to let it get to you.


I'm also an Independent and always have been. If Dems were more of the Labor party they used to be I'd probably be a Dem.

Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself and hope you enjoy it here. :hi:

[Broken_Hero]

32. Welcome to DU,

:D :hi:

[juno jones]

33. Welcome.

:hi:

[Raine]

34. WELCOME to DU

Glad to have you onboard! :hi: