So much of what I read here informs me, gets shared
widely, reshared, reshared, and on.. I don't know if there
have been studies done but generally I find the online
voice to be more progressive-dominant and that's why
I haven't worried too much about the MSM brainwash.

Plus so much humor on DU
.. needed in these testy times
and so much intelligent commentary from DU posters.

The news flow has been stood on its head. What flowed from the Big 3 down now goes from Twitter up.

AOL paid big bucks for HuffPo because they could see this coming. We are still at the beginning of the sea change.

Far more than a ripple indeed.

While I don't start many threads, I appreciate the efforts of those who do. And by and large, it's really cozy here with others of like mindset. What AOL did to HuffPo has insured that I'll not go there unless there's a worthy link from a DU thread. Otherwise, HuffPo's a checkout line tabloid - and I've yet to buy one of those in my 67 years.

for the feeling we get here.

Thanks for the thread, closeupready.

Those liberals won't find their way to television. People who say the wrong thing on television get banned or destroyed. Check out what happened to Howard Dean when he suggested "breaking up the media into hundreds of pieces" I believe were his words. That was a week or two before the scream made infamous by its playing 3000 times on news and comedy shows to finish him off. The recent Obama debacle was no less a "scream type" brainwashing event.

Yes, if we harp long enough, maybe once and a while they'll mention a truth, like "the war was about oil, who are we kiddin'?" Then he won't be on TV again, at least for a few years. Ask Ashleigh Banfield what happens when you say something accurate about the media. You'll find yourself doing hurricane coverage on some Atlantic Island.

I've spent the majority of my time online in the last ten years trying to push this idea that television is just a huge brainwashing industry, and the political shows are populated by millionaires, with millionaire host, telling people what to think and repeat. Sadly, Democrats are far more affected by it than they like to admit. Look at how convinced they had everyone that Obama had lost, simply because he didn't scream at the other guy, and Mitt had lied very effectively.

I watch them too. I just understand I'm listening to a group of people with average incomes of about ten million a year, and that their suggestions, at least on economics and taxes probably aren't going to be the ones that benefit me during my life, current and future.

television is losing its' power to the Internet, with consequences rivaling or exceeding the influence of the printing press on human society of its' day.

The distribution and dissemination of information is becoming rapidly decentralized, combined with near instantaneous mass two way communication and you have the makings for a new Golden Era of democracy.

As the Internet grows the peoples' primary freedom of speech power via our First Amendment gains strength as well evolving to reach and perhaps even surpass the highest aspirations of the Founders.

Power is shifting to the masses as they become more aware while the curtain is continually drawn back exposing television "news" and Orwellian subliminal programming for what it is, image over reality, style over substance, fear over confidence, pride over humility and exceptionalism over commonality.

We can still be brainwashed; falling victim to our lower natures but I do believe the task of fooling enough of the people to act against their own and the publics' best interests to serve power's interests is becoming infinitely more difficult with the passage of time.

For the most part, many of the Canadians I have known and worked with over the years were fairly politically savvy not just about their own country, but others as well.

As to the 'comments and drama' part of DU, spice is what makes the dish memorable instead of bland.

















You big jerk.

Your post is spot on and it is much of why I keep coming back here day after day. There are enough truly bright, interesting, fascinating people of so many varied occupations that one can almost always find unique insight on unfamiliar subjects.

Those are the ones that make the rest of you nutcases so much fun to read! I always know there is a rational person right at the next post!

Cuz as the only super-power, if it gets in the wrong hands the whole world is screwed.

Last edited Fri Oct 12, 2012, 09:43 PM - Edit history (1)

OOPS; this was intended as a new response to the OP.

I have very little time for surfing/searching stories world-wide so DU does it for me.

I also enjoy checking out BBC and Google news pages. This place is super in the fact that news gets posted from so many sources that I would never think of checking as a source.

main stream media, the local radio, TV and news papers.
So when someone tries to tell you the latest, you can tell them that's old news, you knew that 2 days ago, where have you been?

The threads are indexed very quickly and that gives visibility for others who are searching.

There is big potential with social media but that's happening more slowly. We all can be twittering and facebooking to push DU!

mostly because of three things: 1) large overall site traffic for a political board, 2) multiple key word associations (often from comments in the threads that can sometimes be more valuable than OPs that generate them), 3) and we tend to talk about esoteric subjects that aren't picked up in the MSM.

Stuff that gets posted here and at DKos (often cross-posted) can end up getting cited as evidence in court cases and in classified gov't reports - and, not just because DUers get sued or put on watch-lists. Big shout-out to Officer Mike!

result before it has many replies. The Google crawler is cruising DU all the time.

Note: this is not my first DU avatar.

My guess is that Google and the people who designed it view DU and DKos as leading indicators of what's beginning to buzz around in the Left Democratic blogosphere.

That's apparently of interest, except to certain Party regulars and Blue Dogs, who would rather just ignore us.

I've also noticed that some of the content referenced in smaller specialty blogs -- even though that content is expert, detailed and extremely valuable -- is initially very difficult to find on Google, but once it gets linked or referenced here, show up in the next search on Google. Google follows subject words and links.

Welcome back.

Repeat keywords as often as possible. Repeat the post title in the post, doubling the keywords.
Link to past DU threads on same topic, complete with title laden with keywords.
Link to other high-rank domains.
Don't use what is often considered profanity by others, you know f...
Don't obfuscate names; say Bush if you mean Bush, not "the monkey pResident" or other terms never searched for.
Use full names for political figures.
Don't post short OPs, give them real substance (read keywords).

Kudos to those who comb the sites and the stories that are out there and summarize the stuff that you hear on the radio, or see on TV, and post it here!

At least I think it does.

--imm

...except for the stuff that doesn't, of course.

Du is great like how facebook and twitter is for social media. Du helps connect people to other political like minded people. The problem is if you are in to much of a bubble it can isolate you. Latest Breaking is great source for news. I look at it this way I come to DU for the views not the news. Du is great on views that are very similar to my own. I still have to research the news on my own and I SUCK AT THAT so take everything I say with a grain of salt because chances are I make mistakes I'm only human.

I found that people here have been thinking the same things I've been thinking for years.

I hardly ever go to NYT, Mother Jones, Kos, etc just to browse around...I end up seeing so much more here, on environment, state races, current events, as well as just basic 'on the ground' info from folks from all over the country.
DU has enriched my life in so many ways!

No matter which network they are on, they are all on the same greed boat and are jealous of one another if they think one of them makes a nickel more than they do.

I have every reason to believe- judging by how right-leaning they have become- that they have been contacted by FOX/Murdoch, et al, and told there is possibly some really big money waiting for them if Obama is defeated with their assist.

I even suspect some of the public TV people are in on it as well.

Call me crazy.....

they had ever been approached for a buyout (as would be entirely their decision, of course). Certainly, DU was sued by what's his name, the professional plaintiff who claimed copyright infringement...?

Might say something about the Earth friendly people here too!

Living on uber-repug long island NY, it's great to know liberalism and democrats are alive and well.

Really got into DU after Obama was elected and the right wing hate machine really got cranking. Being older and a bit technically challenged, it took me a while to really understand the site. I finally "got it" and finally joined. I love DU!

Nuff said!

It's a fabulous resource for commiserating, venting, a community exchange, buoying each other up. It's a fabulous resource for eloquent writing and meticulous and wide-ranging research, that gives you everything from detailed rebuttals (frequently including links to back up the arguments) and think pieces to quickie slogans, talking points, and bumper-sticker fodder. It's a fabulous resource for strategizing and ground-gaming and motivation, and DU people tend to be, and become, very well informed.

Plus, consider all the input we have here from the galaxy of different professions, backgrounds, and varieties of expertise that are represented here, from academics to Zionists. There are people of every age, every era, every race, every culture, multiple countries, multiple languages, multiple religions, civilians and veterans, current active-duty folks and military families. There are office-holders, scientists, business people, medical people, writers, artists, teachers, brokers, lawyers, craftspeople, students, immigrants, magistrates, spiritualists, atheists, performers, organizers, activists, journalists and bloggers, gays, students, the elderly, the bereaved, the divorced, the sick, the disabled, parents, historians, AND more. Elizabeth Edwards used to post here. And you know a lot of other people check in here.

I'm so proud to be a DUer and grateful for all the other DUers who've suffered me over the years here! It's my favorite must-see, every day, political or otherwise. Except of course the Facebook page for my son's band, which I check multiple times a day! (www.facebook.com/acidicband - SHAMELESS plug! Sorry...)

...since the Bush Years and are stunned that things can get that screwed up. I've been into politics since I was a kid walking door to door campaigning for Bobby Kennedy. The Nixon Years were a major wake up call for a lot of people as to what can happen when the wrong guy gets in and they called him "King Richard" at the time. Ford spent most of his time touring Americas golf courses and passing out "WIN" buttons. Carter was seen as "too nice" and Reagan was nothing but a weak spokesman for a hidden government conducting really evil operations while Bush I was a guy who started the Gulf war to prove he wasn't a "wimp". Clinton was seen as the first real leader we had since Nixon and nobody cared about his womanizing because the country was doing great. Obama is something new as he's the first President we've had that wasn't alive in the sainted 50s the Republicans keep talking about. He was too young for Vietnam too so he is of a "new generation" that is already going grey which really makes the people used to the old ways of doing things realize a new generation is rising up and taking over and it terrifies them because they are tossing all that was bad about the prior century into the trash including racism and sexism. They're even losing the battle against gays which they RAN ON in 2004. Conservative treated their kids like crap and sometimes even disowned them. Now, to their horror, they're seeing a future where they will be dying like flies in nursing homes and seeing those kids take over the world.

I also come to DU for most of my news. Its a unique place in that it does not allow right wing trolls to last very long.

I also like to visit other sites like HuffPo where I can get my fix of being able to respond to wingnut comments. I miss that here but I can go to other places to engage in that kind of warfare. I come here for the community. It doesn't mean that there is no disention here on issues like Wikileaks or gun control, but for the most part its a place where I can safely vent and discuss with people I would love to have a beer with.

I get educated about tons of things that are part of daily life. Science, history, the planet, space, etc,

It's kind of like a college!

Attend the DUniversity and graDUate with a DUploma.

I come to this site FIRST to get a handle on what's going on as far as political information,...............DU ROCKS!!!

they are a paid part of the propaganda apparatus. As pointed out by FAIR and many others, there is no "slant" - it's a systematic factory of the alternative universe where corporations are benevolent citizens and 12 00 radio stations owned by the Republican presidential candidate are fair and balanced. The Big Media ideology is far to the right of mainstream America - far to the right of basically anything outside of the Middle East.

DU and the links you can find here are the link to reality.

Last edited Sat Oct 13, 2012, 05:53 PM - Edit history (1)

note the threads and then check the links for background. Although we do exercise a bias, the time members take to validate their comments and provide links to reliable sources it gives a validity here that is seldom provided by other sites.

notices and theses on the walls of churches and courthouses.

In the 1960s, we would have been running off copies of our manifestoes on old mimeograph machines and publishing cheap looking but heartfelt underground newspapers and comic books, as well as tacking up notices on the bulletin boards at supermarkets and laundromats, or in the union building of whatever college we attended, inviting people to for awareness meetings.

The internet and other social media have made it so much easier to spread the word and raise consciousness!

Of course, during the days of the Roman Empire, we would have been painting misspelled or ungramamtical Latin graffiti on stone walls--and having our Latin corrected by stuffy Roman Legionnaires (gratuitous Life of Brian reference).

yup...could really get high using one of those dam things! i had to drive a hundred miles to chicago or madison wisconsin to find any leftist stuff or even a new york times. yes, just think if we would have had the internet back then..

Remember that place?

can`t remember the name but it was the best seat on the street to watch the girls go by. i should have moved up there but oh well..

with numbers from 1 to 10? Across from the Brathaus?

this ranking is steady just about anytime of the day and night. du is the only democratic/progressive site that has continually updated it`s site`s design and we are on the third version. a search on the way-back machine is very interesting when it comes to how we have evolved over the years.

kos`s site has a 460 traffic rank today. the average traffic ranking for kos is around 900 to 1,100. going back through the way-back machine his site has fewer up dated design. i say his site because he has his name on it. what i like about du is the guys who run this stay out of the site and let us run it. i`m still registered at kos but rarely post there.


last but not least there`s our good buddy jimmy robinson and his personal website freerepublic. his site is running at 959 right now and averages just a few hundreds above kos. we all know jimmy personally moderates his site that has`t been updated in years. right now he`s running another fund raiser so he can run around the country trying to impress people.

i`m on this site from early in the morning to late at night. this is my home on the Internet since i started lurking in november of 2001

we have done some pretty good things over the years that all of us can all be proud of. every once in awhile we get mentioned on the national stage but i`m not really concerned if we do or don`t.

I'd be very interested to see the numbers for them. Misfits.

I get a start at the news here and follow the links to this and that. The editorial page is my favorite part of the paper - DU is the ultimate editorial page. Everyone gets their say, some is informed, some *ahem* is not, much is thought provoking.

Had a talk w/my kid a few days ago and said that we cannot conceive of how this instantaneous communication/information will ultimately change society. That is might be painful and perhaps ugly (if repressive regimes attempt to control it) but it will be transforming. Did Gutenberg see all the societal advancements of the printing press? Did Edison see all the possible uses of electricity? We are just starting through the door to a new age.

I still get a newspaper (Mon - Thurs is lying on the floor rolled up and rubber-banded). A couple of months ago I shook open the Front page section and it popped out of my hands. I realized that they had cut it 6" narrower. They did not have enough news to fill a dozen standard sheets. The only daily paper for a City that has a population of 700K and a potential readership of probably a million - has become so thin it feels like a shopping circular. The weekly free Chronicle is twice as thick, and has better stories (among the tattoo parlor ads and alternative meet up columns) by actual reporters. Most of the Daily's stories are AP or Knight Ridder wire articles and I read them a day or so ago right here.

In the late 1990's the newspapers stopped giving us researched news and replaced it with sensationalism and press releases and then were shocked and put out that we stopped believing them, stopped watching them. I remember some TV "reporters" speaking condescendingly of "bloggers" who were not journalist. But if a blogger does the job of a reporter - researches and puts the facts out - whether they have a journalism degree or not; and people read the stories, and over time the blogger is more reliable and accurate than the "journalist", then what the hell does a journalism degree mean? The citizen journalist has come into their own. I realize that there is dreck out there in the "tubes" but over time and experience the wheat can be sifted from the chaff. And as Stephen Colbert says, "Reality has a liberal bias."

The other thing: Has anyone noticed that the ONLY profession mentioned in the Bill of Rights is "freedom . . .of the Press". If the professionals won't do it then the people will, and now we CAN.

Sorry to be so long but this has been percolating a long time . . .

...propaganda being blasted at us 24x7. Other than going onto international news sources, its been one site I visit daily, even if I dont post.

I thank those DU-ers who ALSO keep an eye on the Reich Wing's news sites for us too.

Another thing that I love about the DU is the Jury System. It supports and maintains respect and the intelligent integrity of who we are and what we are doing as a community known as the DU.

The more M$M has gotten Propaganda Central for Big Corp the more DU and other Democratic sites have become places on the net to get solid reality checks.

That's why it's important to have reliable news sources posted. I came to DU in 2002 for alternative news sources after I realized the "news" on tv was Narrative Driven..and, it's only gotten worse.

in depth on. I no longer trust the Main Stream Media to accurately portray reality. How anyone can after the MSM's craven failures (the McClatchy chain excepted) in Operaton Shocking and Awful bewilders me.

revealed it's agenda during the Clinton witch hunts.

I stumbled upon this place during the 2008 elections & have loved it ever since.
So many quality anecdotal stories, so much information I may not have known if not being here.

While this place has a tendency to get fanatical & is prone to worrywarting at times, I wouldn't trade it for nothing in the world.
If you value a society that takes of all people, Democratic Underground is the place for you.
John Lucas

kephra somehow managed to post a dozen great breaking stories before i could even try to post the first.

i finally surrendered, but how great it was (and is) to see a nice assortment of breaking stories on the kind of topics i'd have to hunt for elsewhere.

plus, i don't have to monitor a whole bunch of news sites see who will break the story first -- du will tell me!

we get to read the news,digest it, discuss it and then three days later, the msm picks up the story as

we've already moved on to others.

Of course the political opinions and intelligent postings far outdo any other site I can think of on the web.

Ya'll rock. Seriously.

and for the first year received all my info. from the Huffington Post and other so called
mainstream left leaning sites. I finally found D.U. and realized how bad the H.Post was.
Media Matters and Think Progress are also great and add on Move On. But I'm a junkie
and need my news fix fast hard and furious and as you stated, this place is the best!

Rec

And that is what I want.

make it your business to click on the links to Republican Campaign ads (national and local)that pop up, and drain the living heck out of those Super Pac war-chests. Waste that Republican money! Your favorite blogs and news sites will benefit, and make the strategists rethink how they come at the voter. Costs you nothing, make your presence known. Go ahead, Your mouse click will affect Republican campaign budgets, at least in some small way. Your favorite blogs and news sites will benefit, and make the strategists rethink how they come at the voter. Costs you nothing, make your presence known.

closeupready

I discovered DU in 2002/03 in the insane years of George Walker Bush jr - it was one of the very few places to go, to be sane where you else would discover that you was not in the sane pool, because you was against the war in Iraq, or that you doesn't liked Bush jr to mutch.... If you doesn't you was branded as a very evil man, a sympathizer of Saddam Hussein and the like.. Even when you had legitimate consers about the facts on the ground - and not the fancy adventures of the Bush administration....

And I got stuck here - to be honest, it is one of the best places to get to know the inside of the US political world.. For an foreigner who had not to much knowledge about the inner working of the US, it was great to discover a place where you could get information, even if some disagree with you - and even was rather rude with me in the beginning - both for my lack in correct english grammar - but also because I was not the best writer in english... But it have beginning to be better, even though I doesn't always have the right words to express what I mean all the time:/...

But I have also discovered how many friendly and nice people it is here - who helped and sometimes even got into "defense" mode in my favor when some got into the bully mood and really was nasty... Some I know better than others - but for the most part DU is one of the best places to be, you are so friendly and open to others for the most part..

Sometimes it is very interesting to be here - a lot of things happened and even though I try to follow it as best as I can, I can just scratch the deeps of what happening over there in the US I suspect.. Other times nothing happening.. But still, it is a interesting place to be..

I think DU in many ways, is a cross section of what america is, some disagree, some agree, some think you are stupid, some think you are a genius . (I have never experienced it, but some I suspect is it) but it is for the most part a nice place to get information, you might not get another place..

DU is more than just a ripple on the surface - it might not be to known by others but slowly DU is building up a lot of information, and a great deal of knowledge who should be used to stick it to the greater media as a counterweight to what the "liberal" media is today... If anyone with deep pockets was able - or willing to give DU a shoot - I suspect many americans could discover one thing - Not everything is as they are been told... And maybe they even want to change it to something better?

Diclotican

look to me to forward all the great stuff here - links to articles, especially. But they REALLY love the photo shots that you never see in print. Oh yes, plan on stayin' here awhile.

is true, but I've got to admit that my favorite part of reading the threads is the whacked out sense of humor many of us DU'ers have.

Republicons have no sense of humor. They're all anal retentive

DU has the topics I want to read about. I can dig deep or just stay on the home page and get lots of information about everything under the sun. My go-to site first.

Nowadays, we really are a force to be reckoned with. And the news people here are second to none.

...I dont know how

...while signed in to your DU account. Box will turn yellow. To read the names of other DU members recommending the OP and/or thread, click on Thread Info (below). Presto!

... you might imagine and is growing stronger all the time. As more people come to understand just how crappy "MSM" media sources are and how much they flagrantly distort reality, the outrage builds and we come together.

They've got the money, but we've got one thing they can't stop. We are many, they are few.

I love the posts here. Especially babylonsister's posts. I'm obsessed with this election, and I literally check this site a few times an hour in an average day.

Exactamundo, may Fonzie rest in peace.

Google searches, for example. I OP/reply on DU because in the back of my mind I'm sometimes thinking there might be someone out there reading one of my replies or OPs and they might be influenced in a positive way, it might even change or help change their thinking (see my sig.line) or maybe reinforce their views.

I don't know, maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I can imagine it ... I can still hope maybe I'm helping. Anyway, it keeps me going, just one little flicker!

I do the same, I get all of my news from DU. When I watch/listen to MSM for just a bit I realize even more the complete BS it is, highly paid people pushing to BS to continue high pay and rewards. It's all a game, and most American are not part of the big-money flow.

And, I like the people on DU!

"Ripple in still water,
When there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/g/grateful+dead/ripple_20062296.html ]
Reach out your hand if your cup be empty,
If your cup is full may it be again,
Let it be known there is a fountain,
That was not made by the hands of men.

There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night,
And if you go no one may follow,
That path is for your steps alone.

Ripple in still water,
When there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.

You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall you fall alone,
If you should stand then whos to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home. "

{yikes!}

I live primitively out in the boonies, have no tv reception, no internet, so when I get to town (or a friend's), I go to DU first. If it's any news I'm interested in, I have discovered that someone on DU will have posted on it.
I remain so grateful for DU.

The only thing is that I get most of my news here, and I believe that this place is more than a ripple, it's a wave. Not a tidal wave, but a wave none the less. There are more topics, and stories that I can find no place else, whenever I look for news. Sometimes I stumble on a story that piques my interest to search other places for it. Unfortunately, these things don't show up until days later.

I think that DU is a place for WE THE PEOPLE, not them, the corporations. We can share ideas and opinions on a one to one basis, and discuss them like the adults that we are. AFAIK, there's no other place like it anywhere.

This place is like home to me. I don't think I'll ever leave.