For sparing me from having to check it out.

Last edited Sun May 18, 2014, 03:42 PM - Edit history (1)

If I thought it would be worthwhile to engage in hand-to-hand cyber-combat with political whack jobs, I wouldn't have spent the past thirteen years here.


rocktivity

Can't be bothered.

side.

Last edited Sun May 18, 2014, 07:25 PM - Edit history (1)

DU is fine

when I couldn't get in here! It was not that different. Mostly, the conservatives didn't pretend to be liberals to mess with us.

Not going to register there anytime soon.

. . . they've learned NOTHING from trolling DU!

Concerning, though is that if more DUers step away--as well as any "moderates", some of the conversations over there will descend into nothing more than RW, racist and misogynistic clap trap.

Right now, it seems that posts are being juried much like they are on DU, but that can certainly change if more extreme posters take over...'Not sure how admins would feel about that....

I don't post much over there, but I do stay logged in. I alert things that are over-the-top, and serve on juries in an attempt to keep things as civil as possible under the circumstances.

A better place if you are into that type of thing is the zoo, there you can also utilize your sense of smell.

Still from reading your post.

the conservatives are pathetic - I'm around enough of them in real life - why join a website to argue against people who clearly get all their talking points from the rightwing propaganda machine?

I have more than enough republican ignorance to deal with on a daily basis

the stupid is thick down here.

very hardy bunch INDEED and there are way more of us than the rest of America gives us credit for

yes INDEED

er wait....I mean republicans, and obstinate Dems

but we've been taing a beating since Ann left office.

Interesting. http://www.discussionist.com/101513187

And they sure whine. A LOT!

About as many DU (or former DU) members whining about itchy alert fingers as there are conservatives whining about it.

You couldn't pay me to talk to teahadists.

those asshole conservatives whining on DU about why they're not allowed to spew their ignorance here can now really be told where to go

It obviously is attractive to a lot of people.

If/when the software is being sold I hope it's affordable. Could use something like it. It will need a plugin system though, with themes.

Sort of like the Third Way, except they use the word "freedom" more.

and answered repeatedly, in many ways by many voices. Just sayin'.

Thanks.

"Why did the President lie about ACA / NSA / Soc Sec / Benghazi / Keystone / TPP etc?"

You get the idea

I mean things like "why is it that as our politics moves further to the right, things get worse for the average American".

never mind as I mistook your meaning. TBH I haven't spent much time at Discussionist though I do believe I spotted your handle. Don't remember what it was though. What I've seen so far looks intriguing and not unpleasant. Seems like it would be great for a phone.

I'm having trouble keeping up with both sites, though.

I do enjoy conversing with a former DU member who is now active at Discussionist.

a username, but now I am discouraged from going there. If women are going to be bashed there, why would I want to participate?

posters were former and current "usual suspects," people who had a hair in their asses over HoF. There were also a lot of recognizable phrases that were eerily similar to those that are often used here to derail and troll AA threads.

I'm hoping those (much more right wing) posters who are so challenged by AA and HoF will be siphoned off, and when I have looked over there, those people do seem overrepresented.

ALSO, I do plan to check in now and then, because it is only a matter of time before those very same people come up with some new groups to feel oppressed by. And that will be fun to see. But I don't see myself joining.

ETA: and I DO think that women and people of color will be roundly trashed there. As I said: the usual suspects.

thing. However, since our RW media dominates public discourse, why do we not need MORE not LESS left wing discourse to balance out the equation? The gun folks alone account for so much of this. It puzzles me why left wing admins would do this, which would defeat the purpose of DU?

I'll give it a bit more time before I make a decision, just to see how things shake out. You never know...but I am not optimistic...I had higher dreams for our DU admins...I hope I am not disappointed...

I sharpened my teeth dealing with rabid conservative asshats, during the nineties, on a media site that had a nice mix of people who were generally friendly with one another. We sometimes had a ball poking the rattlesnakes once politics entered the picture, and tho things did often get out of hand, it really was a learning experience for all involved.

I can understand why our administrators decided to start such a place; most of us will stay right here, but for those who aren't quite battle-weary, now there's a fine site for them to go test their skills on.

I actually think that it's a brilliant idea, myself.

The problem is that there isn't. You simply cannot argue with someone who repeats talking points ad nauseum, or engages in ad hominem attacks.

I'd rather beat my head against the wall. It feels better when I stop.

And I'm finding about equal numbers of liberals and conservatives repeating talking points ad nauseum and engaging in ad hominem attacks.

... a lot of the immature poo flinging that is quite acceptable here is being juried and hidden as uncivil by juries. Good. And regretfully, most of the poo flinging and immaturity I am seeing is coming from the DU side. It is embarrassing.

More from the DU side (including former DU members) because there are still more of us there.

But yes, it is discouraging and embarassing that the we pride ourselves on being intelligent - but there are a few determined folks who insist on flinging poo rather than using our intelligence.

Not to say there aren't a few on the other side also flinging poo...

But yes, far more willingness to hide the poo - and it makes me happy not to be stepping in it quite so often.

but I guess they have a business to run.

I'm reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's book on Teddy Roosevelt, and I'm noticing how such liberal policies (some of them) came out of a basically right wing guy after he was exposed to the muckraking reporters who showed him (literally) how the other half lived. Maybe Discussionist will make some right wingers rethink their positions.

But I'll leave the re-education to others.

Is the chance that maybe the admins are going to use the money these fools will generate, and use it to feed the lefty side of DU. Not that like those folks would not sell us the rope to hang them with.

They might just feel that liberalism will win out in the end...I dunno...it's nice but....

maybe the air over here might smell a little cleaner.

Discussionist, have at our trash, and keep it on your side of the fence!

Hoping for a fresh start with a new name.

A leopard, however, can't change it's spots so easily.

Sid

the old Meta Forum, but with trolls...

there seems to be a fun and more relaxed atmosphere over there, at least in a couple of the alternate forums (one appropriately titled "fun&quot .

Sometimes here on Du, there seems to be a few duers (just a handful, really, but every so often they seem to post a lot) who are miserable, and seem to want to make all other duers miserable too, with daily threads that are nothing but complaints and harping on their pet topics.

That said, I have not entered the politics arena over there, just mostly reading the lighter sections, but it has potential.

I think this new forum was a great idea by the admins.

expend energy.

Now you know how REAL rightwingers think.....those that call members of DU Rightwing....have NO idea!

It's one of the reasons I think there are far fewer trolls on DU than many others do -- because they're really not good at it and subsequently MIRT finds them quickly.

Their frustration factor tends to be very very very very very very very low. Did I mention 'very' low?

the jury system does seem to work a bit- one right winger is already suspended. A couple of the right wingers are being civil. The one who said liberals deserved incivility I think is the one suspended.

There is no shortage of places out there to engage in combat with hostile, small-brained people. You're not going to change their minds, and they're not going to change yours. What's the point?

It will replace freeperville.

They will learn the rules then claim it as their own.

There's some in-your-face posts from both sides, but I think more-so from our side than theirs. It seems less confrontational than this place, especially the way thing have been around here lately.

Kind of like shooting fish in a barrel.

I think a great approach to any kind of philosophical or political discussion is not "LET ME TELL YOU.... " but "what can I learn from you that I don't know."

But I don't want to hear lies, however deeply the speaker believes those lies to be true. Admittedly I'm biased but I trust Al Jazeera and MSNBC to be honest--not necessarily to tell the whole truth (especially in the case of MSNBC, as much as I appreciate their presence, but their place in the market is to have a certain approach to the news) but to be honest, and to not tell outright lies. I think that when they accidentally make misstatements of fact, they correct them--I've seen them do it (especially Rachel) about the tiniest of missteps. But perhaps there are things that are true that I, as a non-consumer of right-wing anything, don't know about and that the right wing has an honest grievance about. Which is why I like the idea of Discussionist a whole, whole lot. If there are things I don't know, I genuinely want to know them.

But people who watch Fox think, bless their hearts, that Fox is telling them true things. It's just not possible to have a fact-based discussion with people like that. I'm 100% totally open to hearing other points of view, but not lies. And it's just a waste of time to "talk" to people who, perhaps through no fault of their own, are not reality based.

Props for the idea, though. Seriously. But I wonder whether too much credit was given to credulous members of the right wing in terms of their 1) openness to serious, honest, respectful discussion and 2) discernment re actual facts.

are absolutely wonderful....still can't stop laughing at the Colbert one. All are delightful, TY

... never. ever step outside of your bubble.

It was the Moops!

No matter how much explaining and conversating you do with them. I don't know why some people think they can. Delusions of grandeur, maybe! LOL I don't see any good coming from it.

by reason?

Can you?

I tune out people who just want to read me the doxology, but I can be moved by reason, and I know from experience that others can as well if they aren't completely controlled by their snake brains.

Are you the only one who can see all this "reason"?

And I know that there are a lot of vicious minded people who are locked into their beliefs and can't be reasoned with. And some are just plain stupid. But not everyone who disagrees with me is evil. I think the main reason this country has quit working is that too many of us have just chosen up sides and are yelling at one another. If everyone just refuses to engage the damned country will just fragment and the pieces will fall into the hands of the Koch brothers and their ilk. Discussionist may not change the world, but I subscribe to the butterfly theory: the movement of a butterfly's wings in Chad can result in a Caribbean hurricane. Great oaks from little acorns grow. If you don't sow, you will never reap.

Did you even read what I wrote?

I do not and never have enjoyed dealing with those who spout right wing ideology.

It really doesn't affect you. You want to, go right on ahead. I just think it is a fruitless endeavor.

out instead of in. It seems to me that most people are not all one thing or the other. Most of us aren't even the same from day to day. But most of us respond to trust, and kindness and a willingness to open up a bit. It's risky. The world is full of assholes. No doubt about it. You get burned sometimes. Sometimes you have to swallow hard to keep from pulling the other guys nose. And sometimes people will surprise you. And that's my Sunday sermon.

However, I've read enough over there to understand what it is. I'm not a stupid or close minded person.

I've read many of your posts and I know you are a thoughtful and intelligent person. It does seem to me that some long time DUers are feeling alarmed or threatened by the new board. But there's a lot of positive energy over there and a genuine effort to take the conversation to another level. There are some who were banned from DU. Some are angry, others are sad, seemingly really hurt by being tombstoned. But there's a jury system that works; one jerk got tossed when his first 5 posts got hidden. There's a lot of talk about the need to keep it civil, and so far it has been. If someone goes there and focuses on the things they dislike they won't stay long, but the same is true of this place. And DU has hardly been a model of civility for quite some time. We could all agree that Bush was evil. Since he's been gone, we can't seem to agree on anything.

"Change is scary" in the same condescending pseudo-insightful way?

More filled with ennui of the pointlessness of arguing with right wingers and trolls.

Kind of embarrassing when you put it that way.

and a few of our own decided to poison the well by posting anti-HoF, anti-feminist, anti-DUer posts. So add that crap to conservatives and exactly what is the appeal?

Yes, one person wrote a sob story about how sad s/he was about being PPRd and I know for a fact that the person had an existing second account that s/he started using almost immediately after being PPRd.

So liars, misogynists, homophobes and racists - no thanks.

Yet some are buying it.

his old username in it because he seemed like a nice guy.

I have none, absolutely no, hankering to engage with it.

They post that shit and then I got to remain civil. No thanks.

about LITERALLY, in Iraq? You think the policies of Reagan or the Bushes are simply a matter of one's getting "BURNED"?

Holy Privatized Granola, Batman.

or the Cheney regime into my comments is mean. I just think we need to get out more.

where there's no fear of MIRT or admins re-banning them.

And they're lovin' it.

I particularly liked the poster, complaining about DUers as paranoid and thin-skinned, all the while using their Discussionist name "Pro-Nonsense".

Talk about obsessed with DU.

Sid

That this site is being overrun by BOGers.

It's cute. And it explains why they do little else but criticize dems, they don't see the real enemies in their midst.

Plus, it's a haven for right wingers. Hell admin can scoop up all the right wing nut bags he wants and make money off of them. Good for them.

And people from here can go over there and think they are "changing minds" and having "real conversations", but when you see the conversations and really drill down, it's not a place I would ever call home or comfortable or a place for "real" discussion.

Frankly my blood pressure has dropped a bit, seems like the worst offenders here migrated. Let them fester in their own swill.

Sid

I swear some aren't even trying.

You don't fancy yourself as Stephen Maturin do you?

A character I happen to like. I don't "fancy" myself as anything.

I'm also not trying to hide my identity at the new board, like most of the posters ragging on DU are. You'll notice that I identified myself in my sig line.

Can you say the same?

Sid

"Mostly, tho, I'm happy that it seems to have sucked most of the disrupters and trolls out of DU"

Ironically, your presence there lends credence to that statement.

Which proves there is a hell!

Lots of zombies, maybe even a few werewolves.

After having to observe any amount of outright braindead, racist, sexist, homophobic and misogynistic commentary in other, right wing dominated places, I find it quite refreshing that I can actually dismantle all of their bullshit in a few posts without any significant backlash against me.

Rather than acting like complete assholes, posting obscenity driven insults in replies to me, they have to actually behave themselves or else be punished.

The site is quite brilliant by the way and it all depends on how you use it.

I'm quite smitten with confronting all of their vile, right wing bullshit and shoving it back in their faces. So far, they haven't figured out how to counter what I'm doing to them there.

I doubt that they ever will.

Besides, I'm almost (almost) as likely to here things here I disagree with
as I am there, perhaps not so vehemently though.

Maybe after the rush of people of people seeking to hamstring it before
it can even get on its feet pass by, it will improve some.

The threads on this board have been weak

Some of them certainly...but most are just fine. We disagree but at-least they're civil...some obvious joiners from the Cave excluded.

What I'm not understanding is why so many DUers are threatened that Discussionist might not fail.

I more concerned about DU's failure.

a) if it makes money, we could get axed, and we know the right wing will be there to say "see, getting rid of those lefties was the right thing Skinner, pour yourself a drink and have a cigar, yer gonna go far!"

b) B, a lot of the people that left here will interpret a as "SEE WE WUZ RIGHT! Feminists, go ahead and fix us MRAS a sammich!"