Please read.
Hey, DU, I just wanted to let y'all know I love ya. Its been very helpful to have a community of sane people to discuss with as the world goes bat shit. I have a lot of repug family members who defend the actions of the repulsive pile of human waste occupying the oval office. I've shed many tears after hearing those I love with all my heart defend that which I abhor with all my heart. You guys have at least helped me realize that this problem is not uncommon. Ever since I've been politically conscious (age 12) I've viewed conservatism as evil. The wars, the greed, the plain hatred for all that is different. I can't wrap my head around why people buy into it. My DU account is almost three years old now. Thanks Skinner and admin for keeping this thing running even through the hacks. Every day that goes by with since the tRump nightmare started, I feel I'm starting to slip more. I still can't believe this is actually happening, I cry whenever I hear Obama speaking now, even though I consider myself substantially to the left of him. I miss having a President that has a brain and actually gives a shit about the people. Barack is a wonderful man. My blood boils whenever I hear tRumps voice or some right wing ass hat defending him. I'm young so this is a very new experience to me. I was lucky enough to be quite young and oblivious during the shrub years. On top of all the trump shit, my anxiety caused me to develop vision problems. Thank God (and Doctors) for Zoloft. 2017 has been a shit year for me, although the end of '16 (after the election) was even worse. Thanks for keeping me at least a little bit sane. Bless you all. 
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I found DU in 2003 - after being completely freaked out by 9/11 - and DU and the kindred spirits here have taught me so much and helped keep me sane ever since. I happened across this video from 2011 in my travels today and thought you might be interested. It's a Young Turks interview with David Allen - Skinner - on how he and EarlG started DU and what it's been like, much different and better than expected. I knew the DUer who set it up. Hope that helps give you a little background and reassures you that we're here to stay... 
So I wanted to pass it on if you hadn't seen it...
On Inauguration Day back in 2001 (George Bush*'s inauguration), they stood outside the Today Show with a large banner that said democraticunderground.com - and that was the launch of DU. And it's obviously grown exponentially ever since. I didn't find DU until about two years later, but I've heard the story. 
And posting photos isn't that hard - I learned how to do it right here on DU. I started using Photobucket - since that's what was suggested to me at the time - but you can post any photo if you have the right url. If there's a pic you want to post, right click on it and copy the image address. Then you can paste it. Not every image address works - you want to use one with a .jpg or .png extension. And I always preview any photo I post to make sure it works and that it's not too large. And I am definitely tech challenged myself. 
I had a dentist appointment on 9/11 - just a cleaning I think - but it seemed like I sat there for hours, watching the TV the dentist had turned to CNN, seeing that second plane hit, over and over and over. I walked out of there scared witless, thinking the world was about to end. I was with my mother and we stopped to vote on the way home - it was primary day here in New York - but the place (school) was deserted. 
I'd always voted, mostly for Democrats, but I realized then that I needed to know a whole lot more about what was really happening in this country - and the world. So I started reading and looking things up - and I eventually found DU, was told about it by a friend who was more politically savvy than I was.
Since then I've learned so much from the smart and well connected folks here. I worked for my congressman on two political campaigns and I'm addicted to news shows that would have previously put me to sleep. And I have learned that my oldest friends - some I've known since I was a kid - are fellow liberals and equally proactive. And if anyone wants to know anything - I have one newer friend who had never voted before the 2016 election - they certainly know that all they have to do is ask... 
It’s strange to look back in time to when we felt like that, huh?
That feels like decades ago now. At least to me now it does.
I just answered the question about how DU started and how I found my way here (#13).
But you are absolutely right. Now, I pay attention to absolutely everything. What's hard for me to believe is how quickly things changed. It was only a year ago that we felt like this country was headed in the right direction - and now I'm a nervous wreck, wondering what the unexpected and disheartening news is going to be today. 
A DUer who was working for TYT - got a job there after he'd been on DU for quite awhile - arranged the interview which he thought was quite important. I hate reading the awful FR-type comments on YouTube, but I agree it was a terrific interview. 
The thing is, I just looked up the DUer who arranged the interview and he hasn't posted since 2012 - and I have no idea what he's doing now. But I agree that Skinner acquits himself very well - but from what he said back in 2011, it sounds like he thinks it's sufficient for DU and its members to speak for DU, unlike other sites we're all aware of.
When the website was hacked, and that's not the kind of attention we need. But with the atmosphere the way it is, under the Trump Administration, i could see that happening again, but with far more damage... I really don't know what the answer is, to keep out the trolls, but It be nice to have more backing from folks who normally don't pay that much attention to the news and to Politics in general.
I'm on MIRT and we've seen very few Trump supporters - but we definitely want to keep it that way. And I can attest to the fact that everybody who signs up is thoroughly checked out. The best way is probably word-of-mouth. I was told about DU by a friend - who was told about it by like-minded friends - and I've also suggested DU to those I know who feel the same way I do. I know people who feel the same way we do right now and I suggested they might feel better knowing they're far from alone - even if they just choose to read, rather than participate.
That's one of the beauties of DU, plus all the knowledge I've gained from people here who know much more than I do. DU really is an amazing resource... 
Good to see you, too, my friend! 
It's the younger people like you that I worry about the most. Please never give up. What we are going through IS awful and like nothing I've experienced before, but I promise there are millions of us who are on your side, and on the side of all the young people who have to grow up in this world.
And I really believe that President Obama, and Hillary, and Joe and all the rest are quietly doing what they can, too.
extremely difficult time. I'd never heard that interview with Skinner so I'm really glad it was posted.
