Before DU (my 1000th post) [View All]

1000 posts is a drop in the bucket for many of you, but I’m taking the occasion of my thousandth post to say thank you to the administrators, moderators, and members of this great community. How did this place exist for nearly four years without me knowing about it? After Air America Radio launched, I posted a bit on the Al Franken & Randi Rhodes boards and occasionally someone would mention Democratic Underground. I think that the Phil Parlock story initially drew me over here.

I’m not entirely sure how I got through the majority of Bush’s first term without DU. Heck, when Bush 41 was in office I thought that HE was the worst President ever. This was before the internets, of course, and I would clip newspaper articles about things he said & did that outraged me. In those days I was married & my wife was a bit afraid that the FBI or someone might come to our house on account of my “Bush file.” Even though they were innocuous newspaper clippings, I’d be worried about that too these days. But I don’t need a file folder today. I have DU.

I concur with all the praise that DU has been given. Because of DU I’m aware of news stories well before they hit the MSM and stories that never make the MSM but should. I have learned a lot from so many of you. Thank you for your thoughtful, intelligent, well-reasoned, funny posts.

While thinking what my life was like before DU, it occurred to me that the words “Before DU” were comparable to the main line in the Kelly Clarkson song “Because of You.” This is not really my kind of music. Honest. But that line must have been stuck in my head, because I went to the trouble to flesh out a parody song. I blame American Idol. You can blame me. Or you can print this out and sing it at your next DU karaoke meet up.

“Before DU”
To the tune of Kelly Clarkson’s “Because Of You”

I will not post the same LBN that you did
I will not let myself
Call anyone a lurking Freep
I won’t deride your low post count
(It’s only three)
I've learned the hard way
To never let it get that far

Before DU
I never heard of Philip Parlock
Before DU
I really thought that Tweety was nothin’ but a cartoon bird
Before DU
I found it hard to trust not only Bush*, but everyone around him
Because of you
That’s still the case

I start a thread
And it's not too long before it sinks like stone
I cannot kick
Because I know that's bad form in your eyes
I've written posts
that say “hey gang, can we impeach him now?”
But how can he be impeached
When he wasn't elected to start with?

Before DU
I only lurked on the AAR boards
Before DU
I didn’t know a Turd Blossom from a hole in the ground
Before DU
I found it hard to trust not only Bush*, but everyone around him
Because of you
That’s still the case

I heave a sigh
I hear Bush lie every time that he speaks
He’s not so dumb
‘Cause Dubya coined the term “strategery”
I’d rather we had anyone else
Someone who “feels our pain”
But now I type in the middle of the night
“Bush thinks he is king!”

Before DU
I never wondered if my vote was counted
Before DU
I thought that moran was spelled M-O-R-O-N
Before DU
I thought The Trouble With Harry was a Hitchcock film
Before DU
I yelled at my TV far less frequently
Before DU
I never read anything so hugh, I’m series!!!1!
Before DU
I was afraid

Before DU
Before DU