Was DU infiltrated by DNC operatives for this last election?

There were some very enthusiastic Kerry supporters here right through the elections and now...gone. Seems rather odd doesn't it? I know that DU recently did some name changing but the main one I am thinking of just left completely. Has anyone else noticed this?

...or deep depression. Why knows? I haven't been posting much myself. And there's the name changes, lot of new people.

every opportunity.

I remember posters who were "in the know" suposedly connected to the campagine etc.Who knows who some of them were.

not gone

I was extremely enthusiastic, but now I'm numb...perhaps edging on bitter.
I have only one thing againt Kerry, though, the quick concession and the apparent reluctance to help with the vote recounts.
I know, I know, "he's working behind the scenes" which may be true, but doesn't help my depression any.

new names and much less enthusiasm for JFK and much too much bashing of him for his not being more visible. But I don't feel that he should be bashed or more visible right now. To each his own.

I'm new here, even though I knew of DU for a long, time because the other progressive boards I used to post on have turned way negative with few posters.

I'm sure we're thinking of the same names (I know some DUers have asked me about "them", and agreed that they are probably operatives, though really lame and easy to spot).

These operatives that you're talking about. What were their purpose exactly? I was posting a lot during the election to spread news that needed to get out to people. If I saw something interesting on the Kerry board I'd post it here. If something interesting was on this board I'd go post it on the Kerry board. However, there's noting I can really talk about except for possible election machine problems that may have manipulated the election. Most of those people were here to spread the word like I was in order to motivate people during the campaign. Since the campaign is over a lot of those people don't seem to have a purpose to be here anymore.

Which, apparently, was about 10 hours after the polls closed.

...I really felt betrayed that John Kerry failed to show a willingness to dig in and fight for what he said he would fight for, namely "that every vote counts and every vote will get counted". And, I waited while one week, two weeks, Thanksgiving and now, I still have not heard anything from John Kerry regarding his legitimate claim to investigate or bring forth some kind of mobilization effort to nail down where voting fraud and obstruction has taken place. I have not heard where the democratic party even wishes to get behind any such effort. Who has come forward, the Green party and Ralph Nader on behalf of the voters in Ohio. That's it!

I supported John Kerry, I loved his program and I held out hope that he would win. I hate to say this, because I know that the two events are totally separate, but I really hard a difficult time with this same issue and Al Gore conceding as he did, I know it was a supreme court decision to stop the count. But Kerry caved in less than what 32 hours after. I'm sorry, I'm still trying to see if the numbers tell us something, give us some hope, but from our democratic party leaders, not a word.

(My edit) And what really pisses me off is not that Bush now gets to screw things up for four more years and really rape the country on behalf of the very waelthy, not that is not what gets my back up. It's the fact that KKKarl Rove probably engineered this whole decpetion and will get away with it.

People keep criticizing him for conceding so quickly. What option did he have at the time he did when it appeared that the votes had gone to Bush? Should he stand there and pout? I believe he is fully involved with getting to the bottom of the fraud issue IF there is indeed fraud that can be proved. But what good does it do him or anyone else to howl foul if you can't prove it. And certainly he couldn't prove it the day after the election.

. . .get proof, whatever it would take. Even John Edwards promised late in the evening that they were going forward to fight this thing and the next morning John Kerry has a statement issued that he would be conceding and telling the American people why that noon time. I'm sorry, that was not the impression that John Kerry projected throughout his campaign. The democratic party turned on its one and only pit-bull, Howard Dean, who given the same circumstances would still be in there fighting and finding some way to bring BushCo to account.

You may be correct, that there is no proof. The deceivers have covered their tracks very well. But, I believe that we have been deceived once more by the opposition, this election has not been won fair and square. I also believe that John Kerry knows this, that the democratic party leaders know this. I am just very very disappointed that they have not made a strong statement about this issue and until someone with credibility comes forward from our side and says differently, I will carry the belief that we democrats have been cheated once again.

They're the wrong kind, mind you. But they're out there. Shoulda been criminal lawyers, said Madsen the journalist. But hey, you don't get to choose when you're asking for volunteers I guess.

So what you were told appears to still be true, plus some.

His lawyers jumped into the lawsuit in Ohio. He just coughed up some money to help the recount in Washington, even though it's to benefit another candidate and not him. He's been visible in at least one vote I've seen.

He at the least promised to make sure every vote got counted. And he is. If something comes up concretely on the fraud, he'll be there. Otherwise, I'm glad he's not "Gore-ing" himself. We still need him in the Senate if all the investigating doesn't produce enough hard evidence.

is the fundamental core of democracy, the name of which democrats endorse in their own appellation. After 2000, it is just not possible to let this system (these "systems") go on their own merry way unchecked, unverified, uncontrolled by anyone else than their conservative owners. This is not rancor. This is plain politics.

Give me a fucking break. PLEASE.

Kerry knew about BBV before the election. I personally know from Bev Harris that his team was actively NOT dealing with the machines (can't say anymore, she told it to me in confidence).

Kerry is no idiot, he knew about BBV, and he was around for the 2000 theft.

He threw the election on purpose?

Zero credibility.

that own the machines are far more credible than BBV. We should just trust them and everything will be fine. Go back to sleep now.

If that was the case why the crap are the Greens still asking for money for an Ohio Recount. The Guy is hording money but not doing much with it. I can't support him unless he gives up the dough. I'm tired of getting emails from the DNC or Cobb for recount money when I've given quite a bit to the Kerry campaign. I will do all I can to make sure he doesn't get the nomination in '08 and if he wins I won't vote for him, I'll vote for the Greens or Nader.

Not concede based on a prediction of what the result might be, but actually and simply just wait for the votes to be counted and then concede based on the real vote numbers. I don't get the problem with vote counting taking time. I know we're a nation of short attention spans and feel the need to Know NOW, but sometimes you just have to wait. That's what I wish he'd done. Waited until the votes were counted and repeat bush's famous line "we are a patient people" or however it was exactly.

I worked up enthusiasm for him when he had the nomination even though he was not my choice. Since he conceded before the count was done I have lost any bit of enthusiasm for him that I had managed to dredge up for the campaign. :shrug: x(

Or at least I'm hoping hard that he is. He's always been a scrapper; I mean, look at how he wound up his campaign. He became more and more aggressive and forceful as the big day came closer.

I doubt he's laying out. Just laying low, probably. I just hope he gets whatever it is he needs to come out swinging, otherwise I may never bother voting again, and that is saying a lot. I've missed only one election (it was local & off-cycle) in 27 years.

I no longer believe my vote will be counted. Today the program code decides the outcome, not us.

hopefully not too little, too late.

the machines voting is a waste of time after this

hubby and i were talking about that today

lol

No "operative". Still think we won, too. I'm still wondering what Kerry is/is not doing. I don't think the final chapter has been written yet, but we will know in fairly short time, I suspect.

other organization with an iron in the fire.

If they were indeed here; did their posting change your vote?

I support those candidates and organizations that support and champion my values, which are largely those I learned from my parents, who were, curiously, "Old Time Republicans" of the southern persuasion.

Interestingly, towards the end of their lives, they both re-registered as Dems and said that they would not vote for a repuke dogcatcher.

No, I ain't going anywhere. I ain't trashing, Kerry, Edwards anyone else who largely advocates those things I hold dear.

Remember: If you ain't losing, you ain't trying.

I suggest that we all try to get over our need for immediate and complete gratification of all our desires. We ain't gonna win them all. Winning is the culmination of hard work, smartly applied. We need to work harder and smarter and learn to get into the clinches and throw knees and elbows and head butts, on the way to breaking ankles and knees.

Time to get down and get ugly, for ugly is real.

The dark side is quicker, more seductive......

We've lost a battle, we will lose more and we will win the war, simply because we must.

You always manage to boil it down to a fine broth, TS.

That's exactly how I'm feeling. It's time to bring the pain.

i had to leave because I don't like Nazis and fascists and theocrats.

as I understand the rules, Democrats of all stripes are welcome to participate.

:shrug:

Now that the names have changed, its hard to remember who was who (even with the conventient reminder at the foot of every post).

At any rate, it is bizarre to me that DNC "operatives" wouldn't be welcomed on a site for Democrats. . . .

I didn't forget name change amnesty. I admit that was a rather odd statement that I probably should have worded differently. Infiltrated is a rather extreme word to use in the case.
Although it just seemed odd to me that this one particular poster was so rabid about his conviction towards Kerry. Immediately after the election...gone...

Would it be possible that someone came here for that sole purpose?

But DNC infiltrators?! Why bother?


I think the phenomenon you're observing is political burnout. For the first time in a very long time, many of us overcame our lazy, ingrained apathy, got off our asses, and tried our damnedest to make a difference, to IMPROVE things. We thought it was going to actually...I dunno, make things a little better for the greatest number of people to GOTV. And then....all for nought. Even with every last liberal vote squeezed out of the electorate, we STILL couldn't kill the beast.


I, for one, took three weeks off from DU because I was so depressed after 11/3. And I don't think I was alone here. I bet a lot of DUers had to take a sabbatical and lick their wounds.

You are a long time poster here at DU...this person wasn't and now they are gone. Just seems odd to me.

EOM

I'm sure.

Was DU targeted by PAID political propagandists?

Organizations that favor Corporate profits over people (DLC, RNC) have some LONG payrolls and very active programs to influence public opinion.

and Yes.
Some of the more fervent and prolific supporters of conservative Democrats are now missing.
(posted in deep gratitude. nobody paid me post liberal viewpoints on DU)

Well, I discovered this board right before the election, but was not allowed to register until after the election. I understand why I was not allowed to register so close to the election, but I did feel disgruntled about it.

I enthusiastically voted for Kerry and participated in some GOTV efforts. I think all the Kerry bashing going on here is a lot of "shoulda coulda woulda" and IMHO is a waste of energy. We all need to channel that energy into working for some real change. Sign petitions, write letters to your Congressmen, write letters to the editors of your local papers. Voting is where our democracy starts, not where it ends.

Out of concern for Party Unity during the campaign, many here (myself included)discontinued our criticism of the Conservative (pro-Corpo, anti-labor,) Platform that John Kerry was forced to run on.

Some of us want to hold the architects of the disaster of Nov2 accountable. Incredibly, the same failed architects insist that the Party needs to become even more Republican.
I don't think so.


http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/2004/11/002671.htm...

IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE FOR THE LAST YEAR YOU WOULD KNOW WE DID THAT IN UNPRECIDENTED MEASURE AND IT GOT US NOTHING FOR REASONS THAT ARE VERY CLEAR TO ABOUT 2 THIRDS OF US THAT ARE STILL HERE.

Sorry not screaming just hit the cap lock and was talking on the phone while I typed, lol.

This is exactly what I meant. Someone working for the DNC.

The people who spoke most vehemently, most vehemently in his support were genuine Kerry supporters. I freaking disagreed with them every step of the way, til Dean dropped. Perhaps 1 in a 100 were posers.

There was a group of people on various boards who vociferously argued the ABB line and jumped immediately on any talk of anything besides canvassing and phone bank work. Any critical remarks were castigated as "helping Bush" and the like. I tussled and tussled with those people all through the campaign, and there were a couple that no matter where I posted on any of 3 or 4 boards, within 2-3 minutes they were "debunking" my post. I kept a list of 14 people, some with more than one user name (could trace them to their IP at my board) who were doing that. I have not seen one post from any of them since the election.

Why wouldn't they?

I'm not gone.

A lot of people I know who support Kerry who aren't posting much right now are pretty pissed at Ohio and Florida and the cheats in the White House.

They'll be back.

As for the infiltrators, they're still here. Some work for the RNC. Most work for Uncle Sam.

There were people who said they were Kerry supporters, and were very aggressive in shutting down discussions about many things under the guise of pushing involvement in GOTV, but it never rang true to me.

I speculated at the time that being a rabid ABB Kerry supporter was easy to fake, unlikely to be questioned, and was perfect cover for someone who wanted to get people off of the war, election fraud and other issues.

on edit - added a word that was missing

I believe many a sockie has fallen by the wayside and it happened in two waves. First wave was after primaries, second after election.

There are still plenty of agitators, operatives and plain ol' trollies around though so enjoy the spectacle!

:toast:

Julie

I mean, I would assume that the DNC is made up of Democrats. Though I could be wrong.

I think any rational person can see that the fact that the election happened accounts for any change you see on the forum.

For a while everything was about defeating Bush, and thus Kerry winning. That time is past, no reason for a witchhunt.

*grumble*

This is the most paranoid rambling I've ever seen here. This place is turning into Mel Gibson in that conspiracy movie every day.

Kerry Lost. This blows. "DNC Operatives" do not post here. Yes, my spirit was down after reading this board day after day.......and then seeing Bush lost. Sad.

People who think everything is a conspiracy, that there are spies and plants everywhere. Anyone else notice them?

are people who are really well-grounded pretending to be paranoid. And there are unstable paranoid folks pretending to be stable. I also suspect there are men pretending to be women, and women who suffer from penis envy pretending to be men pretending to be women pretending to be paranoid. I've got a category of DNC operatives who likely like the Beach Boys, but who quote Queen as a cover. I've also identified hundreds of people who have never posted on here, often because they died centuries ago, who pretend to be unaborted fetuses, begging for cheese. And there are plants all over: poison ivy, cactus, and yellow string beans, all feigning to be cannabis saliva. That still leaves the amputees posing as track stars. But the worst of the worst are Kerry supporters pretending to be democrats on here. And I've noticed that if you play Sgt Pepper's Lonely Walrus Clam Band backwards, it comes out "Paul is patcox2." Where were you the day the music died?

Especially the plants. Though the fetuses begging for cheese was a good touch, too.

And he was not my first or second choice. I always support the nominee enthusiastically and try to find good things about him. Undermining a candidate during a campaign just because you personally find him flawed is wrong.

I'm dead-set against Hillary getting the nomination, but if she gets it there will be no more enthusiastic supporter for her than me. (Unless we finally have a viable 3rd party option by that time.)

It couldn't be because we are longtime antiBush people who followed Kerry's work investigating and exposing IranContra and BCCI and illegal wars in Central America?

Maybe most Kerry supporters have been politically aware and active for a greater number of years and more cognizant of his extraordinary efforts on the behalf of HONEST and good governance that stretches over 3 decades.

Sorry, but your premise is lame. It wasn't Kerry supporters working to divide the left for the past year. It was practically a full time job just to refute the barrage of lies against him that have been promoted rabidly by GOP operatives since 1971.

supporters. How would the poster feel if we suggested he is an RNC plant sent here to trash Kerry and his supporters?

from the Skull & Bones Society, sent here to create chaos! That MUST be it! Why else would any democrat support the Kerry-Edwards ticket?

who spread shit about Kerry on DU and a bunch of other anti Kerry assholes on DU ate it up.

of course he exposed himself on election night. but with his history of posts he should have been banned long time ago.

The vanished on election day and at least one out there admitted (or claimed, if playing around) to be on the payroll.

sent to trash Kerry at DU. I noticed you don't have a lot of posts.

Good to know we're all on the same side

Too bad things worked out the way they did.


Spidy

I still like John Kerry. Also notice my yellow dog. I was/am not a Howard Dean fan but I would have fought for him just as hard as I did for Kerry. I am a Democrat!

Kind of a silly word for anybody who is DEM affiliated dont ya think? I mean this place IS called democratic underground. Last time I checked it didnt say republican underground.

As for the campaign people like myself maybe they went back to their lives. I know I did.

don't ya think?

...or, "dems that don't think like I do.."

We did our job.

Now it's OK to dissent, IMHO. The party got torn apart, either by fraud or by the Repubs whipping our asses. We lost our leader. Any group that loses a leader is going to also lose its coherence. That's what we've seen here and what we'll continue to see until we find our stride again...if we find it, that is.

though I also see a lot of people disappointed that he conceded the morning after. I also see a lot of Dean, Kucinich, and Clark supporters, just as I did during the primaries. There is no big difference.

I don't know what "operatives" you are speaking of. I do know that several posters that were big Kerry supporters have posted less recently but that's probably understandable. It will take time to get over this...though I think at this point many of them also realize that Kerry did make some mistakes during the coarse of his campaign.

The one thing that frustrated me was that many of his earlier supporters were unwilling to realize how much the Swift Vet Liars and Kerry's late reaction hurt him.

just because I am not big personally on the two most popular candidiates of past doesn't mean I wouldn't suport them, I would, I am a democrat. I like and admire John Kerry. I don't know why many of us like to eat our own so much, its the worng thing to do and the last thing if you want to build the party.

After watching paranoia consuming DU lately on some threads, and after getting to know some of the members who have posted on this thread better, I now read my posts here with some embarrassment.

While I did see some patterns that are similar to what lateo describes, I certainly don't know that "operatives" from the DNC "infiltrated" anything, and of course, strong Kerry supporters should not be under any suspicion.

I think that it is a challenge for all of us, perhaps, to not allow our suspicions to get out of control when we have a government that does so many extreme things and is so secretive about what it does.

I will be sitting in the corner now for a while wearing a dunce cap. :)

Drop in on this thread and post there instead. :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1040144

Great posts on the other thread btw.

Keep DU from endorsing Nader?

To vote "democrat" on federal, state, and local issues. Dirty politics, by jimmini! Think: democrats disguised as democrats! Thank goodknee that some of the detectives in waiting exposed this!

dont get me wrong, i enjoy pep rallies myself, but some of the phantasmagoria was way over the top.

..since mid-2001, I've been called...

1. an operative for Mike Ruppert
2. Mike Ruppert himself
3. an newbie candidate pimp for Wesley Clark
4. a whore for the DNC
5. a DNC operative
6. a DLC operative
7. a plant by the Clark campaign
8. a plant by the Kerry campaign
9. sent by Bill Clinton's people to make him look better (that one cracked me up!)

... but I've yet to be paid by anyone, damnit!!!

didn't you??

We used to get this paid operative shit on the Kerry blog during the primaries... when we were LOSING!!!

You shouldn't have trusted them fucking democrats! You can't buy groceries with those "IOUs" from Bill Clinton and John Kerry! And you should feel guilty for leading impressionable democrats astray! Telling them to support the democratic candidate!

that you're NOT all those people

What kind of fools do you take us for?

That is the last thing I would accuse you of.

...when I defended his decision to put those ads in major newspapers.

behind the screen name "Chris Heinz", the sneaky bastard.

now I stay on the gardening, cooking, economic activism and spirituality threads mostly

burnout? yes

recharging? yes

ready to rumble? not quite yet.......

Though the date of my registration may not it, I was.

Kerry had very little support on here until Iowa+New Hampshire, at the least.

Sure, there were Kerry supporters here and there, but he had nowhere near the level of support on these boards that Howard Dean, Wes Clark, Dennis Kucinich, or John Edwards had. Maybe neck-in-neck with Gephart, but I think even Dick had more support. IMO, Bob Graham had more supporters (prior to him dropping out of the race) than Kerry.

...except for very early on, IE before the debates. He enjoyed moderate levels of support when many here believed Bush was going to steamroll through the election (post 2002 mid-term blues).

I supported Graham...aside from Kucinich, the only candidate who could cast a vote on the Iraq war who cast it NO. Or nay, I should say. If they still use nay. Ok, I'm getting off track here...

so people weren't big on him, that doesn't mean there was operatives.

And whipped all us pawns in line. I like DU when it is bottom to top not top to bottom. I think DU works better when it is used by the party and candidates to understand what we are thinking not to tell us what to think.

I noticed. It's worse tnan you think i am afriad.

Remember all the pro-Kerry (or any other candidate) posts with thread titles such as "Kerry WILL Win" or "Kerry WILL ______"?

Those kinds of statements are written by people with an agenda, pure and simple.

Then you had campaigners who were here for the sole purpose of tearing down Dean. Some of them may have been professional; several were not. I recall one Clarke supporter who later admitted that he came to DU and saw all this support for Dean and purposely set out to undermine it.