Today begins my third year on DU ...

I want to acknowledge my "DU birthday" by thanking each and every DU'er for their efforts here ... DU is my little island of sanity in a pretty insane world ...

DU is still in its infancy ... we have yet to clearly define a way to achieve maximum effectiveness ... but our online community has become widely recognized and I believe we have become a force for change within the Democratic Party and within the country ... and that's no small accomplishment in such a short time ...

One last thought: I would love to see a general amnesty declared for all those who have been banned ... few crimes and fewer infractions of the rules come with life sentences ... many of those who violated DU policy were thoughtful people who made excellent contributions while they were here ... online communities, like any other society, define themselves by the tolerance and forgiveness they show for those who step outside the community's constraints ... time has passed; the election is over (except the recounts); let's invite all former DU'ers to rejoin our struggle. Declaring a general amnesty is in full keeping with progressive ideals ...

Thanks DU'ers for all you contribute !! Keep fighting the good fight; our time is coming.

Peace. -wt2

I hope there's enough cake for everyone!

I wish I could remember exactly when I first came here. It was summer or early fall of 2002. I saw a reference to DU on a liberal mailing list I was on, and I came to check it out. I remember one of the first posts I read. It was a parody of Bush talking about how evil Sadam was, and it made me LOL. I was hooked then.

I had a discussion with my brother that Thanksgiving about why it would be illegal and immoral to attack Iraq. I remember talking about how the people who suffer most in any war are the civilians who live in the war-torn land. I told him way back then that I thought WMDs were a pretense and that it was wrong to punish the people of Iraq for a terrorist attack they didn't have anything to do with. His argument was that we had to send a strong, decisive message that we would respond to terrorist attacks, and that if we didn't, we would be hit again and again. It makes me heartsick to know that almost two years after that conversation, I'm reading about mass graves of phosphorus-burned women and children in Falluja.

:(

thanks, Liz ...

i was able to obtain the date of my first post by finding the email that was sent to me when I first registered ...

you might post a question about how to obtain your start date in Ask the Admins ... i vaguely remember having them tell me I couldn't obtain the date without the original email ...

if the old archives (from "old" DU) are still searchable, you might be able to locate your first post by listing yourself as the author and providing a date range around the time you joined DU ... not sure the old archives are available (and searchable) though ...

does anyone know ??

Without going into details, I can think of one or two who have recently been blooded on the field of battle and whose insights and experiences would prove invaluable.

in Ask the Admins ...

on edit: OK ... i talked myself into it ... i'll repost the "amnesty" paragraph in ask the admins ...

i've had a pretty good discussion on the "general amnesty" topic with Elad ... we'll see what happens ...

Congrats on this accomplishment!:toast:

btw, my folks live in Southbury ...

I've been here a little over a year and a half myself. Started out posting a lot in GD. Although I don't post much there anymore, I still read the "serious" forums.

I think your idea about amnesty is a good one, but how would we let the formerly banned people know that they've got a get out of jail free card?

my idea for an amnesty could be handled a couple of different ways ... probably the better way would be to pin a thread about the amnesty on the top of both general discussion forums ...

not everyone would see it but those who care enough about DU and are still lurking would see it ... perhaps those who are long gone would still return some time in the future ...

alternatively (or additionally), the admins could easily blast out an email to those who have been banned ... this might reach more people but might also needlessly antagonize people who genuinely never belonged here ... we certainly don't want to encourage this people to return ...

the bottom line is that, absent their special crimes, some who were banned made real contributions to the DU community ... I hope someday we get to hear from these ex-DU'ers again ...

I think I begin my 3rd year here this week too. Wow! :hi:

one of these days i'll break out of my introverted shell and attend one of the Mass. get togethers ...

I joined a few months before you (in August of 2002), and I have been hooked.

thanks, ih8thegop ...

but your profile says you joined in 2001 ... what's up with that ???

I'll let Skinner know.