I don't understand the posts here

We still have a wide gap between the wealthy and the regular folks that is widening. Congress just passed two laws that give the wealthy and the Credit Card companies - the one that bombard us with easy plastics - a free reign to go and prosper while our national deficit continues to grow, as well as inflation.

There are still millions who cannot afford health care (and now cannot even declare bankruptcy).

Our job, health care and retirement security are in jeopardy...

And yesterday and even today these pages are full of posts about the new Pope? And to think that only 45 years ago voters here doubted whether a Catholic candidate can be the president of the United States?

I do not want to offend any one here but... really, is this the most pressing issue for us - Democrats?

Go back and look at news reports from 1998 when the last Pope had an historic visit to Cuba - all we had was the Monica story.

It is not as if anyone in this country listened to the Pope when he objected to the war in Iraq or to the death penalty.

So, yes, there is a new Pope. Over and done.

Now, can we go back to the more important issues? (Or even to trivial ones that we enjoy on the Lounge)?

But you can't deny this is a big deal. It'll pass though, soon enough.

this too will pass!

There were lots of posts about Terri Schiavo, too. There's lots of posts about whatever's leading the 24-hour news cycle, so why be surprised at this one? It'll fizzle before long. And besides, the direction that may be taken over the coming years by the largest Christian denomination in the world is at least worth discussing, yeah?

as it - at least when Congress got involved - concerned the gross invasion of privacy by our elected officials. And this issue still should enrage all of us. And I hope that our candidates will know how to use it to wake up the ones in the red states who cherish their right to do what they want.

Not to mention the exposure of the hypocrisy of the so-called supporters of small government and of keeping the government off people's back.

What is the use of a thread telling people not to post what you think are useless threads?

do real stories.

Getting a new pope is a big deal. It will be interesting to see what happens next with the catholic church and how it impacts the world. I have my opinions as this, but am going to wait and see rather than speculate my fingers off. However, many people want to talk and speculate, so just ignore them if you want to.

As to my subject line, recall this is USA 2005, land of the 15 minutes of fame, distraction, media attention to the most popular topic (gotta sell advertising time) and people, yes even democrats, have bought into this distraction stuff. Also, rather than focusing on important topics which many feel they have little or no input into, they focus on the distracting issues. (Did you see MJ in his PJs? What about ______movie star being pregnant? I bet that the new pope does _______. This way I can feel some control and not be flabergasted.)

It's ok to gossip and blab some, but don't forget the larger issues. And it's ok to let others gossip and blab some and OK to ignore them too.

I know what you mean. Sigh.

It seems that 95% of the people in GD must be plugged into the MSM and that's all they are going to think about. Schiavo, now the pope. While it affects politics - it's not THAT important...


It's too bad. There used to be some good discussions.

ratty, the smirk's man rules the whole world of catholics. that's a lot of people. he will do the bushgang's bidding.

most catholics have proved to be brainwashable.

I have two suggestions:

1. Rather than starting umpteen new threads, apend to 2 or 3 existing.

2. Suggestion was made to the admins to open, when needed, a forum called "topic du jour". This would be a place for topics such as Terri Schievo, Jerry Falwell, Michael Jackson and the Pope.

Either/both would reduce the number of threads that are crowding out what you rightly categorize as "Democratic" issues.

Have you raised it with the moderators?

The admins took it under advisement.

(No offense intended.)

This kind of thread-wave is related to a big "event". A big event gets lots of media play (commentary, etc) and people get caught up in it. Then that "getting caught up" is reflected in posts here.

And there are other elements to the phenomenon. There are members (some new, some old) who use the opportunity provided by the (an) event to vent, voice their opinions, demonstrate their wit and wisdom, and etc.

All this drags in responders, stirs people up, gets some of the trolls hopping (etc) and the wave grows.

Add in people's fondness for creating threads and you have a passable first order description of the phenomenon.

Of course, some might argue for a little more discipline and self control in creating threads (at least -- and at least in these circumstances), since threads play a greater role in creating and reinforcing the "wave" than replies do. But then, that is probably what some thread creators have in mind. And, in any event, discipline and self control are normally in short supply.

It passes. Eventually a majority of posters will tire of the game or something new will come along (etc).

...

Oh, and I suppose that I should explicitly mention the phenomenon of the counterwave. Sometimes counterwaves (posters trying to counter the disproportionality of the thread-waves) seem to have some mitigating effects on the (a) thread-wave. This (the mitigation) is, generally, a good thing since it attempts to restore more proper proportion (with varying success in practise -- timing being critical). However, counterwave posts can and do have the quite opposite effect (that of strengthening the thread-wave), as some members seem to think that nothing has greater weight than their desire to post whatever they wish, and given some opportunity to make this clear, they do so. (There are other drivers for counter-counter-thread-wave posts, including what appears to be personal animosity.)

I would consider your thread as being "counterwave". But my guess is that it is still too early for an effective counterwave.

We will see.

:eyes:

You might have noticed there are also a lot of threads about Bush. Not all of them are flattering.

The premis is whenever there are "topics du jour", they distract from issues that really matter.

:shrug:

Sad and embarassing, really.