What the ignore function has taught me.

Prelude: I am a supporter of both Clinton and Obama and would be delighted to have either as our next president.

But something very strange started happening since I became active in DU during the last few weeks. I found myself disliking and drawing away from one candidate because of their supporters. Now, this doesn't make any sense to me. I am generally a rational person who makes these kinds of decisions based on real information.

Yesterday I ran across a post that described some other posters as {your candidate's name here}-haters. And it was an ah-hah moment for me. Some people here are not really supporters of a particular candidate. They just hate the other candidate.

Now previously I had felt some kind of civic duty to address some of these people, to ask them to behave better, to point out how hateful and vile they appeared. And it was giving me ulcers.

So, today I identified and put on ignore 75 posters who I feel are haters.

What I discovered is that there are a lot more rational supporters of one candidate or the other than there are haters and I can finally hear them over all the screeching.

I want to thank the person who advised me to do this and will gladly send you the money I was going to have to pay a gastroenterologist.

This is exactly what I have either tried to say or encouraged others to say.

There is no way I could have said this better myself.

Thank you.

And that is why you made the cut!
I am interested if any ignored will respond to this post.

You are very kind.

I hope as many people here as humanly possible read what you are saying.

It's an amazing function.

but I do agree with your post. There are too many flamethrowers around here.

Although I don't have 75 on ignore. I have about 15 assholes on ignore.

under the guise of being Obama supporters.

Fortunately, the most disgusting was recently banned. Oh, but he's not done with DU...he's gonna SUE.

LOL.

LOL!

He and his sockpuppet. :rofl:

the hidden trove of all kinds of "illegal" Clinton activities.

And the "press connections" to "take them down."?

He's almost as stupid as Bev Harris was.

Even though I am for Obama, I have some of both candidates' supporters
on ignore. I seem to add more every day. Sure makes it more bearable in GDP. :)

Because it is going to really cause me problems if I miss someone. But so far, no one on ignore. Thanks so much for replies.

We highly recommend "Shabu Zen," because they are absolutely fantastic and at least support the correct political party.



Welcome to Shabu-Zen, Boston’s home for personal, authentic, Asian "Hot-Pot" cuisine.
"Here's a meal that's inexpensive, healthy, delicious and fun!" - Mat Schaffer (Boston Herald)

We warmly invite you to browse our inspiring menu, and should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us via e-mail, fax, or telephone. Please view our map for directions to our location.

More:
http://www.shabuzen.com/

Will recommend to friends in Boston.

Kaze
1 Harrison Ave
Boston, MA 02111
Phone: (617) 338-8283

Welcome to Kaze Shabu Shabu Restaurant. "This new shabu-shabu palace is a breath of fresh air in Chinatown" said the Boston Herald. Our long anticipated grand opening in Boston drew much attention and rave reviews. Kaze Shabu Shabu Restaurant is recognized as one of Massachusetts's best spots for Shabu Shabu. Everything is prepared perfectly and beautifully.

At Kaze Shabu Shabu Restaurant we follow strict standards on service, quality and presentation. We use only the finest ingredients in all of our dishes to deliver exceptionial exotic cuisine. Whether meeting friends and family or for that perfect romatic date, you will be impressed with Kaze's beautifully appointed dining room and the full-service bar.

Our customers expect the best. Here at Kaze, we strive to exceed your expectations.



More:
http://boston.citysearch.com/profile/41818759/boston_ma/kaze.html

The food in both places was about equal in quality. Kaze had a more extensive and exotic menu, but the wait staff can tend to push the more expensive items to increase the tab.

what an honor.

Reminds me of when the RWNM called us Bush haters. Because if somebody threatens to burn down my house, it would be irrational to hate them and to want very badly to try to stop them. :crazy:

just curious

"this person does not wish to receive PMs" without the addendum (from you!)

Of course, that does not always work now because when I put people on ignore, I usually allow PM, just in case that person wants to write me privately an apologize for being such a jacka$$hole.


Probably not gonna happen, but why not keep the lines of communication open? Plus it has the added benefit of not informing them that I have them on ignore.

actually only about 3 of them are because of being obnoxious over their candidate. One of them bit the ole granite yesterday. :-) The rest are there for other reasons (some I can't even remember why but probably for name calling) going back months. Posters for me have to be really really obnoxious and nasty before they get added to my ignore list.

one of my three ignored has been tombstoned. I take some solace in the fact that "it wasnt just me".

Are tombstoned folks ever "brought back from the dead"?

by begging Skinner really nicely but I think it's pretty rare.

is the corrupting power of politics.

The hate filled people on DU are not politicians per se. But they are corrupted by the political process.
Can you imagine how corrupting actually being a politician must be if people who merely have to vote are corrupted to this degree?

And it was unbelievably corrupting. I found myself saying things that I did not even believe and had to get out. It was a huge eye-opener for me.

the power.

Now I have three people on it. I almost put several more. Im trying to decide? should I take those three off, or put many more folks on...

It bothers me that this nomination has caused this kind of rancor. I never thought I would put a fellow DUer on ignore and I dont like it. I think I am on at least one other person,s ignore list because I had a what I think is a justifiable negative reaction to being told to ¨shut up¨and not try to convince a given minority class of folks why I thought they should vote for a given candidate. (actually, the post told everyone not of that minority class to shut up and not try to convince anyone of that class for whom to vote.)

I hate these Dem nomination races. Ny recollection is that 2004 was not tres different. we need to come up with a better plan as a party for avoiding this kind of divisiveness.

Imagine my shock when an HRC supporter was confronted with irrefutable evidence that she was lying about a post I made - it was actually made by a fellow Clinton supporter of hers and she'd attributed it to me - not just once, but FIVE TIMES, and she still refused to do the right thing and retract her false claim.

It put me on notice that some people are so rabid in support of their losing candidate that even resorting to blatant falsehoods to smear their opponents is acceptable behavior.

Not less rancor, just less sense.
People arguing with invisible people - now that is disturbing. ;)

Sometimes the ones yelling "X-hater" are just refusing to listen, and using the term to dismiss others without having to do so.
Then there is the hope that a few will begin to wake up, and realize they have been getting too deep in the shit- and make moves to be better, do better and heal some of the wounds they have caused.

Hey, it has happened on occasion!

That said, we each have to deal with our sanity and stress as wee see fit.
I hope I never make it to your ignore list, cbayer, as you are one worth reading.

hello? hello?:hi:

I can hear you. :hi:

I may not keep my ignore list. I really did it as an experiment and will see how if impacts me. There are some ignored responses here and I find myself very curious to hear what they are saying. Now, isn't that ironic.

I have enjoyed your posts and never seen anything hateful in them.

Thank you!

edited because i am an emoticon idiot

no one here has wrote anything rude to you, not a single person that I can see.

And I probably need to tighten my criteria. When I saw something i found hateful (and that's just my take on it, not gospel by any means), I hit the ignore. But I will quite likely revise. It was just my experiment (and the need to give myself some mental health treatment).

requires a dispassionate mental "safe zone" to go to when it gets crazy.

That scientific curiosity will get to ya for sure.
I end up getting totally pissed at the overly impassioned (speaking nicely now) ones that go so overboard that facts or video have ZERO effect on their POV. Or that just keep raising the hate bar so high we will never get beyond it.

After months of pleading for folks here to be civil - so much so that I felt myself as some parody of a cat herder - I have had to accept my powerlessness here, and just find what light I can. Like you, wanting to maintain a civil respect for both candidates, I have to keep a strict wall between candidates and their sometimes overzealous supporters. A difficult thing.

And then there are the troll variants...analyzing the taxonomy of psyops is a crucial aspect in all this. To see that aspect of this social ecosystem that is the intertubes absolutely requires me to not ignore anyone. I just switch modes from time to time, from citizen-activist, objective analyst, counter-operative, anthropologist, frivolous jester-poet and so on. Democracy is a multi-leveled maze, to be sure.

So. It. Goes.
To poetry from prose---

From time to time on DU
we go from discussion to flung poo
ashamed to confess
I'm a part of this mess,
I resort to a different kung fu.

I am no one's savior or teacher and my children are grown. I need to stop trying to make others change.

In my heart, I know that one leads by example and I just need to keep reminding myself of that.

I am, however, desperately curious and a scientist. And I just plain don't understand the vile hatred on this board at a time when we actually have a chance of getting back some modicum of control over our federal government.

I just deleted 2 who were tombstoned.

It takes a LOT for me to put someone on ignore. They have to be multiple offenders about sexism, racism, trolling, VERY nasty posts about a candidate (and not necessarily about the one I support).

I'm eyeing a couple of others now, but I'll give them a few more chances before I don't want to read their garbage anymore.

that so many of the people who are responding to this are the people I have grown to respect the most. Like you.

Your high bar for ignoring is good advice and I most likely will raise mine in the near future.

The ignore feature has been my savior as well. Prior to this primary season I never used it, but I have saved myself a lot of angst.

Even though I by no means agree with everything you say, your posts are almost always thought provoking and rarely unfair.

Thanks for writing back! I was wondering... No one has to agree with me; this is a discussion board. I do occasionally let my emotions trump that zipper on my lip, but I'm learning. :hi:

I've been accused of being anti-Hillary twice and anti-Obama twice.

Methinks some people are a bit sensitive when it comes to their candidate.

:shrug:

Personally - I think my avatar sums it up. I'll vote for whomever. That said, I will criticize the logic of those who run around making up BS left and right about the candidates.

It is only an experiment that I created based on my own very biased ideas of what is hateful.

And some were probably included that were just having a bad moment.

In the end, we really can only judge ourselves I guess.

Examples:
"Hillary believes in White Supremecy?"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4740109&mesg_id=4740109

Hillary is Bipolar (already locked):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4738993&mesg_id=4738993

Is Hillary manipulating women?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4739740&mesg_id=4739740