The Vampire comment.

I just wanted to pop in here in say something real quick. I made an OP recently that went awry and in it a made a comment about Vampires which has clearly insulted several people. I have seen a few other posts in different ops pop up referencing that comment and after looking in this forum I came to the conclusion that it was taken wrong and was very insulting.

So let me say that I completely apologize. I think it was taken very differently than it was meant. I’m sure that some will feel that an apology is not enough and I understand that sentiment.

I realize that equal rights are a huge issue for everyone and that there are still many people who remain trapped in a state of inequality. I believe that equality will never be seen until the repeal of DADT and DOMA is compete as well as the addition of constitutional protection.

Anyway, feel free to blast away at me. Perhaps I deserve it.

:patriot:

I was honestly just trying to have an open discussion. Im getting the impression that my point itself was insulting.

Out of curiosity.

im reluctant to rehash the conversation. But, let me premise it with the following: I am of the belief that there are posters here on DU that are actually here only to cause derision and strife. In retrospect, i could say that both telling people NOT to be mad and recent stories that seem to try and pin blame for any upcoming loses on the GBLT community could both be examples.


In essence, i think these posters are trolling the board in a state of perpetual synthetic anger in an attempt to sap the unity and enthusiasm from the progressive community as a whole. I can understand if you disagree or think that is far fetched, but none the less, this is the group i was referring too. in short, the trolls. i was actually responding to a post by someone else who mentioned this very segment.

and to be clear, NO, i am not trying to pin that behavior on the GBLT community either.

How does one separate the "vampires" who are intentionally trying to sew discord, from those posters who are legitimately trying to express their deep disappointment and anger at the Obama/Democratic Party for their GLBT stances/actions? The pattern here at DU is to lump us all together and lecture us about how much more awful it would be under a Republican administration, call us ungrateful, and tell us to wait our turn.

I hope you will work to correct that.

There are many at DU, and in the progressive blogosphere in general, that are guilty of what you describe. And boy, is it tiresome!

:hi:

Stake 'em no matter how much the blood sucking bastards beg for mercy. They lost all rights once they became undead...well maybe not the right to be molested as molesting a corpse is still a crime.

Zombies, mummies, ghosts, and ghouls too...


Werewolves are not undead. They're allright in my book.

;-)

She was seduced using other-worldy means!

Mesmerism, my good sir, is no lifestyle choice!

imho

True Blood? Anyone?

:silly:

mkultra, I don't think I saw the post where you originally made the vampire comment, so I cannot speak to that directly. But it does appear from this OP, and from your replies in this thread, that you are making a contrite and genuine effort at making amends. I truly do appreciate that.

:hi:

mkultra's Obama's GBLT (sic) Accomplishments post: Friday, October 22, 2010.

What exactly were you trying to accomplish with your post from last Friday? I suspect you weren't looking for LGBT allies because your thread sounded like a big "Shut the Fuck Up" to the LGBT community, imho. Had you researched the list of accomplishments you would have found that (for the most part) they're an inch deep and a mile wide. Obama has spent no political capital on social and economic justice for LGBT people and your apparent lack of empathy and familiarity with the realities of LGBT lives pissed me off - big time.

You also failed to share a citation for the source of the list. Who created it? When? And most importantly, why?

You might want to read this thread and John Aravosis' response to Andy Tobias for deeper insights into how the "accomplishments" have translated into the daily lives of LGBT people and our families.

Its certainly not my point. I have read the story at the link you posted even before i made the post. Honestly, do you really want to restart that discussion?

How about we start with your reasons for posting the "accomplishments" list last Friday. And if you have read Aravosis' response before -- I'm even more interested in why you posted the list without attribution or context.

Care to clarify?

I'm certainly not interested in rehashing that discussion for several reasons. Primarily, several people have indicated that the opinion alone is insulting. If discussing the topic is damaging, why do you even want restart? Additionally, i am certainly not going to do it in this forum. I'm not going to come here and start up a a discussion which could be insulting to the entire community, especially when i came here to make it clear that i feel for the feelings i stepped on.


If you really want to talk about it, feel free to message me and we can discuss it. I'm not interested in pushing any agenda but i do like to discuss politics, which is why we are all here to begin with.

Why did you start the "list of accomplishments" thread last Friday?

Until you answer that, you're not gaining any credibility with me.

You can fix the anger lgbt folks feel towards Obama and the dems.

If you had enough glbt friends you would know that this anger is not just felt by lgbt du'ers but a lot of lgbt folk so bullying us is pretty useless.

If we stay decent with each other, we can make that bridge.

when you try to tell me that obama is doing enough for me, so i should quit whining

Say what you like. I neither need nor want you to shut up.
but frankly, sounding like an ass is a particular talent of mine. :)

see watch: is your name taken from Priyanka Chopra? i have a particular affection for her and for Asha Bhosle.

:wtf:

:eyes:

Your building skills are imaginary, and vastly overrated.

never made? That one? You should have manned up to that one over in GD when you posted it.

The way it was taken was NOT the way it was meant.

I have no problem accepting your apology at face value. It takes a decent human being to acknowledge a mistake and to own it.

You have to realize that the person who you were "responding" to, and ended up tag teaming with, shows up in many threads about gay equality, spams them with preformatted messages, antagonizes every gay person he comes across and has point blank refused to state that he believes in gay rights. "Vampires" is also a term that McClurkin and others of his ilk have used. Surely you can understand why that would piss people off.

I realize the conversation became heated and people sometimes write things that they don't mean when they are angry. But you've had this same problem before - you got very angry during the threads about the Smelt brief and when it turned out your position was wrong, and Obama reversed course and had the DOJ rewrite the brief, you never owned up to your behaviour.

I think the attitude that has come through in multiple threads is that you really hold gay people in disdain. Which is why you posting in here and apologizing is impressive, as it suggest a self awareness that I, for one, didn't think you possessed.

If we do indeed share the same goals, hopefully we can have constructive discussions down the road.

Thank you ruggerson for your understanding. I took you off ignore to read your reply. :)

Yeah, I end up with clark in a lot of threads. I think he and i may share a belief that we are fighting a hidden band of PUMA's that are trying to sew discontent against Obama. Honestly, i don't know anything about his stand on equal rights.

I had no idea about the McClurkin thing. I just dug it up and frankly i feel a bit shell shocked by it. I felt like i stepped on a land mine when i said it in GD. i honestly thought i was just being attacked. I had no idea who Donnie McClurkin is but now i understand what happened. lol. So now he "prayed the gay away"? ok, let me make it really clear that i didn't mean anything like that crazy ass fool.

I'm not sure what you mean regarding the smelt brief reversal. I know that my opinion regarding these DOJ briefs is somewhat unpopular and i completely recognize the duplicity of Obama in his statements and the actions of the DOJ. I mean, he COULD just not appeal these rulings. I think the difference of opinion on this topic is really more about whether he SHOULD but it always gets put forward by the pro-appeal crowd as a necessity when its really not. In the end, the DOJ serves at the pleasure of POTUS. I think a more production discussion would be whether he SHOULD stop the DOJ from appealing. That probably wouldn't go much better though.

I have no disdain for anyone gay or otherwise. We are born who we are and hatred for people based on how we are born is a disease. I honestly just like Obama and feel like the outrage is a bit overblown. Every time i try to talk about it i raise the anger of zues and so i honestly have just never had a truly productive conversation on the topic.


Let me just put it this way: I know a couple of things about bigotry and there is a difference between those that disparage knowingly and those that do it out of lack of education. I know that many people think that bigots are just people who have closed minds and exposure only to stereotypes, but i disagree. You must also include the categories of those who are mentally diseased and those with no exposure to the culture at hand.

I guess what im saying is that if someone doesn't understand a particular point of view, it doesn't mean they are a bigot. It may mean that the just need to understand.

That being said: My life is on the line. My partner's life is on the line. I don't mean that figuratively. We are in physical danger. If I'm cranky it's not because I'm a "troll"; it's because every one I love and care about is getting screwed.

*My partner isn't comfortable going out of "the gay zone" because he's in transition (and we live outside "the gay zone")
*My friends in the military (gay AND straight) are suffering serious physical/mental/legal consequences of Obama's policies on DADT as well as those in Iraq and Afghanistan
*Everyone I know who works for a living is struggling and Obama is talking about austerity.
*My job as an educator is being turned into another primitive accumulation scam by capital and Obama supports it.
*Activists are being raided by the FBI and CIA on charges of material support for speech communication with terrorist organizations--people like lawyers and indie journalists. This has gotten worse under Kagan and Holder. Worse than it was under Bush.

This is a terrible joke. A bad situation. I'm not really afraid of the tea party. They're a astroturf group. I'm not afraid of the Rand Paul supporters. They're 9-11 wingnuts who are so confused about who the enemy is that they think that working class Obama supporters are "globalists". But, hey, that's what happens when you have a muddy message coming from what is termed "the left" in this country. Nothing to rally around.

The people who really bother me are the Obama supporters who now support Bush's policies: DADT is complicated, torture is inevitable and necessary, Afghanistan is a good war, unions are bad, the working class has to suffer, marriage is between a man and a woman, the left is the problem, etc.

These people have shifted the country further to the right, not the Tea Party. They've moved the "Democratic" goalposts squarely into Republican territory. And it scares the crap out of me. They scare me.

scary as hell, and they are pushing the party and DU to the right.

DU has always been an authoritarian place. But now it's an authoritarian place that LIKES being an authoritarian place. Now that we have so many people where to buy into the whole "cult of personality" supporting Obama, there is a lot more acceptance for the idea that rules don't matter. You support the guy in charge, no matter what.

And that's a seriously fucked up, evil attitude. :(