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Without George W. Bush, division tears apart the online left
Washington Examiner (a print newspaper) ^ | 8/22/2010 | Charlie Spiering

Posted on 08/22/2010 4:38:43 AM PDT by markomalley

In the ‘old days’ of the Bush administration, life in a online liberal discussion forum was great. Everybody was having a great time bashing the president and marveling at each other’s brilliance. But in the age of Obama, these once fertile fields of partisan rancor have been tainted by ideological dissent.

The latest news from Democratic Underground (DU) is a perfect example of what’s happening to the left online.

Earlier this year, the moderators of DU angered users of the forum after they issued a lengthy “censored list” of online behavior that would be banned and deleted from the site.

Now, matters are worse, as their latest fund drive has come up short.

In the face of dissent and division, website administrator Skinner took to the web to issue a angst filled lament over the loss of the ‘old DU’

You don’t like what DU has become. Maybe you have very specific complaints, or maybe you don’t really know exactly what it is that you don’t like. But what you do know is that you wish it was more like the old DU. A community. A place that was special. Where we had big disagreements, but at least you felt like we all had something in common.

Yeah, I miss that DU, too.

I miss it so much that it makes my heart ache. I lie awake at night agonizing over it. I can barely bring myself to read my email anymore. I’m burned out and tired.
. . .
Here’s the problem in a nutshell: Back when Bush was President, he represented the center of gravity in politics — the focal point that determined “Which side are you on?” — and everyone on DU actually was on the same side. Now that Barack Obama is President, he has become the center of gravity. I think it’s clear that we still broadly agree on the issues, but we disagree on how best to get there, how long it should take, and how much compromise we are willing to accept. Those are the disagreements that matter now. To be blunt, we are not all on the same side anymore.

Imagine if during the Bush Administration, Democratic Underground had welcomed people who thought the president was doing a bad job, *and* people who thought the president was doing a good job. DU would have sucked. Sure, it might have been worth the effort to stop by every once in a while to argue with conservative idiots, but nobody would have felt like DU was their home, their safe-haven, their community.

So what is a lefty web haven to do when change causes division? Skinner proposes the following: “I am starting to think that much more radical change is necessary.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aintnoamerican; bho44; disappearedhistory; du; grossconartist; kenyanvillageidiot; muslimterroristpos; muslimtraitor; nutroots; zero
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Note: this is an online column (Beltway Confidential) from a print newspaper, the Washington Examiner (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com). Please do not confuse this with the blogging site, the Examiner (www.examiner.com). Thank you.
1 posted on 08/22/2010 4:38:44 AM PDT by markomalley
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To: PJ-Comix; Charles Henrickson

Ant farm lament ping....


2 posted on 08/22/2010 4:47:30 AM PDT by GQuagmire (Hey now!)
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To: PJ-Comix

You might have some real fun with this...


3 posted on 08/22/2010 4:48:44 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: markomalley

Bring on the Show Trials!


4 posted on 08/22/2010 4:50:20 AM PDT by Brugmansian
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To: markomalley

What is a “print newspaper”? I think I have a vague memory of my Grandfather with one.


5 posted on 08/22/2010 4:51:17 AM PDT by pke
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To: markomalley

I would suggest that a problem with the left is that they have few core values. We on the right know what we want: individual responsibility; less government; government centered in the individual, not a centralized beauracracy; adherence to the Constitution; a strong defense. There are more, but you can see where I’m going with this. But they are just against that, but have nothing that they are really for (unless it is for murdering unborn children and those who are too helpless to take care of themselves). But with the field wide open as to what to be for, they have no center around which they can coalesce.

And this is a good thing.


6 posted on 08/22/2010 4:51:48 AM PDT by Jemian
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To: markomalley

This proves, once again, that liberals are never happy and only become united when they all share the same unhappiness.

It also proves the DNC is a comprised of loosely-connected groups upset about different things.


7 posted on 08/22/2010 4:52:21 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: pke
What is a “print newspaper”? I think I have a vague memory of my Grandfather with one.

One that has articles that don't get shuffled off to the "Bloggers and Personal" dungeon on FR.

8 posted on 08/22/2010 4:54:46 AM PDT by markomalley (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus)
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To: Erik Latranyi

” liberals are never happy and only become united when they all share the same unhappiness.”

And they have made you part of it............


9 posted on 08/22/2010 4:55:10 AM PDT by patriotspride
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To: markomalley

You know, there are two kinds of people in the world.

The Busybodies and the Individualists.

The Busybodies know what’s best for everybody. They know how best to divide the labor and the fruits of labor. They know who is more “deserving” and who is less so. They know what “justice” is, and they intend to execute same, regardless of the cost. These people spend more time trying to run other peoples’ lives than they do managing their own affairs.

The Individualists just want to be left alone to pursue their own interests without interference. They are fiercely independent, ambitious, and innovative. They seek solutions to real every day problems in medicine, industry, and business. They believe that the market is the best place to sort out the best in class, and that MERIT is the engine of advancement.

Because the Individualists are more compelled to manage their own affairs than to meddle in the affairs of others, they tend to have less presence in the fields of politics. They are, basically, too busy pursuing their own interests to get involved with managing the affairs of others.

Given these social forces, the Busybodies tend to be the ones that gravitate to the political stratum. As they begin to overtake the machinery of politics and foreign affairs, and begin to impose onerous regulations and stupid laws intended to reduce everybody to a lowest common denominator, except themselves, of course, the Individualists begin to wake up and assert themselves to recover command of the levers of polity.

The ferocity, even lethality, of the ensuing struggle depends upon how dedicated the Busybodies are to their socialist fantasies, and how dedicated the Individualists are to be simply left alone to pursue their own interests.

That struggle is intensifying now.


10 posted on 08/22/2010 4:56:29 AM PDT by Westbrook (Having children does not divide your love, it multiplies it.)
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To: markomalley

They made their goal shortly after $kimmer wagged his finger at the slackers. Welcoming banned posters with deep pockets back into the fold after making threats to other members probably helped.

One thing the article is correct about is that Liberals can’t go a day without anger and bitterness about something, usually aimed at one another. They miss GWB more than they’ll ever admit. It’s pure entertainment watching them implode. The problem is that the idjits can take down good people and nations when they self destruct.


11 posted on 08/22/2010 4:57:52 AM PDT by whatshotandwhatsnot
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To: markomalley
I miss it so much that it makes my heart ache. I lie awake at night agonizing over it.

Awwwwwwwww.

12 posted on 08/22/2010 4:59:27 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle (http://www.conservatives4palin.com/)
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To: markomalley

This is what sets FR apart from the DUmp. Skinner raises a valid point, in that a political site is going to be more united when the other side’s in power and provides a focus of motivation.

At the same time, though, Jim’s never expected FReepers to move in lockstep like mind-numbed robots. Yes, there’s a strong set of core values here, but there’s still lots of room for freewheeling discussion and argument on any number of topics. One thing I’ve noticed about liberals (feminists are especially bad about it) is that they set very strict boundaries about what is “allowed,” and if you go outside those boundaries by not being part of the “amen sister” echo chamber, you’re persona non grata. We’ve got a bit more room to discuss and disagree here, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

}:-)4


13 posted on 08/22/2010 4:59:55 AM PDT by Moose4 (November 2, 2010--the day that "YES WE CAN" becomes "OH NO YOU DIN'T")
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To: markomalley

So...we need to have a list of these 60 forbidden topics so we can write hot controversial and divisive “letters to the editor” in “print newspapers”.


14 posted on 08/22/2010 5:00:30 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate: Republicans freed the slaves Month.)
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To: markomalley
Now, matters are worse, as their latest fund drive has come up short.

Who could have guessed that a community of parasites has nothing to contribute but complaints?


Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

15 posted on 08/22/2010 5:01:32 AM PDT by The Comedian (Evil can only succeed if good men don't point at it and laugh.)
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To: markomalley

I saw that on DU. What struck me is how they each think they represent or speak for a larger group of people. They are missing the value of the tea party, i.e. a group of people loosely grouped around a set of ideals who each speak just for themselves. There is so much back and forth criticism because they each think the next poster might ruin the movement. They end up being a bunch of small minded thought police.


16 posted on 08/22/2010 5:02:16 AM PDT by MontaniSemperLiberi
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To: Westbrook

“Busybodies” That’s it.


17 posted on 08/22/2010 5:03:53 AM PDT by MontaniSemperLiberi
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To: Westbrook

Very well said, you really nailed that one.


18 posted on 08/22/2010 5:06:37 AM PDT by HerrBlucher (In the White House the mighty White House the Liar sleeps tonight.............)
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To: Moose4
You just very elegantly described the

"free speech for me, but not for thee" attitude of the left.

19 posted on 08/22/2010 5:08:50 AM PDT by EBH (Our First Right...."it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,")
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To: Jemian

but have nothing that they are really for

Interesting, was at a Tea Party meeting last night where the discussion was centered on the very issue of what exactly “they” believe.

The consensus was the same, they believe in nothing and that changes daily depending on the winds. Oh, excuse me, that was a RINO definition, the leftists do believe that man is destroying the planet and that anything conservative or Christian is part of the problem.

The solution is obvious, reduce mans numbers in any way possible. They are all “for” world government, which will assist along with the UN in controlling evil man. The vehicle for achieving the goal of controlling man has been global warming, with cap and trade as the destroyer of the capitalist economy.


20 posted on 08/22/2010 5:12:40 AM PDT by wita
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