Reply #39: I think it's done two things.

[noamnety]

One you can see in this thread - one of the unintended consequences is that people seem to have taken this as permission to be more openly rude/hostile/derisive about people who hold minority viewpoints here (those tending more toward the green party, less DLC). The nastiness seems to have escalated with a kind of mob mentality - "we don't want your kind here" but phrased in stronger terms. Read some of the comments in this thread, where nobody was even challenged, and think about the tone of them.

The other, which is more an intended consequence, is that if you look at the Greatest Page now, it's much more about "the freepers are idiots/the republicans are corrupt/let's admire the Obama family" and less about meaningful discourse of current policies. It concerns me that the majority of posters seem to want to check out of debating policies that the WH supports for the next 4-8 years. It concerns me that the public in general is happy to say "he's smart, he's playing chess not checkers, it's not our place to question him."

I don't think that's the best thing for the public to do, I am more concerned when it's not even the general public, but the people most interested in politics - ones that sought out a political forum - who are happy doing that.

I don't know where you fall in that spectrum, Will, but whether you embrace it or not, I think you'll see more focus on the greatest page of the party that's NOT in power. I think our focus should always be on the people in office currently making policy.



Disclaimers: That doesn't exclude investigating and prosecuting prior crimes and corruption, which is important, nor is it an endorsement of contentless posts like "Fuck yeah, Kucinich" without additional substance.