Reply #1617: Here's why I'm not donating.

[AngryOldDem]

1) Obvious reason: Funds are tight.

2) I find DU exhausting anymore. I can't keep up with all the drama, battle lines, ad hominems in lieu of civil discussion, differing opinions called out as disruptions and those same opinions suddenly flushed down the memory hole because they don't fit the groupthink. (And, more often than not, their authors quickly follow them.)

I find with maybe the exception of one of the subforums, I don't post much anymore. I have better ways to spend my time, and given that I'm not one of the heavy hitters here anyway, my presence and pittance of a donation most likely won't be missed. Oh well. I'll live.

3) The bias and favoritism here that often flies in the face of the stated rules, as developed and then enforced by the administrators and moderators. (As you note.) What tore it for me was the readmission of a poster who threatened violence against another member. I saw those posts, and I was stunned at both the vitriol and the arrogant presumption that he was untouchable: If anyone deserved a permanent ban, it was that poster. But, the next thing I saw, the poster was back -- and with a hero's welcome, no less.

The only thing I can think of is that this poster is part of the DU "in-crowd," a big fish in a small Internet pond, someone who this site (for whatever reason) apparently decided it could not do without, rules be damned. I think his reinstatement was a huge slap in the face not only to the threatened member, but to this community as well. The admins' backtracking spoke volumes. Sure, they, and by extension their mods, can do what they want, how they want, when they want -- and that is also a part of the problem here. But some things should be non-negotiable if a site like DU is to have any integrity both within its community and outside it. DU has just about compromised itself beyond recognition, with this incident being the most egregious example. But what is perhaps the saddest thing, I was not the least bit surprised.