How did you hear about DU?

[Lil Missy]

I first heard about DU on a trip I took to Kansas City, and when I saw a woman there wearing a t-shirt that said democraticunderground.com. I didn't get to talk to her long, but it stuck in the back of my mind. That was, perhaps, a year or so ago?

At the time, I was boycotting all news in my mind because I was so upset with the 2004 elections. (And don't even get me started on the 2000 debacle!) But I started to "peek", and looked up DU.

So, here I am. I have even ventured into General Discussion, but I hate to fight. I don't have the stomach for it. But I do find I learn a lot by just reading.

I find I like being here around like minded people, and I prefer to come here for a break and to lighten up, rather than fight and debate.

So, how did you come to be here? I am curious?

[LSK]

1. a DUer who was on another board where I was told me about it

We were the minority leftys on that board.

[KitchenWitch]

2. I was in an IRC chat with a "DUer" who had just been banned

The guy was a real asshat and I had to see what board it was that had the good taste to give him the cookie.

:)

[Lil Missy]

8. Back in the early days when I first got online ...

... I was on AOL, where ANYTHING goes. What an education that was!

I got an absolutely OBSCENE message from some guy that didn't think anyone should ever pay taxes. He called me every vicious and dirty name in the book, and scared me half to death.

Silly me, I didn't realize at the time that people online do not behave the same way as they do when face to face at the dinner table.

Then, there was the Jon Benet Ramsey and the OJ Simpson cases. Things went further downhill from there.

[LSK]

17. I used to be on the yahoo boads where similar stuff happened

You should have seen the crap they posted in 2002/2003. They try and post the same stuff now but everyone laughs at them.

[BarenakedLady]

64. Same here. (n/t)

[BOSSHOG]

3. Clicked on the Top Ten Conservative Idiots on Buzzflash

[KitchenWitch]

6. Hey BOSSHOG - good to see you today!

:)

[BOSSHOG]

9. Hello My Dear

Taking a break listening to NPR noon hour news before commencing some edging and clipping out front. I think we went right from winter to summer. If you have any rain to spare send it our way please.

[KitchenWitch]

18. Yikes - wish we did

Orange County is down about 10 inches from normal rainfall, and only a couple of weeks to make it up. Consequently we are having a "water supply emergency" here.

Okay, I won't water my lawn, but dammit, my toilets are getting flushed!

[Lil Missy]

10. Now that you mention it, I think I did see the Top Ten first, and didn't make the connection to DU

[Dora]

13. Me too, several times.

Finally stopped visiting Buzzflash altogether.

This is my home, now.

[Lil Missy]

20. Now I am going to have to check out Buzzflash. More to do, and so little time...

[KamaAina]

28. Well, I'll be doggoned! That's exactly what I did!

Couple that with our shared tastes in the Vieux Carre (in addition to Zydeque/Dixie Roadhouse, Mom and I also stopped by the Alpine), and I'm starting to suspect we may have been separated at birth...

[BOSSHOG]

30. How did you like the Alpine ?

We find it charming, not pushy, reasonably priced, friendly service and we can't hear the raucous jocularity of bourbon street from there. Another reason I like it is because one of the radio restaurant critics whom I don't like doesn't like the Alpine. We're heading there 14 April for French Qtr Fest. I was born in Philly in 54 on Friday the 14th. At least that's what "my" mother told me.

[KamaAina]

32. Well, once the barmaid got the homeless person off of Mom, it was just fine

that was one of our most excellent adventures! A street person, already three sheets to the wind at 12:30, glommed onto Mom and tried to pass her off as a "friend" so they'd let her in to use the ladies'. Rose the barmaid was having none of it, and soon we were next to a chicken po-boy (Mom), a plate of beans 'n' rice (hey, it was Monday!) and an Abita. Genuine atmosphere like that (inside, I mean) is getting harder and harder to find, even in N.O.

Looks like we're ten years and two Amtrak stops off: Baltimore '64 for me. :-)

[BOSSHOG]

37. Wow

The Orioles were my favorite AL Team. My Grandad took me to a few of their games to see Brooks Robinson, my favorite non-Philly. I liked the old Memorial Stadium, right in the middle of a neighborhood like ole Connie Mack in Philly. I have a picture of me and a shipmate at Camden Yards with the football stadium being built in the background proudly displayed in my furnished doghouse (garage.) And Mr Poe is one of my favorite reads.

My wife can whip up a good red beans and rice. She's from Kansas but she's a wiz in the kitchen, however thats an easy dish to whip up. The last time we were down we ate at the Country Flame on Iberville, had great Cuban Sandwiches and killer black beans and a lettuce salad with sauteed chicken with incredible sauce dripping on top. Awesome. Its a dump, but a charming dump and a couple people in there even speak English.

[KamaAina]

42. Seriously, man, this is getting creepy.

The last time we were down we ate at the Country Flame on Iberville, had great Cuban Sandwiches and killer black beans

Guess where I fell into one night after having a few at the dark corner bar 'round the corner??? Si, si, senor! As I recall, foggily, my combo plate included the said killer black beans.

I even used to go there for lunch during my brief period of employment over on Poydras (spring '89)!

And I once had a Brooks Robinson autographed baseball... :tinfoilhat:

[mainegreen]

4. I have no idea. n/t

[Tyler Durden]

5. I was running a not-so-successful voy.com forum...

...trying to be balanced and all that...Well, we got some neo-freeps on and one suggested snidely that I would like a new board; DU. So I went and I did.

[Lil Missy]

12. There is no point in trying to be balanced with freeps. They are beyond help.

[Shine]

7. From another board that I frequent occasionally

:hi:

[NewWaveChick1981]

11. A really good friend told me about it in late 2004.

:) I lurked until March 2005, when I finally registered. My friend doesn't visit the Lounge, but she's active in some of the other forums.

[raccoon]

14. I did an Internet search for something and one of the hits was on DU. nt

[Ariana Celeste]

15. Some random google search, I believe

Saw Top Ten Conservative Idiots and Plaid Adder and got hooked. Eventually started lurking the boards. LBN became my first source for news, and still is.
I joined and post mainly in the Lounge but I read a lot in GD and LBN.

[NMDemDist2]

16. did a search on a candidate one day and the DU discussion popped up

been here ever since

:hi:

[wildhorses]

19. this guy i was talking to online sent me a link--

i found this place intriguing and when i found the lounge it felt like coming home.:hi:

as for the guy....he is around here somewhere...we never met in real life and it is probably just as well:shrug:

[Oeditpus Rex]

21. Grasswire

I'd known her for years from political chats. She finally convinced me to check it out about three years ago.



Blame her. :P

[crim son]

22. Somebody on another chat board linked to the Top Ten.

For months I regularly read Monday's edition but never ventured any further into the site. After 2004 the other chatroom became intolerable so I decided to take a closer look at DU. In about three days I was totally hooked. It took me some time to venture into the Lounge, however.

[Lil Missy]

24. I'm just the opposite - I prefer the lounge because GD scares me!

I don't want to fight, especially with other Democrats.

During the 2000 recount, I saw coworkers that I had previously respected nearly come to fists. And the loudest and most violent reactions were from bush supporters. Made me sick.

[Guava Jelly]

23. I found it through Bartcop.com

I posted there first and heard of this place.

[Initech]

25. I first saw the "Top 10 Conservative Idiots" list posted on another board a while back.

[Maddy McCall]

26. March 19, 2003. War on Iraq began. I had to talk to someone.

It was LATE and I didn't want to wake up my family or friends...I searched and searched and searched until I found a forum where people were discussing it.

And I joined DU immediately upon stumbling upon it.

[Arkansas Granny]

27. I linked to it from another website, probably Buzzflash.

[Kali]

29. I used to amuse myself having discussions with a couple of wingnuts

on my server's small local forum. One of them was actually semi intelligent, or so I thought until one day he was raving about this new book out by this woman he was totally a fan of. Yes you know who. I had never heard of her as I don't do TV, or talk radio so I was googling around and found the top ten, Bob Boudelang and the forums. Never looked back.

That small forum shut down and my the server got bought and sold a couple of times but I sort of wonder what that guy thinks now after 2004, the war and all the incompetence and criminality. I suspect since he was a fan of Scam Coulter he is probably over at FR as we speak. I have thought of looking for him there but I can't figure out how that place works the few times I have followed a link to it so I never bothered.

[Critters2]

31. Either a link or a mention at democrats.com nt

[Zoigal]

33. Ran into

California Peg at the Farmers' Market...she recommend the site. Been
a regular ever since.

[madrchsod]

34. buzzflash

[graywarrior]

35. Welcome to DU.

I forget...something about Michael Moore's forum closing down, needing a fix, someone mentioned DU. The memory is in a cloud of confusion.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

36. Buzzflash.

[Reverend_Smitty]

38. I think I found a link to this place from either Buzzflash or Bartcop

It was so long ago that I can't remember exactly but I lurked for quite a while before gathering the nerve to sign up

[Burma Jones]

39. The Drudge Retort

http://www.drudge.com/

[book lady]

40. I went to the UFPJ march in Washington, D.C. in 2005

with my daughter who is a DU'er. I joined DU when I returned home. :)

[bigwillq]

41. When I did a search for Howard Dean

a link to DU came up.

Welcome to DU and Congrats on 100 posts! :hi:

[Roon]

43. Someone in a yahoo chat room was posting

breaking news that wasn't even on the wires yet. I was impressed so I checked out his source and it was DU. I hung out in LBN for a long time before I started checking out the lounge and the other forums.

[jayfish]

44. Bartcop.

...I think. :shrug:

Jay

[Esra Star]

45. Mark Morford at SFGate recommended.

[Left Is Write]

46. I heard about it from a friend who posted here. I joined just before the 2004 elections.

I missed the 2004 primaries, which I understand were quite an ordeal.

Welcome to DU!

[mvd]

47. Skinner appeared on C-SPAN in 2001. My mom told me..

about the interview, and the rest is history.

[rbnyc]

48. google.

I was googling places with lefty forums so I could promote my website at the time.

[trof]

49. Link from BuzzFlash a loooong time ago.

[SPKrazy]

50. link from buzzflash

hated the lounge

loved gd and religion theology

now love the lounge

would rather not go the other places much

:shrug:

why go anywhere except the lounge?

[mike_c]

51. saw it mentioned on democrats.com back in 2001....

Started lurking, eventually registered, probably to get into an argument with Carlos Jiacinto, LOL.

[S n o w b a l l]

52. An online private political group I belong to...

with a long time DUer. I've been reading DU since before '04... just never joined.

[ikojo]

53. I heard about it via avantgo.com

I used to download the top ten conservative idiots onto my palm pilot. I guess the bandwidth got to be too expensive because they did away with du as an avantgo channel. I then came to the website.

[femmocrat]

54. Google search for anti-bush sites after 2000 election (I think).

I really liked the "Latest Breaking News" feature and that got me hooked.

[GoneOffShore]

55. Believe it or not, on Bartcop.

I checked out DU and haven't been back to BC except for the odd occasion since.

I have to be really pissed off to go over there now.

[Nevernose]

56. It was a Google directory search

Clicking on the "Conservatism - Opposing Viewpoints" button. Directory listings have fallen out of favor since then, though, which is a shame; they always led to such interesting places.

[Vidar]

57. Via the old Kerry board.

[GenDem]

66. That's how I found it.

It was the day after the 2004 elections. I came every day and read the election forum. Just joined last November.

[Connonym]

58. First became aware with the Top 10 conservative idiots but didn't join until Oedipus Rex nagged me

until I broke down. :hi: Rex!

[quiet.american]

59. "I don't remember." n/t

[MikeH]

60. I came across DU in January 2001, right as it came online

I remember I had discovered DU along with a number of other liberal/democratic web sites right at the same time (some of which sites are now defunct); I would not remember exactly how I had come to discover DU in particular.

Throughout 2000 I had been following http://www.pfaw.org">People for the American Way; they were especially concerned about and warned about the kind of judges that * would appoint if he were to be elected. (As it turned out, he was not elected but became the pResident anyway.)

While I discovered DU in January 2001, I lurked for a year, and finally joined in April 2002, and first posted in May 2002.

I know for myself I don't care to fight. I particularly avoid the Gun forum (or gungeon, as it is called), and generally avoid contentious threads, unless the issue is something I personally feel strongly about, and I feel I need to say something (usually in the Religion/Theology forum).

Welcome to DU, Lil Missy.:)

[Cannikin]

61. I heard Limbaugh ranting about it one day. Been here ever since. Thanks Rush! 1 oxycontin for you!

[Heidi]

62. Followed a link from Buzzflash.

hi:

[achtung_circus]

63. I found Whitehouse.org as a result of an odd Googling

and when I stopped laughing there I followed a link here.

[Penndems]

65. On democrats.com back in early 2002

n/t

[Rwalsh]

67. From friends at work

[VelmaD]

68. Saw the banner at the 2001 inauguration

Seriously. I'm an old-timer. :) Lurking from the very beginning and joined up not too long after that.

[lutefisk]

69. It was either mediawhores or bartcop or smirkingchimp forums

I thought it was near the end of 2000 that I joined, but if DU didn't start till 2001 I guess it was then. I actually signed up under another name at first, but managed to lose my password. Still, I've had my current screen name for over six years and I'm still plugging away for the 1000 post mark. Maybe by 2008?

[Sabriel]

71. And I found it because of herbster

Thanks, herbster! May you finally hit 1000 soon.

And finish your dissertation around the same time....

[Wapsie B]

70. I remember being sick and tired of hearing nothing but conservative talk radio

with the Democrats not having any real venue for airing their points of view. I did a search for Democratic forums and up popped DU. I was hooked after awhile.

[Pierre.Suave]

72. HAHAHAHA

great thread, I learned of it because I was on an automotive enthusiast forum and the members kept mentioning this site, as in making fun of its members, they would always say "those people at DU..." and I one day asked, wtf is DU. So they linked me and the rest is history.


I dont frequent that board anymore, too full of right wing freepers...

[Dervill Crow]

73. A kindred spirit co-worker kept sending me links to DU.

I finally joined and started posting after the 2004 election.

It just occurred to me that at that time there was a bit of a democratic underground in our department, as the majority of the people there, particularly the managers, are rightwing nuts. We did lots of venting via e-mail.

[bridgit]

74. hubby knew of it...

[grannylib]

75. Just stumbled upon it when surfing for political news one evening; been a

member ever since. :hi:

[fight4my3sons]

76. my aunt told me to check it out.

[SKKY]

77. A Marine Major turned me onto it...

...I was a surprise as anyone. I was at Camp Pendleton getting ready to deploy (About 4 months before the war began) with the 1st MEF, and the Marine Major we worked for was on it one day. I asked him about it, and he was kinda hush-hush about it and blew me off.

[NewJeffCT]

78. Bill O'Reilly led me here (eventually)

I had despaired for years of finding a real left-wing voice in the media... I was against the war in Iraq, but couldn't really find anybody on TV, radio or the newspaper that really agreed with me. I had even thought that Saddam probably had a few WMD stashed away somewhere hidden, but that it was not worth it to invade.

But, when I heard about Bill O'Reilly trying to sue Al Franken for Franken's "Lying Liars..." book, I felt compelled to go out and buy the book. The book really opened my eyes, and I started looking towards those tubes that made up the internets for more sources of information - if Franken could find this good stuff, so could I. (Granted, he had a team of Harvard students helping him out...)

I first found a site called "O'Reilly Sucks" run by a DUer named Stewert. I didn't know about DU at all, just this guy's name of Stewert. That had some good info, but was focused mainly on O'Reilly. One day, I was engaged in an email debate with a RWer about Clinton, and the RWers spewed out the typical anti-Clinton talking points (so many accusations meant where there is smoke, there is fire... ) Stewert pointed me here as a place I could get better information, and the rest is history.

[qanda]

79. A website called Mediawhoresonline

I loved that website!

[XemaSab]

80. the people in mike_c's lab teasing him about it

:P