General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy I joined DU in 2005
(Edited for accuracy)
Yes, I know, thats only 7000 or so posts from me in 17 years, overwhelming replies. 🤷🏻?♂️
It was Hurricane Katrina. I was going nuts because I couldnt find news on what was happening in New Orleans, a place dear to me from a serial work gig that took me there numerous times in the late 1980s.
I then happened on Democratic Underground and it was sense-at-first-sight: DU presented as (and is) a clearinghouse for a super-diverse band of news media sources, but also a source of news via witnesses, court and agency records, editorials, and of course emotion, wit, snark, and so much love.
Drum/Tom

Solly Mack
(93,764 posts)than I do.
Some people simply post more than others.
I love DU.
I can be a bit of a smartass at times. That's my confession for the year.
blm
(113,932 posts)🥰
Solly Mack
(93,764 posts)
Wed be here all night.
😛
Now who's the smartass?
Evolve Dammit
(19,769 posts)
Solly Mack
(93,764 posts)
littlemissmartypants
(26,507 posts)
Solly Mack
(93,764 posts)The check is in the mail.
littlemissmartypants
(26,507 posts)
lapucelle
(19,695 posts)
Celerity
(47,747 posts)lapucelle
(19,695 posts)Celerity
(47,747 posts)Statistics and Information
Account status: Active
Member since: Thu Aug 18, 2005
Hurricane Katrina happened in 2005.
Joe Cool
(1,044 posts)BOSSHOG
(40,894 posts)Thanks for the info teammate. Ya need a mighty big scorecard to keep track of hurricanes.
Elessar Zappa
(16,293 posts)Drum
(10,080 posts)Thank you lapucelle and celerity!
Doh: I joined DU 17 years ago, in 2015
lapucelle
(19,695 posts)made landfall in Florida as a cat 1 on August 25, intensified and made landfall in Louisiana as a cat 4 on August 29.
BOSSHOG
(40,894 posts)You joined DU 17 years ago. In 2015? Time flys but let me fly way back in time and say Dude??
We were 40 miles north of NOLA during Katrina. Far enough north not get get any major damage. Still, scary as hell.

imaginary girl
(934 posts)I joined before you and look how many posts I have!

debm55
(41,605 posts)messages, news,. It took me 18 years to stop lurking. But here I am.
BOSSHOG
(40,894 posts)My wife (little old lady) bought a new car in June 2019 and has less then 3,000 miles on it. She hasnt posted much either. Hey, lurk, post, whatever. Glad you are here. I think there was a time when some folk would rather I not post at all.
debm55
(41,605 posts)OhMcNo
(41 posts)Ive been here since 2003 under 40 posts.
littlemissmartypants
(26,507 posts)I think it would be fun and you might be the winner!
❤️
W_HAMILTON
(8,670 posts)...and happened to be watching C-SPAN and a caller mentioned this website. I checked it out and it's been one of my go-to websites for almost two decades now...
You never know what little gesture may impact people and cause a butterfly effect.
remo ymor
(1,030 posts)Just had my anniversary last week I think. I have just over 1000 post.
I mainly use DU to catch up on the news and see some opinions on those news items. I am on DU two to ten times a day. It is my main source of information on the internet.
I was a lurker for about 4 years before I signed up.
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)And also either before, during or after a hurricane lol.
I lived in the Keys then, and that year we called it the hurricane of the month year.
Bernardo de La Paz
(52,322 posts)Evolve Dammit
(19,769 posts)k8conant
(3,036 posts)here since November 27, 2004 and 3006 posts. I'd still like to add that that's an average of about .4 posts per day, which seems like a fair share to me.
Archae
(46,980 posts)I think it was "Bartcop" I learned of this board from.
But most of the time I like it here.
BOSSHOG
(40,894 posts)Id send him a few bucks every now and then and one afternoon he called me. We had a great talk. What a wonderful, ass kicking citizen. God rest his soul.
FakeNoose
(36,489 posts)It told the Hurricane Katrina story, but it focused on the doctors and nurses at Memorial Hospital in the 9th Ward. It's a wonderful, horrible, nightmare of a story, and I watched all 8 episodes. It really opened my eyes to how ill-prepared the emergency operations were, and how poorly managed FEMA and the state rescue operations were during that time.
It was really an eye-opener for me and I'm sure for many of us.
Me, too!! I remember that exactly. Thank you!
NewHendoLib
(60,801 posts)running for someplace sane during the Dubya debacle.
JHB
(37,558 posts)All local (NYC area) news sites were jammed from the sheer number of people trying to access them, but people here relayed reports and posted links to sites that weren't overwhelmed by traffic volume.
Cha
(306,830 posts)interesting story on how you got to DU, Drum!
I read about DU in a Nation Mag in NYC in 2021.. New Year's Day.
I bought a computer in 2002 so I could join and the rest as we say Is History!
Grown2Hate
(2,169 posts)right around my political awakening). And I think I have under 2000 posts still (I mostly share my Electoral mathematical prowess during close AZ elections; I probably posted 100 times in this past election alone)!
Love the community and the site, though (for a lot of your same reasons posited). Congrats!
90-percent
(6,912 posts)Thought I joined both Bartcop and DU early 2000's. I'm probably wrong on the date, as I started to pay attention to what DC was doing some time after Bush v. Gore SC partisan ruling. So I think it was DU early 2000's and Bartcop 2008. I emailed Terry now and then and he responded to every single email and even published maybe two of my screeds. I think he died 10 or 15 years ago, a shame for all lefties and all of humanity.
I think DU did some kind of reset 19 to 21 years ago, as my current profile says I joined 2004. Whatever. 2004 is something I'm proud of, so I'm good with all that.
I joined in my late 40's and now I'm 68. Thinking about all the time that has past since the start of this century is eerie and unsettling.
I am a lifelong Dem, but I never had to worry about DC until late 80's, when I finally started to understand what a monster Reagan was.
-90% Jimmy
And the current SC is a hell of a lot more un-American and anti-Constitution than it was back then. And the electoral college is stunningly anti-democracy, yet we still abide by it. At least the 2022 election almost drove a stake completely through authoritarian Republicanism. When all the wonderful laws Dems passed in the last two years start to kick in, in 2023, it will be a natural fact Dems care for middle class and lower class a hell of a lot more than Republicans, who only serve the millionaires and above.
Joinfortmill
(17,106 posts)AllaN01Bear
(23,804 posts)i know what u mean though,
Initech
(103,351 posts)I joined because of that whole Terry Schaivo debacle and I was pissed then that the Christian right was overstepping its boundaries. I of course had no idea that 17 years later, theyd be going full fascist, bordering on Hitler-esque territory!
littlemissmartypants
(26,507 posts)Posted a DU Meme. I pranced right over and hope that I live here forever because I love it sooooo much! Facebook? I've been there maybe five times in the last three years. I despise it.
I'm here every day for hours. I learn so much! And it keeps me from being lonely. Plus the DU Braintrust has saved my bacon during some emergencies.
If you don't see me here then something's seriously wrong. Please send out a search party!
I love DU! ❤️
lobointexas
(126 posts)I joined in November of 2006 because only members were allowed to access DU on election night of 2004, and I was locked out. I actually lurked here beginning in 2002.
It was before the lead up to the Iraq war and I was searching for facts to make my case on why we shouldn't invade Iraq, to post in an discussion forum that was primarily for Ebay picture hosting. My initial search took me to a place called Free Republic. I thought to myself, WTH is this, but I saw a link to something called Democratic Underground. I followed the link and I've been here, almost daily, since that first click.
Those early members and discussions were quite intimidating, so I stayed on the sidelines. It's nice to see that people have less posts than I do, and have been here longer. I don't feel so out of place.
Greywing
(1,128 posts)I mostly lurk as so many people have already expressed the views I hold by the time I read ... it's wonderful!
megapuzzler
(566 posts)We were living in rural Missouri at the time, and a friend (wife of a dem state congressman at the time) told me about DU -- it was water in the desert for me for all the reasons you listed in your post. I never posted much (but more than I do now) and stayed away after 2016 as I knew knowing even more about what TFG was up to would send me spiraling into abject despair. Figured it was safe for my sanity to return after Joe won in 2020 -- ha! Lost all my info for dalaigh lllama, so started over as megapuzzler. The dumfuckery in the GQP is worse than ever, but I've pretty much become a lurker and leave the commentary to others. Only bragging rights I have here -- back in the day when DU had a store and the slogan contest, my slogans were chosen in two different contests: first was describing W "Manifest Density" which I have on a coffee mug; second was for "Freedom isn't free - you have to pay attention" which I have on a tote bag now.
Still my go-to site each day.
druidity33
(6,626 posts)my profile says 2005, but i had another username prior to that. My computer fried itself. I think it was druid33? I certainly didn't have my pword so i just reset with a similar username. But i still have a few less posts than you. I'd say 20% of my posts are the K&R, nt. variety too. I just gotta be in the mood to comment... and have the space and time (small child caretaker here). Forget about OPs. It seems like if i want to ask DUs opinion on a subject, i need to open myself up for attack. Most recently:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217365386
I share your sense in the indispensibility of DU. IT's been an everyday checkin for so long it's totally automatic. And i always feel as if i've gotten a realer perspective on the issues of the day.
my favorite emoji