20 years ago today I found this safe space

[Tree Lady]

I was working on the John Kerry campaign in the bay area, doing voter registration and out of state trips with the Sierra Club. I always voted but after Gore lost and 9-11 and reading Richard Clarke's book I knew I had to get involved.

In May 20 years ago I found a link to this site in Michael Moore's website. We used to watch his movies and I have watched Bill Maher since he was on ABC, so I know how much he has changed....but that's another story.

During that year a bunch of us met at a bar in SF because Will Pitt came from DC. It was great to see everyone. We should have a big BBQ some summer, be better than a class reunion.

As you can see by my low post count after all these years I mostly read and have learned a lot from you all. I tend to stay out of fights and not give my true opinion sometimes. It's too easy to say things then regret it online.

I changed my name when we could few years back because 20 years ago you could use your real name online.

This is the place I can be myself politically. My grown girls have asked me not to talk politics. My husband hates the country now, he started out helping me and going to meetings and now few days ago was first time in our 25 years he refused to vote. Yes we had argument over that. I watched him just like Bill Maher let covid, Trump, and a lack of holding anyone accountable cause them to look at our country with disgust.

Were any of you here the day after John lost? We started a thread where we all posted our real names and said we weren't afraid and that we would continue the fight.

So thank you for being here no matter how tough it gets. I sure hope Joe wins again because I don't think I can take another day after election when we lose from the worst human being ever.

[H2O Man]

1. Recommended!

DU is an interesting place, for sure. And it will be fun here when President Biden beats the defendant again.

[MOMFUDSKI]

2. I don't remember how I stumbled onto DU

but I have been here ever since. I worked for Kerry, too. I was terribly disappointed. So we hang in and keep up the fight.

[Arne]

3. Sad but true.

I just planted a tree in your honor.
Right outside the front door.

[Tree Lady]

5. Thanks I love trees

guess you can tell. I have names for all of mine. Mapes, Honey, Doug, Grizz, Sharon, Shari Rose, Laura, Silky, Lithie, Shimmer and Mugsie. My bushes that survived are called The Castaways.

[Arne]

7. There's a white pointsetia(sp) at the door.

So I put this very sad red one on the other side.
Hoping it will recover.

[Tree Lady]

8. Hopefully you have more of a green

thumb than me. I have bought a lot of plants over the years.

[Arne]

9. I do not.

My failure is always the water. To much or not enough.

[Aristus]

4. I've been here since October, 2001.

I remember the day after Election 2004. I really thought American politics couldn't get worse than on that day.

Some Kerry supporter set up a web page called "We're Sorry", apologizing to the world for the U.S.'s idiocy in returning George W. Bush to the White House. Hundreds of thousands of people signed the page's register. We were devastated. The soundtrack song to the page was R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts".

The repukes, in their typically squalid, unsavory way, triumphantly posted a competing page called "We're NOT Sorry". Every Buford, Lurleen, Mervis, Bubba, Cooter, Booger, Tex, and Slim out in Squalor Holler posted pics of themselves celebrating Bush, giving the camera the finger, and other "Idiocracy"-ready crap.

I tell you, COVID-19 was the first time I ever found myself rooting for the disease. I felt a kind of ghastly pleasure in seeing all those anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers having to deal with the inevitable outcome of mocking a highly-infectious, deadly illness.

[Tree Lady]

6. I felt the same way

not like me at all. I felt no sympathy for a lot of them who purposely spread it around especially older folks and people with illnesses.

[Crunchy Frog]

16. I confess to doing the same with Covid. That's why I used to hang out at the Herman Cain Award Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HermanCainAward/new/

[DENVERPOPS]

18. As I recall,

it was the CEO of "EIS" Voting Machines in Ohio? that said; "I promise,....I will deliver the election to WBush"......

And, in fact, his corruptible voting machines did exactly that.......

I remember my mega-hyper-geek adult kid telling me that those particular voting machines outcomes could be altered in two minutes by a sixth grader, and the machines internal gathering?/Compilers? could also be altered easily.......

I recall him laughing and telling me about one of Hitler's henchman saying to the public: It matters not HOW the people vote, but only WHO COUNTS the votes.

I was watching three particular Senate Races during 2020. Legitimate Polls in those three states had the candidates somewhat in the same ballpark........The final vote tally showed the margin significantly skewed toward the Republican in those three states. I mentioned it to my kid, he did some digging and said that it could be the polls were flawed, or people lied to the pollster on how they were going to vote, etc. And he did some more digging and found out that those three states were still using the EIS machines??
He felt it interesting that the whole Georgia thing going on could have been a huge diversion from anyone looking into the voting in other states......

A year after the election, I recall him commenting, that the polling through history had become a pretty exact science, and highly accurate. He was looking at the results of the 2000 election polls vs final votes and said it was curious that for the first time ever it varied dramatically.......He didn't know what to make of it, he was just commenting on things he saw happening.....re: our elections.

Two years after the 2000 election, he had been researching the Supreme Court "inserting" themselves into them claiming they had the authority to intervene in the Florida State mandated re-count.......Two years later! He found that there wasn't a single constitutional expert in the nation that felt the USSC had ANY legal standing to intervene. And Several top colleges had been able to say, after investigating the re-count that if the re-count had continued, it would have shown that Gore would have won Florida. Obviously, the Republicans realized that, and felt somehow someway they had to stop the re-count........

As for the Covid......LOL It was amazing that statistics were proving that the Anti-Covid-Vaccine crowd were croaking in much higher numbers than the Pro Covid vaccinators........Up until that point, The governors in Florida, Texas, and other RED states were telling the people that they shouldn't get vaccinated and that the vaccine was a pure fraud........However, when they saw that those who weren't getting vaccinated were mostly Republicans, they literally overnight changed to telling their Republican Voters they SHOULD get the vaccine.....LOL LOL LOL LOL........I suspect that most of the Republican Politicians, even prior to that announcement, were secretly getting the vaccine, and telling their constituents they SHOULDN'T get the vaccine......

[Aristus]

19. Mike Pence openly and publicly got the vaccine.

After getting the jab, he remarked "I didn't feel a thing". I remember thinking his wife probably says that all the time.

[Hekate]

10. I am so glad you came here, and so glad you stayed. I remember the Kerry thread very well...

I don’t believe I gave out my true name — I read all yours, and struggled to match your courage. But I don’t think I made mine public, for even then I knew there were people and entities who had ill-intent. The Bush-Cheney admin outraged me from its inception, and finally, scared me. My name was all over my town in those days as I worked to get them out of office — they know where I am.

[DENVERPOPS]

22. The HWBush/Cheney/Rumsfeld CABAL

rattled me BIG TIME when they first committed Treason to get Reagan "installed" in the White House. They let Reagan be their "front man" puppet, and took over control of everything, lurking in the shadows..........It was appalling to me, at the time, the damage they were inflicting on the Middle Class........

I remember my wife watching Reagan's funeral and feeling sad........I sat down, and from memory, wrote down 20-30 things that Reagan's CABAL had accomplished corruptly during those eight years. It was an eye opener to her for sure. And the crowning blow was HW getting elected........and immediately Pardoning over a hundred of his CABAL, who were under indictment for their actions, the first days he was in office.......

[Tree Lady]

26. Thank you

I will say as I age I find myself wanting to hear news and politics less and peaceful pursuits more. I skip over most of the war threads and such. I zoom twice a week with a 3 principles group (close to mindfulness) and our leader lives in Jerusalum, she seldom talks about things but I know when its scary for her. We have people from Europe and US so I feel part of world outlook.

[Marcus IM]

11. It's a safe space as long as you conform to American standards.

I was here the second or third day.

It used to be a safe space.

Later, the jury system came along and destroyed the safe space part. Conformity rules now. Sad.

I use it for news now, not much for discussion.

[Tree Lady]

27. I understand

When I say safe space I mean safe place for me to talk politics since I can't at home or with most friends. I get what you mean which is why I said I hold my opinions at times.

[Scully]

12. I was here

I was here, too. You say you have a low post count, but here I am nearly 21 years later and this is my 61st post. There are a lot of reasons for that, which aren't relevant to your post so I won't get into it. I read, though- I read the posts nearly every day and I feel less alone against the rising tide of lunacy, and in that I am with you. Thank YOU for posting, and sharing, and being part of the community.

[Tree Lady]

28. Lol Of course I meant compared to most

glad I am not alone in mostly reading and staying away from silly arguments. I have been jumped on a few times for barely saying anything.

[Silent Type]

13. Not here then, but I invested a lot of my time and soul into Kerry's campaign. I think he was surging when Bin Laden

issued a video the Friday before the election that scared a lot of fools to vote for george war bush (they actually believed bush was better a protecting our country).

That loss was my biggest disappointment in elections. Clinton's loss was obviously a bigger deal, but by then I had pretty much convinced myself not to get too depressed/upset because there is not much one can do about it.

[Tree Lady]

30. Get that I cried when Kerry lost

Hillary I voted for but sort of assumed the country wasn't ready for a woman president yet.

[AllaN01Bear]

14. i voted for kerry / edwards and i still have my kerry/ edwards fan, sign. somone in my apartment complex

put up a kerry/ edwards sign in the building and a person went to the manager and told her to take it dow . she said no. free speach. rah greetings longtime fellow duer . came here after the gore v bush gaffe. found du by accident and boy am i glad to have this accident. name change after the great du hack of 2016 and never looked back. congrats to u.

[Tree Lady]

31. I forgot about Edwards

kind of makes you wonder what would have happened if Kerry won. Big VP scandal?

[Crunchy Frog]

15. You don't have a low post count. It's in line with your posting with care and intention, and

when you've got something meaningful to say.

And yes, I remember that thread. At that time we couldn't imagine that things could be any worse. How naive we were back then.

[Tree Lady]

32. Thanks for saying that

and yes very naive.

[Mr.Bill]

17. Thanks for being here.

It makes my day knowing that there are still people like you in our world.

[Tree Lady]

33. Thank you

now I have to live up to that

[wryter2000]

20. I was here

Ye gods. That means I’ve been here 20 years.

[Tree Lady]

34. Time flies faster and faster

as we age

[malaise]

21. Congrats

[Maeve]

23. I came here the summer of 2001

Don't remember how, but came back for the Conservative Idiots each week. Finally signed in sometime after 9/11, altho I came here that day for news and company. Back then, it was hard to find a place where women were safe posting---DU was always safe.

[Hekate]

24. I came a year later at the urging of a friend. I did check some other places she mentioned...

…but DU clicked for me, and a big part of that was and is the respect for women. As a community we have had our ups and downs, but the heart of DU is sound.
💖

[Warpy]

25. The net wasn't a very nice place back then

I think we were outnumbered about 2-1 by shrieking wingnuts, all repeating Limbaugh broadcasts in ALL CAPS along with the hateful slogans they all found hip and catchy.

The same was true of most workplaces, the blowhards all hooting at each other like so many howler monkeys.

While there were a few islands of sanity, like #bartcop on IRC, the often clunky and spiky software wasn't particularly user friendly and IRC was never really ready for prime time.

Things are changing now because the worst thing you can do to a moronic blowhard is give him what he says he wants. All of a sudden they realize they want to own the libbies, they didn't want THIS, especially when it comes around to bite their own asses. In addition, I'm pleased to report Limbaugh is STILL DEAD, so they lack a one stop place to fill their empty heads with slogans. TFG is just not up to the job, not any more.

This site is still a refuge from the right wing/Russian noise machinery. It's a place we can all come together and fact check the horseshit coming out of right wing mouths and occasionally fact check each other. Reality can be a slippery commodity when so many bad actors are trying to make you deny it in favor of self destructive bullshit.

So thanks for being here everybody. It looks like we're all here for the long haul.

[planetc]

29. I joined about two weeks after the Kerry "defeat."

Joined for the tireless group of news gatherers who gave me links to all sorts of reading on politics, elections, and of course, cat videos. In short, checking in here saved me a lot of time that I didn't have to inform myself about what was really happening, as distinguished from what the MSM were obsessing about. I have stayed to observe the ebb and flow of discussions, and to relish our excellent political cartoonists. And for all I groan when asked to serve on a jury, I think our jury system is a stroke of genius. It puts the responsibility for moderating our conversations right where it belongs, on us. This saves wear and tear on the Mods, who have a lot of essential work to do for us.

Oh, and some months before the 2020 election, a deliciously sly woman wrote a brief letter to the editor of the New York Times, in which she suggested that "in the spirit of bipartisanship, Democrats should vote by mail and Republicans in person." That was the entire letter. I salute her acumen now and forever.

And I salute our toon posters, for without them, we would have no laughs on our way to bending the arc of justice in the right direction. Joe Biden is gonna win, and then we'll have a party.

[Tree Lady]

38. I love those to

We need something to laugh at.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

35. I have also been here for 20 years

In 2000, I was headed to Florida for the recount when Bush v. Gore came down. I did go to Florida in 2004 as part of the Kerry Edwards voter protection team. I joined DU in April of 2004 but had been lurking for some time before that.

I have been working on voter protection efforts ever since and will be working to re-elect President Biden and help Colin defeat Carnival Cruz

[Tree Lady]

39. Thank you!

My daughter lives in Texas and sincerely hopes for change.

[surfered]

36. Welcome 🙏

[surfered]

37. To the conversation