Lessons learned on DU

[arely staircase]

People who I have gotten totally crossways with on certain issues turn out to be in total agreement with me on others. Some who I thought shared my views on everything have shocked and offended me later.

I have been amazed when people who , like me, don't think Snowden/Assange/Manning are great men, put me down for believing in "the sky god." At the same time, others who have exchanged insults with me over, say Obamacare (I think it was the best we could get under the circumstances) have stuck up for me as a progressive person of faith.

And then there are current events like our brave Texas state Senator who is filibustering the right wing attack on women when we are all singing from the same page of the hymnal. Anyways, maybe this is meta stuff to be locked. But bless all you here who despise racism, believe every child has the right to an education and every worker should be paid enough to live above poverty.

Here is to DU!

[morningfog]

1. This kind of meta is a-okay, in my opinion.

You summed it up well. I am sometimes surprised at when I am in agreement with someone who I seem to be at odds with in most issues.

[arely staircase]

17. I know - i have found myself going, "that total a-hole is completely right"

then I take them off my jury blacklist.

lol

[BehindTheCurtain76]

28. : )

You still have time to learn that Snowden is a hero like Russ Tice was when he exposed Bush's illegal wiretapping in 2005. Wiretapping isnt being used to protect you...its being used to blackmail politicians and judges according to Tice who said he had to spy on Obama, feinstein, anyone on the intelligence committees, Samuel Alito and hundreds of judges and lawyers to gain leverage on them back before 2005. He said it has little to do with terrorism. He gave an interview last week on Boiling Frogs...check it out.

[Turbineguy]

2. Good point.

That's why I think it's foolish to put people on ignore.

[arely staircase]

4. the coolest quote ever about ignore (and I wish I remember who said it)

"fine now I can see you but you can't see me."

fwiw I have never put anyone on ignore.

[morningfog]

5. The only ones I put on ignore are the single issue posters

who never deviate and with whom I disagree. There are a few, I know what I am missing and don't miss it a bit.

[arely staircase]

6. i do have some people on my non-jury list thingy

nt

[sigmasix]

29. single issue posters

Single issue posters are usually here to bash the president and Democratic principles. When right wing sock puppets on DU become as active as they have been here lately I feel no compunctions about placing them on ignore. The only domocratic values they espouse are the ones they can destroy through legislation and willfull ignorance.
I've been watching a large amount of newcomers to DU claim that President Obama is an evil wannabe dictator who spys on every American all the time. These Teabagger lies have been fueled by racial animus and the extreme right wing media's desire to destroy America.
Teabagger sock puppets and antiAmerican right wing operatives are attempting to use the progressive reputation of DU to legitamize thier attacks on the president and the rest of America. Not EVERY DU member with a complaint about a decision made by president Obama is an agent of right wing destruction- but most of the "members" that exclusively concentrate on bashing president Obama, to the exclusion of every other facet of his presidency- are probably doing the work of thier true leaders from the Teabagger faction. They will call me, and anyone agreeing with these statements, an Obama-bot. This is the same approach used by the right wing media during the election- and true DU members would not use destructive right wing AntiAmericanism in attempting to prove a point of political fantasy.

[Luminous Animal]

9. Yep. I want to hash it out with my compratriots.

[arely staircase]

18. commie!

[cantbeserious]

3. The World Is A Diverse Place With Diverse People With Diverse Education And Diverse Experience

eom

[one_voice]

7. Nice post!

k&r

[Honeycombe8]

8. Wow. You sound just like me! I second your emotion! nt

[arely staircase]

10. actually, you are a perfect example

you have so pissed me off and so also been on my side.

[Honeycombe8]

11. Really? I must've made an impression. By contrast, I don't recognize your DU name.

What was it about? The issues you describe in your OP...those are the same views that I have on those issues.

[arely staircase]

12. jeez what was it?

there was something I thought you were totally reactionary about. guns maybe?

[Honeycombe8]

13. I'm not reactionary at all. LOL. If you knew me, you'd know how funny that sounds.

But yes, I own a gun for protection. And it has protected me. I will never be without a gun. I grew up around guns. They're not scary, mean things to me. They are useful tools for certain things. I'm against hunting, so I have a gun solely for protection. And I do know how to use it. And I WOULD use it. Not bravely, mind you. But I would use it, for sure. I'm a decent shot, so I've got a chance to hit a criminal before he gets within arm's reach of me, which would be my only hope against a street thug. Once he reaches me, I'm done.

But I say that as a woman...women being favorite targets of criminals. And so I have been.

[arely staircase]

14. yeah, i think it was guns

but funny thing is I own several. Used to bird (dove and quail) hunt with my dad and was pretty good at one point on the skeet/trap range. our argument, like so much at DU was over minutia. I have nice Benelli and a Berreta (both 12 gauges) and actually know how to disassemble, clean and reassemble all my weapons. But I haven't shot in years. I am for strict gun control - even registration. But I stopped hunting and trap/skeet shooting when my dad died. In total I own five firearms - the two (very nice shotguns), a WW2 era german Lugar(ish) pistol, a beretta 25 cal. pistol and a Mossberg pump 12. the later being the only one I ever even look at. it is the home defense last resort.

I inherited them all except the barreta silver pigeon which was what I used to hunt with back in the day.

But anyway, I think we argued over guns - ironically, as a Texan I own many. And my arsenal is small for the part of the world I live in.

I would actually like to start trap/skeet shooting again but it is too expensive.

[Honeycombe8]

31. It doesn't sound like it was guns. Maybe you have me confused w/someone else.

So far, our views are virtually identical. Also...a reference in your OP to people attacking you or something....that would not have been me, since I don't attack anyone and only get personal after another poster has been hostile and personal to me. I usu. reflect back what's sent my way. To me, it's all either opinion or facts, and nothin' to get upset about. But people who are extreme in their views get extremely upset when others disagree with them, I have found. I am not extreme. I accept that there is a range of views, but I rarely agree with extreme views. (No guns vs. a free-for-all with no rules for gun ownership; no abortion vs. a free-for-all-abortion rights right up to the time of birth; etc.)

[BainsBane]

15. You had one thread that pissed me off quite a bit

Other than that I've liked your posts

[arely staircase]

16. yeah, it was "rape culture" with me and you

and looking back there wasn't a damned substantive thing we disagreed on - just semantics. like I said I have never put anyone on ignore - but I did have you on my jury blacklist, but then removed you when I realized we totally really agreed on 90 percent of everything.

[BainsBane]

19. There was no legitimate point to that thread

if I recall correctly. It seemed to be one of these made up things about what one feminist somewhere might have said at one point, as though it were a predominant way of thinking. That thread lead me to think you were a misogynist and rape apologist, but I have realized since that isn't the case. I still don't get why you created that thread.

[arely staircase]

20. why did I create that thread?

probably to be a dick and have an argument.

[BainsBane]

21. That's what I thought at the time

and it certainly worked. I would suggest you might find other topics to be a dick about. A good percentage of the women on this site have been raped, so threads like that cause pain.

I certainly can't claim I've never been a jerk. The gunners all hate me, and they have good reason to.

[arely staircase]

23. yeah it was wrong of me to stir that shit. though we might still disagree on labels

do we live in a misogynistic culture?, yeah. society that causes young women puke up their food because of a bullshit idea of what a woman should look like?, yeah. but let's not rehash that argument. you are right that I started a shit thread.

take the gun thing. I actually own five fucking guns; one was a shotgun I used to hunt dove with when my dad was alive and the rest were his I inherited when he died. but I am in total agreement with you on gun control.

[hfojvt]

22. I try not to exchange insults with anyone

but when the insults come to me, sometimes I fling them back, as hard as I can.

My own perception is that others are drawing first blood, but who knows, I may be starting things myself with a sarcastic tone.

Plus I like to tip what other people consider to be sacred cows.

But I wish we were doing more working together than we were tearing each other apart. When I was newer to DU and Ming was still President (or Vice President), I used to quote Flash Gordon in my signature line "Prince Barron, I'm not your enemy. Ming is. Let's all team up and fight him."

[hrmjustin]

24. Here is to a great Episcopalian!

[arely staircase]

25. god's peace

nt

[hrmjustin]

26. And also with you!

[rury]

27. Here's to DU from me, too!

President Obama is an excellent President, I ObamaCare and Edward Snowden is a traitor!

[Skidmore]

30. It's true. I've been around a long time and I don't always see eye to eye with

some DUers. However, I do agree with people most DUers most of the time. I never put anyone on ignore because I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion, even when it is something I won't endorse at the moment. There has been more than once that my thinking has changed because of discussions over time. We are all in this together and have been from the start.

Cheers.