Anyone here miss DU as much as I do?

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

I started browsing here in 2002 and joined a few years later. Then, the fights were over Olive Garden...corn flake chicken...and who hated GWB the most. My husband and I were hired to start up a homeless shelter at the end of 2007 so I must admit I missed a lot of the 2008 primary drama. I was an Obama supporter and happily voted for him that November.

So was it really as ugly then as it is now? Can DU really recover? I hope so. I was pondering earlier today how 3 people think enough of me to give me hearts for Valentine's day. And so many of you have done that for others...people you've never met and more than likely will never meet.

I'm fond of so many here. Even those I disagree with...even those I currently have on "ignore". I respect and listen to your opinions. Sometimes the responses--on both sides--are vicious. I've probably been guilty too, no doubt.

I just hope that this time...next year...we all can enjoy being on the same page again by celebrating a newly elected Democratic President. And a left-leaning Supreme Court

[Trajan]

1. This is real life ...

People disagree .... I don't think anybody starts a political forum expecting peace and quiet ... ESPECIALLY in the heat of a primary battle ....

[metroins]

6. There is a lot of vitriol spewed here now nt

[villager]

2. *Left*-leaning Supreme Court, perhaps?

That'd give us a bit more to celebrate.

But wow -- I'd forgotten all about the "Corn flakes" in the current hurlyburly! Ah, how it used to be...

[lob1]

3. Why would you want a right leaning SC?

That seems like a republican thing to say.

[brush]

4. Pls tell me you mean a left-leaning Supreme Court.

[FreakinDJ]

5. It was worse in 08

[cwydro]

7. Nah, I don't want a right-leaning Supreme Court.

I hope you just typed that wrong.

And DU is fine.

[MADem]

8. The trolls, the right wingers, the libertarians, and the My Way or The Highway crowd have taken over

the site.

I don't think it will recover. I think it might be toast.

If I were an admin, I'd get a good price for this long, decade and a half labor of love, and move on. Get out and unload it before the toxicity becomes obvious.

[Hekate]

28. Yeah....

I feel like some of us have gone thru the stages of grief and have come out on the other side when we start saying sadly, "Well, it was a good run."

[zappaman]

52. Hey, it was nice while it lasted.

[old guy]

9. Right leaning Supreme Court?

Really?

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

10. Yes...

Sorry everyone. Of COURSE I meant left leaning

[LiberalElite]

14. Hi - I suggest

that you revise the OP so that you don't get any more "what do you mean right wing?" responses.

[pipoman]

15. You can edit that....

[Skittles]

11. I liked it better when it was anti-repukes and not anti-Hillary

the non-stop Hillary Hatred is very off-putting

[LiberalElite]

16. I could say something but I won't nt

[Skittles]

23. OMG will I be accused of loving Hillary yet again?

I have not supported her since the IWR vote but I still think the non-stop trashing here is over-the-top RIDICULOUS

[ladyVet]

41. Do what I do, and stay out of the primaries forum. Much better for the blood pressure.

But, don't overlook the fact that Hillary supporters have given out just as bad, if not worse. It was the same in 08, for anyone who may have missed it, or forgotten.

Of course, they have their own forum now where they can say and do what they will, to much approval.

[yuiyoshida]

44. I try and stay out of the Primaries forum

and frankly I don't know if DU will recover, even after the elections are over. People have a long memory of who said what, especially if it was a personal attack. Those create riffs, and the divide just gets larger. Its rather sad it all comes down to this..

[Javaman]

49. I liked it better when it was anti-repukes and not anti-Bernie. nt

[Skittles]

57. a good friend of mine who is not a DU member but has lurked for a decade

says he stopped coming here because it has become so anti-Hillary - he says he likes Bernie but is completely turned off by his fans

[Javaman]

58. a good friend of mine who is not a DU member but has lurked for a decade

says he stopped coming here because it has become so anti-Bernie - he says he likes Hillary but is completely turned off by his fans

[Skittles]

63. Omg you are proving my point

Fucking ASININE
DONE HERE

[Javaman]

65. no, that's your impression.

I'm just reversing what you are saying and showing that it can be applied both ways.

general statements do no one any good.

See how you reacted when I did it back to you?

by the way, I support Bernie.

[Logical]

12. It is a discussion board with passionate members. There is bound to be some arguments. nt

[SecularMotion]

43. Unfortunately, many of those members are only passionate about disrupting DU.

[Logical]

45. Many? 10%? Big deal. Ignore them. Nt

[SecularMotion]

47. You're lowballing

[Andy823]

54. Nah

Sadly the trouble makers are the majority these days.

[Logical]

55. I think some people think "trouble maker" means bernie supporters. Nt

[Andy823]

59. Nah

Just the ones that like to trash and bash instead of talking about issues, and the ones who repeat the same crap day after day. There are some really nice supporters of Bernie who don't have to sink to those levels to get their point across that Bernie is a good guy so vote for him. That's much better than the many who only want to tell you how "terrible" Clinton is all the time, and sadly that group is the majority we see posting on DU. Add that to the right wing trolls the are here to causes nothing but trouble, yet claim to support Bernie, you have the majority.

[pipoman]

13. This is the primary season

It is the time to disagree, argue, determine, and define the Democratic party. From this process our platform is written. Party politics move as does public opinion. Every bit of progress is made against status quo. People resist change. This is the process which brought marriage equality and every other positive change in our history. Embrace it.

[kgnu_fan]

17. I was away most of the Obama era

I do remember earlier years of solidarity and I do miss it... more innocent time it was.... hidden shadow of the "establishment" was not so visible then.

[Lochloosa]

18. What a useless post.

You forgot kudzu!

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

21. You're right.

And I'm from Eastern Kentucky...kudzu reigns there. Now I'm doubly embarrassed

[noretreatnosurrender]

25. Two Kentuckians

I'm from Kentucky too.

[femmedem]

19. Yup, it was about this ugly in 2008 too.

And I have to admit there are a few DUers I learned to dislike then that I still dislike today. But mostly it does get better again--a good news source with discussion amongst passionate, funny, informed people with just enough differences of opinion to keep it from becoming an echo chamber.

[hfojvt]

20. How can I miss it

if I won't go away?

[Kber]

22. I joined during the 2004 primary

Ugly.

Then we coalesced around Kerry.

2007-8 sucked, because we knew, at a basic level, that the primary WAS the presidential election.

2012 was ok.

Now, in my opinion, the real election is between H and B. It's a fight between family - the most painful kind.

We will be ok.

[noretreatnosurrender]

24. Thanks for posting

I thought the same thing in the last presidential election but things do go back to normal after a time.

[still_one]

26. The jury system is broken. Community Standards are too vauge. There needs to be specific

guidelines.

and yes, I do miss DU. Even as bad as it is now, I won't put anyone on ignore.

Thanks for the OP

[Tien1985]

27. Eh. There was the

Big Lgbt purge at one point, and there has always been a bit of fighting for the minorities to be treated fairly. It didn't begin or stop at Olive Garden.

At one point I remember the joke being "Publicly breastfeeding circumcised pitbulls at Olive Garden." Being the sarcastic way of pointing out how DU sometimes loses its crap over differing opinions.

We'll make it through the primaries, and things will move on eventually.

[7wo7rees]

29. Lovely and sweet. Hope so too...... nt

[MuseRider]

30. Yes.

I lurked from around the beginning of 2002 and finally signed on in September 2002.

It was not like this.

[world wide wally]

31. Just to show you how weird it is these days... I have caught flack for defending Hillary, but I was

also banned from the Hillary group for defending Bernie.
My point has been that if we don't come together at some point...we're going to lose the country to Republican whatever you want to call them. (most off-color monikers apply here)

[Skittles]

36. Tiger Beat clubs

not known for critical thinking skills

[SCantiGOP]

32. Amen !!

[Warpy]

33. It was at least as bad in 2008

and DU did recover, although some members flounced when the site got behind the nominee, Obama.

[Phentex]

48. I agree.

It seemed just as bad then.

But DU will morph again after this election.

[On the Road]

34. There is a Very Different Vibe Here

over the last few years. It is not just the Clinton-Sanders thing. Also, the increasingly anti-Christian mood is chilling for anyone who does not share that sentiment.

Groups become less spontaneous, more dogmatic and less tolerant over time unless they are renewed in some way. DU had a wonderful beginning, but maintaining a community requires certain personal and group virtues that DU is not strong in. Things will probably improve after the election, but character is fate for groups as well as people.

[bigwillq]

35. DU is fine.

I've enjoyed it then, and I enjoy it now. Things change, in life and on message boards. It it what it is.

[bhikkhu]

37. I agree - change a few names and terms and its like any low-brow forum

in the language used, in the lack of thought behind responses, in the carelessly worded and carelessly spelled inarticulate vitriol...the internet, for all its usefulness, seems to bring out the third grader in many otherwise reasonable people.

I am thankful that our two candidates are running exceptional campaigns, I just wish more of their class and their focus on the issues would be taken as examples.

[world wide wally]

38. There's a famous quote that I can't remember… Something about loving Jesus, but save me from

his followers… or something

[Surya Gayatri]

40. ^^^This!^^^

"I am thankful that our two candidates are running exceptional campaigns; I just wish more of their class and their focus on the issues would be taken as examples."

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

39. I've been here since 2001 and the left/right disputes have been here all the time.

They just get louder around primary time.

[Surya Gayatri]

42. Thank you, LJF, for daring to say what many are thinking.

[gollygee]

46. Back then it was all anti-GWB

It was easy to be united. If we end up with a Pres. Cruz or Trump, we'll be united again.

[Iggo]

50. Bomb the Moon, baby.

Bomb the Moon.

[enigmatic]

62. Still in the top 5 DU threads ever

I wonder what the new handle of the poster who wrote that OP is here now.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

51. When Republicans control everything

then the left will be united again, because we will all be criticizing the bad acts of our elected officials.

When Dems are in power, there are always those who will continue to criticize bad acts, and those who will reflexively defend the bad acts performed by Democrats.

[Glassunion]

53. Is this another porn thread?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

56. Yes, 08 was about this bad. N.t

[HuckleB]

60. It was ugly, though I'm sure it was as ugly as it is now.

I don't have the patience to address the primaries this time around, however.

[enigmatic]

61. No

Alot more people hid who they really were when W was in office; no so much now.

This place always had the illusion of being "underground", but as we found out it's founder was working closly w/ the DNC, that illusion was shattered.

[Arugula Latte]

64. It all changed when we lost our common enemy, GWB.

But, I think it's fine. We recovered from '08 and we'll recover from '16. Of course, politics and the Internet and DU and DUers continue to evolve, so it's never going to be the warm, unified family that it was in '01, '02, '03.