Open Letter to All ... Dean and Kerry Supporters

[mzmolly]

By William Pitt: Taken from the archives dated ... Sep-02-03 06:45 PM



I stumbled on this while searching for something. Thought we could use a reminder today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=266439

I just witnessed the following exchange on a thread dedicated to one of these two candidates:

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Post Title: "Where are Dean's medals?"

No text in post.

Reply Title: "Where are Kerry's supporters?"

No text in post.

Reply Title: "Lurking - ready to pounce"

No text in post.

Reply Title: "Tapping foot.....waiting....."

Text in post: "And frightened to death!"

Reply Title: "Oh, BTW -"

Text in post: "are you old enough to vote?"

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Am I an ass for publicizing this? Maybe. I posted no names nor the source of this, but savvy DUers can probably find it pretty easily. I will risk being labeled an ass, because this is important.

Let me explain something about DemocraticUnderground.com. I have written three books. I would have written no books without DU, without the prople here, without the wisdom and data to be found here. This says absolutely nothing special about me, but should tell you everything you need to know about the resource that is this place. I was a paralegal, and then a schoolteacher. I am nothing special. Whatever ability I do have, and the spirit I found here, motivated me to channel the essence of this place into books, into wider-world information that people need to know.

That is why I get nuts when I see this place tear itself apart, why I post every once in a while these tirade threads. Usually, I feel pretty stupid about it afterwards. Not this time. Not this time, because I have lost my ability to believe that the General Discussion forum is a place for data, discussion and debate. It has become a schoolyard pissing match. It has made politics more painful, if you can believe it. It has become a waste of time.

Read that exchange above again. That is a pure crystallization of exactly what has been going on here between a bunch of Dean supporters, Kerry supporters, and to a lesser extent Clark supporters. Some of these people are disrupters, obviously, but certainly not most. Most are you, either rising to the bait or baiting on your own. Either way, this exchange above is DU's General Discussion forum right now. If you doubt it, you have not been paying attention.

Here's the news: Dean or Kerry is going to get the nomination, with an outsider chance to Clark that (I think) gets better the more I think about it. Regardless, one of these guys is going to be the Man. Into that person will be poured, literally, all our hopes and all our sweat and all our prayers and the last, best home we've got to stop the bleeding that is killing this country.

We are going to have to work together. You are making that, every day, more of an impossibility, and that is a national suicide ride you are taking me personally along on.

I think people being passionate about candidates is a great good thing...actually, I think it is a mortal requirement considering what is at stake.

But this bullshit has got to stop.

Do something. Do anything.

Make this stop.

I tend to agree, we are committing suicide here every friggin day.

*edited title to remain within new user rules*