Reply #32: The funny thing about the internet is, what you know isn't always so.

[Kelly Rupert]

I've been here in one name or another since 2003.

I originally joined after coming across Dean's campaign, and finally deciding that I wanted to talk about it with people on the Internet. I mostly lurked, though occasionally participated in the ridiculous "CLARK IS A REPUBLICAN TOOL NO DEAN IS CRAZY NO LIEBERMAN IS A REPUBLICAN NO EDWARDS HAS NO EXPERIENCE NO GEPHARDT'S EYEBROWS ARE FLESH-COLORED" discussions, but after Media Whores Online went to pasture, DU became the center of my political universe.

I've changed login names three times, each time because I made a few enemies, and I was tired of engaging in the same flamewars with the same people over the same things. It's refreshing to be able to come at a board with a blank slate and no preconceptions as to what you "really mean" by your posts. That's the flipside of having a recognized name, you see--xenophobes might know you're not an "outsider," but at the same time they think they know your angles. Each time I "quit," I changed my email address to a nonsense one, changed my password to a random scramble, and logged out. Best to let old names die.

I took a hiatus after '05, the board then was rather monotone. There was only so much "Kerry Didn't Really Lose" I could stand, and, with nothing else to discuss, everything kept turning to tinfoil. After '06, I rejoined again, since the new Democratic majorities would put a new spin on every old issue.

Don't tell me about the way this board works, please. I've been around for a while.

That aside, lay off the paranoia. DU may be the center of our political universe, but it's barely a blip in the grand scheme of things. And every single post I've seen declared the product of a paid operative...well, any guerilla marketer would be embarrassed by such a thing, really. People try to play kingmaker here sometimes. It doesn't mean there's anyone behind them.