http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5524913Skinner ADMIN
Fri Apr-24-09 09:34 AM
Original message
A few people have expressed confusion about what is permitted here now that Obama is president.
(As always... Please read my entire message before you respond. Thanks.)
After eight long years of loyal opposition to the Worst President Ever,
"Loyal opposition?" That's what you call an 8 year long cluster****?
it is not surprising that Democratic Underground is experiencing some minor growing pains now that Barack Obama is president. This is completely new territory for this community, which to a large degree has been held together by our shared disdain for George W. Bush.
And guess what - it's still held together by the same. Many years down the line when Bush is long dead, if DU is still around, it still will be held together by hatred for George W. Bush.
With this in mind, the DU administrators did not want to make any precipitous declarations about What It All Means for Democratic Underground. Instead, we wanted to wait and see how the community naturally evolved without our telling you what to do.
It's been more than five months since the election, and three months since President Obama took office, and I think we now have a pretty good idea of what DU looks like with a Democratic president: It looks like Democratic Underground has always looked. We have a wide range of people, sharing a wide range of opinions, in ways that are interesting, irritating, smart, dumb, exciting, funny, insightful, friendly, or just plain rude.
But mostly just dumb.
Same as always. The more DU changes, the more it stays the same.
DU has never and will never change. The central focus of DU and its members will be a visceral, murderous hatred of President George W. Bush and anyone associated with him.
So I don't think there is any need for us to make any radical changes in how we run the place. We aren't going to change any rules or anything like that. And the way we enforce the rules isn't going to change much either: This place still gets tens of thousands of posts every day, we don't pre-screen any of them, we can't possibly read all of them, and we still depend on help from our members -- who can support the moderators by 1) striving to be productive members of the community, and 2) clicking the "Alert" link when you see a post that falls short of that ideal.
Or, you know, promotes independent thinking.
I think the one notable difference now is that we seem to spend more time and effort enforcing this rule:
Constructive criticism of Democrats or the Democratic Party is permitted. When doing so, please keep in mind that most of our members come to this website in order to get a break from the constant attacks in the media against our candidates and our values.
Enforcing and arbitrarily interpreting this rule...
Highly inflammatory or divisive attacks that echo the tone or substance of our political opponents are not welcome here.
Oh, the irony! 8 years of nothing but inflammatory and divisive attacks against President Bush.
I believe this rule is pretty self-explanatory.
Of course it is. You are allowed to believe that you have the freedom to post criticism of Democrats, but if that criticism is arbitrarily deemed "unconstructive," you're getting a granite pizza.
The vast majority of DU members seem to understand it implicitly, and naturally participate in a manner that complies with this rule without needing to be told to do so.
They understand it because of the tens of thousands of tombstoned members that they have seen come and go throughout the years. This is much like training a dog to behave by beating him daily with a stick.
But a few people have expressed confusion about what is permitted and what is not,
I cannot imagine why that is. (*cough*arbitrarytombstoning*cough*)
in part because some of our members have been peddling the ridiculous and false assertion that criticism of Barack Obama is not permitted on Democratic Underground.
Yeah, gee... I wonder where the hell they got that idea from.
Nonetheless, if anyone is confused about what is permitted here, I'll spell it out as clearly as I can. It's pretty simple:
* Any and all substantive criticism of Barack Obama and his policies is permitted. And by "any and all substantive criticism" we mean all of it -- no issue is off limits.
Except those that they arbitrarily deem to be not substantive.
And let's not forget the "substantive" criticisms of President Bush the DUmp monkeys have posted ad nauseum throughout the years.
* Expressions of dismay, disappointment or disagreement with Barack Obama or his policies are permitted.
And will be made note of so you can be watched for any post that violates our ban on people who disagree with Democrat beliefs.
* But insults, name-calling, or other expressions of contempt toward Barack Obama or his supporters are not welcome.
Even though DU has spent 8 long years of doing little else in regards to President Bush.
There is a part of me that is a little disappointed (but not surprised) that this even needs to be said.
Because the rules are so clear, right? Hey, never underestimate the stupidity of the average DUmp monkey.
Even if you don't agree with President Obama on a number of issues, I guess I kinda thought that everyone here would consider themselves -- on some level -- to be among his supporters.
Well, of course they are because you tombstone everyone else, Democrat or not.
Or, at very least, I didn't think that any DUer would want to deliberately use the same type of language one would expect to hear from tea-baggers and Freepers.
AUGH!!!! I'VE BEEN FLATTENED BY IRONY!!!!
It is our intention that ALL substantive criticism of Barack Obama be permitted here.
It's your intention that the DUmp monkeys and outsiders are led to believe that, yes.
If you believe there are any issues on which you are not permitted to criticize Barack Obama (or any Democrat) please post in this thread and tell me the specific issue -- I will gladly address your concerns.
And keep tabs on you.
Similarly, if anyone persists in spreading the falsehood that criticism of Barack Obama is now forbidden on DU,
...a granite pizza is headed in your direction.
I believe it is not unreasonable to ask that person to please identify what substantive criticism they are no longer able to share.
This makes no sense. If it's a substantive criticism, then why would they need to share it in order to complain that they can't share it. If it's substantive, it's allowed, isn't it?
One more VERY IMPORTANT point.
This post has focused on the limits of acceptable behavior when criticizing Barack Obama or those of us who support him. But I want to be absolutely clear: This does not mean "anything goes" for those DUers who defend him from criticism.
Like hell it doesn't. The defenders will act however they like and alert en masse and the poor target will be tombstoned before anyone notices the defenders' actions.
Indeed, we have knee-jerk bullies on all sides of this issue. Just as DUers should be able to support and defend Barack Obama here on DU without being attacked or having their motives questioned, DUers should also be able to share legitimate criticism of Barack Obama without being attacked or having their motives questioned.
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I believe that the vast majority of DUers are not bothered by legitimate disagreements shared in the spirit of mutual respect. That is the ideal that we should *all* be striving for.
And the triumphal fanfare swells to epic [fail] proportions!
DUmmie FUnnies' take:
http://dummiefunnies.blogspot.com/2009/04/head-dummie-skinner-takes-charge-of-his.html
