So Long, and Thanks for All the (Swedish) Fish (Skinner jumps ship)

[FunkyZero]

https://www.democraticunderground.com/101310307

A few weeks ago I sold Democratic Underground. The new owner is EarlG (also known as Dave Allsopp), a long-time DU Administrator and co-founder who has been a part of this community since the very beginning. He knows DU as well as I do -- probably better. He is a decent, loyal, trustworthy human being, and he is a great friend to me. If you take away one thing from this announcement, it is this:

Democratic Underground will be fine.

But I hope you understand that for EarlG, purchasing this website was not without risk. He had to take on a fairly significant amount of debt while we are in the middle of a global pandemic *and* an economic downturn. In my final act as a DU administrator, I have been working to organize a summer DU fund drive to smooth the transition to new ownership and help ease some of the financial burden. When the fund drive begins next week, I hope you will become a DU Star Member and GIVE GENEROUSLY.

I’ve been agonizing over what else to say to all of you about this. Moving on from DU is kind of a huge deal in my life -- after all, I’ve spent nearly two decades running this website -- and I feel like I am supposed to be passing along some nugget of wisdom to all of you that lives up to the enormity of this moment for me. There are so many things I could say, but after much consideration I’m just going to say this:

Thank you.

I am so grateful to everyone who has been a part of this community over the last 19 and a half years. What a wonderful, happy, friendly, stimulating, sometimes aggravating, and most of all rewarding journey this has been. I still can’t quite wrap my head around the idea that I created a virtual space where thousands of truly decent human beings would choose to spend so much of their time. It seems unreal. This is first and foremost a community of people, and the truth is that Democratic Underground would be nothing without all of you.

During the darkest days of the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, when many DUers were viciously tearing each other apart, the three DU admins were deeply frustrated with the state of this community. So we put our heads together to figure out a positive vision of what we wanted DU to be. During that process we drew a Venn diagram on the whiteboard in our office, and it remained on the whiteboard for the last four years to remind us what we wanted this community to be. Here is a picture:

snipped

[DLR Pyro]

I guess he didn't want his fingerprints on the site when the epic meltdown and subsequent threats to President Trump happen on November 4th...

[67 Rover]

I guess he didn't want his fingerprints on the site when the epic meltdown and subsequent threats to President Trump happen on November 4th...

Is he moving into Raven's basement with wee Willie Pitt. Who will get the top bunk?

[Texacon]

Wait a minute ... EarlG spent his money (and evidently a lot of it, through a loan no less) and Skinner is begging people to give and give GENEROUSLY?  Shouldn't Skinner simply give each of the DUmmies some of his new found wealth so they can ALL have a star?  What's up with the stinginess?

I'm not seeing how this plays into what the DUmmies believe in any way.  I think they've all been had!

KC

[Mary Ann]

Wait a minute ... EarlG spent his money (and evidently a lot of it, through a loan no less) and Skinner is begging people to give and give GENEROUSLY?  Shouldn't Skinner simply give each of the DUmmies some of his new found wealth so they can ALL have a star?  What's up with the stinginess?

I'm not seeing how this plays into what the DUmmies believe in any way.  I think they've all been had!

KC

Do you think Skinner could be a, *gasp,* CAPITALIST??? Maybe he's getting out while the getting is good--before Biden and his commie puppetmasters take over the means of production and hand it to the proletariets.

[landofconfusion80]

Wait a minute ... EarlG spent his money (and evidently a lot of it, through a loan no less) and Skinner is begging people to give and give GENEROUSLY?  Shouldn't Skinner simply give each of the DUmmies some of his new found wealth so they can ALL have a star?  What's up with the stinginess?

I'm not seeing how this plays into what the DUmmies believe in any way.  I think they've all been had!

KC

He probably feels bad about the investment earlg just sunk into this pig and is softening the fall

[thundley4]

Skinner didn't want to deal with the Secret Service after Trump wins again.

[Carl]

EarlG is stupider then a box of rocks.

Skins has always hated his spawn.

[franksolich]

EarlG is stupider then a box of rocks.

Skins has always hated his spawn.

It would've been better if Skins had sold it to Elad, the third of the Three Stooges running Skins's island.

Elad, who once tried training his pet cat to be a vegetarian, was never a partner, only an employee, but he has more brains than EarlG.

[67 Rover]

It would've been better if Skins had sold it to Elad, the third of the Three Stooges running Skins's island.

Elad, who once tried training his pet cat to be a vegetarian, was never a partner, only an employee, but he has more brains than EarlG.

Low bar that a snail could step over.

[Kc25]

Low bar that a snail could step over.

LMAO

[Ralph Wiggum]

Anyone else suspect that $kimmer's money grubbing leftist wife got a job working with Kneepads Kamala?

Ralphie's hunch.

[I_B_Perky]

But I hope you understand that for EarlG, purchasing this website was not without risk. He had to take on a fairly significant amount of debt while we are in the middle of a global pandemic *and* an economic downturn.

Skinner based his entire website on low IQ suckers... aka useful idiots.    I'm guessing he was seeing the writing on the wall... DU's hey days are long over... so there was only one more sucker to swindle money from and that was his employee.

Personally I would not spend 20 years of my life working for one person that owns a website... and then going into debt to buy it from the fool when it is on the decline.    Ain't like being a plumber, electrician or a HVAC guy and working for someone that owns a small company, that is completely different.  This is Skinner fleecing his supposed loyal employee.  If Skinner had an ounce of integrity... he's is a lib so he don't... he would have sold it to some OTHER sucker and split the money with his loyal employees.  But no, Skinner is a typical leftist that talks about equality while stealing the money from the useful idiots.

EarlG will be looking for work in 6 months.

[I_B_Perky]

Anyone else suspect that $kimmer's money grubbing leftist wife got a job working with Kneepads Kamala?

Ralphie's hunch.

That is a distinct possibility that I never thought of.  She might be doing a little cunnilingus on the Kamala Kunt.