poll regarding the Bostonian Drunkard

[franksolich]

I have at hand four e-mails, two of them from current members of democraticunderground, and two of them from former members of democraticunderground; it needs noted the latter two were not tossed off Skins's island.  They just floated away, and so there's no grudge involved here.

One of them asked why I, franksolich, thought the Bostonian Drunkard had returned.....as if franksolich would have any "special insight" as to what goes on, on Skins's island.

All four of them offered speculation that my fellow alum Skins asked the Bostonian Drunkard to come back.

Both the number of primitives, and the traffic, on Skins's island, has diminished considerably the past few months, as betrayed by BadCat's tentative preliminary "DUmp Diving," which numbers showed that the nadir was reached a few weeks ago, with a mere circa 900 active primitives (the usual "average" the past several years has been circa 4200-5500 primitives).

One of the former members of democraticunderground devised a second "tool" to gauge, at least roughly, the traffic on Skins's island; I don't have the permission of the person to describe the trick, but to me, it seems an eminently reasonable one.  That has shown traffic on Skins's island at times to crawl at the speed of a glacier.

It's really bad when the "cooking and baking forum" trots along at a faster pace than "general discussion."

So.....quite obviously, my fellow alum Skins is dealing with declining numbers and action.

Based upon that reasonable assumption, these two insiders, and two former insiders, speculate that my fellow alum asked the Bostonian Drunkard to swim back to the island, so as to bolster activity there.

All four also speculate, to one degree or another, that Skins's fund-raising efforts have been less and less fruitful, and that the Bostonian Drunkard was brought back to help prop up the money-harvest.

The bottom line being, these four individuals (none of whom are connected with each other) are guessing that my fellow alum, desperate to keep Skins's island going, asked the Bostonian Drunkard to come back.

These are insiders, or former insiders, remember; while franksolich is on the outside looking in.

But one is compelled to disagree, most strenuously, with their assessment of my fellow alum Skins.

franksolich has watched, and known, Skins for a very long time now, and this assessment of him flies in the face of all that franksolich has seen, and known, of his fellow alum.

For a Democrat and a liberal, Skins has always demonstrated a high level ("high" among Democrats and liberals only; "moderately poor, almost flunking," if applied to Republicans and conservatives) of principle and integrity, a nobility of purpose, a steadfastness of honesty, courage, and compassion.

Money means nothing to my fellow alum, who is more interested in Higher Things.

I rather suspect that the Bostonian Drunkard tearfully begged, pleaded, crawled, kissed the boots of, Skins, to be allowed back onto the island, and that Skins, in a fit of misguided mercy, finally got tired of the bawling and sobbing, and let the Bostonian Drunkard come ashore.

[Carl]

I say he was begged and at a price allowed back.

Skins has shown in more then a few ways the scorn he holds for his spawn so I think would take great delight in making Pitt wallow and squeal like a piggy.

[Chris_]

Even if DU ground to a halt, I can't see David Allen asking that cut-rate blowhard to come back.  As important as Will Pitt seems to think himself, he comes off as deeply insecure.  How many threads has he begun after dragging his sorry ass back to his keyboard to apologize for one drunken post after another?  It's probably more in line with his personality for him to beg forgiveness.

I may be 1000% wrong on both counts, but it's Will Pitt we're talking about here.  Does it really matter?

[AllosaursRus]

franc, I think ya need to add one more option to the poll:

Did Mommy Raven, Plead or Buy Willy's Presence Back to the Island?

[Ballygrl]

I say he begged also Frank just because I've read DU'ers and former DU'ers saying the DU is propped up financially by the DLC. And does Pitt have more supporters than detractors?

[miskie]

I'm going with the first option - He begged, and unlike other primitives who have begged forgiveness, WillPitt has some value to bring to the island. Except for Will, DU is no longer a hangout for the upperclass primitives, leaving behind the riff-raff and the hoi-palloi. All of the upperclass have fled to places like KOS.

So, Skins relented.

[franksolich]

I say he begged also Frank just because I've read DU'ers and former DU'ers saying the DU is propped up financially by the DLC. And does Pitt have more supporters than detractors?

It's hard to tell, but I'm guessing the Bostonian Drunkard ass-kissers and the Bostonian Drunkard ass-kickers are about equal in number.....and an equal number of primitives are utterly oblivious to the existence of the Bostonian Drunkard.

I don't buy this notion that the Bostonian Drunkard adds anything to Skins's island, least of all members and action.

I haven't done this since we were at our old home, but back then--and it probably still holds true today, here--I used to watch traffic involving any particular thread that in some way mentioned the Bostonian Drunkard.  What I noticed about such traffic was that while members flocked to the thread in droves, "visitors" paid it no heed at all, going instead to other threads about other primitives.

In other words, the Bostonian Drunkard was not a big draw to "visitors," most of whom rowed over from Skins's island.

If they didn't pay any attention to the Bostonian Drunkard at our old home (and quite possibly here either), then probably the primitives--other than his ass-kissers--didn't pay any attention to the Bostonian Drunkard on Skins's island either.

So I suspect the appearance, or re-appearance, of the Bostonian Drunkard means nil to Skins's island.

As for the speculation that the carpetbagging maternal ancestress waved a large check in my fellow alum's face, remember, money means nothing to Skins--my fellow alum's motivated by things of a Higher Nature than just mere money.  He'd rather be poor and honest, than rich and rapacious.

[Tucker]

I'm in the minority. I say Skins asked the Bostonian Drunkard back. He needed a quick fix to shush the anti messiah clan. They are getting pretty vocal.

I think DU is in trouble.

[franksolich]

I think DU is in trouble.

Of course Skins's island is, but not for the lack of the Bostonian Drunkard.

I have to go with the "havocmom" primitive, who asked why dissent is not tolerated, but threatening a weak old woman is.

And also with the gay primitives whining about gay members being tossed off the island.

Having the Bostonian Drunkard return in the hopes that it solves anything is much akin to calling a sewer-worker in to repair a cerebral aneurysm.

Skins's island is in trouble because it tolerates idiots, and rejects members with more sense, as much sense as it's possible for Democrats and liberals to have.

(But of course, one must remember one of the reasons, if not the main reason, for Skins's island is to identify, attract, and segregate the primitives from the mainstream [such as it is], keeping them sequestered on a faraway island, out of view of decent and civilized people, so as to not embarrass regular Democrats and liberals.

(This being the case, it's possible that Skins's island was never intended to be a money-maker, but more as one of those money-draining things that in the end, serve the "greater good," in this case by hiding the lunatics making the Democrat party seem more respectable.

(A small price to pay, considering the damage the primitives, uncorralled, could do if the whole world saw them.)

[Traveshamockery]

I peeked at his Facebook page and he made the announcement there, too.  And his adoring fans (most of whom left snarky anti-DU comments) congratulated him. 

By the way, his page is filled with some lovely older photographs. 

[Chris_]

9-2.  Things aren't looking good for the Pittster.

[dutch508]

both.

[Tucker]

both.

Politican!

[Mike220]

I'm going with Skinner begged him to come back. The new rules and restrictions went over like a shit brick and the natives are restless. I don't think the overseers expected this much conflict between the Oblamer haters and suck ups. It's a calculated risk since the Pitt Stain has his haters, but he has more that view him as a reliable source of info on the world. Granted, it doesn't say much for their judgment, but that's why we call them DUmmies.

[franksolich]

So, Skins relented.

Once again showing my fellow alum is a true saint, among the primitives.

If Skins had been born 800 years ago, he would've donned sackcloth and ashes, and gone around his only possession being a bowl, being kind to children, animals, and.....idiots.

St. Skins would have pre-empted St. Francis of Assisi as their patron.

I tell you, as well as I know my fellow alum, money means nothing to him, a mere bagatelle.

[Chris_]

I think you give him too much credit, but if it keeps those idiots off the street then so much the better.

[franksolich]

I think you give him too much credit, but if it keeps those idiots off the street then so much the better.

Well now, I wake up this morning, and there's already two messages from the other side, regarding my feelings about my fellow alum Skins.

One of them gently suggests that perhaps I might not know Skins as well as I think I do, and the other one thoroughly thrashes me for being an idiot.

I dunno; the old school tie of course makes one look at some people through rose-colored glasses, and I'm aware of that, but I think that at worst, these glasses are a very light faint indistinct pink, completely transparent, and with the correct lenses-prescription.

[diesel driver]

I vote Pitt begged, pleaded, whined, cried, fell on the floor and threw a temper tantrum until Skins relented and allowed him back.   

If Skins had asked Pitt to come back, there wouldn't be enough bandwidth in the entire internet to support the Pittster's swollen head.

[Karin]

And, I think he would have hinted or suggested that he'd been asked back.  His ego is such.  I voted that he himself begged to come back, perhaps waving a check.  I think he's an attention whore, and missed the DU platform desperately. 

[franksolich]

And, I think he would have hinted or suggested that he'd been asked back.  His ego is such.  I voted that he himself begged to come back, perhaps waving a check.  I think he's an attention whore, and missed the DU platform desperately.

The "DU platform" was the only "platform" the Bostonian Drunkard ever had.

True, there's Truthout and the Bostonian Drunkard's own web-site (the "smirking chimp"?--not sure), but those are small potatoes, mere sandbars, when compared with Skins's island.

And I'm with our esteemed colleague Karin in that if my fellow alum Skins had asked the Bostonian Drunkard to come back, NO WAY would the Bostonian Drunkard fail to boast about that, in some manner.

No way.

[USA4ME]

both.

I agree, they need each other.  Had to be a combo of "Billy, I couldn't just let this go without repremanding you, but give me a month or so and you can get back on" combined with "David, I love you and this time I'll swallow."

.

[franksolich]

Oh my.

I just got off work, and now I just heard from a third person from the other side (not one of the original four), telling me that when it comes to evaluating Skins, franksolich is nuts, utterly nuts.

It is suggested that my fellow alum is rather too enamoured of lucre.

No way.

Well, maybe.

But franksolich is not made of the same stuff as the Bostonian Drunkard; as one might recall, when the child-molester co-author of the Bostonian Drunkard got caught again, the Bostonian Drunkard acted as if the guy never existed, even though Scott Ritter had made him, and was in so much trouble he needed the helping hand of anyone, and surely expected the guy he had made, to come to his support.

Or the rancour of the Bostonian Drunkard towards his best friend, the Leopudlian journalist.

Nope, not made of the same stuff.

Some of us stick by our own.

[BlueStateSaint]

Karin hit it on the head for me.