don't go on the threads. Problem solved.

every four years we go through this nonsense. Some years are worse than others.

It tends to be worse in years without an incumbent so get ready for a rocky ride.

The important thing is to try to not take anything all that seriously since there is no evidence that anyone here actually knows what he or she is talking about. if statements of fact can be independently authenticated, that's fine. Otherwise, opinions are like, well you've heard...

And anonymous opinions are worse than that.

Food and pet groups are usually pretty safe, but you never know for sure

FWIW, a while back we had someone verified by the Admins to be a high operative in the Kerry campaign posting here. He left when our own "experts" ridiculed him for knowing nothing about campaigning. Kerry lost, but many of us doubt it was because of this guy.

For some it is their first primary contest here because they joined after 2008.

I really like getting lectured by them when I post that, no things aren't so very 'different' now. For some reason they prefer to think they have been victims at DU for the year or 2 they've been here, and only now do they feel the left has a voice.

HUH?

DU left's voice has been loud and clear for 14 years, thank you very much. We just don't all walk in lockstep and speak in the same terms.

BTW - If we're thinking about the same guy, he wasn't that high up in the Kerry campaign, though he did help organize an important primary event - and he did end up in a significant role in the 2008 HRC campaign, much to my disappointment.

Don't post in, heck, don't even read the nasty personal destruction threads.

After awhile if they get no replies and no reads they will quit.

i am still supporting President Obama because there is more work to do. I would love to see him in a third term.

There will be hard feelings all around by the time it's over. If you're emotionally invested in a candidate, you're in for a rough ride. If you're not, you can just point and laugh.

The primaries will be over some time in the far future. So there's that.

So, I just extend it out a little further, and imagine those members as cartoon characters.
It makes it much easier to read their crap.

One of them definitely reminds me of Foghorn Leghorn.
He always starts out his know-it-all rants with the same tone as Foghorn, "I say, I say . . "

And his buddy sounds a lot funnier whenever he says something on GD when I think of him as Yosemite Sam.
"Ya gawl-blarned idgit, didn't ya hear me a-yelling at ya just now?"

And then every once in awhile Elmer Fudd shows up here to start his own thread.
"Hmmm, I think that wascally wabbit is up to no good."

Yea. Nuff said.

Real analog world.

It's why extremism will never be able to win the middle ground. They make enemies of everyone else rather than partners. They basically defeat their own cause.

call for a physical, political from the top down and manned from the grassroots revolution, that at this point is currently occuring from the Right, not the Left.

They want something exciting and simplistic, at which will allow them to go to their default state of 'forgettaboutit.' I saw this when Obama was elected in 2008 and he begged his voters to get involved for grassroots change. I talked to a number of Democrats who voted for him who were convinced their job was done already and they could sit back and enjoy utopia.

My experience is that the simplistic answers literally kill people who are vulnerable and don't fit their mold. They point to how their solution will take care of everything... in due time... but people only have the here and now. Life is extinquished by the radical simplicity they seek to impose to match their doctrines... and it has. I know their names.

Those little piecemeal programs and some bigger ones, all supported by Democrats and not by other brands, save lives now. The other brands disdain these solutions. Most people seem to deny that there has always been an entrenched oligarchy in this country, that was here before the American Revolution. Their land was given to them by the King of England. Some moved on, some lost their land for other reasons, but the others are still here. Wall Street existed over a century before the Revolution or the Constitution. It was where George Washington was inaugurated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street

These oligarchs didn't go anywhere, and their descendents have a mindset that sees things very much at variance with what Democrats have thought since the New Deal. They believe we are an unfortunate, temporary aberration from what they see the world as. This is the firm backdrop that those who are elected find themselves repeatedly pitted against and have had to make accommodations with. This is not corruption, it is historical reality.

Yet Obama is called a sell-out for recognizing this reality. Like the ACA was what he spent most of his political capital on, as a beginning. Yet it's not good enough, we all know UHC is best and that provision is in the plan, but left up to the states for the grassroots to make their state houses and legislatures change.

Canadians have said it took them 20 years to evolve from the same sort of system we have with the ACA and years of political battles, that some aren't willing to do here. So they just point fingers at Democrats, saying if someone had just listened and obeyed *their* doctrine, there would be no problem. Their denial falls within the realm of fantasy, as without grassroots and sadly, not of the kind that meets up and high fives each other in the streets (I've been there, too) but takes many mentally, financially, emotionally draining days to keep the current New Deal idea alive and looking for solutions to adapt to a changing mindscape. Our kind are obviously dying out.

Even Medicare and Medicaid is not good enough, if it leaves many without the means to pay the differences, and it does. Only UHC covers all. Some people are priced out of healthcare, and it's not Obama's fault. He put a system in place that allowed UHC to come from the states. Many states did not embrace it, some denied it totally and even destroyed their traditional Medicaid programs, others messed with it to deny coverage, but others went with the goodwill intended.

In regards to minimum wage going up to $10 or $15 o $20 or more an hour, those demand it should be even higher, so forgettabout, discount the real lives impacted. There are some taking credit for these changes, but are dishonest about the Democratic Party input in those areas, as it is not their brand.

Anyway, I must go and long live the BOG! Because our focus when he leaves the presidency can be his international work and work in America for racial equality, to fulfill the dreams of so many millions before him.

Much appreciate your thoughts and pragmatic consideration of a serious problem for the future.

Lately I've engaged in facebook debates in heavy Ayn Rand territory where I live. These people want only laissez faire Capitalism. Nothing else will do. They mock all other options - despite the likelihood that there will be no middle class and they're bound to be angry old men. If they aren't already.

I think that's where all extremists are bound - angry, bitter, boozy cynicism.

freshwest and SleeplessInSoCall (as am I, btw). The older I get, the less sleep I get. Yet I need more. Que sera. Anyway, again, good posts!

Sometimes it cracks me up, sometimes it pisses me off. Usually it's a distraction from analog life. I feel like I'm talking to real people, which I am, although digitally.

Do you remember the meta discussion forum? Holy crap that was some crazy meanness in there. I never posted in it. People were incredibly hostile. Vicious. I was pleased the other day when some people said the lounge area is less cliquish than it used to be. I'm glad to hear that. I thought it was kind of cliquish when I first joined here, and it does seem less so now. I hate cliques & enjoy people who can laugh at themselves & have fun without excluding others.

As for the Bernie & HRC folks beating each other up, I don't play that game. Nor do HRC and Bernie. They may disagree on some policies, but they aren't so stupid as to do it on a personal level. I alternate back and forth on who I think is trolling to divide the party and who I think may actually be sincere in their hysteria, roflmao. Maybe 'cause I'm undecided as of now. I was and still am emotionally invested in President Obama and his family and will be for the rest of my life. I may be somewhat emotionally invested in another democratic party candidate or president, but probably not as much as the Obama family. I just really like them in every way. The really personal hostile posters here...I wouldn't want any of those folks as my friend, let alone representative.