A Transgression...but in a good cause
1.
I am about to violate the letter, if not the spirit of the law...that is, the law of this website. But, I hope you’ll forgive me, for I do have a good reason.
It has to do with our unity as a movement, and the salvation of our country, in an age of incipient tyranny.
Let me explain.
2.
The rule that I’m about to break is in “The Dreaded Site Meta #1,” by joe shikspack. The rule in question is “Don’t Throw Spitballs,” and joe shikspack elaborates this with, “A lot of folks have come here from another site where there was much unpleasantness,” and he asks that users not waste valuable bandwidth by, well, hating on the unnamed Other Site.
I agree with the rule. It is an excellent idea. And, most of time, I will do my level best to obey it. But, I need to mention that Other Site, not to vent, but to express a concern about the larger political system.
First, background. Yes, like almost everyone else here, I was on the Other Site, posting essays. And, yes, I ended up taking heat about a couple of them.
Though, I ought to mention that this was, in a way, my fault. I had discovered the Other Site and been delighted to find a place where I could post my inarticulate left of center mumblings. But, I committed the one unforgivable sin of the freelance writer. I did not thoroughly investigate the publication before I submitted. If I had, I would have realized that the Other Site had a very particular slant, and a very particular point of view.
There is nothing wrong with that, by the way. Every publication does have a preferred slant, even if they think they don’t. It was just that I hadn’t realized that the Other Site’s particular slant was that Hillary Clinton should have won (I agree) and that Bernie Sanders, or more particularly, Bernie Sanders’ supporters were a problem (I don’t agree).
But, stupidly, I had not bothered to figured that out. I had assumed there was room on the Other Site for some mild criticism of the DNC and perhaps of Hillary Clinton’s campaign strategy, if not for Hillary Clinton herself.
As I say, I’d been stupid.
3.
You all have your own stories, I’m sure, of bad times on the Other Site. And I suspect most of yours are far more gripping than mine. So, I’ll be short. I had two incidents of interest. The first was when I made some fairly off-handed remarks about an article I’d seen in which Nancy Pelosi was quoted as saying that people didn’t want the Democratic party to change, or to have a new strategy—this only a few weeks after the election of Donald Trump, and coming just before a series of additional humiliating defeats in special elections for vacated Congressional seats.
I posted the piece, and I had a few complimentary remarks, but I also had several that were absolutely furious. One individual accused me of being, frankly, not able to read, and that I had completely misinterpreted the article. I went back and looked at it, afraid that I’d made an error. But, no, it said exactly what I’d said it said.
The second incident occurred a little later. Here, I did a mostly comic piece about how the Trump administration was beyond parody. How can you mock a clown? But, again, in one throw-away line...just one line...I made some reference to the idea that if Bernie been allowed to run, he would have won.
Most of the comments I received on that posting were positive, maybe not completely so, but positive in varying degrees. However, to my amazement, I got a comment that was really quite bitter. It took that one line about Bernie Sanders and made it a personal affront. How dare I, this reader asked, say such a thing? How dare I imply that Hillary wasn’t the better candidate? Then she concluded, “Enjoy your flag.”
I was startled. How could anyone be so emotional about one line? Also, I didn’t know what a flag was. I’d never heard of them. I looked them up. I discovered that if enough “trusted users” give you a flag, your comment can get erased, and your own posting privileges endangered. In other words, this individual was so furious with me, furious over one line, that she was willing to pull out the ultimate weapon of the Other Site... and use it.
It was kind of startling.
4.
But...none of the above is really important.
I’m not, repeat not, particularly concerned about the negative comments I received on the Other Site. Even the “flag” doesn’t bother me over much. Simply put, if you’re going to post to the web, or try to publish anything, you’re going to get negative comments. We don’t have to like it (and I don’t), but it is true.
But the issue...the real issue...is the fury that seemed to transfix the individuals who so violently disagreed with my postings. The man who accused me of illiteracy, the woman who flagged me, there was an awful lot of anger there. Which, I’m afraid, is indicative of a much larger phenomenon. I see it in a lot of places. Not just on the Other Site. That is, many Hillary Clinton supporters are justifiably furious that their candidate was so grievously cheated...but, sometimes, that fury is released not on the Republicans who put Trump on office, but on the Bernie supporters whose candidate represented an alternative to Hillary.
Which is not to throw stones. I see a very similar behavior in some Bernie supporters (not to mention third party people). I see a similar fury, and I see that fury sometimes vented on people and organizations who are really quite innocent. I suppose, now and then, I’ve done it myself. Mea Culpa, and all that.
Just human nature at work? Yes, I suppose. But, it worries me. We are in, let’s face it, the fight of our lives. We have in the White House an unstable, would-be despot who is fully capable of plunging the world into a nuclear holocaust. We have around him, either near or far (even if they’ve recently returned to Breitbart), people who can only be called overt Fascists. We have behind him, supporting him with money and propaganda, vastly powerful Oligarchs who dream of reducing the Federal government to a shell, and of reducing us, its citizens, more or less openly to the status of serfs.
That, I submit, is a genuinely existential crisis. Unless we fight back, and fight back hard, we are going down. America as a nation is over. American democracy is finished.
So, I wonder, if maybe, there needs to be some kind of greater attempt at unity. I wonder if, somehow, we need to put aside...at least temporarily...our internal divisions. I wonder if we don’t need to say, “Yes, my side was cheated, and I’m angry at your side, but we will, for the moment, work together. Because the consequences of disunity are too horrible to consider.”
5.
Is that possible, I wonder? Can we somehow come together?
I hope so. I’m certainly going to make an effort. I’m going to continue to post to this site, but also to the Other Site. I’m sure many of you do the same.
So, maybe it is possible. I hope so.
Yet, I also worry. I keep thinking of that “flag.” That flag so quickly and freely given.
Because, you see, it reminds me of another flag I saw once. It, too, was defiant and proud, and it sent a message.
The problem? It flew over the National Cemetery of Santa Fe, just an hour’s drive from where I live.
And that flag, for all its beauty and defiance, will be seen by few of the living...
And absolutely none of the dead.
~mjt
Comments
Eh, not enough meta
to make me uspet about anything you said.
Now if you'd named names ...
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
fait accompli
Fait accompli. And signed, sealed and delivered the minute Hillary Clinton became the Democratic Presidential nominee, if not long before, i.e. when Barack Obama trashed his "hope and change" campaign platform and governed just like Dubya Bush or John McCain would have.
There is no "getting together" with that kind of crap.
It is crystal clear what the Democratic Party needs to do in order to save its own life and become an appreciable power in American politics again. It must publicly dump the Turd Way and its zillionaire backers, re-embrace the cause of labor, and return to the job it did so well for most of the 20th Century: represent the American Left. This was demonstrated by Bernie Sanders' campaign, much as the Hillary Clinton/Debbie Wasserman Schultz faction tried to get it covered up.
The limousine liberal contingent needs to be sidelined, too, reduced to their proper roles of "pray, pay and obey". Same goes for the incrementalist milquetoasters.
For those of us who are to the Progressive Left of Bernie (for want of a better descriptor), there exists only one option: The rest of the nation will need to "come together" with us; we will not and should not go to them!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
The thing the unity folks seem to forget
... is that they are asking us to unify around mass murderers, war criminals, and sociopaths. The fact that their sociopaths are more eloquent than the other side's doesn't really motivate me.
Their nominee, Clinton, stood on stage with Henry Fucking Kissing for crying out loud. And I'm supposed to simply ignore that? When looks at the death toll tallied up in the MidEast comparisons between Hitler and present day US are inescapable. Tell me again why the holocaust was such an awful thing and what's going on today is goodness and apple pie?
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Especially when there are 20 million people in Yemen who
are dying from starvation and cholera because blockades are stopping any food or medicine into the country. The hospitals and infrastructures have been purposely bombed by our allies and this country is helping them do it. Why? What do we expect to gain by helping the Saudis do this? Our lives or our freedoms on the line if people in Yemen continue to live?
Isn't this type of action supposed to be the Ultimate War Crime?
Never Again has continued countless times since it was first uttered after Hitler killed 6 million Jews and millions of other people.
As you asked, if Hitler was bad for what he did, then isn't what our country is and has done even worse?
I say yes because we have been doing this since we helped defeat Hitler. How many countries has our military invaded or how many governments has our intelligence agencies overthrown?
I think this is much worse because we do know exactly what our military is doing to people and their countries and we throw big parties when our brave men and women come home after killing people in other countries.
Is there any difference between men joining the Nazis and ours joining our military? If so, what?
We invaded Syria and are in the process of building at least 8 bases there. Why do other country's leaders allow this to continue to happen?
We already have over 800 bases in other countries and too many people think that our military is fighting to defend our freedoms and keep our country safe.
Trump asked for $54 billion more to go to the military budget, but congress gave him even more than that. They did this while they are getting ready to give the corporations and the rich massive tax breaks and paying for it by gutting our social programs which are already massively under funded.
This is how sick this government is.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Henry Kissinger
That's Henry Fucking KissinGER.
As in: If Irene Wanda Hus married a son of Henry Fucking Kissinger, would she be I. Wanda Hus-Kissinger now?
[ducking]
EDIT:
[video:https://youtu.be/7jWHiMJR_VU]
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
"simply ignore that?"
no can do.
Amen. Agree. No friggin'
way I'm moving to the Right to satisfy DWS and the DNC in some koombyahh "unity" nonsense. The Establishment of the party are deaf and blind, and so is TOP. Why move to join the other side of the party that continues to run useless candidates with little chance of winning? Those "Special Elections" should have been a clue. When "They" spent over $20 Million on a congressional seat race and lost... well, that should be a clue.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
clue
A "sledgehammer to the face" clue, at that!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
You are much more positive than I,
at least as far as far as democracy in America is concerned.
I would contend that it is already too late to save our democracy, that it was replaced decades ago by a cabal of oligarchs. Not too long ago I believed that we simply needed to replace most of the Congress critters, Republican and Democrat alike, with representatives that would actually put the interest of the people ahead of their corporatist sponsors.
Remember the Military Industrial Complex President Eisenhower warned us about as he left office? Well, we don't have to wait any longer. The MIC is already fully empowered and ensconced. Any semblance of a functional American Democracy is merely a vanishing point in the rear view mirror of American governance. Perhaps it never actually even existed.
When this government we now have fails, which it surely will, when it can no longer maintain the illusion of democracy, then we may get a chance to rebuild a better and more truly responsive democracy.
Or perhaps not even then.
“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024
I certainly hope "we" can "come together"
But we need to unpack some pretty serious concepts embedded in that.
"We": When you say "we" I'm unsure of who you mean. Democrats seem to assume that they own some vast swath of the voting public who are, unfortunately, too damned ignorant and lazy to vote. I personally just chalk that up to yet more Democratic arrogance. My vote is my own. My political allgegiances are my own. I'm not a party of the "we" I think you're referring to. That's why I'm an Independent.
I do identify with a "we" though. I identify with the lower 80% of income earners. In more common terms, I identify with the 99%. I see myself as in a fight against the plutocratic reality that Gilens & Page documented and the Democratic party embodies. I hope to coalesce with the all the other Independents out there and pick whatever partisan Democrats and Republicans are still able to exercise independent thought.
The "we" that I imagine definitely needs to come together. But the "we" I'm a part of needs to come together fighting the plutocracy... all of it... even the blue colored bits. The plutocrats have been running the show and it's easy to see what they have given us: a failed economy, continuous war, historic levels of inequality, and global warming. I could toss in a raft of other issues also like a shitty education system, a gutted journalistic practice, and a for-profit legal system that has abandoned any concept of "justice" -- affluenza anyone? Does "too big to jail" ring any bells?
My sense of the Democrats is that they do not even credit these things as issues much less want to solve them. Who was it that most recently stopped single-payer initiatives... twice? Oh yes, that was Democrats as I recall. Who's pushing the California aquaducts? Oh yes, that's Democrats also. Who pushed for TPP? Yup, that was Democrats? Who lied us into various wars? Yup... Democrats. Who expanded (illegally as it turned out to no one's surprise) the surveillance state? Democrats were all over that one and still are. Obama practically gutted the bill of rights.
Why on earth would I get behind this party? Or, let me put the question to you. If you want me to rally behind some banner then what stake it out for me. What hill are you prepared to stand on... and die on... if need be? You tell me the hill and I'll tell you if I'm prepared to defend it also. My guess, however, is that there is no hill the Democratic party is interested inn holding that I am interested in. All I see is endless virtue signalling and it bores me. How about if instead of ripping down statues we... you know... start dealing with the structural racism? I'd like to actually help embattled minorities rather than feel good about myself for exuberant virtue signalling.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
endless virtue signalling (++)
I can't ever go back to the other place . . .
I knew this quite a while before the March decree. Their censorship was a big issue. Plus, I realized it made me weirdly depressed to hang out there. I am not even tempted to go back.
Yes, there are lots of angry people out there. But IMO the solution is to go towards the light in every way we can. Be kind and compassionate to all we encounter . . . human, animal, plant, earth, sky, water.
It won't help anything for me to jump back into the mud.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I don't see myself voting for democrats
anytime soon.
Hopefully the greens are working hard to get candidates on the ballot. I currently don't have the personal opportunity to be involved that way. Too many other more pressing responsibilities.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Well, for me it's simple. I can't ever go back to DKOS
... because I'm banned there. That pretty much puts a permanent end to any contribution I might make. It also makes cries for unity somewhat vacuous. Even if I wanted to, how can I "unite" with a group that has officially shunned me? They won't speak to me or listen to me. There is no path upon which to build this unity.
That was a point I felt they should've considered more strongly before they went on their purity purges. It seems to me self evident that if you do a purity purge, then you're going to be both less diverse and smaller. That doesn't sound like a winning political strategy to me but hey, I'm not a highly paid DC consultant (or a GOS plebe) so what do I know?
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
congratulations
or.... alternately....
The banning was a false flag operation intended to provide a cover identity for me over here.
Breaking news! This photo has recently been discovered by intrepid journalists shedding new light on Snapple's sordid connections.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
too funny!
I hope you are with us.
or we may have to take you out.
Sadly, it's not that funny
It'd be funny if it weren't truth and if it didn't result in tangible effects like me pulling my donation from C99. This site is great if you want to poke around at some awful thing the establishment has done. But it's just as biased as DKOS in it's own way. This is not the place to explore areas where the establishment may be doing the right thing. That makes it no more reality-based that GOS.
I leave that signature line there as a reminder to myself what is OK to post here and what is not. I'm still looking for the community where you can address political issues in an open, honest, and reality-based way.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
establishment never does the right thing
Which pretty much covers everything the establishment has done, especially since the Carter administration.
I trust that you realize that this is an assertion that the establishment ever attempts to do "the right thing" by us plebes. I deny this assertion. The entire agenda of the establishment in the US Government, the "Deep State" if you will, is to route public and common goods from the ordinary working class plebes to the richest of our richest. That fact has been repeatedly and overwhelmingly evidenced here on c99. Thus, our claim to being a reality based community is quite intact, thank you.
For us to "explore areas where the establishment may be doing the right thing", such areas would have to exist first. And I see no evidence of such. As they say in hillbilly country, "there ain't no such animal!"
Care to evidence me wrong??
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I will not move an inch to "Unite" with Democrats.
Because they will pull out every appeal to better nature they can, just so they can avoid ever changing their corporate slime bucket of a party.
Dems in a nutshell:
You must unite because the threats are so incredibly dangerous. But it is of course YOUR FAULT and unless you properly kowtow and toe the corporate line, you have no place in this party... BUT WE LOVE YOU...
They're completely full of shit, and I ain't ever rejoining their religion.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LoPQrdNZyk]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Yep
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
A Few Helpful Hints
First, you need to understand a few basic concepts like gaslighting:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting
The second concept is asshole:
There are assholes on the right and assholes on the left.
The third concept is Stupid. God did not play favorites when she was passing out stupid. Every race, nationality, creed and tribe got their fair share of stupid. Stupid is something of a way of life for some folks.
The final introductory concept is punching up versus punching down:
The 99% can not compromise with 1%ers. Our backs are already against the wall. We got nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. We cannot cooperate with Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden. Fuck Markos and his ballsack Armando. They are tools who do as they are told.
There. Glad we got that cleared up.
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
I think you got it completely right until the Armando thing.
Since I suspect Armando would think that "Kos's ballsack" would be a compliment.
I think the description as Kos's perianal abscess would be more fitting.
Sorry for the imagery there. But, yeah. Fuck both those guys.
For both, i think there is no there there. Vacuous high school debate club at best.
In the end, it's truly always all about the clicks. And the $$.
"Don't be a dick"?? Hah!
Don't be a ballsack or perianal abscess either.
Ever.
Very nice essay, however,
I, along with those that have posted comments so far, have moved beyond the herd mentality found at TOP. We are not sheeple and recognize that trying to be here and there is fruitless because those at TOP are not interested in living in a real democracy where we actually care for our fellow man. We, here at c99p, still have our humanity intact. I cannot express my self as eloquently as those in the comments above, but they speak for me, too. I will not subject myself to the bullying and gang-like mentality found at TOP. IMHO, we are peaceful here and are living in reality.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
If they want to unite, they are welcome to join US.
They would be the Democratic Party, Hillary supporters, and the trolls at DailyKos.
I am terrified of what Trump and the GOP (and Democrats more obscurely) will do to this country. I voted Green in Michigan in 2016, and I will vote Green in 2020 or stay home if the Dems don't reform. I cut off my nose so I could perhaps save us all. No pain, no gain. Blow them up, burn them down. I don't fucking care. I didn't come this far to quit. I have millennial grandkids who are entitled to a future, and uniting with Dems, DailyKos or the Hillary PUMAs isn't going to get it.
If you persevere at the brothel, you will get banned. In 2008, the Hillary PUMAs made the place a living hell, and they are back with a haughty vengence. I joined dailykos in 2004. I left the Ides of March, and I don't miss that place one bit.
Be honest. Are you another scout from there sent here to sheepdog us home? You wouldn't be the first. If you are, I don't care - as long as you have the decency, to be honest with us and stick around as your essay says you will. Sabir and the others before you came over to pee in our pool and then left to never return when we weren't buying it. I am not in the mood to be used.
DailyKos is for fools. I have no interest in being threatened, gang banged or sat in a corner by a bunch of liars and immature bullies. I will not tolerate their childish and wicked behavior. If you want to stick around there with the others who are tiptoeing through the comments and keeping their backs against the wall, be my guest. I cannot fathom what earthly reason keeps you there being abused, but it is your call to make.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Heh
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
the very worst
eeew. how could you?
catch my breath.
eeew.
@snoopydawg
Thanks for the best laugh I've had so far today. And possibly the most appropriate saying EVAH!
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
The fact that so many people want Obama to be president
is the most asinine thing I've heard.
The damage that his economic policies have done to this country is going to be felt for decades. 94% of the jobs created during his presidency are part time jobs. Let that sink in.
Everyone who wasn't in the 1% saw their lives either staying the same or getting worse because the cost of living has increased while incomes remained stagnant.
The there's this:
And this:
I was treated the same way as you were on ToP when I criticized Obama's foreign policies. Any criticism of him was met with anger and charges of racism
This same thing happened to most of us when we criticized Hillary's warmongering. She has been in favor of every military intervention during her entire career, yet her supporters told me that I was mistaken or misinformed.
Many of us were able to back up our claims with reputable sources, yet time after time, we were told to quit spreading right wing talking points. They just wouldn't hear anything bad about Hillary. Or Obama. I even got flack for questioning Bernie's foreign policies.
I believed that Bernie wouldn't be able to pass much of his legislation while the military budget was sucking up the funding for them.
Good essay, and great commentary.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Obama was the final straw.
He got my last two lesser of evil votes. The first because I was giving him a chance to prove me wrong about what a scam artist he is, and the second time because he was going to win anyway. I am sure I am not the only one he pushed out the door.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
I voted for him the first time
because I actually believed he would do what he said he would. After seeing him not even trying to keep his promises, I stayed home the second time.
I think a lot of people did the same thing. People who hadn't voted for a long time took a chance on him and he betrayed all of us.
Then Bernie came along and offered up hope again, but in the end, he didn't fight against the corruption of the DP. I'm still not sure if this was deliberate or not.
But even after Hillary lost to Donald F'cking Trump of all people, the democrats are still refusing to change anything. This shows that they don't give a rat's ass to what's happening to us.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Yup... me too
I was all behind some hope & change in 2008. Then came his administration and #occupy. That was the last Democratic vote I cast until I voted for Bernie in the primary. And as others have noted, Bernie also fits into that sociopath and war criminal mold. He was just the best of the choices by a wide margin and he's demonstrated that he responds to activism. So my thought was, "Elect Bernie then march on the capital to stop the wars."
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
There is so much truth
in this comment and the others you posted here. But it boils down to this for me. I have zero respect for liars. Even if someone or some organization is repugnant, if they are honest about it, I can respect them for that much.
The statement below was true about Obama and I saw Obama as a reflection of the Democratic party as a whole. I was not wrong. There are times when I feel like a citizen without a country.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
"zero respect for liars"
we start there.
clears the field a bit, doesn't it?
@snoopydawg
Not to mention textless videos of Her own speeches being denigrated as 'right-wing BS', lol.
If they can't see reason or be reasoned with, they're best avoided by the reality-grounded and treated with... something that medically helps...?
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
I am happy to stand with any Democrat
who realizes the party is too corrupted to reform, and must be disbanded.
I typed "disbanded", not "re-branded".
dkos is a place to go to find out what the 1% expects from the Democratic Faithful.
It is not a place that inspires liberal thinking and uniting.
It has become a place where you must act against your own best interest for a rec.
Fuck. A. Rec.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Rec = food pellet. Flag = electric shock.
The whole thing is a political psy-op, a big experiment in behavior modification.
“Okay — we got another rat in the maze, another pigeon in the Skinner box; let’s see if we can get it to betray all its instincts and turn towards Hillary.”
Deliberately induced
Deliberately induced trauma bonding (Stockholm syndrome) and PTSD.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
The Stanford prison experiment, with a caste of
“trusted users” and “help desk moderators” in the place of guards.
@lotlizard Perfect description of
Perfect description of the place, Lotlizard.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Not voting for Republicans
Doesn't make you a 'Democrat'.
I know it's very hard for people that abide by the word of the one known as 'kos', but it's true.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
If you happen to speak to Markos
Or any one else running that insane asylum over there, please tell them I am STILL getting their fundraising emails even after they bojo'd me for writing an essay about Hillary OVER HERE at C99. Apart from showing themselves to be petty vindictive dickheads, they apparently don't even have their shit together enough to take people they've banned out of spite off their pathetic begging for money email list.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
bojo'd for your writing HERE??
You were bojo'd there for your writing HERE??
Just when I thought it couldn't get lower-class......
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I never got a straight answer
From the "help" desk when I asked for a reason. All I know is I stopped posting diaries and comments over there in June 2016 while I was still designated as a "trusted user". Then I posted an essay entitled, "Yes, Virginia, Hillary is the Enemy" in response to someone's sheepdog attempt to "unite" us. I was bojo'd shortly after my essay was published here. You may infer what you will of that.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
@Anja Geitz
I seem to recall that a whole bunch of people were banned for things they'd written elsewhere. Due to that, among all of the rest, I don't consider the place worth visiting, since their repetition of Approved Corporate Dem Propaganda tends to be carried over here by noble, self-sacrificing heroes, while I get to selfishly keep my metaphorical nose out of the cesspool.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
When I first found out I got bojo'd
I was angry at their overreach. Now, I just regret I ever supported that prick's website. Ah, well. Whaddya gonna do? Can't get a refund, so I guess sending them snarky replies to their fundraising emails is my only recourse. Eventually I'll get bored with that and just block them. All those years, and it ends in a fizzle.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
This was the only lie in your essay, right? - Ahem.
Did you really have to write that many words?
You were not keeping it short. Why? Your essay could be a two-word sentence: "Unite, damnit."
Short, honest answer from me and only valid for me: "No".
https://www.euronews.com/live
Hillbots, GOS and the DNC
can all go fvck themselves. No unity, no quarter. The time has come to pick sides.
Hillary wasn't cheated.
Unless you buy the RUSSIARUSSIARUSSIA nonsense.
The reason for the second part is contained in the first. Because they feel Her was cheated, they have to have someone to blame for the cheating. They can't accept she lost the easiest election to win by running the worst campaign of my lifetime, and probably longer than that, so it's got to be someone else's fault. Hence the BernieBro punching.
I agree, unity, civility, all those things are great and needed. But there's a lot of people who need reality checks, and they're not over here. As many of the other commentators have stated, they are more than welcome to unify, but if unity means I have to go to their level, they can keep it. All my voting life, the Democratic Party has only offered me pragmatism, compromise, incrementalism, 13th dimensional chess and lesser evilism. I refuse to be vilified any longer for demanding better.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
@Dr. John Carpenter
I personally think the major problem was that even massive cheating of epic varieties wasn't enough to get her there - in part due to the widely-revealed proof of The Mad Bomber's campaign-cheat in the Dem nomination selection, although also because of endless other good, solid reasons for keeping the corrupt Clintons the hell out of the White House forever afterward.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
I'm sorry about your negative
I'm sorry about your negative experiences, although I must say that it doesn't seem likely that rabid Hillary supporters angry at the fact that anyone ran against The Mad Bomber at all would want to work with the democratically social kind of people here toward something completely different than they support, as they're essentially objecting to the very idea of democracy itself.
I miss a lot and had no idea of this - are snarky comments verboten? If so, I'd better stop posting here...
Edit for my traditional letter typo, lol.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
The transgression is alright,
but the cause you seem to champion makes very little sense. You would have us unite around a morally vacuous core?
native