"The Go-To Place for Progressives"
Hello, all--
Here I am, yet another refugee from that orange place. And I know that this diary would get me hide-rated, timed-out, or banished from over there, so here goes.
A couple of days ago, I received a fund-raising letter from Daily Kos, really two, but I'll just deal with the second. I was one of those people who early on bought a lifetime subscription and from time to time I have contributed a bit more. In the last two weeks, as a Bernie supporter, I have learned more than maybe I ever really wanted to know about how the orange place is moderated, starting when I was hide-rated by a truly obnoxious Clinton supporter. I had defended another commenter when the Clinton supporter trashed the writer. So I have been following my way through the Bernie groups (thanks, elenacarlena!) and started watching the mail about people who were being disciplined (and I mean it both literally and in a Foucaldian sense). I am appalled. I have been itching to write a diary about Clinton and neoliberalism and realize that alone would probably do me in. So while I'm learning about all this, I get an email asking me for money AND calling the orange place the "go-to place for progressives." Are you kidding me???
Letter 2 announces that the orange place has "a huge platform from which to organize progressives." I can't imagine what in the world that sentence means in the current world of the orange place. Progressives who don't care about the 90% of the population who won't prosper with (more) neoliberal policies? Progressives who think bigtime corporate fundraising is just the thing? Progressives who think politics should be accomplished through triangulation? What?
What bothers me the most about this "innocent" fundraising letter for the orange place is that many people--including some of those who support Bernie--won't recognize the changes at the orange place that have made is absolutely incompatible with progressives. Why in the world are they using the word progressive when Third Way Democrats would have been much, much more honest.
Thanks, I needed to rant. This is a first post for me over here, so be gentle.
cinnamon
Comments
Nothing to worry about...
This place is much kinder and more gentle than that other place could even wish to be...
Welcome on over to the other side...
I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House."
~John F. Kennedy~
Economic: -9.13, Social: -7.28,
Spreading the word on the orange Oz
I've progressed from censored multiple times to timed-out number 1. My last 5 posts over "there" were just to advertise this place as the promised land for Progressives online. After my time-out is over, that's what I will do again, til time-out for 30 days.
I'm a sailor, and I've been through this online regarding sailing. I pointed out obvious lies from a boatbuilder who advertised on the website, and Cruiser's Forum kicked me out. I moved to an anti-Cruiser's Forum website, Multihulls3us.com, which turned out to be much better.
Feel the Bern!
You're just fine here cinnamon68
You're among friends...
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First Nations News
More and better birds!
Stay on track. Stay in lane. Don't throw rocks.
Excellent Birds
Yay for Gabriel
[video:https://youtu.be/VjEq-r2agqc]
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
"has life again destroyed life .........."
Peter knew in 1973 we were going to destroy ourselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5NOV0-EH0c
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho
I'm Brown Thrasher & I approve this message!
But
throwing rocks is what I DO. How else do you think I got banned years and years ago?
Carry on Macduff
No worries in these parts.
And I should note that both emails are utter bollocks.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
In Most Instances, When You Hear Such Claims
... it simply means this = "go-to place for hopeless centrists, devoid of any real political beliefs."
I cannot tell you the number of times I have read statements like, "I am so far to the left of [fill in the blanks]..." that it makes me want to throw up. Having been on DK (literally) from the beginning in 2002 - and I have a much-better-than-average memory - I always ask myself if I recall this person ever writing something that might even hint at their avowed leftism. Frequently, nothing can be found to back up that assertion.
Here's my assessment of much of DK, a graphic I created after another such silly assertion.
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
The veal pen
Jane Hamsher used to refer to centrist institutions that represented themselves as "progressive" or "liberal" as "The Veal Pen." Their purpose is to corral progressives and leftists in a safe, confined space where they can't grow strong or mature.
Please help support caucus99percent!
And then Phoenix Woman
Constantly complained about FDL on DKos.
Embedded shills.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
Phoenix Woman is one of those people
who will blame Ralph Nader for everything up to and including bad breath and the gout.
“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon
she blogged at fdl
until it died. Because she was still mad Hillary lost in 2008. Think about that. No, don't. You'll get an ice cream headache.
Very interesting!
I had not heard of Jane Hamsher or this argument. I'm going to go learn about her now! This is exactly the kind of information I joined DKos for back in the day.
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OK, I see she was the founder of FireDogLake
and she's a film producer. Wiki says she made the argument about the veal pen during the Obamacare negotiations when, in order to get it passed, they included language barring the use of funds for abortion, and strong-armed PP and NARAL into remaining silent about that.
I've been wondering why so many states succeed in passing so many anti-abortion laws with so little pushback. Is this still going on? If so, what is the interest of centrist Dems in supporting anti-abortion laws?
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
progressives
The Daily Kos and, more importantly, the Democratic party are the enemy of progressives. What is surprising is their unwillingness to admit it.
Which is why we need to found a party,
The Progressive Party.
Feel the Bern!
Welcome!
to the cool kids table...
Gold is the wealth of kings; silver is the wealth of commoners; barter is the wealth of peasants; and debt is the wealth of slaves.
Hmm, that slogan sounds a little MSNBC'y to me.
TOP: Go-To-Place for Progressives
MSNBC: Go-To-Place for Politics
Both have recently bent seriously backwards and to the right.
____________________________________________________________________________
"I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it. "
-Niccolo Machiavelli
"Sorry Hillary"
-TheJerry
So Moulitas is sending out direct mail fundraising letters.
Sad, but not surprising for a sellout. I had occasion to delve into the inner workings of a sham conservative 501(c)3 operation. It involved non-stop fundraising for the purpose of countering hyped crisis after crisis. Of the millions raised for the cause, the actual work product was basically a series of press releases. Everything else was absorbed into the owners' pocket in the form of overhead expenses paid to service companies or property management companies owned by the owner of the 501(c)3. Expenses such as rent, mailing services, payment for mailing lists, professional consulting fees, etc, ate up almost all of the donations. Not that there was any accountability to the donors whatsoever. The overhead expenses were all created for the benefit of the IRS, as the owner of that particular advocacy group had once spent six months in Federal prison for tax evasion.
Sounds like Moulitas is looking to milk his flock for all they are worth, as would any good four-flushing charlatan.
Fundraising
ValleyForger--
Thanks for that comment. It does remind me of that kind of fundraising and it comes all the time from DK--send us some money to support the daily emails, send us some money to upgrade our servers, send us some money so we can buy more servers. Given the clunkiness of DK5, I really do wonder what they're doing with the money. And it's all in crisis mode . . . if we don't ante up, life as we know it will be gone.
cinnamon68
Yes, and I have laughed and trashed those emails ever since
the switch to DK5. I told them in no uncertain terms that I hated DK5. if they think I'd facilitate it, they're dreaming. Of course with the switch to centrist echo chamber, I would have been extremely pissed now had I donated then!
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Daily Kos isn't a non-prof, last I heard
There are laws about fundraising when you are not a non-prof, even on the Internet. I wonder what bank account the donations go into, what organization and how it's organized.
Stay on track. Stay in lane. Don't throw rocks.
Even better.
A For Profit operation doesn't even have to pretend to be providing a public service. Moulitas can just pocket the money. Kind of like Exxon asking you to make a donation so they can provide you with a more efficient gas pump.
Long as he declares it and pays taxes
Yup pretty much.
Stay on track. Stay in lane. Don't throw rocks.
yeah, it's a great con.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Welcome! I spam rated and reported all TOP emails rather than
just unsubscibing.
Yahoo filters them as spam every few weeks or so regardless - but hopefully my other mail providers will be adding TOP email addresses to their global spam lists soon...
the more who report TOP emails officiallly as spam to their isp/mail providers through their browsers the greater the likelihood that will happen.
FEEL THE BERN: "But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing." - Thomas Paine
"Here I Stand, I can do no other." - Attributed to Martin Luther, 1521
You are among friends here
Have no worries.
mmmm cinnamon
KOS
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Thanks NCTim for the link to your 'open thread'
It's a prime example of your delightful, multi-layered offerings.
I know what I'll be listening to tonight.
Wishing you and sweetie all that is possible.
Thanks Janis
I like to keep people on their toes. Do they celebrate April Fools in your time zone?
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
scary stuff in that OT from March 4
Fourth Estate or Mouthpiece? A Formal Model of Media, Protest and Government Repression
Are we in the category number 4?
https://www.euronews.com/live
Welcome
It is nice to be able to freely express yourself. Have at it. No flaming trolls. Mainly supportive folks all trying our best to keep this movement rolling forward. Keep on awalkin' and keep on atalkin'. Let's push that boulder up the hill!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
So then Markos lies like Hillary
DKOS is not:
As the stated site mission and his own edicts clearly indicate. It is a "huge platform to elect Democrats". You can't have it both ways... either you're policy based or you're partisan.
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
but could he tell the truth?
A huge platform to raise money for another bike for Markos. Oh and a Tesla.
THAT RIGHT THERE IS WHAT C99 IS ABOUT !!!!!
It's the issues, not a team sport.
Friday Open Thread with a call for community action.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Props for "Foucauldian"!
I Had to Google It
...verry interesting...
I remember just last week when I bought steer manure for my garden. I told the clerk that I don't know why I'm paying for this when I could get it for free at work.
Yeah, the description rings very true. Foucauldian, it is!
Bernie is a win-win.
Steer manure!
May I borrow your euphemism?
Did the clerk laugh?
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Yes She Did
She had the good grace to humor me.
Not sure, isn't it kind of copywrited since its on the internet?
Happy 4/1.
Bernie is a win-win.
Progressive means different things to different people.
A so-called progressive attacked Bernie in one of my posts for boing a conscientious objector during Vietnam. I was cool did not call him a fucking pig, but it shows you what Hillary is creating among some who called themselves progressives.
The word is being drained of content.
Glad to see you here.
I was told at TOP that killing innocents with drones is just
a necessary part of the president's job, and that the first black president would not kill innocent brown people if it wasn't necessary.
I can't believe what the Democratic party has become.
ain't that the truth, r995!
He has to! She has to! That's the way of the world!
I really liked to see that comment in a link - wow /nt
https://www.euronews.com/live
I'll have to dig for it.
I was shocked. Maybe I'll make a diary out of it, because I am not the best searcher on that site and it was probably about a year or so ago.
don't worry digging, I hate digging for my own comments
over there a lot and never find what I was looking for. Not worth the trouble. Have a nice day and enjoy freedom from digging.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Hey I found it
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/1434131/57984615#comment_57984615
Those men in Washington wouldn't be there if they
didn't know what they were doing.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
What did you learn in school today?
"Our leaders are the finest men
And we elect 'em again and again
That's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school."
(Pete Seeger song...at least, I heard it from him.)
That's OK. I was told
That having an oligarchy is a good thing because "we the people" are too stupid to govern ourselves. In fact that's why the founding fathers wrote the constitution the way that they did.
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
I have a huge request for everyone that still must go to TOP:
If you must go, please either use Firefox or Chrome, and install an Ad Blocker, like uBlock Origin or AdBlock Plus when you visit there. Not only will it make that horribly slow site much faster, but it will block the ads, thus preventing TOP from getting ad revenue.
I've pretty much weened myself off of it. That place is a Republican-lite quagmire.
Thanks!
Thanks geebeebee
Just added the chrome adblocker plus --- holy cow what a difference an ad blocker can make. Really appreciate this helpful suggestion
No problem!
It's a win-win at TOS. Speeds it up significantly, and doesn't put money in kos' pocket!
Haha Sig..
...I totally agree.
Bernie is a win-win.
Is there an ad-blocker for Safari? n/t
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Yes, it appears so...
https://adblockplus.org/category/adblock-plus-safari/
Thanks! n/t
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Good idea. I really like IE, but I'll look for an ad blocker
I've been thinking it's fair to "pay" for the site by viewing ads, but now my support is much less enthusiastic, to say the least.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
Chrome is so much faster than IE
Try it - you'll like it!
I did, and for some reason it didn't work as fast for me
I had been told that before and tried it out. IE is much faster on my computer. I still have both, and plan to keep both on my computer, but I almost always use IE.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
Naturally,
I don't leave home without it. You gave me an idea. I'm gonna visit GOS using the name AdBlockerPlus
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Always did use an ad blocker and didn't understand the fuss
about paying for an ad-free experience. You've just explained it.
Deny the revenue! Sounds like a hashtag to me.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
Question:
A. When changing your car's oil, do you keep the radio on?
B. Have you ever felt that alien beings did weird experiments on you at night, only to wake up and find really bizarre sutures on your body?
C. If birds flock, and dogs pack, what do Sarah Palin fans do?
D. Considering that one teaspoon of the matter making up a neutron star weighs more than earth's moon, is it really worth it to save all those great Ella albums?
.
A. I should remember radio when prying off those bicycle tire rims.
B. No, but I've been having some really embarrassing dreams about blogs lately. And then there were those ant stings I can't remember.
C. Crash snowmobiles into the Iditarod.
D. I would rather devote myself to finding the logical fallacy in this question. It would take up less space.
Stay on track. Stay in lane. Don't throw rocks.
C. Babble word salad just like their esteemed leader
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
Welcome to the calm blue waters of this safe harbor!
Here you will find neither flags nor HRs.
And about Boss Markos' begging letters? dkos is progressive the way the boss' candidate is progressive--by self-proclamation. Proclamation is a tool of the boss class and the political royalty class. Also demagogues and fictional characters.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less." --Through the Looking Glass
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
I'm always a little amused
when someone announces about how mad they are because they got a hide-rate/flag on DKos.
I can't even count the number of hide-rates/flags I've gotten over the past decade on the GOS.
Dozens? Hundreds? I have no idea. I really don't.
All I can say is, "If you haven't gotten a few hide-rates/flags, then either 1) you haven't spoken your mind enough, or 2) you don't have anything to say worth mentioning."
I'm not knocking you at all. I'm just amused is all.
So you got a hide-rate. Good.
Flag Nazi's
That's what I prefer to call them. He didn't get hide rated, he got Flag Nazi'd.
Apologies to Will Safire
The Flag Monkeys. The Nattering Nabobs of Nonsense. I bet the flag junkies are also the leaders of their home owners association. Make damn sure your mailbox is paint the right color or else.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Yep!
Usually you have to make quite a few HRd comments to get sanctioned, but it's so touchy over there now that bans etc are flying pretty easily.
Doesn't matter, if enough of us come over here, we won't miss much.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Bombshell Alert!
I don't usually like to quote HuffPo, but they have an article that says that Hillary's minority support has collapsed.
I hope it sticks.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
I sense a lot of "buyers' remorse"
as the voters learn/realize just what they voted for.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Gentle? Fuck That Shit, Man
Welcome to caucus99percent, cinnamon68
You'll like here. The nuts all have keys.
And the asylum is Ours! OURS! Yee Haa!
Oh, goody, time to take my meds again.
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Vote Smart - Just the Facts - 40,000 politicians by name or zipcode
Hide ratings
I don't mean to say that I'm so delicate that I can't take an HR. It's only because in my younger days of attempting to "reform" the Democratic Party that it felt oh so familiar. If I'll just stay in and act nice and our day will come. I had stayed out of the primary fights at the orange place because it felt like those old days. But this time, there was a real viable candidate and many, many people were realizing that we can't keep electing the same DLC types. Wow! So I began thinking it was time to start speaking again. I am just beside myself when the nitwits show up in diaries such as the teacher living in his car, trying to take care of his ex- and hijack the comments for HRC.
Many thanks for the welcomes here. It feels great to be here.
cinnamon68
Just Glad to be with the Cool Nerds
Bernie is a win-win.
Welcome!
Feels good here, yes?
'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member
ha! i replied to dKos' contribution plea:
the highlighted portion is to point out that our own Shahryar is the one who made that great distinction: Shah if your reading, I put it to good use, no?
glad you found your way here.
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
OT: AB's finally working on a piece - a memoir
It's only 2400~ words so far but I think I can keep it under 40K if I don't stray off the storyline too much.
Improve the Resilience Resource Library by adding your links.
Vote Smart - Just the Facts - 40,000 politicians by name or zipcode
AB
will you post it here in a serial form?
that'd be cool.
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
Cereal form?
It's not a flaky story. ha ha.
Installments might have more effect than dropping the whole story all at once. Good idea, pf.
I can't picture how far down a page 2400 words would fall.
I hate homonyms. No, that's not true. I love homonyms. I just can't spell them properly anymore.
Improve the Resilience Resource Library by adding your links.
Vote Smart - Just the Facts - 40,000 politicians by name or zipcode
Nytol. Gotta catch some Zzzzzzzzzz.....
Improve the Resilience Resource Library by adding your links.
Vote Smart - Just the Facts - 40,000 politicians by name or zipcode
Good to see you here, cinnamon, and to see you''re getting
a warm welcome! Of course, I knew you would. Glad I could help. There are still Berners over at TOP, and it's much easier to take when we stick together behind the scenes over there.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
BTW, it seems like I've seen that fundraiser email before
I wonder if it's old boilerplate that nobody changed yet. I wonder if they will change it eventually. It is pretty much a lie now. Unless progressive=centrist.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
I lost count
...of the number of times over the years when someone (usually a relative newcomer) at DK would say, "but this is supposed to be a progressive website!" and the standard, official response always was (and still is), "this website is about electing Democrats." It is very telling that they now want to conceal or obscure that partisan orientation. Perhaps it's a sign of cognitive dissonance.
As the meaning of "Democrat" has drifted over the years, we end up where we're at now, with a party leadership that seems to have no moral compass or goal other than winning and getting campaign money and lucrative speaking/consulting gigs when the show's over.
The "go to" place for progressives? It is to laugh.
Maybe that's it - Kos is going for the lucrative after-gig
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Fund Raising
I'm glad you wrote this. And I have some more stuff I would like to get off my chests. Kos decided that Facebook and Twitter was where its at so topics that did well (at least were shared well) became more important than any post or any topic that did not share well. I thought that was a real blow in the sense that the larger world was not exactly progressive.
Second Kos raises money but we have no accounting no transparency at all with what he does with the money. We can see results like dKos5 but I have no idea if the writers get paid or if they are allowed to be union. I have no idea how much the overhead of servers and programmers cost. I don't have a clue as to advertising revenue. And he doesn't have to tell us but it might make a difference in my willingness to cough up money.
Third they have authored some god awful petitions. Petitions guarantee not to do any damn thing at all.
My rants for the day.
glitterscale