TOP and Real People
I am still at DKos because of Street Prophets, PWB Peeps, Caregiving, Native American and other groups on KOS who are not political or Front Page. These are people who had a Community Quilt made for me when I was struggling with my older brother's death and trying by myself to get the house cleaned and sold. These are the people who gave me the money to move when I was forced from my apartment because I asked for help for my disabled brother. They have paid rent for people, paid doctor's bills, donated thousands of dollars and time to help others.
I cringe everytime I read blanket condemnations of everyone on DKOS. Their are so many real and loving people there who are not part of KOS and the Hillary thugs. Their are people like Meteor Blades, Ojibwa, Sara and Anne of the quilts. Their are people who let me cry on their shoulders when like now I'm so shaky and burned out with caregiving that keep me going. I wrap myself in the quilt that Sara and Anne made with the donations and messages of love and hope and it helps.
By all means call out Kos and his thugs but there are parts that are good and worthwhile and frankly we have no place to go. I love this place but you can barely keep up with the political refugees. You don't have room for Street Prophets. You don't have room for the Native American groups. Their are people there that I check to see if I need to try and find a couple dollars to spare to keep them going. You don't have the room for all of us yet.
Go after KOS all you want but remember their are thousands who are not Front Pagers and are doing good for others and we have no other home yet. If this place can grow to the point where we can all migrate I'll do my share to get people over here but in the meantime don't ask us to be homeless. Our voices still need to be heard and until we can safely migrate all our diaries and members somewhere else the only place we can raise our voices is TOP.
Comments
People on Daily Kos have helped me, too.
The community there, and the guilt I felt at leaving all the people who have helped me either monetarily or emotionally in the past, kept me at TOP much longer than I should have stayed. And there are some really excellent people on Dkos that may never come over here, I get that. So, I do understand what you're driving at here.
However, I'm not going to allow guilt to keep me a place that makes me miserable and tells me I have nothing to offer the Democratic Party. In the end, I made a personal choice to leave based on the climate there and I do not regret my decision. In fact, I'm much happier now that I've left.
I love it here, and I don't miss it there. You are completely and totally allowed to still have a presence there and to cringe at what people write here about TOP. I'm glad you still have connections there, and I'm glad that it still works for you. That's excellent, and I mean that.
I would recommend that you skip the diaries here that diss Dkos, but they're probably not going away anytime soon.
I miss Colorado.
P.S. Your quilt is really pretty and Sara and Anne
should be sainted. For realz.
I miss Colorado.
Fair enough. Thanks for the welcome & well-said reminder.
Many of us weren't very involved in the less-political or apolitical aspects of TOP--or not involved at all--and for us there's really no reason to brave the banal toxicity there. Many others of us were involved in those things though, and the groups you've mentioned are just as real and important--and as progressive--as the more-overtly political community there. I truly believe the TOP political community is dying or dead, but you're right Michelewin, that never has been the entire story of the site. No one at C99 should feel pressured to leave behind friends and community that still matter to them.
Hillary Clinton 2016: I'm a proud progmoderate!
All that matters ...
Thanks Phil, for your affirmation of michelewin's reminder, that engaging with what still matters is a genuinely noble quest.
Pixie and Her Quilt
Of course Pixie says the quilt is her's.
A better view of the whole quilt.
A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. Oscar Wilde
FYI - Sara R & Ann (winglion)
Have been having trouble wading thru the primary wars at TOP to get new Community Quilt stories up.
If anyone knows someone who could be helped by a quilt and its messages, please let Sara or Ann (winglion) know, they are members here, too!
www.Angie4Congress.com
#StrongerTogether for a better future for OUR posterity
I hear what you're saying, but
it's kind of like someone defending attending a conservative evangelical church that preaches homophobia, anti-abortion zealotry and prosperity gospel non-sense but does a bit of nice charity work here and there.
Whether it's here, Reddit, Facebook groups or any of the other myriad options out there, people can migrate their communities elsewhere. Clicking on TOP is putting money in Markos' pockets. I will not do it.
actually......
Actually, it's like having attended such a church from "way back when" it believed in doing what Jesus talked about doing, but over time swapped Jesus for Calvin, Knox, Marion "Pat" ROBert$on, and Rousas Rushdoony. Meanwhile, another church has opened up which is still teaching and acting that good, old-fashioned, unadulterated Gospel Jesus you first fell in love with so many years ago, so you started going there instead. You know there are a few people left at "the old place" who still walk the real walk and talk the real talk.
The solution in both our church analogy and the blog situation is identical: get the rest of the "good guys" over here to the new place.
This is, in fact, more critical here, as we need to get the "good guys" from TOP over here on the rescue ship before TOP sinks like a fucking lead Zeppelin, which on its current trajectory it will, soon. Quantcast doesn't lie.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Best I Can
I'm doing the best I can. Some are coming over but you need to be patient.
A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. Oscar Wilde
It is ok to go there. I still go to BNR
and may drop in at Black Kos. Of course there are many good people there and many are appalled at what Markos has done.
In the end, I am not boycotting TOP. I don't care if Markos makes money or gets great status as a political actor. I am neither for him nor against him. I understand they have a big payroll -- 45 or so employees, including the front pagers. Those are jobs and families. An empire.
I don't go there much anymore -- only to rec BNR lately and then log off --
Because the place is toxic to me.
The hatred and insults makes me unhappy. Leaving there makes me happy. It's as simple as that.
No offense intended, michelewln!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Love your pictures
Thanks for posting those. Such strong, vibrant colors! And the messages filled with love.
You shouldn't feel pressured to leave those communities behind, they are support for many people who need it. They are what always made Dkos a wonderful place and this is why I felt so much anger and anguish when I no longer felt welcome there (that was developing long before the Ides, for me). if you still have supportive friends and network there, make use of it and just stay out of the Primary Wars.
Other c99'ers still participate on DKos, there is a wide range of opinion about that. Because it's so personal there are strong feelings about it, but in my opinion nobody here should feel required to adopt a certain position. We (I hope) are independant and tolerant thinkers, not cultists or purists.
I also have a caregiver quilt, cherished.
And most of the signatories disappeared long ago. I was a MOTley Crew member. Some have migrated here, some I have bookmarked. But I can't take venom and random punishment anymore.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
There are some really good, non-political writers on Kos
Ojibwa and many others. Unfortunately they've been completely buried by the slime Kos brought in. It's not really fair to them. They'll get more attention after the election is over, no matter who wins.
Beware the bullshit factories.
Very nice quilt.
Just because some people feel differently about dk doesn't mean you have to. If what they say doesn't apply to your friends, you should disregard it. They are your OPOL and LD.
Very nice quilt.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
I am still at both places, plus Facebook. I've mentioned this
once before: I think some people are cold turkey types and others are wean-off-gradually types. Neither is better than the other. Spend your time as it suits you. Many of us will see each other around both places.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.