Let's start this conversation with a statement we think everyone who comments on Daily Kos can agree with.
The atmosphere, tone, and standards of Daily Kos posting have degenerated to an unhealthy and deeply personal level. The once high standard of accountability and accuracy in Daily Kos comments is now a thing of the past.
Charges of racism, sexism, blind hatred, blind devotion, hysteria, tantrums, childishness and pony wanting...and literally every other personal insult imaginable are thrown about like candy. Almost none of them are backed up when challenged, and many can't be backed up at all. The use of insults and abuse roundly condemned in the Real World have become the de rigueur stock in trade of the warring political factions at Daily Kos and have by and large taken the place of substantive debate. When this is accepted as the standard of 'debate,' real, substantive, debate becomes impossible.
Any and all comments based on fact, reason and logic are instantly rendered irrelevant when they are responded to with personal attack.
And make no mistake about it: This is a political tactic used among political factions, exploiting personal animosity for political gain.
In the many months since President Obama first emerged as a candidate in the primaries, the people fighting this political battle for control over the content of the diary section of Daily Kos have made it personal. They've made it personal because personal attacks, and charges of various isms, can be used to discredit their political enemies. They use these personal attacks and charges to try to make their political opponents less credible, and thus less politically powerful.
It does not matter whether they have the acumen or knowledge of the history of political tactics needed to realize that this is what they are doing. It does have a history. It started with Nixon/Segretti, got upped to weapons-grade efficiency during the reign of Reagan/Bush/Atwater, and did indeed, with the aid of Fox News, become THE standard of political conversation under Bush/Rove.
These political tactics have a name: Character Assassination and the Politics of Personal Destruction.
For decades now, Americans have been raised on this model of political attack. Perhaps those who have known nothing else accept it as normal. Perhaps they accept it as a legitimate form of political "discourse."
WE do not accept it.
WE being a decidedly non-secret group of posters here at Daily Kos who have -- in desperation at the lack of policing both by the moderator of this blog and the community at large -- taken the step of banding together to fight back against these tactics, and to fight back against accepting of them as the community standard here.
WE contend that one faction consistently uses these tactics, as well as the tactics of distraction and derailment, to gain political advantage, and to attack their political opponents.
WE freely admit that, in a years-long battle against these unfair and despicable Rovian tactics, at least some of us have reciprocated in kind. And in so doing, made ourselves part of the success of those tactics. Because, as we all know from watching eight years of Bush/Rove, these tactics work.
They are VERY difficult to counter while maintaining one's own integrity and not descending to the same level. And when even one person in a discussion cannot counter such attacks without responding in kind, the downward spiral that has led us to the current environment at Daily Kos is continued. The lowering of all thought and debate to the lowest common denominator, mere insult, IS the goal of the tactics. We insist on higher standards, for ourselves and for others.
Our Mission Statement:
The intent of this group is to demand that Dkos use fair rules for ALL and to establish as a basic standard that NO ONE and NO GROUP will be allowed in comments to personally attack or uprate attacks on the character of any member of DK at any time. All arguments, civil or uncivil, must be made on content and not on character. Comments attacking the character of another commenter must be subject to enforced disciplinary action.
One set of rules, clearly articulated and equally applied.
We have NO intention of, and no interest whatsoever in, censoring, suppressing, or even limiting legitimate political speech. That is the goal of the faction using these tactics.
This faction's only intent is to suppress all legitimate criticism of the current Democratic Party and the current President of the United States. They are willing to use any tactics, even the tactics of Karl Rove, to achieve that goal.
In fact, since their goal is only to shut down criticism, not to foster debate or mount a true defence against that criticism, their goal inevitably leads them to exactly those tactics. These Rovian tactics are designed to shut down debate, and have no other purpose. And so they have been adopted by those who have that as their goal, as the only effective means of achieving that goal.
WE believe that when character assassination and the Politics of Personal Destruction are eliminated -- when content, fact, logic and reason are the standards of political discourse -- we win the debate. We are so confident of that fact, we are willing to submit ourselves to a rule that disciplines and if necessary bans posters for the offense of attacking the character of fellow Kossacks.
None of us are claiming we will be perfect in the future. ALL of us are more than willing to be subject to stricter enforcement of existing rules, and to abide by and do our best to live up to these new standards -- up to and including being banned ourselves. To us, it is well worth the risk.
And so we ask ALL participants at Daily Kos (in our role as community moderators) -- and we petition the Moderator at Daily Kos -- to adopt and enforce this new basic standard of debate and discourse.
We are open to discussion on the details of how best to establish and codify that standard, suggestions of rule changes, and suggestions of enforcement by the management of Daily Kos. We hope to raise exactly those issues in future diaries.
WE invite you to join us through statements in comments.
One set of rules, clearly articulated and equally applied
Signed,
buhdydharma
Burned
Clammyc
Colorado is the Shiznit
DelawareDem
eugene
Heart of a Quince
Jerome a Paris
Lady Libertine
Nada Lemming
Nightprowlkitty
NYCeve
TheFatLadySings
MinistryofTruth
slinkerwink
TheMomCat
Predictor
teacherken
TomP
willibro