And it prompts my own critique of the forces at work here in this entire episode.
I am sorry, and sad (321+ / 0-)
by drational on Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 07:51:29 AM PDT
I have a very different take, on both a macro and micro level -- and the problem, I assure you, is not you. That you have felt a need to apologize so profusely is "off" in my view.
I hope some of you will read this, and discuss it, pro and con.
rhfactor+
I am both frustarted and angry at the contents of your diary here.
I am going to address my thoughts and reactions both directly to drational, and to the community at large. I have 4 main points -- I hope you'll read them - though it is long in order to express my thoughts. They concern
(1) an environment here which is moving into dangerous territory, (2) the threats drational has received, and (3) I am ashamed of this overall community for its collective tolerance of the environmental ractors which have lead to drational’s post here and intention to leave. (4) I believe drational's handling of the Greg Palast related flaps has been stellar -- not in any way lacking.
In all my years at dailykos, and I’ve been here since early in Year 1, there have been precious few projects of large scope undertaken by individuals here, joined by other volunteers, and producing meaningful and tangible results that are actionable. Some of these few examples are the organic formation of NYbri and SusanG's "Jeff Gannon" citizen investigation project, which blew the lid off that story, and then lead to the organic formation of epluribus media, based on the complete success of that project. Another is SusanG's "Rescue Rangers" project, about which an excellent diary was posted by UnitaryMoonbat explaining the genesis and development of that idea, up through its current implementation as a nightly feature of dailykos. I am sure there are other such examples, but citing them right here is not my intention. (Sincere apologies for exclusions!)
drational, what I am disgusted by is the general reception your work has received here at dKos. What I'm saddened by is yet another example of one of the site’s most innovative and persistent members whose work has been shat upon to the point that it eventually leads to that person leaving this site.
It's happened before. 2 years ago another person left -- and this person was the former National Brand Director for Starbucks company -- and he'd come to Dkos to stimulate discussion about the problems in branding of the Democratic Party -- and more importantly, he shared his thoughts about HOW to go through a complete branding analysis and process, and he set out to make that a project here at dKos. Same thing. It is so damn easy to tear down vs build. it is so easy to zoom in with laser beams to find each and every flaw in one's presentation IN REÅL TIME, without consideration for the whole, or the forward thrust of the initiative. This person was A-LIST, someone that the Dem Party would have to pay hundred of thousands of dollars to extract this knowledge and to develop a ground up branding initiative. But like many people who want to see justice in this country, he wanted to do his part -- and was willing and ready to do it for free. But the conditions and environment of the DailyKos assault-commenters lead him to pick up and leave -- not because he couldn't stand the heat: he COULD. But rather because he was spinning his wheels for weeks since there was no energy around INTENT to work with him here within these pages to bring this project to fruition and completion. Instead, primarily the naysayers would all come out and snipe and throw out uninformed comments -- as though "marketing and branding" was not a skill, but rather something "everyone knows instinctively" like brushing one's teeth. Well they're wrong, and that attitude COST us, cots the Democratic Party, cost this country.
These assaults and nitpickers create big consequences. Not always obvious. But they AGGREGATE and hit critical mass, and derail project after project, idea after idea. Seen from the sky view, it is childish and counterproductive.
drational's USApurge Email project immediately grabbed my attention, and I wrote about it here, hailing it as "seminal" in collective-action and an indication of "the next step" in online-assisted activism. And I interacted with drational. And I watched in awe as each week he dug deeper, expanded upon his original premise, discovered the real thru line to be caging, and then his dogged determination to throw complete attention to excavating emails, organizing them, examining them, deriving conclusions from the materials gathered, and then publishing them here for presentation & discussion.
I saw the Greg Palast issue -- and have watched all the energy expended on that red herring -- which is exactly what it is. And I have been saddened by it. Yeah, a flap -- because of some flaws in reporting -- and someone pointing it out. Could it have been done in better manner? probably, but WHO CARES? It's not as though he assassinated the guy. And more importantly, he thought through the issue, reflected deeply, came back and apologized to Greg and to this community for his MANNER. But the substance was never wrong. drational's been right. It's been proven. So why he has to keep going through the slings and arrows here is beyond me.
Throughout it all, I have watched drational stay focused like a heat seeking missile on the objective to expose the caging practices and to do so in a credible and completely documented manner.
In this diary I have now read at least 4 outright apologies by drational to Greg Palast and to those who have been offended in any way by drational's comments about Greg's work, as seen in these last 3-4 diaries that were published and torn apart here at DK.
Let me be clear: There is nothing at all wrong with massive disagreement, and nothing wrong at all with one being offended by statements another poster makes here at DailyKos. There is nothing at all wrong with equally passionate writing and commenting to challenge the substance of postings and comments presented here at dKos. It is in fact REQUIRED and demanded of this progressive community, in the same way that it is required of our Congress to challenge massive violations of our US Constitution, and intervene where necessary.
What I cannot tolerate however is a cancer that has been more and more evident over the years at dKos. It is predictable and demonstrable evolution at all previous online communities that experience massive growth due to SUCCESS, and then begins to assimilate whole new sets of members and constituencies and sets of issues and concerns. That is the natural flow of online communities. I've seen it repeat itself, predictably, over and over again at site after site since the BBS days, pre-web, back in mid-late 80's in L.A. The cancer that invariably sets in is as follows:
Somehow, somewhere, and there is no particular trigger point - it is cumulative like dripping water -- a point is reached where it became all right to trigger-reflex "hit & run". Not giving time to digest postings before one dives in to suck it up like a vacuum and immediately reflexively spitting out a reply. multiple replies, on multiple threads, creating an 8-10-16 hour day of constant attention to the big threads that hit the Recommended threshold.
With the place as big as it is, of COURSE there is going to be a wide array of writing and commenting styles. It's that way with only 5 people. However, the kinds of comments that have lead to drational's diary, and to this posting about it, are of a particularly nasty and counter-productive variety.
It's called SHITTING on entire efforts with one fell swoop. Throwing out baby with bathwater. Losing the forest from the trees. Spinning off onto tangents vs. the central thrust of the commentary or, in the case of drational, the initiative.
This is, to me, unacceptable. But I am one person responding personally in this instance. But it is only actionable when a community reaches that assessment, and then chooses on its own to say,
"We will not tolerate this kind of assault-rifle interaction in this community."
The very people who fall into this assault-rifle category will be the first to condemn my comments -- and -- predictably lose the big picture and instead micro-focus on a word, a phrase, a comment, a characterization, and then post to expose it -- as though this kind of vigilance is a public service! It's not. It's a public nuisance. And when it reaches the stage where it results in highly productive and innovative individuals to feel the need to pull out of this environment, the cancer is out of hand. But only we, as individuals and collectively, can say, "This is not okay" and act accordingly.
My second main point is even more serious. I am extremely saddened by the threats drational has received which are apparently of such serious magnitude that he has feared for the safety of his life and the wellbeing of his family. This is nothing short of strategized, coordinated Rovian, Lee Atwater, and Donald Segretti infiltration methods used to undermine the effectiveness of groups that have gained traction and are influencing the national stage.
I know first-hand of what drational speaks. And the reason so many of the "newcomers" to dailykos in the past 2 years had never seen me post here until suddenly a few months ago -- is because I was cyber attacked 2 years ago, after 2 years of hard citizen based media-production and messaging on the Dean campaign. And this spilled over into real world threats and harassments and everyday interferences with my life. (I posted about it in 05 after I was visited by Homeland Security and Secret Service; investigating an anonymous email sent to them telling them I was going to DC to kill the President. That was, as is proper, taken seriously and thus investigated. Within 24 hours it was completely dropped and I was cleared of all suspicion, but I now have a permanent Secret Service record, and this is only one result of these kinds of immersive attacks.)
Thus, I am frustrated by, and even angered by, the idea that drational would have threats to his wellbeing. This is always a CLEAR SIGN that someone is very very effective -- and thus needs to be harassed and removed in whatever manner necessary. This is the way of the world. Whether it's "Abraham, Martin, John & Bobby" or Howard Dean or, in smaller ways, me - during the Dean campaign, or a drational, or a Steve Gillaird (death threats even when he was in Intensive Care!!) and some other innovators I know of, this is not just very disturbing, it has to dealt with.
Meteor Blades posted a seminal FrontPage story about a month ago regarding seething anger under the surface, and asked provocatively whether people believed we would see violence in the next 2 years. I "voted yes. Not because I’m a fatalist or fear mongerer -- hardly! -- But rather because when so much business & money is at stake in a Presidential election which could shift the power in America, the forces that are against progressivism and democracy get panicky, and use any and all means to divide & conquer, and infiltrate and destroy civilian resistance to the corporate interests who drive the Republican party.
It is unacceptable that drational be targeted with threats and public exposure. And it is up to THIS community to stand up to this, and shut that down asap. If there is someone at bradblog intent on invasively infiltrating drational's life, I ask that you do whatever you can to counter influence that and neutralize those who are out to destroy.
Finally, I want to apologize to drational on behalf of this entire community -- even though I do not represent it -- and I don't even think I represent any kind of majority view anymore (which is fine). But it is just shameful that a community can allow the kind of behavior to happen here that results in extremely hardworking and dedicated people who take on difficult projects and slog through them, and invest tremendous time & energy into creating end products of value to us and the progressive cause, only to then end up feeling unwelcome and assaulted to the point where the costs outweigh the benefits of continued participation.
And it shameful that this man felt the need to apologize 4 or 5 times in his diary here for things he has consistently been very candid and straight forward about.
I marvel at drational's big brain. And his ability to hold a big picture, while tunneling down to the smallest if nodes to ferret out critical data to them plug into an analysis. I commend him for the groundbreaking work he initiated here, and carried through in multiple iterations and updates and entire generations of thought and analysis. People like this are not a dime a dozen. They are more like a dime out of 10,000, and it would be smart for this community to reflect on the VALUE proposition brought to this site by people who sometimes run against the flow -- as drational suddenly found himself doing.
(*Aside: I for sure run against the flow, not because I like to, but because it is in pursuit of a consistent thru line of belief and life experience. It doesn't mean I am right, or that my views should be welcomed. All I am saying is I'm not going to tone down for the acceptance of some elements of this community. No one should.)
drational, I am not going to "encourage you to stay" because you have demonstrated yourself to be consistently a thorough thinker -- and you have articulated in this diary a very clear thruline of your experience, motivations, and actions over the past 2-3 months. And you reached a conclusion that this place is not right for you. I am saddened by it, as I've said. But truth be told, and I say this neutrally, it’s quite possible that this ISN'T the place where innovative ideas and action are well embraced. (Note to self: Link to Al Gore's quite from FAST COMPANY recent profile re "pre-dawn" mentalities in political realm, vs the entrepreneurial realm). I hope however that you keep one foot in... as did kid oakland some time ago, when he left, but returned in a more limited and focused way.
Your brainpower and clarity is such an asset and I just want to say I am sorry you have experienced this reaction at dailykos, and I hope you take some time to unplug a bit, regenerate, tend to your family, and stay in touch with those who have participated in and admired your passionate and productive work. Clear your head, and then figure out what draws you and your talent and drive for contribution in the realm of progressive activism, and then re-engage when that is clear.
One conclusion I think it is fair to say one can draw from all of this is: that
DailyKos is more of a news-processing community than an action-generating site.
That’s not bad, but rather just a clarification of what it is, and where its strength lies. I for one have suggested time and again that Hunter and those responsible for dKos 4.0 strongly consider UI features that support and help enable ACTION PROJECTS to be undertaken here more regularly. What I have received in reply has been a big zero. Again and again. That in itself speaks volumes about what dkos wants to be, and what it doesn’t want to be. And that's fine.
Finally: Drational – Your steerage thru the Greg Palast issue of some flawed reporting has been stellar, in my view. In real-time it is impossible to get every step in a process right. When some in the community responded unfavorably to your pointing out Greg’s sloppiness in a few areas, misinterpreting it as some kind of assault on the integrity of Palast's investigative body of work, you came back and addressed this, and clarified that Greg’s body of work has been magnificent, and daring, and persistent – and that it provided a basis for your own exploration of caging. And you've apologized repeatedly and profusely. IT IS ENOUGH. :)
None of us are perfect, and for you to stand your ground against what others feel to be "anathema" -- disparaging a sacred cow! – is fantastic. It is the correct thing to do, and each time you have been hurled assaults, you have gone back to the data, digging even further, to ensure you’ve got it right, and that you weren’t overstepping your assumptions.
Your most recent work in collaboration with epluribusmedia is just a masterpiece. That it is not recognized as such here, by many (but thankfully by some, YES), doesn’t matter in the least. Those who stop and reflect – vs pounce – would see your thruline as clear and sound -- and professional. You saw a need, you jumped in to address it, you rallied support, you produced results, you published a tool, you informed the Oversight Committees, they have used your work, you have gotten feedback from this community, you have refined your premise, you took on an even more difficult task, and again, rather than just bitch and drive-by shoot, you went and did massive homework, pressing into your family time, so you could then PRODUCE. And that you did. It is far more than most people will do in a lifetime in terms of project initiation and completion – IN A VOLUNTEER ENVIRONMENT where there are no support staff or resources.
My hat is off to you – and thank you for your massive contribution to ensuring a just and free society in America.
Thanks to all who read this completely, or even partially. I feel better having articulated it.
rhfactor