Just letting everyone know right off the bat that this is going to be half rant and half practical suggestion. You can feel free to agree or disagree on this but I am going to hold adamantly to my words. I know some of you are going to bitch and moan that what I have to say is somehow "not helping" without even taking a moment to stop and think about what I have to say, and as much as you are entitled to your opinion the irony is that it's that sort of mindset that is the catalyst for this diary in the first place. This is a long diary and I apologize, but they were all mostly necessary to make my point but please read it before commenting. Otherwise you risk crossing the realm into self-parody.
Seriously everyone I am probably in the 5th percentile of people here with regards to age at 21 years but the way everyone is acting here astonishes me to think that you all are acting like scared little children. In the last two days I've seen countless cries out to some bloggers I've never heard of (forgive me for being very new here) and from the looks of it I'm glad I've never had the opportunity to do so. I've also heard countless decrying of the merest non-adherence to everyone's mantra of the week to the point that I don't even want to read one more diary that has anything to do with Clinton or her supporters in the title. Finally, if I have to hear one more urgent whining about how we only have FIVE months left to the general election and cannot actually take a week or two to let the most resistant of former Hillary supporters come to terms with reality and start to realize for themselves that Obama is indeed the person for them to vote for. Hell even if it took them 5 months, WE HAVE FIVE MONTHS. Do we not have a lot of independents and on-the-fencers that we're going to need all that time to convince to join our cause? Why should these people be any different just because they were originally and hopefully continue to be our allies?
First off, grow the hell up with all these pleas for people to come back. This is not referring to everyone who left because of the polarization from the campaign, but to those who constantly try to hijack the party and who make threats against our chances in November. They left for their own reasons on their own free will, and from the looks of their actions I don't see why you'd want to welcome them back in the first place. If they came here and started spewing right-wing talking points and now are holding their November ballots hostage, let them! Their words and actions show their immaturity and how far away from reality and our causes they've come. People who are saying they'll write in Hillary Clinton on their ballot or will vote for McCain are the same fake-Democrats that we aren't here for. People who come here and say "I'll consider voting for Obama, but all you Obamabots have to be nice to me and pander endlessly for my vote" are dead-enders, forget them. Ignore them. Most of them are playing childish tantrums, most of them will in the end vote for Obama, the rest who the hell cares their numbers are likely only a couple thousand come November. I am not saying that we don't want their votes, but for god's sake people have a little self-respect! The whole time you keep groveling to these people is time you could have better spent telling your uncle who doesn't like McCain but is unsure about Obama what our candidate is like, or registering a new voter. You are wasting your time with these children whose ages range from 18 to 80. Let them do as they wish. If you want their vote, ignore them. All they're doing is calling for attention and asking for special treatment. Show a firm grounding that you respect and desire their support but that they are no more special than the other 300 million people in this country. They will either get over themselves or prove to have been a total waste of time in the first place. It's frankly quite pathetic that two weeks ago you were fighting with their ilk and now you want to play all nice-nice in some effort of "unity".
I quote that because there are two kinds of unity here: genuine and artificial. What's the difference? The first one is a conscious and voluntary decision to go up to someone who supported the other candidate and say "hey, you know we held some differences in our preferences and we had a few nasty words to share with each other, but you know what we have way more in common and right now we have a pretty damn good candidate to vote for in November in the name of our progressive values. Let's forgive each other and move on". The second one is this lock-step suppression of speech, pretending that anything that may in some way offend those who have the thinnest of emotional skin is somehow an act against "unity" and our chances in November.
Let's get the record straight people, you do NOT have to like Hillary Clinton. You don't have to totally forgive and forget now that she has finally suspended her campaign. You want to know what I'm doing? After last night I felt that she finally made her first great stride in reconciling with people like me, but after some of her stunts she has to reprove herself to me. But you know what, I'm giving her the chance to already. I'm not here whining about her incessantly to the point of maybe making conspiracy theories. I have my beefs with her that only pertain TO HER. I'll keep my mind open, but I expect her to do her part to ensure victory in November regardless of whether she gets the VP slot or anything else or not. But what I refuse to do is let my feelings towards her dictate everything I say or do, and I refuse to project them towards former Hillary supporters.
However, I know that there are others here who are still in their "vocal primary fighter" stage and probably need a week or two to cool down. LET THEM! Hillary just conceded yesterday and she did burn a lot of bridges. There's still going to be some vocal ranters around here, and you know what? THAT'S OKAY. Forgetting the borderline-trolling diaries/comments that are useless here, a good majority of such people actually have a valid point. If you do not want to participate in such discussion, then just ignore them and move on to the next diary that may be a lot more constructive for everyone. Their numbers are in the minority here and every single day that passes there will be LESS and less of them. It's all part of the natural process, just as is letting those who supported Hillary and are still fuming "take their time" and "cool down". Seriously, it's a disgusting double standard and I realize that Obama supporters have to keep their cool and be on board but people we are not robots, we're humans and some of our brethren here take probably a week or two to get over a primary opponent and focus totally on the November one. As a matter of fact, if you actually ignored them they'd probably rant less, and all your belittling and artificial cries for "unity" do is agitate and encourage them. Take it from me, when I'm in a raging angry mode, the best thing to do is leave me alone to my own devices and eventually I'll calm down and stop acting like an asshole. If they are sincerely being disruptive then by all means don't hesitate to put them in their place, but the vast majority are benign and really aren't worth the trouble.
Likewise, there are still those who didn't support Obama in the primary who are still bitter about something, be it her loss itself, the media, Obama or his supporters, or something else entirely. If they're not acting like spoiled children demanding everything, let them say their word. Many of them also probably have a valid point and now that the primary is over we all should be receptive to each other's REAL past grievances. That is what real unity is about, being able to sit with them and say "okay your candidate or his/her supporters did such and such and it offended me, I hope you understand that and if you're willing to hear me out I'm willing to forgive it and hope you'll reciprocate the same towards me, now let's put the past behind us and move on". Fake unity is pretending that nothing bad ever happened from January to present, and all it does is keep us bitter and whining and delays solving the real issues we have with each other.
Now for the minority of Clinton supporters who want to spout talking points or start arguments over two states, a convoluted vote count that isn't relevant (if it were, Al Gore would have won in 2000), or not what the candidates said but what a SUPPORTER on a blog said, if you're not going to be civil and approach your concerns in a positive and constructive manner, go somewhere else until you're able to. Your words and attitudes will be more appreciated elsewhere. If you're an Obama supporter who is attacking Hillary's supporters via projection or just cannot stop talking about her, go rant somewhere else if you can't keep it to the same standards.
Last but definitely not least, quit acting as if we're trying to diffuse a ticking time bomb already! We have five months, not five days. There is absolutely no rush to bring aboard every single disgruntled Hillary supporter, many of whom are still throwing tantrums and will get over it in time to rest your worries about November. Focus your attention on a supporter who is asking to extend a genuine olive branch with reciprocation, on talking to uncertain voters who weren't a part of our primary, on developing our defense mechanisms against what will be the Right Wing's smear attempts against Obama so that we can counter-attack and have something to tell those independents that they're lying about our candidate. Do something constructive, not crying for crybabies and closet racists to come back here and act pissy once again and further waste our time. When they feel ready to put down their sword and be a part of our community again, they'll return and we'll be welcoming. Until them, let them wallow in their misery alone until they're ready to approach our general election like grown-ups. Our constitution says only adults can vote, so let's not cater to metaphorical children.
One final word here. To those of you who are angry, bitter, whatever towards a candidate solely because of what some supporters said (this goes to both sides, though I see this a lot more from the kinds of former Hillary supporters I said to ignore in the first place), wherever you are: get over it and grow up. We're adults, we don't hold unnecessary grudges because we got our "little feelings hurt" and we are very capable of dealing with opinions and viewpoints that differ from our own without having to hold tantrums. Seriously the way some of you all act makes me wonder if we all need to take some summer classes back in kindergarten. We'd be PISSED if our own children acted this way, so let's hold ourselves to the same standard, already.