Hello All:
I aint lookin' for no trouble here, and I don't aim to say nothin' bad about Hillary Clinton, or any other member of team Clinton. I was just spending a lazy saturday afternoon lurking away on the internets, getting my political fix: you know, bouncing back and forth between Kos and MyDD etc, after waking up early (for me) to watch Hillary's remarkable, commendable speech today.
What followed was a journey into darkness.
I've been watching the epic blog battle between Kos and MyDD with great interest ever since the boycott erupted. It was nice to see all the reconciliation posts today on both blogs, but it was pointed out that someone by the name of Alegre was missing.
I recognize Alegre from lurking myDD. This diarist was always writing bad stuff about Obama... advocating for Clinton by way of really hammering away at Obama. I read these posts and comments with interest. It was strange - such similar overall platforms and goals with the candidates, yet so much vitriol and bile between supporters. It was fascinating in a surreal, headtrip sort of way: a real study in human psychological perception and projection. Is this what people mean by cognitive dissonance?
I even lurk over at Hillaryis44 once in a while, just to see what it's like - get a view from a different angle. Call it morbid fascination. Mind you I never post, just read.
Anyway, one thing lead to another today and I came across some links. One to Alegre's site, where she appears to be weighing her options. Admirable, I think, seeing as how she was one of HRCs fiercest advocates on the blogs. I figured maybe the calls on this site and MyDD for her to return may have melted her heart a little bit. What the hell do I know anyway? I was just making the rounds, looking for reactions to Hillary's speech today.
Arriving at Hillaryis44 (morbid fascination I tell you! I don't take Hillaryis44 very seriously after reading this excellent diary by IAmNobady.) Reading through the comments - unanimously portraying Barack Obama as evil incarnate and vowing one and all to vote Republican (wow, just - wow!) - I came across this acronym - P.U.M.A. I wondered what it stood for. I clicked around until I found it, in a terrible, wretched dungeon of hate and malice called NoQuarter. No link. It's a very bad dark place and it frightened me. Yuck.
P.U.M.A. - "Party Unity My Ass".
Or, more seriously and more recently "People United Means Action". From there, I found a blogger named Riverdaughter - apparently an ex-Kossack and none too fond of this site - in fact, "the great orange satan" is apparently public enemy #2 behind the antichrist himself: our Democratic nominee.
Geez! I've seen a lot of hate on the nets - the nets are a repository for all kinds of darkness in the human psyche that usually remains shackled just below the surface in meat space - but wow. Damn. Zoinks! The unfettered hatred and suicidal wrath toward Obama among these Pumas is astounding, spectacular, terrifying.
I hope it fizzles, because what I saw today was a journey into a very dark, scary place. Yes, yes there has been plenty of animosity going the other direction ("Hillary Hate", one of the least elegant neologisms spawned by this primary). I have a few theories about how the hate got so out of control and where it comes from, but as I said, I ain't looking for no trouble. I don't want to get bitten by James Carville, let a lone a bloodthirsty PUMA!