I had it all planned out. I was going to do a nice, friendly, and hopefully helpful diary today. I was going to teach you how to grow tomatoes organically and how to save money on expensive herbs and spices by growing your own. And now you've gone and done it.
I was even gonna have photos with it! Pretty, relaxing, inspiring photos that are pleasing to look at as well as illustrative of what I was going to write about.
But you had to go and make this necessary.
So instead of reading a diary from me today that is both leisurely and educational, you're gonna get yet another meta rant -- and I already do way too much of that already.
Did you ever think it was going to get worse than it was during the primaries? I didn't. Hell, I wish we were still in Edwards vs. Those Other Guys and Gal mode right now. My blood pressure would be lower.
And the real unsatisfying bastard of it is, we won. I'd fully expect all this caterwauling if John McCain were propping up his cranky, pale legs up on the Oval Office desk, trying in vain to remember where he set his coffee that was there just a second ago, goddammit.
Stupid c*nting coffee, all tarted up with cream and sugar that I didn't have for five and a half years, my friends.
Anyway, but that's not the case. McCain isn't president, and instead we made history. Not only that, but we stomped a mudhole into the already reddened asses of the Grand Ole Party, sending them off to wander in the wilderness and mutter into their chests, occasionally stopping so we can point and laugh at them and tease them with reminders of how they were going to be a "Permanent Majority."
Now we're fighting over the man who made all this possible, President Barack "Fucking" Obama. And yes, I do think he's awesome. I'm not gonna fault you if you disagree, but I do think that indeed.
The division breaks down mostly like this. You've got pragmatists and idealists. I've written about this division before. It's the true I/P division here on DKos.
Sometimes I side with one, sometimes the other. But the thing most don't want to acknowledge, especially not in the heat of an argument that you simply must be right about is that we need both sides.
We need the pragmatists to remind us that the wheels of politics turn slowly, and that change is a hard thing to just pull out of thin air.
We need the idealists to remind us why we're fighting in the first place, and that some things are worth agitating for until we get what we want.
We need both of them, all the time, working together, talking things over like grownups.
Let me describe to you what I don't want this site to devolve into...
User 1: You know, Obama is doing a great job with Issue 1. I'm really glad he's our president!
User 2: Issue 1 is meaningless without progress on Issue 2! That's the issue for me. You're just a mindless Obamabot, and you're not a True Progressive unless you care about Issue 2.
And end scene. I also don't want this site to devolve into this...
User 3: Obama is totally ignoring Issue 3. He said he would do something about Issue 3! This is NOT change we can believe in!
User 4: How can you say that after how hard he fought on Issue 4?! You're a loudmouth malcontent and a dirty fucking hippie!
And, scene.
I know, I know. I'm asking for civility? On the Internet? Surely I jest. Well, I'm not joking, and don't call me Shirley.
And since I'm feeling particularly saucy today, I'd like to suggest you do one more thing, or at least consider it. If you've got an issue that you're particularly juiced up about, and you feel it's being ignored (or that the president's stance on it is wrong), think about the best way to apply pressure on that issue.
I'm betting the best answer is not to start a fight online. A better idea might be to write a member of Congress, or a letter to a local paper, or to make a call to your Senator. There's a lot of possibilities. Use your imagination.
A dog will not shit where he sleeps. A lot of us live here on Daily Kos, and there's a lot of shit. Which means dogs have better manners than some of us.
Now try to get along, channel your frustrations into something productive, and maybe next time we can talk about something more pleasant, like gardening.