I have published around 70-odd Diaries. The have ranged from minor pieces that attracted little attention and, upon reflection, probably deserved even less, to Diaries that have soared past 500 recommends. As I said, a mixed bag.
Never before, in circumstances even remotely close to today's have I ever even considered Deleting a Diary.
The reasons will be explained below. If you are interested, and if you give a damn, let's find out why.
I am generally not given to either flowery hyperbole, nor much in the way of exaggeration. I write, sometimes well, sometimes not so well about subjects that interest me and, from some of the feedback, appear to interest others.
Of my total number of Diaries, maybe six have made the Rec List, and a similar number carry the much coveted (by me) Rescued Tag. I try to participate in the Diaries of others as much as I can, and I enjoy a "spirited discussion". I am, after all one of the more ... socialist ... Liberals around here.
I do not make hasty or rude comments. I rarely call out others except for the most egregious of offences, and most of my Hide Rates stay firmly in the locker ... although I "help out" occasionally.
All in all, I am you. An average Kossack who values the existence and nature of Daily Kos, giving where I can, contributing a little and often, and learning much more from you than I will ever be able to give back.
I ask no more than to have my Diaries treated with the same respect that I treat yours. I do not feel aggrieved, nor seek to do any other than persuade people to my point of view, even changing my view if your points are better, or better argued than mine. It happens and I am not shy about saying so.
In my five years here I haven't caused so much as a ripple. With the exception of one minor instance of HR abuse, I have made nearly 4500 comments without collecting a donut. Whether that means I am lucky, or insignificant, or simply that I choose my words carefully is for others to judge; I simply state the facts.
So it came as a bit of a surprise to me that a Diary I wrote today was received with such ferocious venom. I do not say that lightly, ferocious is just how it felt. It was a strange and unsettling feeling which was, I admit, a little to do with the unfamiliarity of the new layout, but way more to do with the tone of the comments. I can use prose to stir feeling, usually positive as I have in the past, never had much in the way of negative feedback. I know the power of words to thrill, to dismay, to anger and even to provoke, and I choose not to anger or provoke unnecessarily because I have rarely found that to be helpful.
The Diary concerned had an interesting comment thread, and that was the sole reason for it's deletion. The Tip Jar had about 15 Tips, about 10 of whom left reasoned responses while recommending the Diary. All pretty normal. What was not normal was that the number of comments passed 220, nearly all, including, I'm afraid, some of mine, nothing whatsoever to do with the content of the actual Diary, and everything to do with what a small group of Kossacks "thought" the Diary was about.
I have seen Diaries like that before. They are always about any one of a few subjects and mostly we know what those subjects are:
Israel/Palestine
Barack Obama - Fearless Leader or Traitor to the Cause
Racism and White Privilege
Gun Control
Anything by one or three Authors :) .. Not usually including me!
Pooties.
Not really Pooties, I just threw that in for giggles.
It seems that there are subjects that we -don't want to discuss- some of us are not prepared to discuss in good faith. Worse than that, it appears that those unwilling, or unable to engage in open and honest discussion will stop at very little to prevent others having or expressing a view.
From thread-jacking to the outright hijacking of an entire comment thread, a small group of people can, and do, disrupt the discussion to the point where a discussion cannot be held. I imagine that they then high five each other for a job well done.
I have seen this happen to others and not liked it. I have now experienced it happening to me, and the feeling I am left with is a deeper understanding of why the Right make so many gains. It is because we cannot agree to be civil even to each other, so why would any Independent voters listen to us?
Don't, not even for a New York second, think that I am complaining about my treatment here. I am not. I feel, on the contrary, privileged to be allowed this setting. I am even open to the suggestion that my Diary sucked, and deserved everything it got, and me along with it. No, scratch that, whatever my Diary deserved, I did not deserve the nasty, almost vitriolic comments that were made, nor did those few who stuck around trying to help where they could. Neither do any of the other Diarists that are similarly treated.
So my question is a simple one.
We have a shiny new home, full of lot's of terrific features which we are, as yet, only dimly grasping the benefits of. We have been given a platform well capable to adding enormously to our ability to educate, discuss, inform and get elected some better Democrats. I am asking What kind of Daily Kos do we want?
Do we want a Dkos where folk will not comment, or publish, for fear of being harangued, a Dkos where people simply leave, sometimes in a blaze of inGlory, at other times just by not visiting any more. A Dkos where small groups of folk can work themselves up into all of a Twitter, then descend as a pack to stifle debate? Or do we want a functioning and accessible resource where we welcome those we agree with, and those we don't, and engage both those parties in as positive a manner as we are able?
This matters. I know it's meta, but meta matters. If we can't put our own house in order then we simply don't deserve to be taken seriously. We are taken seriously. I know it doesn't feel like that sometimes, but it is no accident that Daily Kos is regularly singled out by national opponents for criticism. We should embrace that and welcome it, because it means they are scared of us. They are right to be scared of us.
When we reduce ourselves to fighting like "alley-pooties", the other side wins. You can almost hear the laughter from the Fox Newsroom.
I'm done now, with my mini-rant. I will, probably tomorrow, restore my natural even-temper and return to posting as usual. But tonight I am pissed that a group of people who are supposed to be Liberals, trashed a Diary. Today it was my Diary and other days it has been different groups, and different Diaries. Y'all know exactly the ones I mean.
I am going to Publish, then go to bed. Sleep helps. If the whiny bunch who came around earlier and spoiled a decent chat want to avail themselves of the opportunity again, please do. You guys have already made it clear what kind of Daily Kos you want, and I have nothing further to say to you.