Take the analogy any way you want; the reason it came to mind when I pondered this diary was mainly for this:
We can't go on together with suspicious minds. And we can't build our dreams on suspicious minds.
Really, seriously, Elvis is right: we're divided and we aren't going to build our dreams on suspicious minds. And I do think our goals and dreams are more aligned than most seem to believe. So can we please stop tearing each other apart? The campaign season is coming up and we've got a lot of important work to do giving Obama a Congress that will actually work with him; yelling at each other doesn't further that goal.
Proceeding from the assumption that no one is innocent, I am asking everyone to check themselves the next time they're composing an incendiary comment. Don't get me wrong; goodness knows withering sarcasm is one of my favorite things. Sometimes, pwnage can be epically hilarious. But there are lines that should not be crossed and I hope I can get people to agree with me on at least that much.
1.) I am sick and fucking tired of accusations of shillery, paid or not, from both sides of the great divide. As Adam B and others have said over and over, trying to ferret out infiltrations, real or imagined, is more damaging to the community than the infiltration itself. I think the dkos community can spot the real fakes well enough and given the disparity of opinion here amongst bona fide liberals, what really is the difference? Bullshit gets shot down, whether it's from a shill or not.
So can we please, pretty please stop accusing those who don't agree with us of being on someone's payroll, a White House operative, or otherwise nefarious? Please? In your heart of hearts, you know it's a bullshit cop-out, anyway.
2) Nobody here is a mindreader. Nobody here knows the innermost workings of Obama's/Kossack A's/Kossack B's thoughts, goals and desires. And so comments along the lines of "Obama wants to screw the middle class," "Obama hates X," etc., are needlessly inflammatory and simply serve no purpose whatsoever. Comments that accuse other Kossacks of posting a diary with the express intent of suppressing activism and the like are equally gratuitous in their hatred and just plain galling to boot.
Nobody here at dkos is the enemy; that'd be Republicans.
So can we please, pretty please, stop ascribing all manner of ill will, evil machinations and devious motivations to the statements and actions of Obama and/or those who disagree with us?
The hyperpersonal criticisms are just over the top lately. That goes for broad aspersions of groups as well. "Obama supporters are X," "Obama haters are X," "apologists, appeasers," and "naderite scum, fairweather democrat," etc., are all equally inane.
I must confess a certain fondness, though, for "Debbie Downer Dem" and I actually have no problem with "Obamabot;" neither attacks a person's character, so they don't convey the same invective as the other epithets. Why do I mention this silliness? Because it's a great example of my next point: no matter how many derogatory nicknames you can come up with for the other side, there are just as many for you. Any generalized characterization made by you can easily be turned around and applied to you. The net result of which, to use a sports metaphor, is a tie, but really, the net result is fuck all except perfectly avoidable unpleasantness.
3) There is way too much opinion and prognostication being passed off as fact 'round these parts. By all means, state your opinion proudly and point us to whatever references led you to that conclusion. Just don't forget that it's your opinion, however well founded it may be, and not already a fait accompli.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
So can we please, pretty please make a conscious effort to be less editorial and hyperbole-laden with our analyses and commentary? Please? Words mean things; they're not just filler on the page. If we can't even agree on what's real, we've got serious problems.
So there's my plea and suggestions for a more focused and less divided Daily Kos. I would also like to quickly reiterate Doc Zombie's recent point about obsessing over HRs, because he's absolutely right; HRs, ratings abuse and the subsequent squabbling about both are truly obnoxious, reaching epic proportions, and just could not be less productive. And there's a whole lot of ratings abuse going around every which way. I don't want to belabor the point, so I will just refer, once again, to Hunter's glorious Tao of Troll Ratings diary.
To Troll Rate something has exactly one meaning. When you Troll Rate something, as a trusted user, you are stating that the comment should be made invisible to all site users. You're saying that the comment is so bad -- so disruptive or damaging to the community -- that it isn't worth even a debate, but should be deleted from the discussion as being simply inflammatory, simply off-topic, or simply a lie.
Remember that, because that is the only use of the troll rating. It is an editorial vote to delete a comment from the conversation.
Conversely, there is one particular reason troll ratings should never be used: to express disagreement with a poster's opinion.
There are a number of things which very clearly constitute "trolling", and which should be troll rated (and therefore deleted from the conversation) quite legitimately.
* "Democrates suk" or any of the other derivations of true trolling by those of enfeebled brain. Don't argue, just zap them. More on this in a bit.
* Proven-false information, conspiracy theories, or debunked talking points.
* Personal attacks on other site users, including following them from thread to thread.
I excised some of the items from his list, in the interest of saving space. They were obvious ones, anyway, like don't out people (that needs to be said!?!?!) and to HR advertising spam and such. But I will take this opportunity to point out that uprating comments which are justifiably HR'd is ratings abuse.
So please, pretty please, can we agree to put an end to at least the most egregious of the hyperpersonal pie fighting? Because, again, Elvis is right: We can't walk out.