To survive here a long time, one needs to do an awful lot of holding one's tongue. I generally think that's okay, because I STRONGLY support this site's central purpose of electing more and better Democrats! I'm VERY active in local politics supporting Democrats, and I've contributed A LOT to national campaigns for Democrats.
But damn if this site doesn't piss me off frequently with folly, bigotry, and ignorance, which should be ostracized on a supposedly reality-based site.
I just want to register my objection to some recent posts.
1. Do we really need to have so many diaries from front-pagers (one in particular, of course) that attack the Catholic church? As I've said many times, the Catholics are the largest electoral bloc in the United States (more than 25%), they vote more than most groups, and they almost always vote for the D. If the purpose of the site is to elect Democrats, is it really wise to go so far overboard in attacking their largest constituency on a regular and systematic basis? I think that's really stupid.
2. I want to register that I'm disgusted by the diaries in response to the death of Joe Paterno. I had a rescued diary a few weeks ago about a dear friend who died, who had been sexually assaulted as a child and suffered lifetime serious distress over that. I get it. Nonetheless, the attacks on Paterno were wrong, before he was even in the grave. It's basic human decency. It reflects very poorly on this so-called community.
3. Today there were many diaries mocking U.S. Senator Rand Paul for claiming he was "detained" by TSA at an airport in Tennessee. As I explained in some posts that were ignored while the fact-free posts were uprated extensively by the Obama can do no wrong clique, as I see it, the evidence shows, IMO, that he really was arrested and it really was unconstitutional. He's a very bad man and a very bad senator, but he happens to be right on this. I'm disappointed at the herd mentality of this site, based on what I've seen so far on this.
In particular, as you can easily see with one Google search, Paul claims that TSA employees (who are mighty damn low-ranking federal officials) yelled at him and ordered him into a cubicle where he was forbidden to use a phone and forbidden to leave. Not long after that, they "permitted" him to be escorted outside the airport by armed TSA and local law enforcement. That's an ARREST and it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. One has to stand on principle. Rand Paul is maybe the worst asshole in the U.S. Congress, but he has constitutional rights as a duly elected senator, under the Speach or Debate Clause of Art. I, Sec. 6, of the Constitution, that were clearly violated here by executive branch officlals.
I think this may prove to be an important story. As far as I saw, most people here just thought it was a joke.
--Many more, but I'll stop there.