Markos Moulitsas is a very busy man with a large website to manage and a thousand other things to do with his life outside the internet. I fully understand and sympathize.
I understand that he cares about the Daily Kos community enough to respond to complaints from us and rectify bickering and dickishness because disruptions of this nature can drive people away from the site voluntarily. It drove me away at times. I came back because I have fallen for a lot of people here. I can't live without their jokes and blathering and their opinions. I can't go that many days without the support I get from people who comment here. I'm not surrounded by people like that in the real world. They're all concentrated here. They keep me grounded. They hold a mirror up to me sometimes and let me see my own racism and misogynistic tendencies, however slight they may be, and they correct me. They put my head on straighter.
I'm closing in on 3 years as a member of this site. I can honestly say that I'm a different person now and that my life has gone in a better direction because of the people who have reached out to me here. I was seeking something and I found it. I needed friends who were like me, even if they were just on the internet. I needed to hear what they had to say.
Where would I be if I had made some outburst, flamed myself out and been banished from here?
I haven't been banned or anything (obviously). I haven't even gotten one HR that I recall in 3 years. The reason I write this is because I feel a bit sick about the bans on longtime members that have happened over several months. How can they just be gone?
This is a community. I truly believe that. If I had the time, I would be psyched to meet all these people at Netroots Nation and hang out for a while. If they all moved to my neighborhood, I'd probably never switch on the computer again.
In this virtual community, I've seen dead pet memorials on the Rec List, I've seen people start diaries to raise funds for people who are having a hard time fighting homelessness and destitution...
I've seen "sluts" and broken children comforted and protected here. This is the kind of sanctuary that Jesus would approve.
I'm not saying it's pure heaven around here. There are pie fights and endless faction wars that cause damage to relationships between members and ruin the discourse of harmony amongst progressives. They split us right down the middle until we hate each other as much as we hate the policies of the other side.
I've been racially insulted here so many times, I left a year ago and started fucking around on twitter for a few months. I came right back here because somebody linked a really good Daily Kos diary to a tweet and I couldn't resist. I saw the names of some Black Kos or Pootie Diary friends and I logged right back in like I'd never left. I lost TU for a few days but it came back.
I missed Black Kos. I missed Denise Oliver-Velez and her treasure trove of knowledge about everything. I missed diaries about cats. I missed my Saturday Hatemail buddies and our inside jokes. "Socialist Fuckstick!" "Mousetits!" "HITLER BULBS!!!"
Where else am I gonna find people who can type, "I WAS BORN AND RAISED!!!", and make me nearly fall out of my chair on Saturday afternoon while I'm recovering from a strenuous work week on my first morning off.
I suppose I'm trying to ask; Is there not some other way? This is a Ban for those it happened to but it's also a sort of Banishment.
You can argue that those people had it coming and they were flamebaiters, etc. I agree about some of it. Kestrel's gun stuff made me crazy. I wasn't particularly fond of Slinkerwink. Soothsayer was cool. Adept2u was alright with me. Robinswing....sigh.
It doesn't matter how I felt about any of them. They had friends here. I read the comments of the people who miss them. It makes me feel awful no matter who was banished.
I don't mean to project any of my feelings about Daily Kos onto anyone else. I'm almost reluctant to post this because I'm afraid to set a stage for a pie fight that will get somebody else banished.
I know that somebody has to draw a line and constantly stepping over that line should be disciplined somehow but I just think banishment for life is way, way harsh when you consider the way that person may have uplifted or enlightened others even if you hated them with all your heart and soul. Yes, there are a few mutherfuckers here that I can't stand and would loathe to see them anywhere.
But for every person that is annoyed by that person, somebody else loved them.
Just something to think about. Thanks for listening.
9:44 AM PT: Well, i didn't know this one would hit the rec list but thanks! The work bell is calling me again. Stupid bell. I'll be back in a little while.
And thanks for letting me know that I totally gave Denise the wrong last name in my hurry to write. LOL Sorry, Denise. I actually do know your name, I used to have a friend with that last name. It kindda just automatically writes itself. lol