I'm a relatively new Kossak, and this is my first attempt at a diary, so I'll keep it short and sweet.
I've been a member of the internet community from the days of dial-up, occasionally finding communities in which to participate and learn from. Sometimes I wander over to see what the Red-Staters are up to, I jump in and out of some technological forums, but this is the first time I've decided to actually join a politically focused discussion group, largely motivated by the politics surrounding the recent election.
For whatever reason, I became more politically engaged over this campaign season than any other time, and I'm not actually sure why. However, this is incidental to the primary thrust of the diary...follow me below the orange squiggly...
One of the things that constantly makes my lip curl when reading forums like Yahoo News comments, Red State, Free Republic, and so on, is the insistence of using derogatory nicknames or contractions for their opponents, usually the Democrats or Obama. It's as if they feel their arguments gain credibility by using puerile insults rather than cogent and supported statements.
Now, discussion here is at a much higher level (strong understatement), yet I find my lip still reflexively twitching when I see words like 'Repukes', 'Rethugs', and so on. I don't think it's useful. Language can be strong without being infantile and/or unnecessarily insulting. Condemnation certainly has it's place, and there's no need to be accommodating to offensive acts or words. We don't have to 'play nice', but maybe we could still 'play civil'.
Being that I'm new here, I don't think I'm in any place to 'call on' or 'call out' the community on this habit. For all I know it may be rarer than it appears and just coincidental that I've stumbled upon the infrequent uses. I just thought I would start off by offering an opinion from a Kossak newbie that this place would be a little bit better without those types of insults.