I just read this story My sincerest apologies to my fellow DKos community members, which I recommend everyone (yes, all of you) go read.
I didn’t catch the pie-fight which made writing that story necessary. But it was necessary for me to read this comment, which is too big to just send to Top Comments. I wanted to share it with everyone. Because I think it would do this community good.
Remember after 2004 when George W Bush was re-elected and a group of people put up that website SorryEverybody.com, where people just wrote I’m Sorry and then something about Bush or his Administration and then held it up and took a selfie and sent it to that website for the entire world to read, from those who really were so very sorry to have once again unleashed that war-monger upon the world — even though the odds that any of those people had actually cast a vote for Bush in 2004 was likely Nil?
As soon as I read this comment I thought immediately of that. Then it struck me. We can’t come to terms over our Candidate of Choice in the primary yet. I was an LD Chair for the Dean for America campaign in 2003/2004, I’m telling you, it’s worse now, no matter what anyone says. Why?
11 years ago we were all united against the Bush cabal, so even though the Dean and Kerry campaigns were slugging it out and their supporters here at Daily Kos were dedicated and knowledgeable about our candidate’s issues statements, and even got hot and bothered when our opponents wouldn’t see reason on something… in the end, we knew that we would be coming back together to fight against Bush himself, so the bad didn’t get mean.
But this year? The mean is boiling over in some of these stories and their threads. So then I read this comment and it occurred to me, why don’t we just do that?
I know that during this primary, I have been problematic. Probably many of us should make public apologies. You are a good person and a brave person to do this. When I see someone step up like you have here, I realize that these are the things that make this place a community. Maybe we need a public apology room until this primary is over? I know I could stand to spend some time there.
So, for anyone who left a less than kind remark to anyone recently?
For anyone who let fly their keyboard slings and arrows?
For anyone who stopped looking for another pillow to hit, and looked back at the screen and wished for a time machine that would just go back 15 minutes…
Just drop an “I’m sorry” in a comment. You need not mention whomever you think you owe it to, but if you want to do so, go right ahead.
Maybe I’ll post another tomorrow night.
Because there are about 11enty bazillion of us who have said things over the past three or four months which I’m pretty sure we’ve wished we could take back, at some point. I know I have.
So, I’ll start us out.
I’m sorry. For my short and sharp words you didn’t really deserve. I let my temper get away from me, and I apologize for that. I’ve been trying to do better, be better and grow a thicker skin. --A