Last night a diary was posted here and I am troubled. The diarist attackers one of the editors here about something he posted on a separate platform, Twitter. The diarist is popular and has made several good posts here but does seem to be very sensitive where Bernie Sanders is concerned. Here’s the exchange on Twitter:
Here’s how the diarist reported it:
Out of context, leaving out the incitement that the tweet was a response to. Then followed high dudgeon and outrage with the complaint ending up as Kos needs to punish this person because he said something the diarist found offensive on Twitter.
Maybe this was not a polite way to respond to this rude tweet, but really, I have to ask is this totally out of line when referring to a U.S. politician? Does anyone think Bernie was crushed by this or even cares? Has the diarist complained about harsh responses about other politicians or is this focused on Armando because he reacted harshly about a candidate the diarist was fond of?
There is another troubling piece here though. Daily Kos is a site where anyone can post diaries or comments. There are community members and staff members. Are there staff members I don’t care much for? Yes there are. The way I deal with it is ignore their posts. That costs me nothing. There is, however an unhealthy impulse that I have noticed here and that is the impulse to shame or shut down posters whether staff or community who are critical of Sen. Sanders. This is a sign of weakness not strength . Sanders has many good arguments and policies but some find his behavior objectionable, That’s all fair game — but why hit pieces on those who don’t like him? If he is the superior candidate argue for him, don’t take shots at his opponents, especially when what offends you is on another platform.
Finally, I think it is absurd that someone would post something on a site provided by Kos and tell him how to run his site and who deserves to be on his staff. If you want to be on staff ask if you can. If you find the staff here unbearable, maybe you should start your own site. Who knows — it might succeed.