How to Avoid Violating the 10 Unwritten Rules of the DailyKos Public Opinion Governance Board (DKPOGB)
I have participated at the DailyKos site for approximately a year, drawn here by the opportunity to support the liberal woman Democrat, Hillary Clinton, in this fiery furnace of Hillary haters and Al Gore lovers that only DailyKos can provide. Over this time, I have come to learn many of the written and unwritten rules of speech here, and I would like to share particularly the unwritten rules with new users.
This is especially important at the present time. I believe there may be an explosion of new users at DailyKos when US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announces her candidacy for President of the United States, and I would like to help pro-Hillary users to participate in this site without being banned for posting "flame-bate" comments or diaries. Therefore, aware that to do so is forbidden, I state here, only partially "tongue in check", the ten unwritten speech rules that govern permissible speech at DailyKos:
- It is permissible to support Hillary Rodham Clinton at DailyKos, but it is considered to be in extremely poor taste to actually say so in writing. This is because DailyKos is principally a website for the leftward parts of the Democratic spectrum – progressives who prefer ex-DLC Al Gore or present DLC-member John Edwards or even the Reverend David Duke – anybody but Hillary Clinton!
- People who say positive things about Hillary Clinton are known as "Hillary-Shills" at DailyKos. This is because it is taken for granted at DK that no American would regularly express support for Hillary Clitnon unless he was being paid to do so.
- If you are being paid to support Hillary Clinton, you should say so. If you say you are not being paid, no one will believe you. You must understand this about DailyKos logic if you wish to maintain your posting privileges: The 35% of Democrats nationally who tell pollsters that they want Hillary Clinton for President are all paid members of Hillary Clinton’s campaign staff. If you are a Hillary Shill as I am, you should say so.
- It is permissible at DailyKos to discuss the "New Al Gore" with glowing admiration and complete credulity. However, only a "troll" would mention the "Old Al Gore" who is compelled by logic to exist to exactly the same extent that the "New Al Gore" exists. Forget that. Suspend disbelief at DailyKos. You may discuss the "New Al Gore" at DailyKos and any critical reference to Al Gore’s actual record can be dismissed with the dismissive phrase, "But Al Gore is a "New Man". But you must NOT discuss the "old Al Gore". New exists. Old does not. Got that?
(The "New Al" Gore is in no way related to the "Hombre Nuevo" ("New Man") concept that was a rhetorical and theoretical construct of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Because in Nicaragua, it was explicitly acknowledged that the mature "New Man" was the socialist alternative to the retrograde capitalist imperial lap dog pre-Ortega "Old Man". EL HOMBRE NUEVO
La campaña de Ortega estuvo dominada por un lenguaje pletórico de paz y perdón. Cuando lo calificaban de discípulo del diablo, él simplemente creaba el exorcismo a su imagen con palabras purificadoras que confundieron a los más listos.
Se declaró un hombre nuevo, católico devoto y se opuso al aborto, lo que le valió las simpatías del cardenal Miguel Obando y Bravo, que hace pocos días y con un mal gusto atroz celebró a bombo y platillo el cumpleaños de Ortega. Tiempo antes, Ortega lo había propuesto con el calificativo de Príncipe de la Reconciliación para Premio Nobel de la Paz.
Para ganar terreno en las elecciones, Ortega comenzó por quitarle al himno sandinista la línea ''el yanqui enemigo de la humanidad'' y después reemplazó el himno con otros temas musicales. La bandera rojinegra la cambió por el color rosado. Y se declaró dispuesto a negociar con el Fondo Monetario Internacional, al cual en el pasado había acusado de ayudar a fomentar un ``capitalismo salvaje''.
EL HOMBRE NUEVO
(OOPS! I’ve broken Rule 36: "Don’t post phrases or quotes in any language that monolingual English-speakers might not understand!)
By contrast, Al Gore is "new" today, but he was never "old" yesterday. Please make no reference to the "old Al Gore" at DailyKos. The majority of contributors at DailyKos like Al Gore and, if you criticize him, you may well lose your posting privileges at DailyKos.
- "Troll Behavior" is not acceptable at DailyKos. Among types of behavior considered characteristic of trolls is (a) starting arguments by repeatedly supporting Hillary Clinton, (b) repeatedly mentioning the failings of Hillary Clinton’s opponents while disregarding the feelings and aesthetic tastes of other DailyKos members.
- The rules of citation at DailyKos. If you are John Sirota, you may criticize anyone as long and as often as you like without offering any actual proof (citations) for your contentions. But, if you are a Hillary Clinton supporter, you ought never to allude to positives about Hillary or negatives about her opponents, with or without proof. If you do, you are presumptively what we hear at DailyKos call a "Hillary Shill". (See above.)
- DailyKos is a progressive site with a progressive record of matters of gender and color. It is permissible to mention sexism and color-based antagonism at DailyKos, but not more than once per year. If you mention these societal scourges once, you have done your part in erasing them. If you mention them more than once, you have a "chip on your shoulder" and you are a "cry baby".
- Please be aware that only 2% of DailyKos users are black. Mind the Gap!
- If you are black and are looking for a place to vent about two hundred years of skin-color-aroused injustice in America, DAILYKOS IS NOT THAT PLACE. First of all, there are very few people here who will have any idea what you are talking about. And second, they are not interested.
- Participants at DailyKos do not hold any biases against women or minorities. But if you think it is time for a woman or non white-male to be President of the United States, you ought not say so at DailyKos. The DailyKos Public Opinion Governance Board (DKPOGB) has a strict and clear policy about this: The DKPOGB favors the best white man for the Presidency, regardless of his race or gender. There simply is no good reason for a woman or someone who is not a white male to be President, and it is irresponsible "Troll Behavior" to say otherwise.
Rule 10(a) Do not post tags with you diary in combination with unpopular opinions. If you do, these tags will be removed by DK Trusted Users who were elected by their peers to perform this function. You see, if unpopular opinions are combined with Tags, and then readers might actually find, read and be swayed by your unpopular opinions. That is not permitted at DailyKos, unless you are expressing ideas with which the Trusted Users are in agreement.
Rule 10(b) If, after reading these rules, you do not feel that you can embrace them, then maybe DailyKos is not really the place for you. It is not that we don’t like you, but you might be more comfortable at another blog where people like you are more common. You see, DailyKos is really intended as a leftist white heterosexual. ECHO CHAMBER If you do not echo what others say, you may be severely reprimanded.
I hope I have successfully explained the DailyKos rules to newcomers, because I fear I may not have another chance to do so before my posting privileges are taken away. I’m about to be visited by the DKPOGB!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: DailyKos participants who disagree with the opinions expressed and facts reported in this diary are encouraged to do so by offering other opionions and facts rather than by deleting the diary Tags that enable other readers to find this diary. Only trusted DailyKos users (TU's) can delete tags. DK FAQ RE: TAGS Deleting Tags is a form of censorship and/or childish vandalism that has no place and should not be tolerated at DailyKos.
AUTHOR'S INQUIRY: Would somebody please explain to me why this diary has been troll rated five times, if not as punishment for violating the (tongue partially in cheek) rules listed above?
UPDATE: One or more DK trusted users have removed the tags from this diary, including the "satire" tag. This could have the perverse effect of leading people to believe that everything said here was said seriously. If you must vandalize tags, at least leave the satire tag intact. That approach would seem to be in keeping with the purpose of the obligatory satire tag: warning readers that verbal ironies may be included and should not be taken at face value.