It's a wonderful feeling to rhetorically stomp some propaganda-addled moron into the ground. Oftentimes, few can say it wasn't deserved. However, as you argue on Daily Kos or on other forums, take care to think outside the simple context of a single argument. We are currently combined in a greater effort to defeat the corrupt embezzlement machine that is the modern Republican Party, and many of us also pursue other ideological goals. What is the strategic gain, in the greater effort, of such a victory in one small Internet thread?
Consider this: Every independent or undecided voter who we can bring to our side is a victory. Likewise, every one we push to the other side through belligerency or other excesses is a loss. However, every Republican we bring over to our side is worth two victories, for it is not only one more person voting for our side but one less person voting for the other side. It is the most difficult task, winning the confidence of those who are currently our enemy, which brings the greatest reward.
Consider also: Such victories need not be immediately complete, but can be gained through the accumulation of small advances over time. You might not change someone's mind today, but you may plant in it the notion that not all is well with his leaders and sources of information. Productive nudging could make a mind open to receiving new information, dissuade those who were once advocates from advocating as strongly, and eventually lead to a change of heart that would have been seen as inconceivable at an earlier time.
To better ensure our future victory, we need to not only make ourselves feel good about ourselves but make those who are not yet on our side feel good about our cause. Aggression is rarely the best option. When you push at another person, they'll likely push back. The result is that they are no closer to, and often further away from, the light you want them to see.
To use a military analogy, war is often viewed in terms of simply surrounding and destroying an enemy army. However, Sun Tzu's archetypical work on military strategy, among much other wisdom, advises one to leave the enemy a path to retreat. A defender given no choice but to fight will stand his ground, while one provided another path is more likely to at least consider taking it. Similarly, in our online debates we should leave open the option of reconciliation and let it be seen that there is always redemption and understanding for those willing to communicate in an open and honest manner.
Get A Haircut and Get A Real Job
When we as younglings get a job and go into the workplace, we have to remove our piercings, wear nice looking clothes, get a "normal" hairstyle, practice our manners, and so on. Why? A shocking appearance or attitude can make enough members of the buying public uncomfortable enough to cut into the store's sales. When we go home we can loaf around in our underwear, get drunk, and cuss out the TV all we want.
On the internet we can be ourselves as we want to be. We can sit around posting in our bathrobes, swearing all we want and starting flamewars left and right. It might feel great to flame that idiot who didn't know the FOIA'd TANG docs from 2000 showed GWB was AWOL. Just because we can, and just because it makes us feel good, doesn't mean that we should. We here at Daily Kos have higher goals, and our taking such actions may not serve our goals as representatives of a political movement that is trying to reach out to a skeptical to unfriendly public.
Presentation is a worthwhile consideration in any public relations strategy. A significant part of Martin Luther King Jr.'s success was making everyone dress in their Sunday finest and removing from his protests the kinds of stilted raving loonies and anti-Semitic nutjobs that are what the words "protest march" bring to people's minds these days. What King's marchers wore and how they acted were signs of respect to those viewing the march, and that respect was accepted and reflected back upon the marchers by the viewers.
Consider tact as a tool or weapon in our struggle. Before you hit that post button, consider a few things. What will the other poster's reactions be? How will your words be seen by neutral spectators? Would you talk to your mother that way?
Hanlon's Razor, Revised
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance. Note that I said ignorance, not stupidity. Assume from the outset of every debate, no matter how aggressively an opponent comes at you, that the other debater simply has never heard information which you have or that they might happen to know relevant information that you do not.
Sure we get trolls. However, not all of Daily Kos's "troll!"s are actually trolls. Sometimes it's a minority. Instead of being immediately hostile to differing or apparently unfounded opinion, give a suspect troll several chances to prove themself an actual troll and not just a horribly misinformed person. If they are horribly misinformed, be helpful to them rather than dismissive and you might just gain a victory for the cause.
If You Can't Think Of Anything Good To Say,
Don't Say Anything At All
An oft-noted problem with Daily Kos is the flood of information that arrives from simply being successful and having too many people all talking at the same time. It becomes time-consuming to find and get to the good discussions, the comments making corrections to articles, and so on. If all you're going to say is something along the lines of "right on" or "me too" or "they suck", spare Kos the bandwidth and his readers the time and don't post it. Meta-posts about other diaries should go under parent diary or an open thread unless they bring a significantly new perspective to the site. The site will be better for it and more attractive to new readers.
The Canary In The Elephant's Throat
Allow me to introduce a group of bloggers called the Raging RINOs (more). RINO stands for "Republicans In Name Only" and this name is sarcastically self-inflicted. These are people, conservatives, voting Republican by habit, who are absolutely fed up with the Bush Administration. In familiar terms, they are Yellow Dog Republicans. If there are any Republican voters who are going to switch sides in future elections, they'll look like these bloggers. See what their interests are, how they react to stories in the news, what their sources of information are and why. By 2008 I want to see these people all solidly behind our agenda, and not just by any direct engagement with the particular individuals running these blogs but because of our message bubbling up through the national culture.
Finale
We are not just users of an Internet bulletin board but heralds of a new and better future. As heralds, it is our job to spread a message and that means speaking in such a way that people will want to listen to us. Go forth and spread your message, and in the immortal words of Bill and Ted, be excellent to each other.