I'm going to post this.. in a probably vain attempt to calm some of the more heated rhetoric I have seen thrown around here.
I've noticed the rather large upswing in posts that are less than factual, and less than well..honest about the purpose of why they are being posted. From one shot diary entries, where the person is never heard from again, to regualrs who seem to have well.. screamed bloody murder over an imagend slight.
Lets be clear here..
- We are all Democrats for the most part (I say it that way.. some are Greens/Indies)
- We are NOT all Liberals. And you don't HAVE to be a liberal to post here. (I for one am not)
- The overarching goal here is to beat GWB. Thats what the primaries are for, to pick that person for this election.
I think in the spirit of the new year that wel all need to take a deep breath, sit down and think about who we support and why. And realize that others might disagree with us, and our guy/gal might not win, and thats FINE, thats what DEMOCRACY MEANS.
I'm fully aware that Dean might lose the primary and he might lose the general, but the same can be same FOR ANYONE ELSE RUNNING. Clark IMO has just as much chance of beating Bush as Dean (And I don't count head to heads, simply because they don't mean squat at this point.. Clinton was down to Bush 1 by 20 points in APRIL of election year.) But however what I don't do is speend time hashing and rehashing old anti clark screeds and posting them as if they are the end of the world. Nor do I do this about Edwards, Kerry, Gephardt, Dennis, Sharpton, CMB, Lieberman, or anyone else (ok maybe I'll do a LaRouche one, but thats guys WERID! grin)
Are we Democrats, or are we Freepers?
Are we willing to put aside our diffrences and concentrate on our common values and goals?
Do we want to win, not just for ourselves but for our country and our world? Or do we want to complain and vent because things didn't work out the way we wanted them to?
I am NOT saying your not allowed to support your canidate not post good/great things about them, nor am I suggesting that pointing out diffrences in the people running is a bad thing. Thats what the primary system is for. However..
Posts that serve NO other purpose than to start a rumor/idea and canidate "X" is somehow less than honest, etc with nary a word about who/why they support, that reverts to close t the level of a personal smear is less than honest, and truthfully something I never expected to see here.
I doubt this will get much attention, I doubt anyone will even really care, but I needed to say it as its become more clear since my short absence that we may be taking our eyes off the prize.
One small note: I love Dailykos, I think its a great place to exchange ideas, talk about the things that matter to us. I would hate to see it become nothing more than a democratic version of FreeRepublic.