Name-calling, personal invective and ad hominem arguments are not new to Internet discussions. And they certainly aren't new to Daily Kos. Some will argue that it's worse now than it's ever been. Others will say that 2004 or the primary season of 2008 or the original pie fight or some other time was the worst.
It doesn't matter whether it's worse now than it has been. The question is, can it be curtailed and how?
As I have said a thousand times since I arrived on this site more than six years ago, name-calling gets in the way of productive discourse. When someone screams out "idiot" or "asshole" or "shill" or "motherfucker" or "racist" to a diarist or commenter instead of challenging the content of what is said, the focus of whatever discussion ensues becomes the name-calling itself. Name-calling provokes name-calling. Incivility sparks more of the same, and even the calmest people get sucked in.
I'm always amazed by people who don't seem to understand how it will make someone else respond when they attack them personally. Do they really believe their shit don't reek? Is it so hard for them to remember how it made their blood boil the last time somebody attacked them? Is it really so much harder to say, "I think you're mistaken, here's why" than "You fucking moron, that's the stupidest Republican talking point I've heard this week"?
There is no total cure for this. This is the Internet, after all. Lots of people who otherwise have good sense will always sprinkle their comments with invective. Some usually good folks will get carried away on an evening they've imbibed too much mind-altering substance. And, of course, some people just want to stir up trouble for its own sake. On a site with thousands of comments each day, it's impossible for administrators to intervene effectively and in a timely fashion every time personal invective arises and hijacks a thread. I, for instance, read or skim every diary every day but only read perhaps 750 comments.
More vigorous community moderation by Daily Kos users can, however, greatly reduce the name-calling here if people are willing to do it.
Here are some guidelines. You can add some of your own.
The first step is not to personally engage in personal attacks or to respond in kind. To their credit, most Kossacks never do. But many, provoked or not, at least occasionally succumb. And a few who persistently complain about others who engage in personal attacks are themselves among the regular miscreants. As Ben Franklin once put it, referencing the New Testament: "In other men we faults can spy,/ And blame the mote that dims their eye;/ Each little speck and blemish find;/ To our own stronger errors blind." So, community moderation begins within you. Before you post, think about whether "dickwad" adds to the discussion.
Second, anyone who has been here for more than a month has probably noticed that people often challenge name-callers with whose political viewpoints they disagree. But they are reluctant or completely unwilling to say anything to their allies who make personal attacks. Indeed, some will recommend egregious comments if it's a friend who makes them. This double-standard obviously does nothing to crank down the invective; it worsens it.
People who really wish to see less name-calling and more productive, persuasive and polite discussion are most effective at stopping it when they tell their political pals to tone it down. Criticism is more effective when it comes from someone you respect.
Third, snark, which makes up a hefty portion of commentary here and on other political blogs, can provide a smile on an otherwise dreadful morning. The best snark is probably worthy of being called literature. But much of it consists of obvious cheap shots, simple sneers with nothing to back them up. When these are directed at another poster, or, as often happens here now, at whole groups of other posters, it's just another form of personal attack masquerading as humor. Think before you snark.
And, finally, before jumping down somebody's throat because of what you believe they said, make sure they really said it. Misinterpretations are rife. Posters are blamed for saying things they didn't say. Or that they said clumsily. Give them some slack. Ask if they really meant what you think they meant. Maybe they didn't. And, even if they did, challenge the content, not the individual.
No call to crank down the personal invective should be taken as a reason to cease engaging in vigorous discussion. Quite the opposite. Knowing that their chances of being blasted with a "fucking moron" comment is likely to encourage more commentary by people who are now often quiet or avoid certain diaries for fears of the direction things may go.
Administrators on the site can and will get tougher on name-calling and other forms of personal attack if that's what's desired. In the worst cases, we will suspend or terminate posting privileges. I have already made some moves in this direction. But moderation by community users is now and will continue in the future to be the main way commentary here is regulated.