We hold these truths to be self evident.
So. What’s all this then?
First: Some humble brag. I thought the best case scenario for this diary would be a couple dozen recs with comments topping out at around 100. Middle case scenario was the tip jar quickly hidden followed by my banishment. Worst case scenario was that no one would notice it at all. Thank you for putting this on the rec list and your numerous comments.
Second: My link to delphine’s comment on the help desk that inspired this diary didn’t work. Brecht sent me a message with a correct link. helpdesk.dailykos.com/discussions/suggestions/4952-wholesale-bannings-ii/page/5#comment_42824420
Third: I had two reasons for this diary. The obvious one was to address the banning of the three members mentioned in this diary. Just in case your unclear on where I stand, I would like to know that they’ve been contacted by the powers that be and have been given a reason for these actions. I would like TPTB to address the larger issues around this in a clear and forthright way. I would like to have them reinstated if possible.
Regarding the TPTB addressing the larger issues, several people have pointed out an update to the Knowledge Base. You can read it all here:
Why have I been banned or warned? Why was User X banned? Why wasn't User Y banned?
I read the whole thing. Twice. I’m reminded of this quote from A Man for All Seasons, “I trust I make myself obscure”.
Speaking of making myself obscure, the second and main reason for this diary (and apologies for burying the lede) was that I thought that this from delphine’s help desk comment deserved a larger audience.
Regarding the primaries and general election —
It WAS ugly. From all sides.
Regarding the current state of this site and the Democratic party.
Hate and blame and recrimination are not getting any democrats elected.
To get democrats elected we need to work together. We need to stop assuming that adding economic justice back into the discussion means someone doesn't care about people of color, or women. We need to stop assuming that supporting a more incremental strategy means someone cares less about the end goal.
I'm sorry for any vitriol from the primaries. It WAS ugly, and people were hurt, and good people were banned and/or left because it was so toxic. We weren't kind to one another.
I hope there is healing here (and in the party/real world), because Voldemort is truly the worst outcome possible, and we need to work together to defeat him and everything he stands for.
And for good measure, this:
There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind."
Vonnegut
This didn’t get as much discussion as I would have like but that’s my fault for failing to pay attention in Composition 101.
Forth: To be filed under vague purposes. I wanted to test myself with this diary. I wanted to see if I could be… nice. Maybe nice is not the right word. Respectful? Sharp-elbowed but with a warm smile? An Iron fist wrapped in a velvet glove? ...I said this was vague. I wanted to have a healthy discussion, pie even but with a recognition of our shared humanity and our mutual goals. To that end I wanted to rec everyone who commented in my diary whether I agreed or disagreed, smiled or snarled at what was written. With one notable exception I achieved that goal (mostly. I wasn’t expecting this many comments and I might have missed a few). I wanted to with the soft-peddled comment here and there to see if I could gently direct others towards that same goal. I wasn’t present in real time as much as I would have liked and there was the dredging up of personal history and insults and people talking past each other but... and again with one notable exception no one’s comments were hidden and I think that most didn’t find themselves hyperventilating over things written.
Sigh… I did say that this was vague. Ok. I’m just going to pull the cord and unleash my inner hippie (I am not a hippie). We’ve got to find a way to forgive and accept each other. We’ve got to start giving people the benefit of the doubt and finding common cause where we can and doing our best to de-escalate where we can’t. There are a lot bigger problems out there than what someone said to someone here. We’ve got to have more joy and humor.* We shouldn’t ignore or repress our anger but we’ve got do a better job of focusing it. Finally, to admit to some self-awareness, I know all these kumbaya thoughts are coming from a white cis** male and my privilege informs a lot of this which is why I have for most part read and listened on this site over the years rather than opine. I’m going to try and opine even less than i do and listen more and try better to direct my political energies out in the real world rather than here.
Well this has really gotten away from me. I should spend 3 or 4 hours trying to refine my thoughts but it’s late and I’m tired and I think I’ll just let this stand as is. Make of it what you will.
Thanks for reading.
A.M.
* Can anyone direct me to any writing on the relation of different types of humor to privilege? Serious request.
** I know that cis is less problematic than straight but just loathe the feel of this word. The sound of it coming off of one’s tongue is just yuck. I don’t know… it maybe just that it’s too close to the word cyst.
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As most people with a passing interest in the community here at Daily Kos knows several members were banned last week. Some of them were banned for obvious reasons but three in particular were a mystery to many, delphine, Mahakali Overdrive, and Knotlookin (there are others banned that some people are upset about but I think actions taken against these three long time members has caused the most consternation).
delphine opened a ticket at the help desk in the assumption than some mistake had been made. It was met with silence. She opened a public discussion, Wholesale Bannings that garnered 248 comments before it was closed 5 days later without comment or action by the Daily Kos Staff. If someone hoped that would be the end of it they were mistaken. Three other Help Desk threads rose up to take its place and several diaries have been written. All without action or comment from the Daily Kos Staff.
Due to the silence from Daily Kos there has been much speculation as to why they were banned. There were no hiddens or timeouts given to them in the days leading up to the ban. No violations of the Rules of the Road or Community Guidelines. Most of the speculation has been that they were banned retroactively for the things they wrote during the primary and general election or things that they wrote elsewhere that offended the powers that be. If this is true and people can now be banned for any statement made at any time in the pass or elsewhere then I think the community deserves to know if this is the case.
In one of the current Help Desk threads delphine addressed that speculation and made some comments about the future of this site and the future of our party and our country. I found it to be a thoughtful comment and that it was worthwhile to share it with the larger community. I asked for and received permission from delphine to do so. I made very slight edits for conciseness and to focus on her thoughts about where we go from here but the whole comment can be found here.
It would make sense if we were banned in February, but I looked at my comments from February and while we're certainly not playing patty-cake,the only way those comments "explain" bannings is that someone is holding a very long-term grudge about comments made in the heat of things (before the Ides of March) and banning people now for things we said more thana year ago.
And not because those things violate any rules (at least not more than those on the other side of the argument broke them), but only because the person doing the banning disagreed with the comments.
In other words, in the scenario that exchanges in February are the reason we're banned now, in an argument where someone says "Your candidate lacks value, and here is why I say that!" and the response is "No, YOUR candidate lacks value, andhere is why I say that!", only the person criticizing the "preferred" candidate is getting banned right now?
I know this is rehashing an old argument, but there is a chicken-egg thing going on here, and people getting lumped together and blamed for everything said by anyone on their"side" of the argument.
It WAS ugly. From all sides.
But I thought we'd made it through. Those of us stayed and managed to maintain our mojo bars, and we voted for Clinton, and I thought we'd turned a corner. But there was no let up on hating Bernie, and there was the constant argument about whose fault it was and whether Hillary could or should have done something different. In the past few months I thought we'd mostly made it past that, but we were caught in patterns,and there is one refrain that we couldn't get past.
And it seems like it's not coming from here but somehow the zeitgeist, that one cannot be for economic justice AND for social and racial justice. Those of us who think we can and must address both were routinely savaged for being all about 'privilege' and throwing women and PoC under the bus in favor of white racists. And once that took hold here, we were caught up in a fight we for some reason could not find our way out of.
How shitty we were to one another over a year ago should not be a reason to ban folks now, though. Good people can disagree on how to get to the same place - democrats back in the majority creating good policy. We're literally fighting for the car keys because one wants to take a left turn and the other a right, but all combinations of turns result in progressive policies (social, racial, and economic) enacted by a progressive majority. At least that's the goal, right?
Someone quoted a comment I made, as if it were the worst hypocrisy in the world! That Bernie Sanders has a right to make money from a book advance and selling that book to us little folks for $20 each. I'm not really sure what's wrong with that - but I am sure that the need to bash Bernie fo rmaking money and the need to argue that it's okay for him to do that is not getting any democrats elected. Hate and blame and recrimination are not getting any democrats elected. Shouting about who has a right to criticize, and which person who wants democrats to win is the person who gets to speak, is not getting democrats elected.
To get democrats elected we need to work together. We need to stop assuming that adding economic justice back into the discussion means someone doesn't care about people of color, or women. We need to stop assuming that supporting a more incremental strategy means someone cares less about the end goal.
The political revolution is that iron worker running to unseat Paul Ryan. Simple as that. Regular workingman unseats entitled republican asshole to represent the people of his beloved district. Change is uncomfortable and we've been scraping and chafing against one another but we're all in this together.
I have to do work on my house and it's like childbirth - I wish I could just leave and come back and the hard work would be done. And it's like what we're doing together here (or you're doing without me, at least I hope that's what ends up happening) - it's difficult and it's uncomfortable but it needs to happen. We need to rebuild the party, and that means a lot of arguing about how that happens. A lot of strife and sweat, and utter and complete disagreement, and resolution and eyes back on the goal, but it doesn't have to including blame and vitriol and shunning and personal attacks.
Whether or not I am ever able to post here again, I wish that for this site. That it becomes a microcosm of the party finding a way to heal this divide, and that in the future no one who genuinely wants the party to heal and regain the majority (and isn't flagrantly and constantly violating site rules) is excluded just because they have a different point of view about how to get there. I believe the party needs to embrace those voices in order to succeed.
I'm sorry for any vitriol from the primaries. It WAS ugly, and people were hurt, and good people were banned and/or left because it was so toxic. We weren't kind to one another.
I hope there is healing here (and in the party/real world), because Voldemort is truly the worst outcome possible, and we need to work together to defeat him and everything he stands for.
And with that, I'll sign off. I'll check back with the mods to see if I've gotten a response. But there isn't more to say. It's been great, I'll miss this place, and I'm grateful for the support.
Enjoy, all.
There's only one rule thatI know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind."
Vonnegut
There has been some concerned expressed that I will be banned for posting this. After a review of The Rules of the Road I don’t believe I that will be the case. If I should be mistaken I’ll just say it’s been a learning experience and fun.
UPDATE: I'll be getting on a plane soon and will be in blackout until I can access the wifi just in case you're wondering about my silence.
...either that or I've been banned! Which will it be? The suspense is killing me!
UPDATE the 2nd: Back online. Brecht gave me a better link to delphine’s comment which I hope I successfully edited into the diary. If not, here it is again. helpdesk.dailykos.com/...
