Here's a quote from that blogmeister of blogmeisters, Markos Moulitsas:
The community stuff is a seperate beast. It's not my community. But it's also not EVERYONE'S community, either. I have set unofficial guidelines -- it's a site for Democratic partisans. Everyone else is welcome, with the understanding that it's a home for Democrats. So Republicans, Greens, etc, are welcome. But it's not their home.
You don't go to Synagogue to argue Christianity. You don't go to Yoga class and demand to do aerobics. I know I don't make this point explicit, but I prefer a little bit of gray area. As long as it's not written in stone, we won't have well-meaning Greens being kicked off the site by fundamentalist Kosmopolitans.
I can live with that. I really can. It's fine to me that this site is full of Democratic partisans. I'm even one myself, though I'm always shaky about just how partisan I want to be.
Look, folks, I've been here a long time -- since March 2003, to be exact. I've witnessed this site transform from a popular online hangout into a major media empire -- a transformation that was, by the way, well deserved. I've been here through the switch to Scoop, through SYFPH, through the Pie Wars, through the merc flap, through the CT wars, through the Troll Hunter wars, and recently through the Rule Hunter wars. Through all of that, I've decided to stay here.
Why? Because for the past four years, Daily Kos has been my home. As Markos says in the quote above, this place is a home for Democrats -- and I'm a Democrat. It's my home as much as anyone else's -- more, in fact, than many who have come on the scene later than I. (And yes, that includes certain Admins.)
This is Markos's site, and we abide by his rules. I can live by that, even when I disagree with them. I respect Markos; I also owe him a debt of gratitude for sending traffic to my own site.
I do NOT, however, agree to abide by the privations of non-admins who would rather attack me personally than listen to a word I have to say.
I do NOT agree to sit idly by while a cabal of self-appointed rule enforcers pulls the electronic hair and kicks the electronic teeth of people they dislike, whether those people be liberal icons like Cindy Sheehan or nobodies posting their first blog comments.
I do NOT agree to let others splinter our shared progressive movement over stupid personal disagreements by kicking people off this blog who are more important to the movement than perhaps any of us regulars. (And no, I'm not talking about Cindy Sheehan.)
I do NOT agree to shut up simply because people don't like what I have to say -- when the tips and recommends I get clearly show that others DO value what I am saying, and feel I am addressing some significant problems with how this community is self-policing at the moment.
I do NOT agree that community enforcement of site rules is more important than common human decency to our fellow progressives -- or that it's anything other than repulsive to spend more time attacking suspected trolls than contributing anything positive to our movement. (And no, I'm not talking about most people with whom I've had disagreements recently. If you're not sure whether I'm talking about you, I'm probably not.)
I do NOT agree that I lack basic knowledge of history simply because I disagree with others about its lessons for today -- particularly when those criticizing me have much less knowledge of history even than I do.
And I do NOT agree to leave this site simply because my presence is irritating to some here. If you want me to leave, there is one way and one way only to make me leave -- get an Admin to give me a formal warning. Of course, you could get me banned, but that would be counterproductive -- if I'm formally warned against doing something, I'll cease and desist.
Here's something I DO agree with: William Lloyd Garrison's inaugural editorial in The Liberator (1831) (disclaimer: there is no comparison between slavery and rule hunting on Daily Kos -- I'll say that again -- THERE IS NO COMPARISON):
I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; -- but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD.
Sincerely,
Nonpartisan
