Those are words I never thought I'd find myself writing. Let me explain myself, lest you think I'm some sort of concern troll or BillO hugger. I would like to take this opportunity to tell the story of how I came to DailyKos, what I found once I got here, and why I was moved to go from lurker to poster.
Follow me below the fold for the whole story.
I was born and raised in a poor working class white neighborhood just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. I was raised to believe that you do right by others and work hard and you can get ahead in life. My upbringing led me to become a liberal, that dirty filthy word that strikes fear into the heart of the right, and one that's proud to call himself that.
During the course of this presidential election I've tried to become as informed as possible, reading newspapers, blog postings, and my favorite source of both entertainment and information has always been Keith Olbermann. One night Keith began tearing into BillO and in doing so repeated his venomous hate toward DailyKos. I had heard of DailyKos before, read a few articles highlighted on Digg, but BillO's words got me interested. "Is there some hotbed of Liberal Hate, some sort of counterpoint to the Right's hate machine, accessible just a click away?" I don't believe in hating one's opponent, and I wanted to see what a liberal version of this would look like. That's what brought me here, BillO spewing his ugly hate speech.
I came here and read the front page, seemed rather tame... "This can't be right", I thought to myself. Where is the hate!? Where is the liberal fear-mongering, the filthy photoshops of W, the preposterous unsupported propaganda!? Was I let down? No, in a very real way I was hooked and once again proud to be a Liberal.
I read the front page for a few weeks, I was taken back by the thoroughness of the articles, the use of sources to verify one's assertions, and the varying viewpoints represented on complex issues. Issues complicated and simple were not boiled down to talking points but were explored in a real way, examined from every angle, given analysis the MSM hasn't been able to muster in quite some time.
But it was when I started reading the diaries, that's when I came to understand that DailyKos is the furthest thing from a Liberal Hate Site. As I read people deeply concerned for others' safety during Hurricanes, people sharing their triumphs, people sharing their deepest pains, people concerned for the political future of America, people hopeful for victory in November, the one thing I noticed was the tone of these articles. Always informative, accessible, and substantive. But more than that, I noticed the comments.
Oh, the comments! I've never before seen a community willing to give of themselves in kindness, support, and knowledge. The DailyKos community always seems to be there to give hugs and best wishes in people's time of grief or need. This community mainly stays focused on the topic, rarely straying off into infighting. This community is quick to deliver the latest information as it breaks. This community, in my humble opinion, is one of the finest I've ever come across, and the only one that has on a few occasions brought me to tears (of joy and shared mourning).
And because of that I've decided to join, to stop leeching off of others and to start producing things of some value for this community that I've become enamored with. I've also begun to adopt the label Progressive for myself, although I still like to attach Liberal (I think we need to take that word back).
I greatly disagree with BillO, I think he does untold harm to this nation everytime he opens his giant head. But today I'm grateful that he shone a spotlight (however negative he intended it to be) on such an amazing community.
This is my first diary, its a bit longer than I intended it to be. I hope to write much more and hope that I can provide something useful and interesting for this community.
Update [2008-10-14 22:52:6 by ihumanable]: Wow, Up on the Rec List! I left to go watch Rachel Maddow's show, forgot to put up a tip jar. Thanks to everyone that enjoyed this diary. This is the response from the community I was talking about in the diary. You guys are the best.