I posted the following topical comments in a diary (Black People don't have to explain why they vote Hillary) on Friday and received 2 HR Flags:
ASHLEY: #WhichHillary?
Are Hillary Clinton supporters attempting to censor #WhichHillary from DailyKos?
Ashley, a black female LGBT millennial, a core liberal progressive constituent, expresses her upset and voices her criticism — speaking truth to power. Her criticism and her question “Which Hillary?” resonates across many demographics, which is one of the reasons her meme has gone viral. The point being, our shared concerns bring us together as a Party, as a community, as a coalition, and if we want to build Party Unity then we need to encourage, embrace and champion our shared concerns. As responsible Democrats engaged in the Presidential Primary, we build a unified coalition by coming together to honestly rigorously vet each candidate. This vetting process involves passionate discussion and vigorous debate. This is healthy. Yes, we challenge each other. This is normal. This is our First Amendment right — Freedom Of Speech — at work. This is democracy. Healthy honest diverse perspectives around shared concerns is our strength. This is really what defines the Democratic Party. We don't need to have the same color skin, the same religious belief, the same gender, or the same sexual persuasion to empathize with fellow democrats or to share in the same concerns. We are all human.
We are all Americans.
As Obama said in his seminal speech:
“We the people in order to build a more perfect union… “
(Jefferson) ...establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
Let's remember that this is who we are and let's remember who our opposition is and let's remember their agenda and their strategy.
Divide and Conquer is the tool of our opposition, the Corporate Oligarchy “Establishment,” and their goal is to maintain the status quo [and Hillary Clinton has been paid handsomely to achieve that goal.]
My comments were entirely topical to the diary, especially since it is a MAJOR TRENDING HASHTAG which makes it an entirely relevant discussion point, and if any members of the DailyKos community are attempting to CENSOR THIS HASHTAG, then I want this reported and I want to know if DailyKos is supporting this censorship and bullying behavior by Hillary Clinton supporters.
BE ADVISED: To those who have flagged this comment, I started a HELPDESK Ticket and flagged this comment and reported you for TU HR Flag abuse and community bullying.
I have formally requested that you have your TU ratings privileges revoked.
I have written elfling and posted a number of thoughtful lengthy comments over the past 2 months regarding this sort of abuse, however I have seen no concerted effort by site admin to address this, and so it has only gotten worse. In order to stem the rampant bullying by TU’ers, I will be logging any and all abusive HR Flags of this nature that I see with the HELPDESK, and I would kindly request that everyone do the same. We must moderate the TU’ers. The community bullying by TU’ers applying abusive HR Flags to silence, censor and ban users who are challenging their candidate’s narrative by presenting topical fact-based arguments MUST STOP.
NOTE: The use of the “D.B.A.D.” (Don’t Be A Dick) rule makes no sense to me since it does not define what a troll is in according to any common traditional blogging forum standard, and so this term has been construed to apply to ANYONE who says ANYTHING that makes their candidate look bad.
THIS. IS. ANTI-DEMOCRATIC.
THIS. IS. WRONG.
This is the United States Democratic Party’s Presidential Primary. We must rigorously vet each candidate. Vetting candidates involves vigorous discussion and passionate debate expressing opposing viewpoints. This is what blogging is about. Debate. This makes the Democratic Party stronger. This is the defining quality of the Democratic Party. This is what differentiates us from the Republican Party.
We welcome, invite and encourage debate.
Is this blog merely one-sided propaganda where dissension is censored, or is this an open discussion forum where topical ideas are exchanged, positions challenged and relevant fact-based arguments presented?