I've been here a whole month, and it's a great site. There are lots of very informed and passionate people; many of whom know far more than I about all sorts of issues. I like coming to the site and reading posts. I can already see that many Kossacks do a lot of good.
BUT.......
the but's below the fold
On many many threads, I see this passion devolve into senseless namecalling and cursing. I am the last one to tell people what they can or cannot say. If you like posting that way, I am not going to tell you not to (I don't make or enforce the rules here). But I don't think it serves the community well, I don't think it serves our cause well, and it turns me off.
People have disagreements. Fine. In fact, I wouldn't want to come here so much if everyone toed the same line. As Harry Truman said "when two men agree on everything, one of them is doing all the thinking". But when I see people saying things like "Did you even read my diary you xxxx xxxx" and "Shut the xxxx up you xxx troll" well......that's not communication, that's not information, that's just blather.
When I see this sort of thing, it makes me want to stop reading. I doubt that I am alone. I also doubt that this is the goal of anyone here. If I were a more thin-skinned person, I might even stop reading altogether. Perhaps some people have stopped reading dailyKos for this reason. I am sure that's not the goal of people here, either (except for the genuine trolls).
Not every diary is going to be a gem. Not every thing stated as a fact is going to be correct. If you see a 'fact' that you question, by all means ask for clarification or support. But why not assume that the original poster had good intentions?
I know that would make dailyKos a more pleasant place; I think it would make it a more popular place; it might even make it a more effective place.
