Confession and praise for DU.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

Confession: sometimes I post at conservative boards. I engage them without spite or vitriol but simply using various forms of logic and reason, pretty much the same as I do here at DU. And I always get banned. Always. And I try to be extra polite. But I am as equally relentless there as I am here. When I ask someone to explain their logic to me, I don't hesitate to show them how it is racist or sexist or unconstitutional or unChristian. I like to show them where their logic leads or where it has come from. I find that internal critiques are really irritating to them. I then get banned, because I refuse to say that our disagreement is a matter of "opinion"; if I've shown you how your logic breaks down and you no longer have an answer, one can no longer appeal to "opinion" (unless one has a lot of training in logic or epistemology, which is a really fun discussion).

Praise: Du has always allowed me to work through any argument I desire, even if I'm playing devil's advocate. Most members here, even though we disagree, usually take my hyper-logical prose as just that--with no offense. Even when I lose patience and feel entitled to be s snarky jerk here, people are always kind to me. And when they're not kind, they're wonderful assholes who shake me out of my own assholish funk. It's just nice that I've been here for almost 10 years, have had various arguments about gun control and abortion (I've taken all sides), religion, etc., been called names, have called people names, and I'm still here (as are the people who call me names).

So any way, when things get hot around here, it's just nice to say thanks. I appreciate the venue for open minds to be open and opened.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. difference between a lock-step belief system (the right) and the big, messy tent (the left)!

That is a very broad generality - but to me is one of the root causes of the issues the country finds itself in.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

2. May be a broad generality, but

How many repubs. could be anti-choice?

How many dems. are pro-life? Kucinich was until he ran for Pres.

How about DNC. I can feel the scorn throughout DU as I type the letters.

Man, we've got some many different types with us--old black panthers, old Marxists, hippies, peace-niks, Wall-Streeters, 1%s--really, you name it. I loved Jimmy Carter and loathed Clinton. But voted for both of them.

I'm in a very red part of the US. I know what repubs do. I know how they vote and how they sit out. I know about their single-issues (and know how their candidates manipulate that especially when the voters hate the candidate; I'm guaranteed to see an anti-gay proposition when there is a weak repub. candidate.).

So I may be stereotyping, but there's truth in the stereotype. Look at Andrew Sullivan. He's considered a Marxist by repub. standards. He moderate/conservative by mine. Nixon would be a tree-hugger today. Teddy Roosevelt? Oy.

[lunatica]

3. Well I appreciate that I haven't been banned for cussing

Although I have been chastised and reprimanded for using what some have thought were obscene gifs although I posted them thinking they were quite funny on an adult forum.

I won't re-post them now though. I don't want to push my luck. But I do consider cussing a very important part of our language. What would The Catcher in The Rye be without the cussing? Certainly not great literature. Nor would Lady Chatterley's Lover. Even Shakespeare had Lady MacBeth say "Out damn spot!" in her insane vision of blood on her hands in reaction to her husband killing the king at her urging.

[JDPriestly]

4. You are like a lot of people on DU.

I think that willingness to think about more than one possible point of view on an issue is a sign of intelligence.

[provis99]

5. you go on conservative boards? You are now on Ignore.