2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumAdmit it. Won't you miss all the jibbing and jabbing when the primaries are done?
(Important Note: I am not referring to the more toxic stuff, here.)Even though we frustrate each other, and anger each other....Won't you miss the chance to exchange witty retorts, "gotchas" and the opportunity to exercise creative new ways to say "Unicorn" or "Corporate Shill"? And the chance to write carefully thought out reasons Candidate A is wonderful and/or Candidate B sucks.
I think primary season is like Junk Food.We all complain about it, but we get hooked on it.
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)olddots
(10,237 posts)till we run out of quarters .
yourpaljoey
(2,166 posts)I think the Dem Party has already split.
I will not miss the jib-jabbing.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)Godhumor
(6,437 posts)PonyUp
(1,680 posts)So the jibbing/jabbing and junk food will continue.
auntpurl
(4,311 posts)In fact, I'm thinking of taking a little break until the nomination is sewn up. I have a thick skin, but this place is toxic.
I challenge anyone to find a post in which I haven't been civil. One post. There are none. And yet, I've been called a liar, part of the 1%, out of touch with reality, a low-information voter, and one poster persisted in using extremely offensive rhetoric about rape even after I mentioned I was a rape survivor. I did not alert on the post because I knew it would be upheld.
Bernie supporters outnumber Hillary supporters on DU by quite a lot. It is not fun to be a Hillary supporter this primary season.
Too much toxicity for a place to spend my free time. I feel sick some days what I read here.
Things will improve hugely after the primaries. THEN we can go back to substantive discussion about the issues.
VulgarPoet
(2,872 posts)a massive help. I'm honestly considering just trashing GD-P, trashing the Hillary and Bernie groups, and taking a hiatus. After all, both my home of record state and the state that I'm stationed in have both primaried, and I don't really know anyone else in other states.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)I work on the computer, and I pop in and out...Sometimes I pop in and don't leave and get caught up in the drama which gets stressful (and causes my work deadlines to suffer)....But when I only do it occasionally, I can be a little more detached.
You're an interesting poster. Hope you stick around.
VulgarPoet
(2,872 posts)When I'm at work, unless it's a briefing day or we get a tasker from our CC, then we're basically just a secondary "shit's broke" alarm for our network, which means checks over multiple systems and then waiting. So here, I have time to catch up on what I've missed. It's when I'm off work, and supposed to be relaxing that I have issues with this site-- especially because I have moments where I'll get dragged into conversations of my own volition, and it just gets draining.
Moderation is the key, after all.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)I'd rather fight the republicans.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)Godhumor
(6,437 posts)I'm not at all sure that is a good thing, though.
Have gotten to know a lot of good people better through here, though. For all candidates.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)earthshine
(1,642 posts)Cartoon: Someone is wrong on the Internet
http://xkcd.com/386/
At some level, the DU is a business and makes money from ads and paid memberships. So primary season is good for business.
But this primary season is certainly not good for party unity.
I'll be glad when it's over.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)BeyondGeography
(39,374 posts)The real entertainment has been watching the GOP shit itself over Trump. But 2008, that was addicting as hell. Exhausting, too. I thought I'd miss it but then you go on to bigger things, like Nov. and watching our candidate beat the Republican. That will never get old.
One thing: if experience is any guide, most of "never gonna vote for, no how, no way" declarations are heat-of-the-moment things that go away pretty quickly.
One more thing: I hope you stick around awhile. You have been one of my favorite Sanders supporters.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)Most of it IS toxic. The few times it's just good fun hardly outweigh all the nastiness. We should at least be able to agree on the issues of economic fairness and social justice, but even those two issues get trampled all over.
whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)senz
(11,945 posts)to discredit the opposition and promote their own candidate.
It's not a matter of "personalities," it's tactical and strategic.
renate
(13,776 posts)I hate the way people are being mean to each other and I hate the way people are tearing apart each other's candidates as if they aren't both a million trillion times better than any Republican candidate. We HAVE to get one of our two people into the White House (no criticism of people who just can't bring themselves to vote for one or the other, because a vote is a sacred and personal thing, but in the bigger picture a President Trump would be catastrophic).
I know you said you're not talking about missing the really toxic stuff, but still, no. I miss our old DU.
jsmirman
(4,507 posts)Maybe we should all take a day off and reassess if we like what we've been doing to promote or frustrate the health of this site.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)We finally have is far different than the usual "not as bad", "lesser of two evils" candidates we usually end up with.
whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)And, we ended up with Nixon.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)CherokeeDem
(3,709 posts)It's been exceptionally childish and toxic this year... won't miss it at all.
peace13
(11,076 posts)..and depending the outcome, I have no idea how to proceed with life.
Trajan
(19,089 posts)I cannot agree ... I'm not here to get in arguments ... I am here to join in support of a candidate ...
So, no, I have already rid myself of the petty, useless arguments ...
senz
(11,945 posts)One side wants to discuss values, goals, principles and issues. The other side wants to neutralize their opponents and shove their candidate ahead while preventing any meaningful content from getting through.
It is the equivalent of white noise. A form of censorship. If the fate of the country didn't hang in the balance, it wouldn't much matter.
Yes, it sucks, but we need a strategy for dealing with it.
WhiteTara
(29,718 posts)My anxiety levels are at an all time high.
ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)We're talking about giving people power to shape the policy that directly affects our lives. It's not a game.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Makes DU fun.
BernieforPres2016
(3,017 posts)I had basically stopped paying attention to politics for the last 5-6 years, really actively avoiding it. If Bernie doesn't win the Democratic nomination or break off and either run for President as an Independent (which I don't think he will do) or start a new progressive movement that is separate from the Democratic Party, I will tune out politics again.
PyaarRevolution
(814 posts)If Hillary wins the nomination, I won't shut up about her college plan for one. It's not good enough and I'll vote for her but I'll continue to pressure her about it.
I do have student loan debt but I'd rather NOT see that plan passed because as soon as it's passed, she'll ignore the college issue and pretend it's fixed.
Additionally, I plan to watch her like a hawk with TPP, among other things.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Like with sports or other passions there are those who pick up politics simply to have a palette and lexicon with which to form their attacks on others as can be seen by the many here who are 'for' candidates one year whom they hate like poison the next, it's about having a banner to snap at the asses of others. That's all it is for many on DU.
randome
(34,845 posts)Let's just remember the good times -when a squirrley bunch of yahoos invaded Oregon and made a bird sanctuary the emblem of their bitterness.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]
UglyGreed
(7,661 posts)having my threads about chronic pain and those who suffer being ignored
jsmirman
(4,507 posts)I think it's really unfortunate that some have taken such direct aim at stifling disagreement and opposing view points. It's pretty shameful and it's not what this site is supposed to be about.