Is the "DU" an important part of political dialogue on the Internet?

[kentuck]

And, in this country? For those that wish to minimize the impact of DU in the political discourse, I would suggest that you follow the corporate media and other websites and blogs to see which ones "borrow" material from the others? DU has been around longer than most of them. And more prominent people read DU than you can imagine. We do not wish to overstate the influence of DU but we should not minimize it either.

There are a lot of excellent blogs out there and I read a lot of them. But, there are few that have the wide open discussion that is on DU. It is free speech on steroids! If people disagree with you, they will say so in the most blunt and sometimes, vulgar, language. If you are looking for the truth, then you will most likely find it on DU before any other blog or discussion board. You may have to search far and wide but you will find it. That is the DU that I have known for several years.

There are still many folks, including the Admins, that have stuck with DU over the years because they believe in the pursuit of the truth. It is not an easy job. But, it can be done. And when the truth exposes itself, it cannot be denied. Just a few words of appreciation to all those that have worked so hard for the DemocraticUnderground. If you were a politician, we would understand why you would not admit to reading DU. But, we know that you do...

[Horse with no Name]

1. Not really sure you are looking for the truth here

or do you just want a "feel good" thread?

[kentuck]

3. Just to tell the oldtimers that we appreciate them.

:-)

[Horse with no Name]

7. There was a time not too long ago

that DU was THE PLACE for news. Back in the day when sources were important...and the bad ones were immediately called out.
Nowadays? Any old port in the storm is fine if it proves your argument...even partisan RW sources.

[kentuck]

9. And they are almost immediately exposed...

just as that. No doubt, you do have to separate the wheat from the chaff.

[Horse with no Name]

12. Not as much

When politico.com came on the scene...it was immediately determined they were a RW cesspool.
But since they happen to be "friendly" to a particular presidential candidate...they are routinely sourced as legitimate.

[Mabus]

39. Politico gets more respect than it should

and that bothers me. It also bothers me that Mike Allen from politico.com asked Bush all those softball questions (including the golf one) and skates. What's up with that? At a time when the death toll in Iraq is increasing, when we've got countries suffering from natural disasters, when the polar bear is put on the endangered species list because of global climate change, when there are economic crises and politico asks Bush about golf? It blows my mind. Politico did a fluff piece with Bush that was on par with what Fox does.

Anyway, fwiw, some of us take politico in context.

[hack89]

2. I would unfortunately say no.

I am actively involve in Democratic politics in a very blue state. As such I am in constant contact with political activists - most are very internet savvy and see it as a invaluable tool. I have never met another person who routinely reads or posts on DU.

[leveymg]

15. Perhaps the people you hang out with aren't so "savvy"

Very often, when I do a GOOGLE search, DU appears at the top of the search for subjects I'm looking into.

Happens so often, in fact, that I would conclude that DU is practically indispensible.

[hack89]

22. There is the internet world and there is the real world

the people who are on the front lines of political activism in Rhode Island do not view DU as a big deal. Why would they - it is impossible to address significant political issues here without it degenerating into a flame fest.

[EFerrari]

32. I sort of disagree with that. We've had plenty of actions that span both

and those are always more successful.

[hack89]

36. Perhaps it is simply the nature of politics in Rhode Island

we are a relatively poor and conservative state.

[EFerrari]

38. Well, most people in San Francsico didn't know about DU

when I brought it up. I think people are only beginning to see the way that life life and net life can potentiate each other. :)

[Henny Penny]

4. No.

And its particularly noticeable since the Obamabots took over and every entry on the "Latest" board is yet another thread all about the new Messiah and his completely unstoppable magical path to glorious victory....

[smiley_glad_hands]

45. Bitter?eom

[EFerrari]

5. I was in several groups after 2004 that were looking for information

about the election. The best information we got was always from DU, and DU usually seemed to track down and process information first, too.

[kentuck]

8. I would say that if you were here in the first couple of years...

you may have experienced more and have a better historical grasp of the efforts of DU. But, I would also say, that we have some excellent writers and thinkers that have joined more recently.

[Horse with no Name]

19. DU was the VERY best back then

The work TIA did on the election fraud was amazing. Then there were the gatherers of the likes of Kheph and Nost...
and activists like Andy. Authors like Plaid Adder and Will Pitt in our midst.
And DU'ers like yourself and Ben Burch and others. I could go on and on.
There was NOTHING like it.

[EFerrari]

27. I never knew Kheph but I miss Andy and Ben and TIA. n/t

[L. Coyote]

29. Deja Vu. A stroll down 2004 Memory Lane

I defy anyone to find another site on the web to match the discourse and original research on DU after Nov 2004:

Voting While Black
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x502722
"i am not familiar with joe knapp" ....

[leveymg]

6. You'd be surprised that there are some who post often here, who claim tothink DU is inconsequential.

But, if that were so - and this is addressed in particular to one High Order Troll, who shall remain unnamed -- why bother to haunt this place if it's so unimportant?

The fact that it draws so much attention from the wrong people tells me that something significant, indeed, is going on here.

[kentuck]

13. For example...

And this may not be the best example but, I would say that DU was one of the first sites to give "Tweety" credit for slapping down the right-wing moran a couple of days ago. Others followed. Including MSNBC. They must have run it a hundred times! :-) DU was ahead of the group on this story, not that it was that important, but just as an example.

[leveymg]

17. You know, however, they borrow selectively. Not one US MSM picked up on the Bush-Nazi links

I guess there are unwritten rules about some subjects that are automatic firing offenses. The fact that Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker were Hitler's American bankers is one of them.

[kentuck]

20. True.

Which only amplifies the difference between DU and the corporate media. Where else would we get that information??

[aquart]

10. Are we in a competition?

Are we here because we hope to be quoted on Drudge or Politico?

I'm sorry, unlike too many here who need to feel themselves part of a herd, but the herd that leads all the other herds, I just don't. In fact, I hope to get thru whole days without ever sniffing the butt of the loping creature just ahead of me.

Would DU be without purpose if nobody noticed we were here but us? Really?

Are we now going to be teaching to the test? Searching around for the exactly right 15-second soundbite? Are you telling me we've been discovered?

[kentuck]

16. I agree with your sentiments..

but I think DU has been discovered. It's just that most folks do not want to be identified with anything "underground"....

"Would DU be without purpose if nobody noticed we were here but us? Really?"

Good question. I don't think we have ever been without purpose. For me, it has been a long journey for the truth. I can remember when we were the "10%" that disagreed with Bush and the status quo. That included a lot of Democrats.

[annabanana]

28. I would rather we remain "off" the radar...

I think we do better that way.

[kentuck]

46. I agree with that point...

But I remember a time when Limbaugh used to speak of DU every day there for a while - until DU started burning his ass and he was afraid that the dittoheads might come over and see something they agreed with...

[KharmaTrain]

11. Define "Important"

I would say for many members here, DU is important as a resource for information or a place to vent or associate. As far as the overall blogosphere, DU doesn't have many original articles or offers the activism of other sites...I consider it like a water cooler...the place for people to go to interact and discuss what's going on.

I first came here back in 2002...in those days there were few places where Progressives and Liberals could turn to...DU at that point was a rare port in the storm...a place where many of us first found out we weren't alone and we weren't crazy. The role of this place has changed...today reflecting the ups and downs as the Democratic party and many of us.

Cheers...

[kentuck]

18. I'm sure it is important to different people for different reasons.

And I'm sure many believe as you do.

[tom_paine]

14. K & R!

[kentuck]

21. Thanks tom_paine.

One of the pioneers that has been able to endure. I think a lot of good people burnt out and had to leave. When we were the "10%" minority, it was easier to stick together. It was much tougher in those days than today. But now, most of the country seems to agree with us? I think we have won in the battle of ideas. But the one big prize, the Presidency, has not yet been realized.

Some may not remember the big battles. Where we flooded the offices of Barbara Boxer and Senator Byrd with flowers for their efforts in standing up for the Constitution and against the Bush regime. Sometimes I wonder where we would be today if not for DU?? Have we made enough of a difference to restrain these dictators from total power?? If we had not put the pressure on the Congress and the Senate and the media, where would we be today? I'm not sure that history would have run the same course? This is not to exaggerate the efforts of DU but simple questions to ask ourselves?

[LeftCoast]

23. Sadly, no.

The signal to noise ratio here drowns out anything substantively worthwhile.

[marmar]

24. On the Internet? You bet.

DU is referenced by all the lefty talkers, and occassionally one of the nutbag Reich ones, quite frequently. Thom Hartmann referred to it as one of the most active online communities, and Mike Malloy chats up DU all the time.

[EFerrari]

25. I've pointed DU out to local pols as a model for a multi-tasking community.

We may be going through a lull right now in some ways but all communities have their cycles of activity and rest.

[annabanana]

26. nah. . we just bubble the infor around for awhile. .

Every once in awhile the noise breaks through.

There has to be enough noise on the net to make the corporate media look stupid before they'll let the memes in. .

[DFW]

30. The truth? I haven't the faintest idea.

I don't have enough free time to peruse enough blogs to make an
educated guess. It is interesting (frustrating at times, but still,
usually interesting) to be here for a slice of the vox populi, keeping
in mind that it only a slice.

My motto still holds for me--here on DU as elsewhere:

BELIEVE THOSE WHO SEEK THE TRUTH. DOUBT THOSE WHO FIND IT.

[EFerrari]

31. I like that motto. Here's the DU entry in UrbanDictionary. Parts are amusing:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Democratic+Underground

[DFW]

35. Most of them are sadly predictable

Too bad "get a life" cannot be enforced in a court of law.

[EFerrari]

37. I liked the one where they call us a bunch of commies.

:)

[DFW]

41. Must be those hundreds of posts every week praising Marx and Engels......

Why, it must be just about every second post you see here..........

[EFerrari]

42. LOL!

:rofl:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[notadmblnd]

34. Sure, it's an important factor of dialog on the internet and MSM

We know this because much of the material here is "borrowed by some of the friendly MSM (KO and others), that other blogs know the readership here and post their articles or major portions of (H2O man, LaLaRawRaw, etc) in the forums, and that other MSM like CNN and Faux avoid mentioning DU like it was the plague.

[Mabus]

40. I gotta agree with you

They know we're here and that we're reflective of the broad range of opinions on the left. They may not talk about us, which is fine, but I have little doubt they monitor us from time to time.

[dajoki]

43. Does it really matter?

To me I don't care who takes notice or not. I came here because it is a place to discuss, vent, get information and many other things. Even though we obviously have our differences, which is one of the reasons DU is so lively and interesting, we are basically on the same side with the same goals. So instead of analyzing and worrying who might be watching, I prefer to go about our business like WE are the ones who matter, and if somebody "important" happens to grab an idea or two, good for them.

[smiley_glad_hands]

44. K&R. eom