Just maybe there is nothing wrong with this site?
Notice that when something offensive goes up, people respond, they comment and when there is a really awful, off the mark comment, it gets hidden?
That's how it works.
The site is fine. Disagreements, dissent, disapproval and disappointment, it's all a healthy part of our Democracy.
Agreement, looking on the bright side, finding the good and trying to actually see the progress in small accomplishments. It's fine. It's what Democrats need as well.
Crazy isn't it and both sides can coexist on one blog and express those opposing views.
The infighting, the retaliatory hide rating, the insults, that is what is wrong. Dragging past pie fights into new diaries, taking grudges and personal issues into other people's diaries, looking for reasons to nitpick, etc.
That is what is wrong, and it is not a problem with the site. It's called being human.
The site is merely a platform with which to express all these feelings, the ideas, the turmoil, the frustration and the elation that comes with Democracy, even as it seems to go down in flames before us.
The obstruction is what is the problem with this site. The issues that we face collectively is the problem with this site, people are beaten down and frustrated. It is wearing thin on every single one of us who cares about what happens to our Country, our fellow Americans, the people who have one week left on their unemployment, no health care, can't afford to go to college, who struggle with racism, sexism and ageism.
We have native Americans who are still struggling with years of oppression, lack of proper education, health care and infrastructure.
Need I go on?
The problem with this site is the problem with our Democracy. It's bleeding into everything that happens outside of the site and people are just damn angry.
And so, really, there is nothing wrong with this site at all. The most abhorrent things of all are being hidden. Sometimes, the fights are blown out of proportion and some are completely deserved, I am not here to pick "sides.
But I don't think anything is broken except the way things are working in Washington.
Am I pleased as punch about the Debt Ceiling plan? But do I want to try to chalk this up as a small victory in anyway I can, yes.
Because I am so tired of Republicans driving the narrative, I have been for years. Boehner said he got 98% of what he wanted. As Rachel Maddow pointed out tonight, the deal could mean taking away -1.5% away from the economy.
He wants to own that mess? Let him.
But I guess what I wanted to say that there is nothing wrong with the site. With the comments that get hidden into oblivion? Of course. And the people who do this repeatedly? You have to question their motives. For those who write the most offensive diaries to question their motives as well, it's called attention whoring, it's called trollish behavior for a reason. They do it for the thrill, to push everyone's buttons, hey maybe the needs some recipes?
And in the most heinous of examples, take a chance and do what DallasDoc has done, write a diary and point out just how bad things get. People want to know they are being watched for, it's okay to stand up for them. Some may, in cases where it's not as clear, question your motives, but in cases such as this one, it goes without saying, that there are times where we must speak out and support, protect and attempt to bring civility when we believe it is not happening.
There will always be ugliness, we cannot expect a perfect site or a perfect world and I am not defending these things, this is not the point of my diary, but to say with everything there's going to be bad. It's how we chose to deal with the bad. I cannot change the behavior of others, but I can certainly change how I react, how I perceive things and how I relate to people. That's all I claim to be responsible for. It can go a long way for things and when we don't see something we like, taking responsibility for our own actions can go a long way.
Thank you to those, even if I may not agree with you, for standing up for what you believe in when you don't make it personal, mean and can forego the nastiness. It is most difficult when we believe that it is most deserved.
Maybe we need to try to enter into the fray with a little more faith, try to assume the best, give people the benefit of the doubt. Could we try to get a clean debt deal here and try to start over and take responsibility for our own shortcomings rather than foisting them on others?
Just a thought.