Regarding people who are berated for posting "gloom and doom" posts.

[LuckyCharms]

I have found that if you encourage someone to fight back, rather than berate them and tell them to fight back...it works better.

By berating someone who is actually on your team, you are accomplishing the same division that you accuse them of performing.

Perhaps they have been fighting longer and harder than you, and they are tired. Perhaps they are sick. Perhaps their spouse is sick. Perhaps they are scared. Maybe they are just having a moment of what you see to be as weakness.

We really have no idea how or why or when a person has been fighting against all that is happening. You could be attacking someone that has PTSD garnered from combat experience for all you know.

Listen, understand and don't attack someone you don't know. That's my opinion. Jumping to an automatic conclusion is never a good look, and it almost always hurts your cause.

[pnwmom]

1. I see what you're saying. But I think it really is better to avoid posting doom and gloom.

It's okay to say you're worried -- who isn't? Or to talk about specific things that concern you -- or infuriate you.

But totally hopeless posts saying that it's too late, the R's have already won, that we're now a fascist country, etc, just discourage everyone who reads them. And how does that make anyone better off?

[LuckyCharms]

2. The thing is, some people actually believe that we are

a fascist country, etc. Some days I believe that, and some days I don't. There is a problem right now in that so much gaslighting is being performed by this administration, and so much confusion is being sown, that it is causing division...because you essentially cannot win against chaos.

If this chaos is causing us to eat our own, there is no benefit to us.

Someone may posts gloom and doom because their personal situation is causing them to actually experience that.

You stated that hopeless posts just discourage everyone who reads them. Maybe, maybe not. But my overriding opinion is that attacking someone on this board does the same thing. You are discouraging them, rather than lifting them up from what could be a temporary feeling, or a well reasoned feeling from their personal perspective.

[mythology]

26. People who choose to believe objectively false things

Should be told otherwise. Whether it's that climate change isn't real or that we live in a fascist society and thus the next election is meaningless.

Nonsense should be dismissed by facts.

[LuckyCharms]

27. Of course, but it should be done in a way that is effective.

Otherwise, we are just typing.

[Tipperary]

30. Do you actually think the gloom and doom posts are effective? If so, how?

Imo, they are simply defeatist and sad. Not to mention how gleeful they make right wingers who read this board.

[nocalflea]

3. Good advice except when a poster has a history of consistent doom and gloom posts.

[LuckyCharms]

4. Well, if they are being attacked instead of encouraged...

I would expect their posts to remain gloomy.

[nocalflea]

5. You damn well know there are people on this site for the sole purpose of fucking with our minds.

I know you're not naive or ignorant, Lucky.

I will call out anyone who consistently posts disinformation, provacations ,sows dissent, and peddles despair and hopelessness.

The citizens of this country are under attack by paid trolls and social media is a target. YOU KNOW THIS.

[LuckyCharms]

6. I'm talking about well established members. n/t

[nocalflea]

8. Well established members do not deserve a pass if they consistently engage in this behavior.

I guarantee you there are "well established members" on this site who are paid provocateurs. This site was infiltrated at near-inception, just as other political sites have been. "Seniority" means jackshit.

[LuckyCharms]

11. Whose mind are they changing?

[nocalflea]

17. LOL.

[LuckyCharms]

19. Who is LOL?

[nocalflea]

24. The not so hep older brother of ROFL.

[nocalflea]

29. Methinks thou is missing the point.

[MrsCoffee]

38. No one should be encouraged to continue bashing the Democratic party, its members or its leadership

Not on DU.

Read the core principles and terms of service of this website.

I don’t care what issues a person has, vomiting up dissent and dampening enthusiasm before the midterms is not a winning strategy and really should be stomped out immediately.

[cwydro]

22. This.

Exactly.

It’s tiresome.

[ooky]

39. My objective view is that gloom and doom posters should always

be encouraged to GET OUT AND VOTE. And/or GET INVOLVED. Remember, there are people who complain but do nothing to effect change. But anyone who reads this website should be mined as a potential democratic vote. Attacking people may make some feel better, but has little pragmatic value in changing minds and changing the direction of this country. Gloom and doom posters are more likely to be the potentially democratic votes that stay home instead, or waste a vote on someone who can’t win, while a monster like Donald Trump is looming. Our most obvious common and shared passion now should be to defeat Trump, so it makes sense that all our energies should be channeled with that goal in mind.

[JI7]

7. what is the point ? if we lose we will lose

seems no other point than to discourage others .

also depends on what other things they have posted.

[LuckyCharms]

10. Maybe they want to express despair or

are looking for support, or are looking to commiserate with fellow members of the Democratic party.

With the exception of bots and true trolls, the people here are Democrats. Under that assumption, my opinion is that it is not up to me to judge anyone's motives for posting what they do. Because I tend to have a sharp tongue, and if I open up my big mouth at the wrong time against someone here, what if that causes them to say "fuck it"? We need all the the Democrats we can get. I wouldn't want to be the cause of someone to leave the site who has been here for awhile, or worse, berate someone in such a way that they become politically apathetic, what does that gain?

Also under the above assumption, I do not think that someone expressing gloom is going to cause anyone here that is inclined to push back against the Trump administration not to do so because of what they posted.

[JI7]

12. There are many who come here to troll

And it's not just this site. They spread that shit everywhere.

We know the putin trolls did this in 2016 .

[LuckyCharms]

13. Whose mind are they changing (among the legitimate members of this site)?

[JI7]

14. There are people who come to this site that are not members

[LuckyCharms]

15. And do you you think those people are on the fence

about who to support?

[JI7]

16. Some could be. And trolling is common on political forums

It should be called out. There were some fucked up things said about Clinton obama and other democrats on this site for years by people claiming to be liberal but ended up supporting trump.

[LuckyCharms]

18. So a guess a decision must be made as to

whether to call out a member of this site, or to explore further without attacking.

I think like this...I hit DU for awhile if I can't sleep, or before I get busy. Then I go live my life. Then I hit DU again. I don't concern myself with the motives of posters, but rather, I look at the post. Hell, I don't even look at the name of the poster, and I have found myself responding gleefully to people who I can tell I don't take a liking to. I disagree with a lot of posts. I also waffle between agreeing and disagreeing, depending on the day and my mood. DU has MIRT, and DU has rules. Also, there is nothing anyone can say here or elsewhere that will move me off my beliefs.

So, I prefer to assume that the person posting is having a tough time, unless they are being completely obvious in jerking chains. We are all intelligent here, and MIRT seems to do good job.

I'm not expecting everyone to hold my opinion, and that's fine with me. I have thought the following in my years on the internet...what if that poor bastard is on the verge of suicide? Then he goes and offs himself because I had to show how witty I was? I would never know about it. Sounds hyperbolic? It most likely happens several times a day over the internet as a whole.

[LanternWaste]

31. About the same amount you are.

About the same amount you are.

[LuckyCharms]

32. OK. n/t

[Demsrule86]

40. Or maybe there entire purpose is to dampen enthusiasm. I have come to believe that some on this site

hate the Democratic Party and would rather lose than support it.

[NCTraveler]

9. An all encompassing claim about the...

“Doom and Gloom” posts is not possible. Extremely few are identical enough to make such an absolute claim. Reserving my right to call out a number of those posts that go in that direction.

[Sherman A1]

20. A very wise post, but I would not limit it to simply

what you refer to as doom and gloom postings. There is a lot of berating, negativity and a lack of civility for a group that expresses similar overall goals. Yes, perhaps the paths are slightly different and the choices of candidates to achieve those goals are different, but that should not be something upon which we dwell.

[LuckyCharms]

21. Yes, I agree with this.

And I'll be the first to say that I am sometimes guilty of it, but I do my best to limit it.

[demmiblue]

23. +1

[sarah FAILIN]

25. Thanks.

From the middle of the most red red state, dealing with the surroundings can be tough.

[LuckyCharms]

35. K&R. n/t

[IronLionZion]

36. Or perhaps they are trolls trying to discourage us

Especially new members with low post counts promoting pain and punishment.

It's true that there are some long time members who might benefit from emotional support animals and anti-depressants but some of the newer ones are not who they claim to be.

[Nitram]

37. I agreee that some encouragment and a positive perspective are a better response to defeatist

posts than a scolding. Sometimes people sink onto depression and lose perspective. It also might have to do with experience. I thought the end of the world was when Nixon was re-elected. And then when Reagan was elected. and re-elected. And then when Bush was elected. And re-elected. Over time one realizes how resilient the system is if the majority will only speak up and vote.