I don't post that often---but I do monitor what is being said on this forum and by whom.

[Atticus]

Lately, it seems that most of what I would refer to as "extreme" or radical comments are coming from newbies: those with either a few hundred posts or a couple of thousand posts in the last couple of months.

I am not saying newbies shouldn't speak freely. It's just that, even if a poster is totally legit---i.e., not a troll---to come onto this board and say EITHER that "I will stay home in 2014 if Obama touches Medicare!" or "We just have to support our president no matter what he proposes" is presumptuous.

We don't know you yet. Even if you are not a troll, many of us will wonder about your legitimacy if you've just arrived and seem to want to steamroll a thread in which people we do know have posted what we consider good-faith---even if flawed---arguments.

Ease into DU, is all I'm saying.

[2naSalit]

1. Well I hope I haven't

upset anyone or freaked anyone out. I know I'm new, made two OPs about issues in my area, but we have a small population out here in the Rockies so not many paid attention, and then Friday happened...

Not much for introductions but I was glad for the welcomes I got.

Not into getting too wrapped up even in my own belief systems when posting ... but I agree that I have also noticed some posts that seemed a little more "out there" in venting style and content than one might anticipate. And then, there are some who aren't skilled in articulation, I can be guilty of that myself at times.

And I really like the smiley things...!

[obnoxiousdrunk]

2. I agree. n/t

[monmouth3]

3. DU has changed a great deal since I arrived maybe five years or so and not necessarily for the

better. Older posters I came to know have been long gone onto other forums. I miss them.

[tech3149]

4. Good advice

I hung out at DU for years before I ever posted. Once I decided to get involved in the conversation, I proudly put my DU stickers on my car, got involved in conversations where I thought I had a viewpoint that needed to be considered.
I don't really do OP's but my part of the conversation is generally well received. I've been hammered for a few of my thoughts and argued my position fairly well. Other times I found myself without a counter argument and had to rethink my position.
That's one of the things I love about DU. The other major reason is that I get to hear ideas from people from so many different backgrounds and viewpoints. One thing I can say is that most conversations are about serious subjects in a serious manner. There are subjects and viewpoints that I avoid with a passion because logic and reason seem to hold no value in the discussion.
To add to Atticus, I would say if you want to get into a serious discussion on any subject, be sure you have a well thought out counter argument. If you're just posting a flame bait post, you'll get no serious response and get no recognition as a serious poster.

[bvar22]

5. "Watch What You Say!!!

I'm Taking Names,
and will report you to the local Party Loyalty Commissar
and you will be directed to the nearest Re-Eduction Camp, Comrade.
DU demands absolute Party Loyalty and Purity of Devotion to our Party Leadership.
So you BETTER watch What YOU Say here.
You have been given Fair Warning, Newbie!

"In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established [font size=3]for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.[/font]

Among these are:

*The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

*The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

*The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

*The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

*The right of every family to a decent home;

*The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

*The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

*The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being."---FDR, 1944

Please note that FDR specified all of the above as Basic Human Rights
to be protected and administered by our Government of The Peiople,
and NOT as Commodities to be sold to Americans by For Profit Corporations

There WAS a time not so long ago that voting FOR The Democrat was voting FOR the above Democratic Party Values.
Sadly, this is no longer true.

If ANYONE, old or new, wishes to express their disappointment in the current Democratic Party Leadership,

OR

express their outrage at the abandonment of the traditional Democratic Party Working Class Values that made our Party GREAT,

OR

question the "Centrist" direction of the Big Business New Democrat Party,
I am OK with that.

What passes as the modern Democratic Party is in desperate need of an Old Fashioned Revival, and a return to the old time values and policies that built the largest, wealthiest, and most Upwardly Mobile Working Class the World has ever seen.

THAT is WHAT the Democratic Party and DU is all about.
The Rank & File Democratic Party membership SHOULD have been In-the Streets with torches and pitchforks during the Deregulating, Free Trading, Anti-LABOR, Welfare Reforming, Corporate Consolidating "Centrist" Clinton Administration.
We have been quiet WAY too long,
and it has cost the American Working Class EVERYTHING.

Our "Leadership" NEEDS top hear the full fury of those whose livelihood they have put on the chopping block.
They NEED to hear that TODAY, and EVERY day.
That begins HERE on DU...
and EVERYWHERE.

[font size=4]
So , Go Ahead.
Cut Social Security, and REAP the Fucking Whirlwind
for your treachery and betrayal of Democratic Party Values![/font]
No real "Democrat" would EVER consider THAT as an option.


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]


You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their rhetoric, promises, or excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]

[renie408]

11. Ok....that was fairly weird.

[OneMoreDemocrat]

6. Who cares what about what you wonder...

This is a discussion board to discuss ideas and opinions, just 'cause someone doesn't have a million posts doesn't mean a thing.

I have 600 or so posts under my current name, but I've been here since 2003 and I'm on my third account...added together I have more than you and I've been here a lot longer; and for every thread I respond to I've read at least 60 others.

If people express opinions which aren't in line with yours, rather than wondering about their 'legitimacy', maybe you should just accept people will disagree...and believe it or not, that's the way it's supposed to work; there are very few 'right' or 'wrong' opinions.

I used to think that high post counts have some kind of gravitas, but then I realized the way to obtain a shit load of posts is to hang out in the Lounge for a week...no one's opinion is anymore important (or even original) than anyone else's.

[Atticus]

7. ---sigh------------

1.) "If people express opinions which aren't in line with yours, rather than wondering about their 'legitimacy', maybe you should just accept people will disagree...and believe it or not, that's the way it's supposed to work; there are very few 'right' or 'wrong' opinions."

Where do you believe I said I questioned the legitimacy of posters who disagree with me? Did I not post two polar opposite extreme opinions as examples of posts which I thought were "presumptuous" for newcomers to jump in with?

2.) "just 'cause someone doesn't have a million posts doesn't mean a thing."

Sorry, I just don't agree with that. I don't think many would dispute that posters with low post counts are much more likely to be trolls whose purpose is to stir things up and divide us. Most of these vermin simply won't stick around long enough to accumulate a lot of posts or a lengthy membership. That is NOT saying all or most newbies are trolls. I am saying most trolls are relative newbies.

3. "I have 600 or so posts under my current name, but I've been here since 2003 and I'm on my third account...added together I have more than you and I've been here a lot longer;"

A couple of things here---If you'd bothered to look, I've been here since 2002, so I don't see how you've "been here a lot longer" than me; and, I wonder why you've found it necessary to change your name twice. I've been Atticus from the git-go.

You have a real fine evening.

[Fumesucker]

8. There have been posters with tens of thousands who have been found to be here just to troll

Operation Mind Crime comes to mind.

You Better Believe It is another that was so well known they've become a phrase here.

LoZoccolo another notorious one that could stir the shit better than a gourmet sous chef, famous for OPs with only a title.

[Atticus]

12. I agree with your post. I'm sure there are other long-time posters who are here to troll.

However, I can't begin to count the number of tombstones dropped on those with less than a few hundred posts.
I don't envy the mods job of trying to separate the well-intentioned from the wingnuts in disguise.

[renie408]

10. I think you forgot to add 'nahney nahney boo boo'.

[renie408]

9. I agree.

Earlier today I read a post from somebody who had less than 100 posts where they commented on the tone of the boards negatively and suggested to someone with a several thousand post count that they should, basically, shut up. It really struck me wrong.

I then had someone with exactly 100 posts take me to school on an observation I had made that they disagreed with. And this was not an observation about anything political. I made a joke about the expression on someone's face in a picture. That struck me as weird, too.

BTW...your title is mildly creepy. Just sayin'.

[Atticus]

13. About that title---

Yeah, I guess I see that. I think it's the use of the word "monitor". Kinda gives it a "Big Brother" air.

Thanks for your post.

[renie408]

17. BTW...I don't mind the strongly held opinions as much as

I mind newbies snarking at people who have been hear a long time. I get that it is clique-ish of me, but I can't help it. It just bugs me.

[BigDemVoter]

14. Not all people with low numbers of postings are "newbies."

I, for one, have been here since 2001, although I don't have the same name. I just don't post much nowadays.

Nonetheless, I DO see quite a few trolls around, and I'm suspicious when somebody has 24 posts and makes negative comments.

[Atticus]

15. Totally agree---

My OP also included those with more posts who had only been members for a couple of months.

I certainly wouldn't consider you a newbie. I only posted a handful of time during my first years here.

[libdem4life]

16. Thanks for the post. I have found that my opinions have been either strengthened or

challenged and many times have shifted or altered my earlier opinions. This is my first email board ever and have been forced, yeah happily, to go to The Google many times ... now as often as not before I post ... and it's a wonderful learning curve.

[CraftyGal]

18. I have been around since 2007...

But haven't posted much unless I feel the need to.

I am not a troll by the way

[mick063]

19. another du vet

Claiming ownership of discourse. Will hit you with a marshmellow if you cross him..