Well, hi there DU! How’re y’all doin’? Whatcha been up to?
I took a little sabbatical about 6 months ago with one minor interruption. It got a little too evil in here, and that just wasn’t my style, so I just dropped out of sight for a while. I didn’t think it was worth a big proclamation with a marching band and fireworks, so I skipped that part.
A quick look around shows a bunch of new faces, and some welcome old ones. I was told some embittered former ones have left altogether, off to a board where they can commiserate among themselves. I looked, and they seem content to be there, if not exactly content per se. Some of the obvious minions sent out by Rove and Friends have returned to those dark places from whence they must have crawled, and the steady stream of “I-Hate-Hillary” invective on DU seems to have slowed to an insignificant trickle. That is a welcome change, as there is certainly enough of it elsewhere.
HRC has made her choice for VP, and while Tim Kaine might not have been my first choice, he seems to have a lot more to offer us than might have met the eye prior to scrutiny now underway. A friend of mine, Jim Hamilton, was in charge of vetting Hillary’s possibles, and Jim is nothing if not thorough. It’s not for nothing that over 40 years ago, another man from North Carolina (Sen. Sam Ervin) got young Jim involved in the Watergate investigation that eventually brought Nixon down. If Kaine made it through Jim’s wringer, he’s got some chops.
Another friend of mine, a former Governor of Vermont whose name is still remembered by some, told me years ago that there was a lot more substance to Tim Kaine than most people knew. I was skeptical, but I have never met Kaine, and I had no real basis for judgment. From a few posts I have seen here, Howard knew a lot more than I did. I have seen plenty of “Howard has sold out” posts around the internet, but Howard told me in 2009 that if he didn’t get a cabinet post, he’d lend his name to some law firm for name recognition (for them) and some steady income (for him), and spend most of his time “raising hell for causes I care about.” And not just in the USA. A couple of years back, he organized a walk from Bangkok to the Burmese border to call attention to human trafficking. I wonder how many of his internet haters participated in that or anything like it?
I could have met Kaine (and Howard) this coming week in Philadelphia, but I passed on the invitation. It was not a decision I made lightly. In the offer were VIP hotel and passes to all events, etc. and no one asked me for a cent. Coffee one-on-one with Cecile Richards (also a friend), and all sorts of cool stuff, what’s not to like? It was flattering to get such an invitation, but I was in a different country EVERY DAY for work for most of May and ALL of June, and I need the down time more than I need the glad-handing, the strategy sessions and the photo ops. I’m not 30 anymore. I doubt I would have enjoyed the convention much if I had had to spend half of it at the ICU unit of the cardiac ward of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. I somehow think the Party will manage just fine without me this time.
My wife and I are currently with our neighbors from Germany who are visiting with us here in Nowheresville, Cape Cod. The road to this place isn’t even paved. Just what we were looking for.
This seems as good a time as any to try a return to DU. After all, I was here for something like ten years prior to my absence. There seem to be a few self-righteous types around, still, but what else is new? Someone’s always looking for a fight. Where WON’T you find them? What matters to me is that the level of discussion has been brought back up from sulfuric acid to something much more resembling a neutral pH level, and that’s good enough for me. Things ARE sounding a little (OK, a LOT) more upbeat than they were when I left.
So, OK, DU, what HAVE y’all been up to?
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Wish you were going so you could tell us all about it, but your health and serenity are more important! Welcome back, you were certainly missed! 
Though it would certainly be exciting. However, this has turned out to be an election season like no other, and I don't mean that in a good way. The tension and pressure has to be enormous since there is so much at stake, this time around... 
And it absolutely sounds like you know some amazing people. I don't know if you remember, but John Conyers once posted here, so he's officially a DUer! For awhile, so many of us changed avatars to John Conyers in honor of his visit - and his leadership in confronting the 2004 voting irregularities and standing up to the Bush* administration - that it was tough to tell us apart, LOL! Of course, half the board replied to him and I had to laugh since the first poster who replied had a John Conyers avatar... 
I know exactly what you mean about needing a break, remember thinking that the 2004 primary season here was particularly rough, but it couldn't touch this one! I took a break myself, and things seem to have settled down for the most part, but there is some residual tension which is no doubt going to be with us until we no longer have the most bizarre and scary election in history behind us. 
But it's great to see you back and I'm looking forward to hearing about what you're up to! Welcome home!
So good to see you again! 
GD-P is now GD:2016 and is a much friendlier place.
It's so wonderful to see you back here posting.
Nice seeing ya
Crazy times!
I am so ready for next week, sounds like you will be, too!
You have been missed and your posts and presence are needed.
Welcome back, DFW!
Doing good.. and feeling pretty positive as long as we GOTV..
Really. My forearm is just nasty.
My wife yells at CNN everyday. For our mental health, we may have to cancel Direct TV until after the election.
The cucumbers and squash are doing great. Carrots and radishes, not so much.
And I ate four donuts today. I wish I felt bad about it, but I don't.
Your observations about DU are pretty spot on, tho we still have a few folks who are rooting for the demise of the Democratic Party, if not Western Civilization itself.
So welcome back, DFW! We've missed you.
Those who feel admins and moderation are lacking also usually return.
Something to think about for anyone tempted to post a dramatic GBCW message. 
