I believe that the majority of DUers are

[Aerows]

reasonable and civil.

You don't click on GD-P and become a stark raving lunatic unless you were one before you clicked on it.

We *DO* need to be more kind to each other.

That is something that I think we need to remind each other of - we aren't enemies just because we have a difference of opinion on candidates. I trust that most DUers are decent people that have strong opinions, and would give you the shirt off of their back if necessary.

This is a fine community of people.

Can we please start respecting each other as members of this little corner of the internet, and be grateful that we have fun and intelligent folks that have goals and dreams that are similar to our own?

If we all agreed on a candidate, this place would be boring as hell. That does not mean we can't be more respectful of each other.

[Blue_Tires]

1. k+r

[Aerows]

3. I tell you, Blue_Tires

you and I don't agree on candidates, but you and I agree on a whole lot of other things.

I can't wait until we can all get back to debating crap like who breast-fed in Olive Garden and who used corn flakes on their chicken.

[Blue_Tires]

6. What? I'm actually for Sanders

It's just that my support remains lukewarm at best -- I've just had some serious, SERIOUS misgivings about some of his most vocal supporters, and I'm not sure why supporting him means I'm also forced to believe that Hillary (and anyone who endorses her) is an evil tool of "the establishment" who never did anything for the party, or Obama was some kind of massive unpopular failure who didn't deserve a second term... So when I jump into threads to protect Hillary, Obama, Dean, etc. or to call out BernieBro bullshit, most DUers who wouldn't know any better assume I'm in Hillary's camp (which wouldn't be the first time I've been falsely accused on DU...)

Yeah, I know politics are politics, but whoever wins the primary will have a monumental task trying to unite the party, since both candidates are guilty of pandering to their most faithful demographics, and both campaigns have tried to boldly say that they can win an election without the support of the other 'half' of the dem vote...

[bettyellen]

28. I am right there with you, BT! So many people are confused thinking if you don't hate Clinton,

then you must hate Bernie. Nope, those are just people who like to oversimplify shit, and I am not impressed at all by them.
I see too many people carrying water for Rove and Breibart here, and it is disgusting.

[Aerows]

2. Thank you for the recs

I think all of us will breathe a sigh of relief when the primary is over and we can all be friends again.

[Firebrand Gary]

4. I hope that you're right Aerows.

This is a nice post however.

[eridani]

5. I'm doing my damndest to stick strictly to issues n/t

[DFW]

7. The title of that song:

[Freddie]

8. We cannot forget for one second

That if a Republican wins in Nov. they will have control of all 3 branches of government, thanks to gerrymandering and the nature of the Senate which gives outsized power to less populated states. They are salivating to take away ALL progress that has been made in the past 100 years. Say goodbye to health care, women's rights, unions, labor rights, voting rights. If an R wins in the fall.
No matter which of our candidates you support, we cannot let this divert our attention to what's really at stake here.

[billhicks76]

11. Sanders Picks Better Judges

[gollygee]

16. Either of them will pick better judges than Cruz will. N/t

[elias49]

19. Scary thought.

Is it too far a stretch to imagine a "hunger games" world in Repub hands?

[Freddie]

21. All this vicious bickering amongst ourselves

We must keep in mind what's at stake if our party loses the White House.

[Hortensis]

22. Agree completely, Freddie. IMO, Democracy itself is

at stake. Our Constitution is at base a LIBERAL document, enshrining many liberal concepts into law that many on the far right are committed to rewriting or reinterpreting out of existence and replacing with other concepts, such as the supremacy of "god's" law.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. "You don't click on GD-P and become a stark raving lunatic unless you were one before"

Thanx.

It's nice to be appreciated.

[billhicks76]

10. Politics Isn't For The Timid

And people shouldn't take anything personally here. So many take hardball criticism of their favorite candidate as breaking some kind of unsaid rule. I didn't become a Bernie supporter till he ran even though it was obvious to me for years how trustworthy he is. Hillary on the other hand has had her supporters in her corner for decades and I believe they have gotten so comfortable they just can't handle criticism. It's gotta be rough seeing an anointed, inevitable candidate lose twice but that's what happens when you've been attached to someone for so long. The irony to me is that the wealthy and White are acting the most angry without having a right while the poorer and oppressed have had their lives ruined and freedoms taken away...they SHOULD be angry. They shouldn't have to apologize.

[lobodons]

12. Aerows is correct

Most of DU'er's are grown up adults, except of course the Bernie group who think they are the Left version of you are either with us or against us Tea Baggers. Just look at the average DU'er. They post who they prefer but then go on to say regardless who wins the Primary they will campaign for and vote for the D nominee. Not so much with the Bernie group. Its the childish Tea Bagger philosophy its our way or the Highway over there. Think I'm wrong?? Post something similar to this and see one, it gets alerted and 2nd you'll be booted.

[Amimnoch]

14. Same will happen in our Hillary group.

You're entitled to your opinion, I'm entitled to my own. Personally, I'm not going to shit on any olive branch.

[Hortensis]

17. Actually, not so much. Illiberal, or anti-liberal, leftists are

so convinced of the rightness of their ideology that they believe all people who do not share their ideology are part of the problem. Cooperation with Americans of different ideologies is out of the question because, in their mind, that would mean sacrificing their goals. This is a basic personality thing, and in that they are very like their counterparts on the far right, or the "tea partiers."

Liberals believe that cooperation is a necessary part, benefit, and cost of the democratic process. Thus, liberals expect to cooperate with anti-liberals and don't understand why their attempts at forming alliances to achieve goals are rebuffed.

[Aerows]

24. Thank you Amimnoch

I feel the same way.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. See, this is exactly the problem the OP identified.

That being the name-calling and generally rude behavior of some toward opposing candidates and their supporters. Are there some rude, nasty Sanders supporters? Yes, and those of us who have better manners try to call them out. Are there also some rude, nasty Clinton supporters? Yes, you bet there are. What you just did, unfortunately, is what the OP has politely asked us not to do. You just called Sanders supporters "childish teabaggers," which the vast majority of us are not in any respect. It is incumbent on all of us who are in better control of our attitudes to ask the people on our side to back off. You are not helping by throwing gasoline on the fire.

[Amimnoch]

13. KnR

As someone who's spent 2 times this season on time out after a long time on here without ever getting a hide at all, it kicked in last month that I didn't want to be part of that vicious cycle any longer myself.

When you sit back and look at it from a distance, we should be sooooo thankful that we do have 2 great candidates and not that clown car of a hot mess the other side has. I almost.... almost feel sorry for the pukes this cycle. After 8 years of a Democratic President, this should have been an easy one for them to run away with.. and they threw it away.

[druidity33]

15. Hear Here! K&R

I comment very little these days... mostly it's just to refute an obvious error or to kick something. I still read a lot though, and whew this place can stink sometimes...

peace

[longship]

18. Indeed! Glad to R&K this.

And the candidate safe havens utterly suck. Let us not have any ideological purity here. That would be more alike the theocratic Republicans. Nevertheless, when one expresses their support for the DU TOS in a candidate group and one is banned from that group in spite of being a supporter of the candidate, something has seriously gone off the rails here. The candidate groups are a bunch of thugs. Their safe havens are only safe from reasonable discussion and their vitriol leaks into GD.P.

Fuck all of that.

I am a Bernie Sanders supporter (banned from that group by the fucking jerk hosts). I will support and vote for Bernie in my state's primary and will support and vote for whoever gets the nomination. I am, after all, a lifelong Democrat.

Not so sure about the Bernie Sanders group's hosts who apparently do not have any intention of abiding by the DU TOS.

We'll see how many survive.

Go Democrats 2016!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. Folks are respectful to one another, for the most part, in real life...

Folks are respectful to one another, for the most part, in real life, because the consequences of not doing so are dire; because it is the right thing to do is often a secondary consideration.

[1StrongBlackMan]

29. So true ... So true. There isn't a day that goes by ...

where I haven't read an exchange and thought, "I'll bet that poster wouldn't have said that to anyone in real life."

[rbrnmw]

23. Thanks Aerows I agree

[mcar]

25. Well said!

[bettyellen]

26. Rec and thank you Aerows!

"Can we please start respecting each other as members of this little corner of the internet, and be grateful that we have fun and intelligent folks that have goals and dreams that are similar to our own? "

[jonno99]

27. K&R

[MrScorpio]

31. I endorse this message. nt

[PoliticAverse]

32. Some things bring out the worst of people, remember 'meta'? n/t