The point is to vote

[SwampG8r]

During this primary we must all get to the polls.

This should satisfy the sop

Lets be upfront. Im a sanders supporter. I post snarky shit to take shots at other candidates and their supporters post snarky shit about mine. Fair is fair and politics is only marginally a beauty contest. Personal animosities come into play in my posts as they do in everyone elses.
I just came from a thread where a duer suffering from depression was talking about how this place du gdp was making it harder for them to stay atop of it. Having suffered from and likely to suffer it again this persons words moved me.
Is this who we are? Is it impossible for us here even joined as we are by a common political self definition to interact in ways that are not hurtful?
Please dont reply with a did it first or b does it more. We feed on it and depending on who you ask the finvers will point in all directions.
People you meet dont get treated or spoken to like that in reality.
Is it because they are more "real" in real life?
Du is a community i have ennoyed since 2007. No banni gs no time outs very few locks or hides. I know a lot of you from our years long exchanges.
Im here preaching but i admit i have no podium im more guilty than most of you reading this.
Lets be better to each other. We have all had a rough year and we need to remember to see the person.
Name one thing this year that filled your heart and another that emptied it.
For me my heart was filled by my daughter telling us we would be grandparents again.
For me my heart was emptied when my dad passed from rapid cancer in his lungs.
We can do this without the meanspiritedness if we try.

[FSogol]

1. K & R. n/t

[SwampG8r]

2. Join in here

Something that made you happy something that made you sad

[FSogol]

3. Ok,

There is a little red-bellied woodpecker that hangs out on my suet feeder gorging himself. When I get close, he'll fly to a nearby branch and fuss at me until I leave.

For sad, I worry about the Syrian refugee children.

[SwampG8r]

4. In north florida

I had a pileated woodpecker who wod tear the pines up
Like a jackhammer and maybe 2 feet tall looked like Woody Woodpecker chunks as big as your hand flying down

[FSogol]

10. One of those taps on my neighbor's gutter in the spring and wakes everyone up.

They are really beautiful.

[Hortensis]

5. Nice message, SwampG8r.

What filled and fills my heart is watching all the new adventures that fill our little grandchildrens' lives (and occasionally watching their parents get some of their own back).

We were fortunate in that nothing emptied it, although our very sweet little cat slipping out and (probably) getting eaten by one of the alligators in the pond still makes me sad. Nobody hops up just to touch noses with me now.

[SwampG8r]

6. Why are grandchildren so much

Better than children?
Sorry about the cat usually the gators run from them

[rhett o rick]

7. I am not disagreeing but a lot of people see this election as possibly the last chance

to wrest our government from the control of the super wealthy. We see other Democrats that seem to be oblivious to the pain and suffering happening in our country. That's tough to deal with. Democrats that choose to worship the wealthy in lieu of having empathy for those struggling. If we let the Oligarchy win again, the noose will tighten and it will be harder in 2020. We must fight the big money corruption that has taken control of our government and our Party.

At one time all Democrats believed in fighting for the People, sadly that has changed and some are fighting to maintain the existing status quo that has the super wealthy controlling our lives and deaths.

[MeNMyVolt]

8. Good post. K&R

[jeff47]

9. The meanspiritedness is the point.

The goal is to drive away the "wrong kind" of posters. "Meanspiritedness" is the method that has been chosen to do so. Because when all you have is vinegar, you can't use honey to attract anything.

[MineralMan]

11. One needn't reply in kind, though.

It's easy enough to ignore mean-spirited posts or write something in return that isn't.

It might be easier in the short term to snark back, but that accomplishes nothing and makes things worse later.

People should vote in the primaries for the candidate they prefer. Then, Democrats abide with the decision made by all Democrats and support the nominee in November. Those who do not are not Democrats. They might be intelligent, thoughtful persons, but if they deliberately do not vote for the Democratic nominee, they are not Democrats. It's pretty much that simple, really.

But everyone should vote for the primary candidate they prefer. That's how we select nominees to be on the general election ballot.

[jeff47]

12. Unchallenged lies become truth.

So ignoring those posts doesn't work.

And when a poster attacks continuously via sanctimony, they really should not be expecting nothing but polite cheers.

Then, Democrats abide with the decision made by all Democrats and support the nominee in November.

You continue to refuse to absorb the fact that Democrats only make up 30% of the electorate.

The problem isn't registered Democrats. The vast majority of them vote for the nominee. The problem is there is not enough registered Democrats for your "march in lockstep" strategy to win.

[MineralMan]

13. We shall see how the election turns out.

I'm a Democrat. I've been one all of my adult life. I'm only responsible for my own vote. Others will decide for themselves. I might try to convince them who to vote for in November, but I can't force them to vote as I do, nor would I if I could.

People will vote as they choose. We'll all have to live with what they decide, frankly. That's why I'm a Democrat and why I'm involved in Democratic Party activities. Others are something else.

Still, lies are lies. They cannot actually become truth, whether challenged or unchallenged.

[jeff47]

14. We already have seen how it turns out.

It's not like we don't have results of previous elections to look at. We know what happens when only Democrats turn out to vote - 2010 and 2014.

People will vote as they choose. We'll all have to live with what they decide, frankly.

Then I await your editing of your previous post where you toss anyone who does not vote for the nominee out of the party, and instead live with what they decide.

Still, lies are lies. They cannot actually become truth, whether challenged or unchallenged.

The fact that Al Gore did not actually claim to invent the Internet has not caused large numbers of people to stop believing he did.

In politics, it doesn't matter if it's a lie if "everyone" believes it to be true.

[MineralMan]

16. What people believe has little to do with what is true

or false. Billions of people believe there are deities out there somewhere. I don't. Who's right? Does it matter?

Who cares whether Al Gore "invented" the Internet. I knew he didn't, because I know some of the people who did. I actually created a markup language in the 80s that might have been what HTML became. It didn't. But, I met a number of people who worked on HTML and had discussions with them.

Whether Al Gore invented anything was irrelevant, frankly.

As for people's votes, if they don't vote for Democrats, then they're not Democrats, by my definition. Democrats vote for Democrats. That doesn't mean I can do anything about that. After November 4 next year, we'll know who the President will be and who will be in the majority in both houses of Congress. That's what we will have to live with.

Personally, I'm hoping for a Democrat in the White House and in control of the Senate. That's what I'll be working toward next year. If it happens, I'll be glad. If it doesn't, I'll be living with the result anyhow. That's why I work on elections.

I have zero time for irrelevant issues leading up to November. Zero.

[Raine1967]

15. K&R SwampG8r...

Thank you for these words!