Merry Christmas to the Lounge; Bah Humbug to GD!

[Raven]

I am feeling very fortunate this Christmas Eve to be in a beautiful place and to soon be sharing the holiday with Will. I am feeling very grateful for the wonderful friends that I have made here in the Lounge...among them, Kef, Matcom, Crewleader, MaineDem, Molly...and on and on. I know that Will has made many more friends here and values them greatly.

I am very sorry that things seem to have come apart at GD and it appears (to me anyway) that Will was hunted down and effectively run off that site. No one has ever accused Will of being a Casper Milktoast (pardon the ancient reference!) and there have been times when I have rebuked him for being a little too over the top, but I have never doubted that his heart was in the right place and that his aim has been to try and help recover the free society that has been lost in this country.

Over this past year I have often worried that Will was on a list; that his next plane trip would find him being hauled off into some dim side room; that, when he was teaching, his job would be threatened. It was threatened once by a right wing parent who didn't like his politics and demanded that he be fired. The school stood firmly by William...something about freedom of speech and the fair exchange of ideas in a free society.

Imagine my shock when the real threat came from within the DU "family".

I'm writing a check to TO today and it will be vastly bigger than I had planned. It won't be in Will's name, it will be in the name the little school that stood by him for the sake of freedom of speech and the fair exchange of ideas in a free society.

I wish everyone here a wonderful holiday and a gentle New Year. :-)

[xchrom]

1. i guess i missed something

but merry christmas and happy new year to you.

[Wonk]

15. Yep. Link here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=20423&mesg_id=20423

Say hi to Will for me please, Raven. I hope we'll be seeing him back on DU again sometime soon.

[ixion]

2. merry xmas, Raven

I think it's really too bad about the events that transpired in GD. I wasn't around to see it, but it always saddens me when voices such as Will's are silenced.

I wish for you both, and for all the other free speech lovin' DU'ers peace of mind during the 'holidays'.

[Rainbowreflect]

3. Merry Christmas to you & Will.

I understand how you feel about GD, but I still believe there are many more good people than bad on GD.
Hope the new year brings nothing but peace & joy to you both.
:grouphug:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Merry Christmas to you and Will

and all who practice peace and good will, and bah humbug to those who don't!

[Deb]

5. Peace and Joy to you both

Will's writing helped mend a Sept 11 family and I will always be grateful for that. It's painful to hear that his voice may be gone from DU. Please give him a Christmas hug for us.

[Rowdyboy]

6. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays....

I stop into GD-2004 from time to time-its like looking at a train wreck. People I've respected a great deal are being absolute assholes. They're still flaming over the confederate flag and Pristina airport, IWR and calling everybody neocons.

These people need to get a life. In retrospect, it seems they've found a "life". Isn't it sad.

I'm cooking my first christmas dinner ever for my partner, his mom and her sister: Roast hen, squash dressing, butterbeans, rolls and oatmeal-pecan cookies (the ladies are in their 80's and don't ask for much!)

Anyway, once again, all the best to you and yours from me and mine!

[sistersofmercy]

7. Happy Holidays!

I am also dismayed about this recent event. It is unfortunate that a divisive vocal minority of Dean supporters here are giving the majority a bad name. I have never written negatively about Dean or Dean supporters in fact, I find the majority of Dean supporters to be quite fair and gracious, in responding to critique of other candidates as well as their own.
This divisive vocal minority have in the past responded to replies or threads they did not like with "welcome to my ignore list" or "enjoy being on my ignore list." Now they have discovered they have a better tool, the alert button via the new rules about deleted posts and the "time out" that will follow. I personally received one of these veiled threats on a thread and find it to be totally disgusting. It is a similar attitude to the one bad apple who did this to Will, it in effect says, agree with me because if you do not, I know a way to have you removed from this site.
To the majority of Dean supporters here, you are in my opinion an outstanding group with the intelligence and diligence to drive to your candidate to the top of the Dem ring. I am thankful you are here because if Dean does get the nod, I want to have a fair understanding of his background and plans for our beautiful country. Happy Holidays to all!
PS Tell Will is insightful writings will be greatly missed.

[ronzo]

8. Happy Holidays!

Raven, Hope you and yours have a Merry, Merry Christmas. :)

[Cleita]

9. Happy holidays Raven and to Will Pitt too.

I missed out on what happened because I was incommunicado at the time because of the California earthquake. When I finally got on line yesterday, all the threads were locked that I could have expressed my sentiments to him. I hope these things will be cleared up and that things will go back to normal and that Will will be back.

I suspect many of us will be attacked, not nobodies like me, but those who have been exposing the malfaesance of this government. Let's hope that we will overcome.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

10. Merry Christmas to you, Raven

I, too am sorry that people can not disagree without taking their disagreements off this board and making them personal and attempting to threaten another's livelihood in order to get revenge. If they boycotted DU for events on DU that would be fair. If they boycotted TO for events at TO, that would be fair. Anything else I see as dirty pool, but DU certainly does have its share of obsessive, unethical lowlife assholes who will apparently stop at nothing to control others.

I am so glad to call all the people in your original post my friends. Those people remind me of why I stay as do you.

We can agree or disagree but we know we are all on the same team. May the New Year bring us a bit more strength in exhibiting that around here. :toast:

[Generic Other]

11. Merry Christmas to you Raven and to Will...

Here's hoping that 2004 will be the year that the ronin rule!

[GCP]

12. Merry Christmas to you and Will

Please tell him we love him here and DU wouldn't be DU without him.

Have a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year and here's hoping for a change for the better in this country next November!

:grouphug:

[SOteric]

13. Happy Holidays to you and Will

I very much hope we'll see both of you here from time to time in the coming year.

We're an unruly bunch in a lot of ways. I don't agree with the practices of the individual who took her dispute to Will's employer. "What happens in Fight Club, stays in Fight Club."*

All that notwithstanding, I think DU has benefitted greatly from Will's presence. In turn, I know Will and TruthOut have benefitted by his participation in DU. It's a hard-scrabble world in contemporary politics and internet fora. For every occasional pinhead on DU, there is a wealth of people Will can count on as an automatic fan-base. People who will buy his books, give them to friends, recommend them on blogs and spend their own pocket money to bring him around the country to speak about the issues contained in them. That's a valuable asset.

As for you, Raven, you're good people. You raised a good man. I wish you both joy and fulfillment in the upcoming year.

*...any resemblence between GD: 2004 Primary and the fictional creation "Fight Club" is purely coincidental.

[proud patriot]

14. Happy holidays Raven

Hugs :loveya: