A Word or Two About Grudges

[FatDave]

I keep seeing these threads popping up to the effect of "You expect us to unite with your candidate after all the nasty things that were said to me and about me?" and I'm getting tired of responding to them individually, so I figured an OP was in order.

First, I'd like to say that with one notable exception, I have no expectations and I make no demands. I look forward to a day when we can put aside our differences and go back to being Democrats, but if you're not ready to do that I'm not going to try to force you. The one exception is that I do expect anyone calling themselves a Democrat to vote for the Democratic Party's nominee in November, whoever that may be. There is no way that a sane person can hold a candidate responsible for the actions of a few of his or her supporters on an internet message board.

Secondly, I'd like to point out that Hillary supporters were in no way the sole recipient of baseless personal attacks on these boards. Some people were always decent, some were nasty when provoked, and others (a very loud but very small minority in my estimation) were constant assholes. This is how it was on both sides. Now maybe an almost certain Obama victory makes the past six months of abuse an easier pill for Obama supporters to swallow, but you can surely see that we took our fair share of it too.

And lastly, it needs to be said that for all of your complaining about your treatment, you chose to be here. Not only did you choose to come to DU, you chose to read the posts in GD:P. There were stickies all over the place about how to hide GD:P posts, and if you chose to enter the fray, then I have to assume you were getting something out of it. Chances are good that you dished it out as well as you took it. It's not like we came into your home and started screaming at you. You willingly and of your own accord came to a common ground where it was widely known that people regularly argued in the most vitriolic terms possible, so please forgive me if I have little sympathy for your bruised ego.

But anyway, if you don't want to support Obama, then don't. I'm not gonna change your mind. Just don't use your unfair treatment in GD:P as a reason not to, because I ain't buying it. We were all treated shittily. Now let's all get over it.

[Va Lefty]

1. Very well said

Kicked and recommended

[leftofcool]

2. Anyone who bases their vote on words from an internet forum,

a message board, a blog, an OP, or anything said by any pundit from the MSM is just being silly. There are many ways to research a candidate that do not include the above.

[BeatleBoot]

3. Yep. We'll all just "MoveOn.org" type of a thing

There you go.

Case settled.

[PurityOfEssence]

4. I'll get you yet...

Dammit.

[lojasmo]

5. K/R Thanks!

[FatDave]

6. The title really should have been "A Word or 400 About Grudges"

[nomorewhopper]

7. best post all day

maybe i should save my snide comment about the other candidate for another thread

:D

[FatDave]

9. Aw, shucks...

I disagree of course, but I do appreciate the kind words.

[TragedyandHope]

8. Thank you! We need each other.

We can't hand our country over to McCain who will continue Bush's criminal Presidency.

[Window]

10. Amen.

:kick:

[Eurobabe]

11. That's why I have over 200 people on ignore

some were friends that I hoped to keep after the bloodletting. :hi:

[newmajority]

14. 200?? Damn.. is there a limit on ignore lists?

I was going to clear mine out this morning, and then after seeing all the various "sour grapes" threads, I decided against it.

Because if the threads I could see were that awful, I doubt I would want to read the ones started by "Ignored". :scared:

[Writer]

12. I agree with you to an extent, but you need to understand that this is the modern day public square.

It's where modern day Americans go to share perspective on politics. DU is not the only place of discourse; political discourse on the Internet is ubiquitous. To assume that one can simply "leave" the public square is asking them to simply give up on discussing politics. We're here because we are actively engaged and because we care. And if one were to come here only to face abuse, then that leaves an impression, whether that person decides to stay or not.

You're right - insults have gone both ways, however you must understand we Clinton supporters now must face the possibility that our candidate may likely not get the nod. This is a disappointment for Clinton supporters but solace for Obama supporters, who now have the luxury of being "nice" to Clinton supporters. For Obama supporters, it's easily done because, essentially, they have what they want. So to ask a Clinton supporter to suddenly accept kindness from one who has been so brutal in this any other forums on the Internet assumes that some Clinton supporters have no self-respect. It's one thing to insult another person, but it's really despicable to pat them on the head after you've slugged them and expect them to purr. Some (some!) Clinton supporters don't have much incentive to exert effort for Obama. They might vote for him, but campaign for him? You've got to be kidding.

It's not going to just take an olive branch; it's going to take active reconciliation, including honest apologies, between both parties.

~Writer~

[FatDave]

13. You make good points

Especially your second one. It is easier from an Obama supporters perspective. I figure calls for unity are OK as long as they're not condescending. Again, some people are just assholes and we'd all be better off if we could thicken our virtual skins a bit, though I realize that's not always easy to do.

Also, I should have made it clearer in the OP, but I'm in no way accusing all or even a majority of Clinton supporters of complaining about their treatment. I have seen many congratulatory posts and pledges of support today from Hillary Clinton supporters, and they have filled me with hope.

And as far as reconciliation and apologies go, I am sincerely sorry for any disrespect I showed to any of my fellow Democrats. While I always tried to stay cool and rational, I did not always succeed. From now on I'll try harder to keep my anger focused at our common enemy: The Judean People's Front. Erm, I mean John McCain. Whether you love or hate Barack Obama, let's at least all vote against John McCain.

[Writer]

16. Maybe this ought to be its own thread.

In fact, I'll start one.

~Writer~

[NC_Nurse]

15. Sound reasonable to me. I can't imagine letting someone here sway me on

voting for the nominee. Even if I had to hold my nose.

Assholes have to live with themselves. That's enough punishment. ;-)

[Tresalisa]

17. Kicked and recommended!

Great post! I've never understood those who posted that a particular candidate's supporters were the reason they weren't ever going to vote for their candidate. This is not the real world, people, this is an internet forum (and a damn good one, at that!) and we need to all be on the same page to defeat McCain next November!

:kick: