"Top Ten Conservative Idiots" Counterproductive?

[gulliver]

I'm concerned that the "Top Ten Conservative Idiots" articles are counterproductive. It's not that I don't like to see certain conservative leaders ridiculed. I love that and practice it daily.

The problems I have with the TTCI articles are:

1. Too blunt an instrument. One doesn't call a crazed mugger an idiot (true though it may be). The aim should be to destroy, not offend.
2. Lots of people consider themselves conservatives who would be Democrats were they in their right minds. Let's not get in the way of their recovery process.
3. TTCI is getting old. It's getting to be the hamburger goulash on the school lunch menu.

Maybe this isn't the place to bring this up. If so, please feel free to lock. I just thought it might be worth discussing.

On edit: Changed "an crazed mugger" to "a crazed mugger". Fixed misspelled "ghoulash".

[Richard Steele]

1. Hamburger Goulash?

:popcorn:

[AzDar]

2. Really? It's one of my fave features...... n/t

[hyphenate]

3. The only way I would say the list was counter productive

was that it's limited to ten--there should be 50 or 100 of them there every week, not just those 10. We see so much shit every single day that I really feel bad about the ones who have to squeeze it down all the time, knowing that one is just as bad as another....

[niyad]

4. not only is it one of my favourites, I use it to beat on my trolls, who

foam and froth when I point out their hypocrisy. you don't have to read it if you think it worthless. besides, it makes for a very good education--subtle doesn't work on everyone.

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. counterproductive? hell no. n/t

[karlrschneider]

6. Of course it's preaching to the choir but I find it a convenient

summary of recent wingnut shenanigans. ;-)

[Flubadubya]

7. Don't click on that link...

and you'll never see it again. See how easy? :silly:

[Sammy Pepys]

8. I think there are many more things...

...that would alienate conservatives than that.

I don't know whether TTCI is published elsewhere, but DU forbids conservative particpation here anyway. That makes it pretty clear that DU is not place conservatives should not expect to be treated hospitably. TTCI's point is to provide the "choir" (if you know what I mean) some entertainment.

That said, I've never found it particularly interesting (to be brutally honest).

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Oh no I think it is a great feature

It's always very educational too.

[BlooInBloo]

10. I love TTCI.

[realisticphish]

11. TTCI

is for us, not conservatives. If we censored every criticism of conservatives on this website, it'd be one lame discussion board.

[Minnesota_Lib]

12. I love TTCI...it helps me forget Monday morning is looming. ; )

[sutz12]

13. I'm sorry, but I can't agree...

The fight is far from over, and this is a wonderful compilation of the hypocrisy we face day to day.

RW'ers have had pretty much carte blanche to offend those on the left for about 20 years now, and I'm sick of it. This, at least, is one site where the RW gets a little back. :thumbsup:

[VelmaD]

14. Good grief...NO

You'd probably be surprised how many people found DU thanks to some other site linking to the Top 10. Every time we have one of those "how did you find DU?" threads it's one of the most common answers.

[realisticphish]

16. that's how I found it

i read it on Buzzflash, and found my way here

[bunkerbuster1]

21. I saw it posted in a Usenet forum

Probably never would have come to DU otherwise.

[realisticphish]

24. man

that's a scary thought. Can you imagine life without DU?

:scared:

[RedEarth]

15. Only ten each week is not nearly enough.....we're being too compassionate

[Jara sang]

17. You are wrong. It was the first thing that attracted me to DU.

When I found the TTCI I didn't know what the hell DU was. In fact I didn't know there was a whole discussion forum attached to TTCI at all. For a long time I was just checking out TTCI weekly. I thought it was freakin' awesome and still do. The honesty in TTCI really rang true. I thought it was great that somebody, somebody, anybody was ripping into the Republicans and saw the same hypocrisy in the entire GOP that I saw. The Pukes have no problem tearing apart Dems, I think we need to bash the hell out the GOP like the TTCI does and we need to do it on a larger scale.

[murray hill farm]

18. Hey...i love it!

It is my favorite monday reading each week! The perfect summary of the week in review! And it is just soooooooooooo consistantly excellent...and funny.

[displacedtexan]

19. The facts presented in the weekly TTCI column are important.

They are our talking points.

If the facts offend, then the problem is
not ours, dear gulliver.

[Fox Mulder]

20. The TTCI is the very reason why I came to DU.

I love it.

Sorry, I can't agree with you.

[tallahasseedem]

22. This mentality is why we are losing elections.

These people are single handedly destroying our country and your worried about offending them? Sheesh. :banghead:

[realisticphish]

23. The general thing

is that we can't pussyfoot around. We've been doing that for 6 years now, and it's gotten us nowhere. I'm not a "sink to their level" person, but we have to accept that politics get down and dirty, and fight fire with fire. I'd love to be able to work bipartisanly, or actually have people that vote on rationale and logic, rather than party lines. But as long as the right wing is spitting vitriole at us, our attempts to quietly reason with them will be lost in the noise.

[KansDem]

25. It helps put things in perspective in a clear, concise manner...

I refer to it constantly.

[Kurovski]

26. Ridicule is an important tool in a Democracy.

It's been around for hundreds of years. It influences perception. Just look at what 35 years of ridiculing liberals has accomplished. So, IMO, we get rid of the top ten list at our own peril.

Regarding ridicule: I have no problem with it when it reveals truth and corruption, and sticks to the facts. Many people make the mistake of equating it with "school-yard" behaviour. It isn't always.

The TTCI helped to put DU on the map, and it's PREMIUM entertainment that delivers some of the week's top stories in a convenient, easy to digest format.

Thanks and kudos to EarlG!

[Marnieworld]

27. So wrong

The Top Ten List is linked on so many sites and many Duers, myself included found DU because of those links. It shows that weekly that there are at least 10 things that can be highlighted. Also it is always written so very well, researched, catalogs all of the weeks, that it is such a great reference and quick summary for those who want to keep up but don't have the time.

It's not old. It's a classic, a trademark and DU would be not the same without it.

[OneBlueSky]

28. I've said many times that using the word "conservative" for the . . .

Top Ten column risks alienating many who consider themselves conservative but who would be natural allies on many, many issues . . . I'd much prefer something like Top Ten Neocons or Top Ten Neanderthals or whatever, but when I've suggested it, it's gotten shot down pretty decisively . . .

I still maintain that demonizing conservatives is, as you said, highly counterproductive . . .

[Kurovski]

29. Kick(nt)

[Swamp Rat]

30. If it weren't for the Top 10 Idiots I would not be here right now.

I say sharpen the rhetoric even more.

There's plenty of cyber-places to have mealy-mouthed conservations with milquetoast cream puffs. :D