A reminder to be careful about what you post online

[tulipsandroses]

Re: any personal info- I know that goes without saying but just a reminder

I'm saying this because I came across a really chilling right wing nut/ gun humper website that apparently watches DU. I'm not sure if its within the TOS to link it, so I won't. If it is I will post it. Anyhoo, as some of these ( what seems to me- fishy threads) start popping up - I started googling the content to see what I would find - one topic lead me to this wing nut gun humper site where they had posted the topic on that site and stated that DU was going crazy over it - there were some pretty disparaging remarks in that thread about DU and Liberals. Apparently the poster thinks its fun to watch DU for laughs.

Anyhoo, I wanted to see what the site was about. So I started to look at the other threads. Hate filled about liberals, immigrants, minorities, stock piling ammunition, weapons. It was jarring to think these people had an eye on DU. We need stronger gun laws for sure. I already know that. But those people posting on that site are a sure reminder.

[Hoyt]

1. +1. More than a few post here at times.

[rampartc]

2. discussionist is fairly tame compared to most rwnj sites

if their online culture is representative of "real patriotic Americans" we are in a world of trouble.

[Grasswire2]

4. The OP may not be talking about discussionist.

There's a place worse than that.

[rampartc]

28. oh, there are several places worse than that.

[sharedvalues]

36. "Real patriotic Americans" are here at DU

Today the only patriots in America are Democrats.

[Grasswire2]

3. we know about that place.

Freaks and weirdos.

[Leith]

5. There are several that do that

It must really suck to have such a useless life that they chose a hobby like that. It really does suck few* none of them figure out what liberalism really is, how it works, and why it's the better way.

* "few" because there's a con/rethug poster on "that other site" that isn't a kneejerk asshole any more. I haven't visited there in over a year, but I'm guessing that they have chased him out by now if the board is still around.

[Texasgal]

8. Pfft!

I'm not worried about these assholes! They have been doing it for years and years.

They have no life except to troll DU and mock us. They are truly desperate hags.

I'm not worried about these desperados in the slightest.

[LakeArenal]

41. Probably paid trolls. Possibly foreign paid trolls.

[Texasgal]

55. Unfortunately no.

This website has been around since the inception of DU.

Yes, there are REALLY crazy messed up people out there.

[tulipsandroses]

9. You learn something new every day. I did not realize this was a thing

It wasn't Discussionist -

These are some sick folks.

[customerserviceguy]

10. You call them

"gun humpers", and you're surprised that they consider you an enemy?

[AllyCat]

15. Really? We call them a bad name and they are allowed

To threaten others? The moniker isn’t far from the truth: they love guns more than life.

[customerserviceguy]

17. Well

if we called them gun enthusiasts, or Second Amendment supporters, or even "gun nuts", we might be able to reach some compromises with them on background checks, etc., that even most of the NRA members support. But when we compare their proclivity for having weapons for hunting, sport, or simply protection to a rutting animal, we signal to them that we really don't want compromise, we want to erode their rights to effectively nothing, and feed into the slippery slope argument.

And thus, we turn them into single-issue voters, who will vote for a Donald Trump, no matter how awful his personal life is, or how many times and to what extent he lies, or how incredibly non-democratically he runs his administration.

If you really want compromise on this issue, then our language should reflect that, but if we want a permanent struggle that we're bound to lose from time to time, then keep on using the term "gun humpers".

[billh58]

20. Actually, gun humpers are not

that big a group and they would never choose to "compromise" in any event. Fuck 'em...

[MFM008]

27. They will never accept a compromise

on anything related to guns no matter how sensible.
They will never vote for anyone except a rapist like the maggot.
They can all suck it.

[PTWB]

31. Many strong Democrats right here on DU own guns.

I own several. I will never vote Trump and will never vote Republican outside of trying to manipulate their primary elections.

Recognize that you catch more flies with honey, that is all.

[MFM008]

32. I own guns

Im not talking about SANE gun owners.

[LakeArenal]

43. Nor vote for a woman or person of color.

[meadowlander]

23. Yeah, still not OK to threaten to hurt people.

[AllyCat]

24. I am not going to "play nice" with these brandishers of lethal weapons

so they will "compromise" with me. We are on to a permanent struggle: Nazis, guns, racist cops, and whatever else. I am not going to compromise with terrorists. They don't get to be afraid of freakin' everything and then THREATEN American citizens for not dealing with them. As someone upthread said, "Fuck 'em".

[customerserviceguy]

44. Then you leave them no choice

but to push for the most extreme politicians who will buy them off with pro-gun positions from SCOTUS nominees. They lost their footing when Jim Brady got shot, and the Brady bill passed, and they will remember that for generations, rendering them unmovable on their stances.

How's that worked out for the past couple of decades?

[AllyCat]

46. I do not negotiate with terrorists

When the gun nuts decided the “well-regulated” part in the Constitution meant, well, anyone (except maybe black people) they basically took away our right to life.

[customerserviceguy]

47. And that is exactly why

they won't negotiate with what they call "gun grabbers".

See how much easier this all is when each side demonizes the other? We don't have to consider each other's position, or even think at all.

[jpak]

50. You obviously do not know any "gun humpers"

"compromises"????

[customerserviceguy]

51. I've known a lot of people who have owned firearms

mostly when I lived out in WA State, where I owned one myself for awhile. They were all pretty reasonable people, who probably would have backed sensible regulations like universal background checks, closing gun show loopholes, etc. But to some anti-gun folks, they're "gun humpers".

I got rid of my pistol in 1993 when I married my second wife. She would not live with a gun in the house, and even after a few Second Amendment speeches from her father (who was an early Rush Limbaugh fan) she would not relent. It was her or the pistol, so I gave up the pistol.

It was rather funny a couple years later when one of her friends from Evergreen State College (Hippie U, they called it back in the day) for a visit, and stayed in my son's room while he was not there, as it was not my visitation weekend. Her suitcase wouldn't fit under the bed, something was blocking it. She reached under the bed, and pulled out a gunlike-toy that involved shooting bursts of light at a photocell in a target that kept score.

She immediately recoiled from it, even though it looked more like something from Star Wars than a real weapon, and even after I showed her that all it shot were pulses of light, she was still skeeved out by it. She'd have called me a gun humper for even having that in the house for my pre-teen son to play with.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

57. My father was in law enforcement for over 30 years

and HE called them mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, gun-humpers because that's what HE thought they were.

[yardwork]

59. I don't think so.

[LanternWaste]

34. Mollifying extremists always works so well.

[sharedvalues]

37. Worse. The NRA is a terrorist organization

If you buy guns or ammo in America today,
you’re sending money to the NRA and helping them
get kids killed.

The NRA is a domestic terror organization.

[sharedvalues]

60. The NRA is paid by corporations to flood nation with guns

The NRA advocates for any policy that will increase the number of guns.
It is a domestic terrorism organization.

I used to be a member too. Your family members should quit the NRA. It used to represent responsible gun owners. Over the last three decades it’s become a tool of gun corporations who don’t care how many Americans are killed as long as they make money.

[LakeArenal]

42. The call me libtard and they are surprised we call them the enemy?

[customerserviceguy]

45. It's true

there has been escalation from both sides. At some point, either we have a president who can fight that trend and bring us (most of us, anyway) to a compromise we can all live with, or this nation will tear apart yet again.

[emmaverybo]

11. Thank you for the heads up. NT

[spin]

12. It goes both ways. ...

I have read some nasty comments about gun owners here on DU. When I visit right wing sites I read nasty comments about liberals and Democrats.

The internet has sadly fostered a lack of civility in our society. People will say things on forums that they would never say in public.

We seem to be dividing into groups and camps that show little respect for each other and often actually hate others whose views differ. This makes compromise and solving the problems facing our nation far more difficult and at times promotes violence.

I am not sure how to correct this problem or if it even can be corrected.

[customerserviceguy]

18. Thanks for saying that

We really are headed towards a splitting up of the United States. The last time, it was over slavery, the next time it will be over a myriad of issues that we lost the ability to compromise on.

[sharedvalues]

38. If that happens, blame rightwing propaganda media.

If we have a civil war, Fox and Limbaugh and their rightwing billionaire funders are responsible, period.

Democrats should stand up to bullies today. Don’t roll over in the name of false civility - if that happens you’ll merely be run over by the wanna be fascists. Fight. Resist.

[meadowlander]

25. The OP isn't talking about "nasty comments".

They're talking about attempts to dox posters or making threats against them.

It doesn't "go both ways". There aren't "good/bad" people on both sides.

Show me the posts on DU where people are talking about "Site X posters most in need of a good rape" because I found myself on that list on Twitter after my "nasty comments" on Charlottesville.

It can be corrected by the police treating online threats of serious harm the same way they would treat in person threats of serious harm.

Posting someone's address and encouraging people to send them death threats online isn't really any different than stuffing their mailbox with death threats or stalking them. Both are a crime and should be treated as such.

[spin]

26. Obviously we have to be careful about revealing too much information...

about ourselves when posting because of the potential threats.

However the op did contain comments which I refer to as “nasty.”

“...one topic lead me to this wing nut gun humper site where they had posted the topic on that site and stated that DU was going crazy over it - there were some pretty disparaging remarks in that thread about DU and Liberals. Apparently the poster thinks its fun to watch DU for laughs.

Anyhoo, I wanted to see what the site was about. So I started to look at the other threads. Hate filled about liberals, immigrants, minorities, stock piling ammunition, weapons. It was jarring to think these people had an eye on DU. We need stronger gun laws for sure. I already know that. But those people posting on that site are a sure reminder.”(emphasis added)

Over the years I have watched the posts on forums grow more and more hate filled and vile. This disturbs me as this lack of civility can and does lead to death threats in mail boxes and stalking.

Things often start off small and seem insignificant but can grow to become a serious problem.

[cwydro]

29. Hate to break it to you but DUers are not above doxing.

Nor are they above calling for painful death or prison rape of those they disagree with. I’m not going to link to a specific example for obvious reasons, but stay tuned. You’ll see it.

[tulipsandroses]

52. You are exactly right. For this reason and for all the other frightening things that have happened

Last edited Mon Jul 1, 2019, 10:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Recently - In terms of people sending bombs in the mail. Stalking people. Killing people. Targeting Liberals. Targeting Minorities. Cloaked in hate. Indoctrinated on some of these websites. That is the reason I made this thread. Maybe I am being paranoid. But I'd rather someone be safe than sorry. I thought about the fact that I have seen people innocently link articles from their local papers with a story about a family member or loved one. Beaming with pride with whatever accomplishment they wanted to share or an obituary of sad news. So that was the intent of this thread to to warn people to be careful. Not to discuss bothsiderism which does not even compare to what is happening on the site I am speaking of.

Some of those threads I was talking about are not tame- or a matter of simple name calling so forget the bothsederism here. I was most concerned about explicit homophobia, xenophobia, racism, misogyny. Things that are not acceptable here on DU and should not be tolerated anywhere at all. I have never seen that kind of language expressed anywhere on DU.
I have never seen anyone called the F word here on DU. I have never seen gay people spoken of in stereotypes of having AIDS. So there is no comparison. What I am referring to are irrational people, hence the thread to be careful about what you post to make sure you protect yourself online.

[Bradical79]

48. It really doesn't go both ways

One side has embraced white supremecy and fascism. The other side occasionaly has some uncivil words for those white supremecists. It's a false equivalency.

[spin]

58. I have known many gun owners in my lifetime. ...

A very few have been white supremacists. One was a local cop who intended to get a swastika tattooed on his back when he retired. He probably also qualified as a fascist. He was a friend of my son in law as both enjoyed riding motorcycles and he used to stop by our house. Another white supremacist tried to interest me in joining a local militia group. I of course declined.

In general most of the gun owners I knew when I used to shoot at a police pistol range which was open to the public were doctors, lawyers, businessmen, engineers, technicians, bankers, nurses, ex-cops, etc. Some were very rich. Most were middle class and a some were poor. Gun owners come from a large cross section of society. Almost all were Republican. I was one of the few Democrats at that range along with a retired factory foreman. We got a lot of good natured razzing but there was no hatred directed at us. Conversations at that range often involved computers and sports (especially golfing). Political discussions were dominated by conservative views but to be honest I didn’t see much racial hatred. I remember one individual seemed very anti-Jewish and after a while the range master asked him to leave as he was no longer welcome. I believe the range master was agnostic but I am not sure as religion was rarely mentioned during conversations at the range. You would think firearms would have been a hot topic but they were only when someone bought something new or when a newbie wanted to learn how to shoot better.

I once took a black co-worker to a different pistol range and introduced him to target shooting. He was amazed at how friendly the shooters were. We went to the range on a regular basis for a couple of years until he changed shifts. He later obtained a concealed weapons permit and the instructor who taught his class was so impressed with his shooting ability that he tried to convince him to try competitive shooting.

Now I don’t know what the average gun owner would post when on the internet. The internet often seems to bring out the worst in people. Of course that basically goes for everybody. Perhaps that is why the internet is called the Wild West.

[SoCalNative]

53. Really?

I have no problem calling them ignorant, racist, redneck, bigoted, inbred gun humpers to their face.

[spin]

56. That's fine if you are not interested in solving problems. ...

With that approach it is obvious that you have no desire to engage in further discussion. If they are intelligent they will simply wish you a good day and walk off.

[dustyscamp]

13. Was it Conservative underground dot com?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211970827#post3

This sounded similar to what Laura PourMeADrink posted a while ago

[True_Blue]

40. Maybe Conservative Cave

They're obsessed over DU & DUers. They'll even contact your employer & try to get you fired if they find out where you work.

[dustyscamp]

49. Ugh those scummy people

[Takket]

14. Fuck them all

And if they want to fight come get me. My name is Donald Trump and I live in the White House in Washington DC.

[melman]

16. Also don't ever use the same name on multiple sites

It makes it much easier for people to track down info on you. And yes, there are people that do things like that.

I have taken some grief over my screen name on here. certain people try to taunt me by calling me "mel" etc, but that's not my name and isn't even anything close to my name. It has zero to do with me and no search on it would ever lead to anything about me.

[Control-Z]

19. Yup.

And I've been accused of hiding behind a pseudonym in order to trash the real liberals on this site. Go figure, melman. Really. Sometimes you just can't win.

[cwydro]

30. There was a split off site from here formed by BS supporters.

I can’t remember the name of the site right now, but there are at least a few posters here who apparently not only visit there, but come back here to tell us all (who couldn’t care less) what is happening on that site.

I can’t imagine spending time to do either, but there it is. To be honest, I haven’t seen any of those “updates” in a while, so maybe they’ve stopped.

[LittleGirl]

22. +1 eom

[brooklynite]

35. If someone wanted to get mad at me...

There’s a lot more in my social profile and public records to get mad at than what I post here.

[hunter]

39. Gun fetishes are disgusting.

[gldstwmn]

61. A lot of those types are afraid of their own shadow.

It's a good reminder though.