General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCan the DU Wet Blanket Brigade give it a brief respite for now?
Maybe you're right.
Maybe the hearings won't amount to a hill of beans.
But let's just have them first, okay?
Plenty of time to judge later. But let's sit down and take it in before anything else.
Is that too much to ask?
pwb
(11,244 posts)have to sign out to see them.
Response to pwb (Reply #1)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
Cha
(296,742 posts)seen it!
💙💛
Iggo
(47,534 posts)Ive made the mistake of starting from the top. You end up missing a bunch of em.
FarPoint
(12,275 posts)Last edited Fri Jun 10, 2022, 01:26 AM - Edit history (2)
Keeps me away from DU essentially....the typical poster tends to call it "sarcasm" when called out or asked to clarify....
Such posts are damaging to moral of all of us who cherish DU....
Sometimes they feel like imbedded trolls....who knows....I would not be surprised.
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)And how does a post you don't agree with "damage you" in any way?
I frequently see posts that I don't agree with, but I don't feel "damaged" in the least bit.
FarPoint
(12,275 posts)A well known and respected poster....you understand.
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(48,935 posts)FarPoint
(12,275 posts)Ask me nicely ....
CrackityJones75
(2,403 posts)Yet a moth to that flame.
Every. Single. Time.
FarPoint
(12,275 posts)Enlighten fellow posters...please.
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,935 posts)ShazzieB
(16,261 posts)This question sounds extremely disingenuous to me, but what the hell...
One definition of morale is "the amount of confidence and cheerfulness that a group of people have." Source: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/morale
There is such a thing as individual morale also, but I think we're talking about group morale in this case.
If constant "wet blanket" posts about things like the presumed uselessness of the hearings; the presumed incompetence, indecisiveness, etc., of Merrick Garland; the presumption that our democracy is already dead; the presumption that neither TFG nor those who helped him mastermind the coup will ever be held accountable for their misdeeds; etc., etc. do not have a negative effect on your personal morale, well, that's nice for you, I guess. But I can assure you that they DEFINITELY have an impact on the morale of many of us here, and therefore that of the group as a whole.
Believe it not, some of us would rather NOT have a bucket of cold water thrown in our faces every time we try to discuss these topics.
stopdiggin
(11,235 posts)the idea that we don't have such voices here - or that everyone isn't aware of them ... hardly a contentious starting point it would seem.
----- -----
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)Wednesdays
(17,305 posts)Response to Wednesdays (Reply #5)
Post removed
FarPoint
(12,275 posts)I feel the tension and intolerance when reading posts...The knit picky gammar Nazi behavior has been up front...that's a clue ....
Just realize folks.. typing on a smart phone is not uniformly designed ..
PatSeg
(47,236 posts)ShazzieB
(16,261 posts)But the posts we're talking about seldom meet the criteria for that.
I have started putting a few people on ignore, though. I try to reserve that for only the most extreme cases (constant, multiple posts of a certain nature), but I can't always remember who said what from one day to the next. Also, a lot of people's posts are a mixed bag. I don't necessarily want to ignore someone completely just because they said something that annoyed me once.
Byt "ignore" can definitely be a good option sometimes.
Tommy Carcetti
(43,143 posts)But not like I can't ignore that the posts are there.
It's just a simple request. Probably will fall on deaf ears.
ancianita
(35,925 posts)there's that.
These hearings are not just for Americans. They are for the Congressional Record, and become part of America's official history.
People ought to watch them to see an historical event alone, nevermind that it's the biggest hearing in U.S. history.
LakeArenal
(28,791 posts)soldierant
(6,785 posts)I realize a post iis not the same thing as a bucket of cold water ... but if anyone feels it is ... I myself am not in the business of telling people how they "should" feel.
LakeArenal
(28,791 posts)The audience negative reaction surprised reaction Colbert. Im glad. His Biden jokes are old and not funny.
badhair77
(4,206 posts)wnylib
(21,300 posts)his critique of Biden over the Afghanistan withdrawal. If I wanted the Republican view, I could go to their sites. He could have gone after Trump for creating the necessity to leave like we did since Trump turned over the country to the Taliban before Biden got into office. But he chose to make cheap, shallow digs at Biden instead.
Besides, Jimmy Kimmel and Trevor Noah are much funnier and more insightful. Colbert comes across to me as canned.
LakeArenal
(28,791 posts)Both be and Jon Stewart did not vote for Biden and they have discussed it on air.
Response to LakeArenal (Reply #126)
CrispyQ This message was self-deleted by its author.
Doc Sportello
(7,484 posts)Where did you get the idea he didn't vote for Biden and can you link to that supposed clip of him saying so?
FoxNewsSucks
(10,414 posts)Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)Response to FoxNewsSucks (Reply #10)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
brooklynite
(94,294 posts)Primary elections?
Trial Verdicts?
DOJ Indictments?
msongs
(67,343 posts)then again mine was so efficient my Dr. told me to eat more salt cuz I was running low
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)We need a list!
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)LakeArenal
(28,791 posts)There are just negative people that will never be satisfied. They deride positivity by positive people as Pollyanna. The call being a fan of someone as asskissing. They make a statement they dont agree with personal. They like to say calm down little Missy when you feel strongly about something.
They appear on here. They are always the same characters. So learn to expect it from them. Its their schtick.
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)Ive never seen that here.
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)I would imagine it would be removed quite quickly.
edhopper
(33,464 posts)Been here since Bush, and I get lectured by people who joined 10 years later about how I should act here.
PortTack
(32,689 posts)Silent3
(15,130 posts)You are "fragrantly" abusing the English language!
McKim
(2,412 posts)After decades of hard bashing from The Right Wing in this country, Democrats are acting like battered wives, hopeless and negative in their outlooks. We are the reasonable majority in this country as signaled by the last presidential election and by the committee hearings. Let's stand up and act like it!
Lucid Dreamer
(584 posts)...oh... never mind.
Celerity
(43,057 posts)calimary
(81,085 posts)Thanks! Kinda need stuff like that, nowadays!
sprinkleeninow
(20,208 posts)I did dat on porpoise.
😝
Chainfire
(17,450 posts)Who does that sound like?
summer_in_TX
(2,703 posts)Pre-judging is tiresome and basically fills up the space with negative speculation
speculation that wears one out instead of being hopeful. Quite all right to be the pessimistic type, but please realize it wears on many and maybe is best kept to oneself. We're a community and we want to make it a place where we all enjoy being.
Also, we are all dealing with various amounts of anxiety (meaning we're a bit on edge) and it'd be helpful (not to mention kind) to tamp back on pessimistic comments.
Chainfire
(17,450 posts)golden path to political paradise. It really disgusts me when someone, pretending to be a progressive, tries to dictate what kinds of opinions that others should be, or should not be posting. Perhaps people should run their opinions by you before posting? Would you like to edit my thoughts too? If you are on edge, take a chill pill, but stay off of other peoples backs.
edhopper
(33,464 posts)Garland will indict Trump and Dems will take Congress and the Senate if not speculation and prejudging?
PortTack
(32,689 posts)More than someone elses. Its rude. Would that be so HARD??!!
Response to PortTack (Reply #38)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)Seriously?
How about we all save time & energy and just assume that very obvious point?
PortTack
(32,689 posts)which is fair. Ppl want to know is this just my opinion or is it actual truth. Isnt this how rumor and innuendo get started after all?
Ppl here complain a LOT about broadcasters giving their opinions rather than just reporting the news. Cant have it both ways.
Get it?
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)board posting their own opinion, based on various pieces of information, personal knowledge, experience & outlook, etc., which no reasonable person expects could be proven by "a link" vs someone posting something and claiming it as a fact, for which a link can be reasonably expected.
As for broadcasters giving their opinions on events in the news vs just reporting the news, again, but in a different way, two different things. Some people are interested in hearing just one or the other of those two. And some want to hear the facts and the opinions. And any given person may want different coverage depending on the topic.
PortTack
(32,689 posts)Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)You are dismissed.
PortTack
(32,689 posts)Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)Nothing you've said has any more than a vague connection to what I've said here.
PortTack
(32,689 posts)betsuni
(25,367 posts)Maybe/I wonder and so on, otherwise people get offended and angry. I hate that I do it, but it saves time and trouble. A lot of people don't understand generalizations, the difference between opinions and facts. Feeling over thinking. They also don't understand quotes.
If I said that medium salsa is better than hot salsa, or that cats are better than dogs, it wouldn't be seen as the obvious opinion it is. No, I'd be accused of wanting to rip the hot salsa out of everyone's hands and throw it in the trash, of hating puppies, of telling everyone what to do. I don't know, some people can just come out and say things and it's fine, but I can't. In my opinion.
brooklynite
(94,294 posts)Cozmo
(1,402 posts)Whatsoever!
samnsara
(17,602 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)of a pivotal moment in our countrys journey.
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)to ask because this is a "discussion board." See how that works?
This type OP used to be called a "meta" post.
Unrec.
paleotn
(17,870 posts)Ever, ever, ever. We're all fucked. Fucked, I tell you. Fucked. Fuuuuuuuuucked!!!!!!
For some that's their default right out of the gate, actual evidence to support such a position be damned. That's not discussion. That's borderline on pathological. Or it's agenda driven.
CrackityJones75
(2,403 posts)edhopper
(33,464 posts)And that is the only one who matters.
ShazzieB
(16,261 posts)I would be clicking it with alacrity right now.
Kingofalldems
(38,417 posts)PortTack
(32,689 posts)BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)It's a discussion board; do you really need that disclaimer on every post?
Damn, this place has changed so much. Smh.
PortTack
(32,689 posts)USALiberal
(10,877 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(144,884 posts)I will be watching tonight and intend to review the facts with an open mind
paleotn
(17,870 posts)A few here have severe cases of Eeyore Syndrome. Or some kind of agenda. You be the judge.
crimycarny
(1,351 posts)Just looking at all the snark to those who disagree with the OP, or to those who agree with the OP, is why the Dems have a messaging problem. I've never seen a group that splits hairs so much and gets stuck in minutiae.
I know, I know. I should just keep my mouth shut and "ignore the thread". But it does get annoying from time to time seeing all the bickering over sh*t that doesn't matter.
"If you don't like it why post the thread? This is a "discussion" board after all"
"Well the OP is right, I get tired of the negativity"
"Who says it's negativity? It's just people being honest"
blah blah blah blah.
No wonder we can't ever get anything done.
Iggo
(47,534 posts)2 Meow Momma
(6,682 posts)sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)PortTack
(32,689 posts)Chainfire
(17,450 posts)some of us haven't been privy to it.
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)Pyryck
(99 posts)Every single forum I have ever read or posted on/in over the last 30+yrs ONLY had rules about what topics were allowed in which discussion forums along with simple, civilized, behavioral standards. As a reader I was able to pick and choose what I might want to read and what I did read and what I ignored.
I so hope that is the case here as I continue to get my feet and ears wet around here.
PatSeg
(47,236 posts)Most members are very reasonable and easy to get along with.
Beastly Boy
(9,228 posts)Then again, you must admit, it is not half as much fun to comment on something that actually happened. Reality severely limits your options for creative discourse, and the "I hope I am wrong, and I will be the first one to apologize if I am" routine kind of loses its punch.
DFW
(54,268 posts)But I put posts like that in with titles blaring about corporatists, capitalism, billionaires and Loren Boebert as next Speaker of the House.
I looked, and lo, and behold, there ARE more immediate things with which to occupy one's thoughts.
Warpy
(111,118 posts)and that may very well be the case and that's really OK. Very few people out in TV land have read about it on DU.
I lived through Watergate.. I was in a city with left wing tabloid newspapers so when the Watergate hearings started, I knew there would be little I hadn't already read about and there wasn't. That would have to wait decades until Nixon's tapes came out.
However, what those hearings did was pull Nixon's poll numbers (which were higher than TFG's) down to 24% by the time he called it quits to preserve his pension.
So while these hearings are not likely to produce brass bands and fireworks for regular readers of DU, they will produce results for the people who are not. We're not the target audience. The people who might not have kept up are.
edhopper
(33,464 posts)we knew Nixon was a crook, but when that was revealed it was all she wrote.
Warpy
(111,118 posts)which was almost as big a mistake as not prosecuting the bastard.
edhopper
(33,464 posts)"wet blankets" it's not that I don't think the hearings will produce damning evidence against Trump and the Republicans. I think not enough Americans will care. And the voters that need to be reach won't be.
And if you can call those of us who see a darker reality these days. Can I call all those who think every top official including Trump will be indicted the Rainbow Pony Squad?
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)Well said.
paleotn
(17,870 posts)edhopper
(33,464 posts)Debbie Downer
paleotn
(17,870 posts)mcar
(42,278 posts)and gnashing of teeth by 8:10 tonight because the committee didn't do/say/show whatever.
CrackityJones75
(2,403 posts)Now I gotta pourmeadrink.
Joinfortmill
(14,377 posts)USALiberal
(10,877 posts)sop
(10,090 posts)could be the sort of motivation the DOJ finally needs to prosecute Trump? Garland has been under intense political pressure from the left for months to actually do something. One could argue that IF the decision is finally reached to prosecute Trump, it's due to the DU Wet Blanket Brigade's relentless kvetching. If that happens, we'll have accomplished our goal.
wnylib
(21,300 posts)Kingofalldems
(38,417 posts)Torchlight
(3,292 posts)On this website and in the colorful world. Far too tedious and wearisome for me to give any credibility to.
It's one of the top three reasons we don't have cable... too many people pretend they know what will or will not happen, but at least the heads on cable getting paid to pretend, so many others don't have that same excuse.
Analysis is always a good look. Bouncing ideas is more often than not, a good practice.
Pretending we know the future? Not such a good look.
Stuart G
(38,403 posts)And this is the truth too...Yes, facts are facts, & opinion are opinions.
..
Kablooie
(18,605 posts)So I don't expect much but I would be delighted to be surprised.
CrackityJones75
(2,403 posts)Right?
IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)Trolls or clinical depression/anxiety? The only possibilities, eh?
Nice.
IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)it's way more productive during an election year.
Chainfire
(17,450 posts)mentally ill or a troll? That they should not offend you by sharing their opinions? How do you square that with being a "progressive?"
IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)Chainfire
(17,450 posts)I see that you don't wish to defend them. That is fine, I understand.
IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)Smh.
H2O Man
(73,505 posts)Thank you!
Stinky The Clown
(67,757 posts)nolabear
(41,930 posts)I love history and politics and no matter what this is a BFD! Dont rain on my parade.
Cha
(296,742 posts)orangecrush
(19,384 posts)Thanks,Tommy.
Martin68
(22,755 posts)we are just as guilty of downplaying good news and spreading negative propaganda.
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)Patton French
(742 posts)not lock-step brigade? Maybe, we'll see.
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)votes are trying to censor those who are trying to express what it might take to do this, it sucks!
Have no idea how we accomplish that if we are in a hallelujah chorus?
wnylib
(21,300 posts)"All is lost and we are doomed"?
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)Yikes.
That would never ever fly in the business world in a million years. You never want to stop improving!! It actually could mean you care more than someone who just says everything is wonderful everybody is wonderful all the time.
wnylib
(21,300 posts)Last edited Sun Jun 12, 2022, 02:07 AM - Edit history (1)
"Anyone that questions what and how we're doing is a doom and gloome" (sic)
I don't see it in my post. Maybe because I don't think it, much less post it. So I don't I know where you are getting this hyperbolic interpretation of my post from.
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)wnylib
(21,300 posts)"Anyone who questions how we're doing."
Questioning whether an action or stated policy is the right way to go is not doom and gloom. Disagreeing with a policy or action is not doom and gloom.
Doom and gloom, IMO, is claiming to know what it is not possible to know yet, stating it as fact, and then projecting, as fact, disastrous outcomes that cannot be prevented because all actions are futile.
I am just as aware as most DU posters, that the country is in a precarious situation due to Republican obstructionism, attacks on voting rights, politically biased Supreme Court, the J6 insurrection, and their continued, persistent and belligerent push to control government to represent the minority of hard right Americans. I know that democracy, or the "soul of America," as Biden puts it, is at stake.
But the doom and gloom posts that I am referring to (not necessarily yours specifically) are the ones that claim that the country is already lost, that we are "f'd" and cannot turn things around. And the claim, as absolute fact, that Garland is doing nothing and will do nothing in regard to the crimes of Trump, his former advisors, and his allies in Congress. And the claims that the J6 hearings are useless, that protests against gun violence are useless, that protests against overturning Roe are futile, etc.
Those are "doom and gloom" comments because they discourage activism and create an atmosphere of hopelessness. And that is exactly what our opponents would like us to feel - that all is lost so give up the fight now and accept authoritarian RW rule.
There is a huge difference between acknowledging that things are grim and therefore we must act and find solutions versus saying that things are grim and therefore hopeless. It is easy to complain. It is more challenging to seek and act on solutions.
In 2020, I feared that Republican harrassment of voters and of Democratic campaign workers (like running them off of roads) would suppress Dem votes. I feared that there would be violence at polls. I feared that, even if Biden won, he might have a Republican Senate with Massacre Mitch in control of it. But instead of assuming the worst because of those fears, I placed hope in and support of campaigns like the ones in Georgia that, against the odds, ended up giving us control of the Senate. Slim control, yes, but better than having Massacre Mitch as majority leader.
I feared also that Trump would reject losing, and call his supporters to violence. I posted that, as a possibility to prepare for, not as an assumption that he would actually succeed in overturning the election. So I am not opposed to acknowledging possible threats and facing them realistically. I am only opposed to giving in to assumptions that the worst will happen and that therefore we can do nothing about it.
edhopper
(33,464 posts)Last edited Fri Jun 10, 2022, 07:27 AM - Edit history (1)
Manchin and Simena were scuttling Biden's agenda, and told we were negative noise and to shut up. How did that work our.
What about election reform being stopped? What about throwing cold water on those who saw the Supreme Court being expanded.
What about those who knew sweared we would get a super majority in the House and Senate last election?
All that happy talk is fine, but bringing things down to earth, and you are told to go away.
Sometimes reality has a negative bias.
patricia92243
(12,591 posts)Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)NCLefty
(3,678 posts)Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)Snoopy 7
(526 posts)When my Grandson and I swore into the military we swore to protect the CONSTITUTION not to a person who wants to overthrow the official legal decision that the AMERICAN people had made. We voted for Joe Biden NOT donald trump. I have always believed trump had to overthrow the new President because he knew he would get indicted for one of his many crimes. trump knew there was evidence to his crimes and he wanted to "run the clock out" and try to nullify the crimes he had done. trump's sidekicks/current Congresspeople are still trying to aid the criminal/trump and that is why they want to take over the House and Senate so they can forgive trump for the TREASON he is responsible for.
betsuni
(25,367 posts)ShazzieB
(16,261 posts)Too bad a lot of people seem to have missed the point. And the amount of defensiveness, sheesh!
But on the plus side, reading these responses made it easy to identify some people to put on ignore.
Icanthinkformyself
(215 posts)from the hearings. The right wing cement heads are factually impenetrable and the 'moderates' are too lazy to care about their rights. I do, however, expect them to lead to indictments of very high level officials of tfg's regime. There's plenty of fire to account for the heavy smoke. Where it all goes from there is any body's guess. And, it's a pure guess. There are no prior paradigms to compare to what we are currently experiencing. All prior 'conventional wisdom' is useless. And, the media seems stuck, like a record on a turntable, on 'Republicans poised to win in Nov.'. It's going to be a purposely chaotic mess.
Modern humans: space age technology, cave age mentality.