The Discussionist? Can someone please explain for this newbie?

[Mountain Mule]

Hi, everybody! I discovered DU right after the horrible so-called 2016 "election," and I love this place! It helps me hold on to the few shreds of sanity I have left. Now the other day I clicked on a thread which mentioned the "The Discussionist," and curiosity killed the cat - I checked that place out, and I'm baffled. They actually have a forum where you can link to a thread here and discuss it there? What's up with that? I'm sure my question has been answered before, but I can't find anything very helpful about this. Can someone tell me what's up with that?

Thanking in advance anyone who takes the time to reply!

[LonePirate]

1. It was by DU's owners and originally targeted as a site for all political leanings and beliefs.

The left and center political folks have largely left Discussionist so it is dominated by right wing crazies. Dissenting and differing posts, comments, etc. are locked and hidden by juries which are overwhelmingly comprised of these right wingers. The site is effectively a garbage site and a failed experiment. It should be shut down but I guess it brings in some revenue so it remains open.

[pintobean]

5. Why should it be shut down?

If you don't like it, don't go there.

[LanternWaste]

29. Like klan meetings...

Like klan meetings...

Yet woe to us all should we voice our disgust with their existence, as the pretense of cleverness responds with "Don't like them, don''t go to them..."

Shrug, part deux.

[Locutusofborg]

6. For the record

I lean left in my politics. I post here and I post at the Discussionist. I take on the conservatives on a daily basis and I have never had a post censored. I participate in the Discussionist juries on obscene or abusive posts and since I am pretty much a First Amendment absolutist, I rarely vote to hide any post.

[Frostlight]

31. Not long after that site was created...

A few months after I joined, I wrote a post explaining what was going to happen with the site. I saw that, because of the jury system that they used, the site was vulnerable to the tribal tactics of conservatives. I TOLD Skinner that they would game the jury system by ALWAYS voting to punish 'liberals' and ALWAYS voting to acquit conservatives. That way the jury pool would slowly become populated by conservative majorities who would NEVER vote on merits... they would just undertake the slow process of purging non-conservatives.
I left The Discussionist, but checked back a couple of years later. Sure enough, it had been transformed into a right-wing cesspool with only a few token 'liberals'.

[Leith]

2. We're Not Sure

Supposedly it's a sibling message board in that it is owned and operated by the same people, but DI was supposed to be a message board where people of all political persuasions are welcome to discuss in a mature and intelligent manner.

That was the idea, anyway.

Unfortunately, it got taken over by reichwingers who gang up on anyone who doesn't agree with them by mocking liberals, voting to silence them, and kicking us out by getting us banned or we give up in disgust.

The inmates took over the asylum. I really don't know why TPTB haven't closed the site down.

[Mountain Mule]

9. "The inmates took over the asylum" Thanks!

Okay, now I get it! That would explain why they have an entire forum devoted to the things we post here. I'd never come across anything like that before on an Internet Forum.

Quite honestly, it sort of creeped me out that a group of Internet Users who seem like they could give Hitler a run for his money would be in monitoring what we post here and then reposting our stuff only Dog knows where. Onward and downward to Breitbart or InfoWars? BLECH!

[Keefer]

14. Which forum is devoted to the things we post here?

I haven't found it yet.

[Ptah]

15. The Conservative Cave is the one with a forum that posts and mocks DU threads.

[Mountain Mule]

19. See : PoliticsBest/Worst of DU/Discussionist

On the conservativeunderground.com

http://www.conservativeunderground.com/forum505/forumdisplay.php?10-Best-Worst-of-DU-Discussionist

[Keefer]

20. That is the CC, not

DI.

[sarge43]

10. Some say it's DU's equivalent of a roach motel

They check in, do sordid stuff and leave the rest of us alone.

[Mountain Mule]

13. Ha-Ha! Best Reply so far!

[Floyd R. Turbo]

3. I was a member there quite a while. I havent been back since DU and DI were hacked on election

Last edited Thu Sep 21, 2017, 05:19 PM - Edit history (1)

eve. Originally it was composed of a variety of ideological points of view including DU expats and DU members. As the site grew more and right wingers joined eventually controlling the discussion and forcing out a lot of the left utilizing the alert and jury system.

By the time I left, the conversation was some of the vilest anti left rhetoric I’d ever experienced.

Many there infiltrate DU, stir up shit then go back to DI and brag about it.

I haven’t seen the forum that you referenced, so I cannot comment on it specifically.

Some DU members still visit the site and may be in a better position to answer you question.

Hopefully my response was helpful.

[Mountain Mule]

11. Yes! Thank you very much!

I couldn't help but wonder if that site was a sitting duck for DU members with too much time on their hands combined with a gift for the art of irony. It would be very tempting to a rapscallion such as myself!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. It was set up by the Administrators as a place where any political point of view...

can be held, and discussed.

ANY. Even rabid right-wingers can join.

I don't know about the forum where you can link to a thread here and discuss it there. I haven't been there in months.

Hope that helps!

[FSogol]

17. I think of it as a safety valve. It lets some wacky malcontents post and strut

over there rather than come here and stir the shit. Probably a good idea, but not worth visiting.

[Paladin]

7. My advice: don't waste your time with Discussionist.

Not worth your time or effort.

[Locutusofborg]

8. Obsessed with DU

I do find that quite a few Discussionist members are obsessed with Democratic Underground. Some suffer from "Democratic Underground Derangement Disorder."

[Cernunnos_x]

22. I've noticed that as well. Many of them appear to know a lot

about many members here and actually have back and forth 'discussions' regarding pseudonymous posters. Creepy.

DUDDs, I like it!

[Mountain Mule]

23. Ha-Ha! I like it too!

Thanks to my fellow newbies for helping me figure those nut jobs out!

[Ptah]

12. The Conservative Cave is the one with a forum that posts and mocks DU threads.

[Mountain Mule]

16. Wow! Thanks - you're right!

They have a forum that reposts DU threads as well. TWO forums of right wingers so bored by Fox that they come read our stuff. Only on the Internet. Why would I feel surprised?

[FSogol]

18. There are actually 4. Every couple of years, a group of malcontents and trolls gets

banned here and starts their own, complain-about-DU website. Totally sad that they can't find a more productive hobby.

[Mountain Mule]

21. At least they're not off burning crosses if they're reading here!

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!

[DFW]

24. Don't discount multi-tasking

They could be using the light of their burning crosses to post on their tablets......

[MrScorpio]

25. Trust me, youre better off ignoring that cesspool

In the beginning, before it was completely taken over by brain dead right wing trolls and assholes, it was fun. But that didn’t last long.

Now it’s just a place for wing nuts to post things that they don’t believe in, just to get a rise out of people that they hate. All they care about is whining about DU and liberals in general. Nobody likes whiny, right wing nut jobs, but don’t tell them that.

I’m sure that they’re appreciative of the attention, but it’s not worth your time.

[guillaumeb]

26. If you look at the overhead search bar,

you will see a link like this:

ttps://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1018&pid=989169

If you copy that link and post it in another article, even in another forum, it will function as a quick link.

Assuming, of course, that I read your post correctly.

[Mountain Mule]

27. Yeah, I see that - Thanks!

I glanced through a few of their posts and they seem to be all made by the same few bitter little trolls. As others have replied, not worth wasting my time on. Just some weirdos on the Internet. What else is new?

[guillaumeb]

28. I like to post there simply to confront the right wing types. eom

[Civic Justice]

30. Thank you

Thank you for turning me on to this website

https://www.democraticunderground.com/11001936