+10

Good response. If DU cleaned up the language to please everyone, we'd be gesturing to get our points across. Then we'd have the Gesture Police to contend with. Where will it ever end?

An astute observation.

Posting anything negative about any Democrats, be it critical of drone attacks against a civilian population of a country we are not at war with, or not properly supporting bright blue dogs just because they have (D) after their name, is cause for alerting for some here.
The demarcation line is between Democrats and Republicans, instead of Liberals and Conservatives, where it really needs to be, because it is so much easier deciding "Us" vs "Them" that way.
So we parrot Republican talking points as as gospel on such subject as "Social Security is in trouble and we have to fix it now by wrecking it for future generations."
Truth and reality too often take a hit around here by using the excuse of DU being in "Election mode". There should be no difference between Election mode and any other time. Wrong headed thinking and mistakes by our "Leaders" are wrong headed thinking and mistakes any time. Not just outside of the Election mode.

Yeah, yeah, I know, Admin said so, but the problem is that the universe wide rules of physics do not apply for some Alert happy members here.

Here's the amazing part of what's wrong with their thinking -

"Clinton started the recession and that far left wing, foreign born liberal, Obama, continued to make things worse." bu$h the lesser is not in there any place in the eight years between Clinton and Obama.
Eight years of Republican rule and two major wars never happened under the Republicans. For the eight years after Clinton and for the eight years before Obama and it's all Obama's and the Democrats fault. The Republicans were seemly powerless those eight bu$h years.

Being happy, truthful, posting the truth, posting honest opinions, not belonging to the

correct (read their) clique, etc., pisses some people off here. They seem to exist to make DU suck for others. That is what seems to make them happy. They have replaced Liberal tolerance with a conservative "My way or the Hi-way" mind set. Those people are working against the spirit and long time goals of DU. Often using selective and/or imaginative interpretations of the TOS itself as a weapon.
Things will get better after the elections and better still after Obama is sworn in.

I hope DU will not go on as it is now.

DU needs to move back to the Left, to redefine its focus back to Liberal/Progressive issues it once had. You know, its original purpose for being?
There are too many 3rd way and 'conservative' leaning Democrats vying for control using intimidation and the Alert/jury system for enforcement. Alerting on posts just because someone does not agree with a post or a poster, regardless of the spirit of the TOS or the SOP. Or they interpret the TOS and SOP in imaginative ways to use as weapons. Or because a post contains a forbidden word on someone's private word list, doesn't praise Obama enough, is just plain not DU enough for somebody. Or just to mess with another member... Even after that member gets a post hidden and can't reply or defend themselves.

From the TOS: "Remember: DU is supposed to be fun — don't make it suck." Lately there is more suck than fun for a lot of good Du'ers.
Reason, some members are having fun making DU suck for others. Some of these are enablers, some are the followers, doing the actual bullying.
The inmates were given control of the asylum and the predictable happened.
I have stopped recommending DU because new members seem to be having a hard time surviving the "Troll Hunters" till they get 100 or more posts.

Bullying is wrong.

Democrat Underground has many bullies. They use The TOS and SOP as weapons against those they don't like. Against those they disagree with. Twisting and distorting words and meanings to justify alerts, out right lying sometimes when alerting and also when on the juries.
I think part of the problem is that bullying is not mentioned specifically in the rules. Words against bullying need to be added to both the TOS AND the SOP for Democratic Underground. The bullies use their own definition of "bigotry", "sexism", or whatever else they decide to use against their target, context and real world meaning be damned.

Sounds good to me.

There are several groups around here that are trying to remake DU into their own image with harassing alerts, alerted only because they disagree, or because a certain poster had the audacity to post something, even though anyone else posting the same thing would gone unnoticed.
Alerts on words on a personal, unlisted "banned" word list, regardless of context. Especially if the say DU has decided...
Alerts on posters that don't, in the alerter's opinion, support Obama wildly enough.
Alerts by those that see misogyny in anything a openly male posts that can be construed as even slightly sexist, even to the extent of inventing reasons for the alleged sexism.
Don't forget alerts by the 3rd way people and their right of center support of "Democrats". And their subtle undermining of Liberal and Progressive causes.
I'm sure there are more in the same vein, but those are on my radar at the moment.

There definitively need to be be a cost for any alerter with too many 6/0 and 5/1 to leave. The definition "Troll" comes to mind with some of the harassing alerts I have seen. Every bit as troll worthy as any 'Vote for Mitt, he's gonna save the world' post by any of the one post wonders.
There really does need to be a cost involved with too many bad alerts. That would really cut down on that sucking sound we are hearing around here.
How about a check box for the jurors to check to help the program keep track of bad alerts. If the box is checked by all the 'Vote to Leave' jurors and if the result is 6/0 or 5/1 to leave, dock the alerter after X number of times of this nonsense, by revoking their alerting privileges for a month or so... And that is only for the FIRST time. Double it for each time after that, that the alerting privileges are revoked. This should quickly weed out the abusers.

Maybe that will put a stop to the various groups that are trying to remake DU into their own image.

Yes dear. Whatever you say.

Your problem is about the breasts of people who have willingly exposed them.
There would not have been a problem with you, if they had kept their T-shirts on, correct? So yeah, it is about the breasts of the women who have exposed themselves. Actually, it is more exposing the nipples. Plenty of breast can normally be see on any public street.
Objectifying? No, the video is about breast cancer. The object was to get people's attention and they did in spades. Why? Because of prudish attitudes of many people. Too bad some can't see the message itself, which is not exposure of the fuzzed out area, but about the possible cancer in the breast, that the fuzzed out area conceals. That fuzzed out area also calls attention to the upper chest, much more clearly than the exposed breast itself would have.
Why no mention of the bare legs? That used to be a big no-no to expose them at one time. Are exposed female legs also objectifying women?

How much do you want to bet, the unfuzzed bare breasts in that spot, were shown unfuzzed and exposed in over the air national TV in Europe?

OH NO! THE CHILDREN! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
Meh, they don't care except when the prudes loudly object. That's when they learn there might be something wrong with the human body and learn to objectify parts of it.

From LTTE:"More white male desire to control"

It was pretty common knowledge that Rick Berg(R) was involved with Goldmark Property Management,

with the employees there.
I lived in a Goldmark apartment for 15 years. Rick Berg was never spoken of with affection. Not by the tenants and not by the apartment manager or the maintenance people.

Rick Berg is backing away from any involvement with Goldmark, saying Heidi Heitkamp is running false attack ads against him.
Watch his vidio, he is non-committal when ask if he will seek legal means to stop the ads (5:04 in). He will only say he wants Heidi to stop running the ads.

Anyway,