DU doesn't need fewer regular posters in GD.

[davsand]

208. Every primary gets contentious here.

Trust me, the primary fights at DU have always been epic in scope. The big difference has been that, for the most part, people got over it after a bit and got behind the ticket. This last election, however, has felt different because the residual anger has remained a lot longer with what feels like a lot more intensity. I'm no mental health pro, but I have wondered if a lot of that anger is part of the general horror of the entire tRump experience. We are eating each other alive to stall off the futility of watching current events.

Green Wars were a really ugly scene here for a while in the vey early days. Those were brutal and wide ranging. There was a time when Cuba was a real hot button issue. I remember being directly in the line of fire at one point from another poster who thought I was too "kind" in my attitudes about opening up communication with Cuba. Had I not come from an online group called Bare Knuckles Politics, and prior to that Salon's political boards, I'm pretty sure I'd have run screaming from the onslaught. Guns have provoked some pretty ugly scenes, right along with Bill Clinton's penis, various sex scandals that Dems were embroiled in, and Joe Lieberman have all created gigantic flame wars here. People got over it. Posts were removed sometimes, but it was usually ok in the long run. Occasionally, a DUer would flame out or lash out at Earl and Skinner (sometimes in breathtakingly stupid ways, I might add) but most of the time people felt OK with things.

In recent years, however, the healing has been slower and the blood letting more protracted. I hate seeing some of the stuff that goes on here, and some days I just navigate away from here. I have found that if I hide threads with certain names or comments in the title I am overall much happier. I agree with the folks upthread saying that the current moderation system has not been successful, but I'm dammed if I can think of any way to police this circus without pissing somebody off.

Peace to you.


Laura