DU newbies from an oldie:

[davsand]

86. Cracks me up to see somebody busting chops on a "newbie" when I remember THEM as a newbie.

Not as many of the old timers left anymore. Everybody was new at some point--ALL of us--and it gets easy to forget that after a while, I guess. Taking that first few steps can be really creepy, and somebody giving you crap for a low post count just because they don't agree with your point doesn't help much. That is one thing that has been a constant here at DU, but I really think it is so deeply rooted in our formation and our early days it may never go away.

DU came about at a time when "liberal" was borderline of being a dangerous term, and when most of the progressives out there were feeling pretty low or else really pissed off--neither of which will contribute to being warm and fuzzy. The "selection" of Dubya had just happened, tempers were frayed, and Earl, Skinner, and Elad put together DU. In those early days the disrupters were a constant thing and there was no set of "on call" moderators to deal with them in any kind of speedy fashion. People like me were out there looking for "a home" because places like Salon were no longer possible (they'd gone pay to post right after the selection...) and the other main boards were over run with squawking Neo-cons. People defending their "home" will get pretty vicious. DU was and still is, no exception.

Welcome to you if you are here with a passion for politics and if you carry Dem ideals. Carry them with you here and you'll do fine once you get past the ass-hattery that goes on sometimes. Just keep in mind that some of these folks are kinda like those guys you saw in photos of returning war vets--they have that 1000 yard stare and some of them are wrapped a little tight. Oh--and don't fer Pete's sake, say you love Olive Garden or Circumcision. You'll start one hell of a brawl.






Laura

Added on edit: You all DO realize you can see when people joined DU? Click on the Member icon in any post and it will take you to info about them--like how long they've been here. You can't tell just by looking at number of posts because we've had people that have been members here forever, but they maybe are not prolific writers or maybe don't get into the social stuff.