I'm a proud knife owner

[Eleanors38]

83. Now, Cali, from one progressive to another...

My complaints are about the uncivil, mean-spirited, hateful posts. Unless you believe otherwise, they have no place on DU (or in normal social contexts).

You have set up a number of small straw midgets: I don't know of anybody on DU, or even in the "gungeon" who doesn't believe in some form of gun control, esp. with regards to criminals and possession. You would agree?

Actually, I'm comfortable right here. And Cali, I intend on staying right here.

What has actually happened is that a rather small group of DUers has decided to legitimize stigmatization, smear and hate speech. It's not prevalent, and imo the majority of folks (pro or con) are tired of hearing it in what has become the de facto META. (I wonder how long this "gun exception" will last? Have any idea?) You can try to excuse this kind of language against fellow progressives, but it is not becoming. Some controller/banners have found a not-so-secret place to act like, well, the idiots who always yell "_________ lovers." Do you support this?

You can hope I won't be changing any minds; I guess anyone who thinks they are changing minds may have a little more hubris than is warranted. But look at the my-way-or-highway "activist" group: They couldn't handle the heat on DU, so they had to form their own tailor-made, brook-no-opposition "group." Why did they do that?

Your hope, and this is worth 2 beers at HH price, is to employ the thin but elitist structure of the gun-control "outlook" in an effort to just get the whole OPEN-DEBATE over guns thrown out, by banning any discussion in GD or in the RKBA group, and allow only party-line posting in the rather moribund "activist" group. This would be a better strategy than smear, animosity, demonizing, etc. since stigmatization is often unsuccessful, and marks a decline in vitality of an outlook.

BTW, I'm glad to see Omaha Steve is back.