Let's Try It This Way...Under What Instances, Is It Okay To Praise The President On DU ???

[Jim Lane]

384. Do you see ANY fault at all from pro-Obama posters?

You write, "A lot of the griping has to do with personalities, associations, and blue links." I could say the same thing about the "griping" that gripes about criticism of Obama.

The most obvious example is Glenn Greenwald. How many times have we seen this scenario: Greenwald points out, correctly, that the Obama administration is violating the Bill of Rights in some respect. Someone here posts a link to the column. One result (you can take this to the bank) will be personal attacks on Greenwald. THIS CRITICISM OF OBAMA COMES FROM GREENWALD! GREENWALD ONCE STATED (correctly, but never mind that) THAT RON PAUL VOTED AGAINST THE IRAQ WAR RESOLUTION! THEREFORE GREENWALD IS A RIGHT-WINGER AND WE CAN IGNORE EVERYTHING HE SAYS AND ANYONE WHO POSTS A QUOTATION FROM GREENWALD IS A LIBERTARIAN AND/OR A RIGHT-WING TROLL!

I use all caps to convey what I personally perceive to be the shrillness of the attacks on Greenwald. I have no problem with people who want to dispute a particular Greenwald point. He's not always right. My point is that Ron Paul's opposition to Social Security sheds zero light on whether the NSA under Obama has been overreaching, yet that response is all too common here. Similar non sequiturs occur in other threads where someone criticizes a specific Obama decision.

You assert that &quot t)he vast majority of critical posts" reflect such a lack of reasoned argument. My personal observation is that the majority of posts criticizing Obama and the majority of posts praising Obama are sensible, but that each side has a few bad apples.

Finally, I do think hides and PPR's are relevant if you're asking what's "okay" on DU, as the OP does. Having your post disagreed with doesn't mean that it's not okay to post that viewpoint. Having your post mocked with personal insults is unfortunate but still doesn't mean that it's not okay. Having your post hidden is what shows it to be not okay -- and I still believe that hides based on content affect posts critical of Obama but seldom or never affect posts praising Obama.