Did the idea for the name Democratic Underground originate with

[Winterblues]

Weathermen Underground?

[fascisthunter]

1. yes.... in honor of a Terrorist Group

:sarcasm:

[Winterblues]

7. Well during the sixties they were not considered a terrorist group

and in fact were revered by most leftists in America. There was a counter culture established by and with the Weathermen and most early (hippies, SDS, and radical groups against the establishment). I know when I first became aware of this site back in 2001 that is how I associated the name. A counter culture out of the mainstream..

[cali]

11. bullshit. Most people against the war did NOT revere the WU

Hell, not even most members of SDS revered them. And most of the counter culture was entirely unrelated to the violent acts of the WU

[Winterblues]

13. I lived four blocks off Haight in early '67

I was there when they set up the food kitchens and the free store. They were thought very highly of. Tell me when they performed their first violent act..

[Warpy]

17. The east coasters were the violent ones

but even they did crimes against property, not against people.

I was in Boston when I knew them. I deplored their tactics and didn't join them but I was a lot more idealistic then than I am now.

[Warpy]

16. A lot of us thought they were nuts and counterproductive

but of course there always needs to be a few violent lunatics on the fringe of the largely peaceful movement people to effect real change.

As for any association with this site, I doubt it.

[yardwork]

18. LOL! "Most leftists in America" didn't agree on anything much less "revere" one another.

One of the advantages to being old as dirt is having actual memories of historical periods. I was there, albeit not much older than Obama, and I'm here to report that despite right-wing and other efforts to create a myth about a "vast leftwing conspiracy" during the 1960s and 1970s, there was no such thing.

The Weathermen, later called the Weather Underground, was a very small, relatively disorganized group of young people who were influenced by the socialist labor movements and the Communist movements from the earlier parts of the 20th century. They wanted to foment a class revolution in the United States. Their movement was very short-lived as most of the key members accidentally killed themselves while building bombs. They don't seem to have killed or injured anyone else. I doubt they intended to do so.

The SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) was formed almost a decade earlier than the Weathermen at the University of Michigan. They were allied with the Civil Rights Movement and opposed to the war in Vietnam from the beginning. They were non-violent.

The Black Panthers were an African American rights group formed to protect black people from attacks by white supremacists during the Civil Rights Movement - of which there were may, including the murder of children in black churches, murders of civil rights activists, and the murders of leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr. Their primary intention was not violence, but defense and community organizing.

Hippies were young people who didn't want to get drafted and wanted to sit in the sun smoking pot and wearing flowers.

And so forth, and so on. None of these groups had much to do with one another. Their major point of commonality is that the FBI chased them all around and the media liked to lump them all under the "radical" label.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. I assumed it owed more to groups like the "French Underground" in WWII

[O.M.B.inOhio]

8. I have assumed the same -- because after Bush's judicial coup, the US has been an occupied state.

[Avalux]

3. LOL - NO.

Democratic Underground (DU) was founded on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2001, to protest the illegitimate presidency of George W. Bush and to provide a resource for the exchange and dissemination of liberal and progressive ideas. Since then, DU has become one of the premier left-wing websites on the Internet, publishing original content six days a week, and hosting one of the Web's most active left-wing discussion boards.

We welcome Democrats of all stripes, along with other progressives who will work with us to achieve our shared goals. While the vast majority of our visitors are Democrats, this web site is not affiliated with the Democratic Party, nor do we claim to speak for the party as a whole.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/about.html

[Toucano]

4. No, the Underground Railroad.

Harriet Tubman rules!

[dipsydoodle]

10. I just love that answer.

:hi:

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Uh, that's "Weather Underground", derived from the previously

open group the Weathermen.

[Winterblues]

9. You are correct, I don't know why I spaced on that..

:shrug:

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. Hey, it's still early - I'm still working on my first pot of coffee. nt

[Merlot]

6. I assumed it was because democrats were being pushed underground

you know, by stolen elections and heads in the meda saying we hated America.

[polmaven]

20. That's what I assumed too.

n/t

[gatorboy]

12. Yes. Because Democratic Commie Pinko Bastards was taken.

;)

[Toucano]

19. Yes, that's my moniker!

No, wait. I'm "Commie Pinko Fag".

Must've slipped my mind...

[JHB]

14. No, for the London Underground and "A Fish Called Wanda"

:evilgrin:

[bunkerbuster1]

21. I thought it was the fabulous Jam song wot dun it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whSYTSXm8wo

Some people might say my life is in a rut,
But I'm quite happy with what I got
People might say that I should strive for more,
But I'm so happy I can't see the point.

Something's happening here today
A show of strength with your boy's brigade and,
I'm so happy and you're so kind
You want more money - of course I don't mind
To buy nuclear textbooks for atomic crimes
And the public gets what the public wants
But I want nothing this society's got -

I'm going underground, (going underground)
Well the brass bands play and feet start to pound
Going underground, (going underground)
Well let the boys all sing and the boys all shout for tomorrow


(on edit)

Some might recall that AAR's "Majority Report" used to open with this tune.