That state of the DE blogosphere
I've been holding off on commenting on the imbroiglio over a posting at DelawareLiberal for Veteran's Day for several reasons. First and foremost is the situation at home (more on that later) but also because I wanted to get some distance from it to be sure I was seeing things clearly.
I've been reading DV's stuff since before he joined Jason on his site and I've noticed a change in tone which seems to have accelerated of late. I enjoyed going to the old site because it was one the few places I could engage someone with different ideas than mine without things crashing headlong into Godwin's law within 3 posts. In short, DV acted in good faith and was rather deferential to his visitors which I greatly appreciated. Since pulling the old blog and posting on DelwareLiberal, I've noticed that ground has eroded rather quickly. I've never agreed with anything Jason posted but found him a book end to DelaThought's knee jerk partisan right wingery. Fine, every Yin needs a Yang.
I found Jason's 9/11 post reprehensible and said so. He found nothing wrong with focusing on the Amerca's wrongs (real or perceived) rather than remembering the victims. No thoughts of rememberance for 3000 of his fellow countrymen slaughtered for no other reason than they were Americans.
When I read the post featuring a disfigured soldier it made me sick. Rather than any sort of thoughtful discussion on what the man had given for his country or his unit, it was simply a "screw him, he got what he deserved" post. The callousness and vitrol was evident. In no way was this post about anything other than scoring partisan points. With those two posts I knew that any sort of intellectual inquiry or thoughtfullness was gone.
Even Dana, to his credit, denouced the post as wildly inappropriate. Dana is nothing if not a political animal. If he's telling you you've crossed a line in an effort to bash Bush you are way beyond the realm of fairness or decency.
I'll no longer be reading, visiting, linking to or commenting at Delaware Liberal. It's a (very) small gesture as they get more hits, comments and links on a single post than I do in a year. However, I do think it's an important one. What we do here matters. The DE blogosphere is small but it's pretty close knit. There are only a handful of us and if we can't keep ourselves in the realm of fairness and decency then I really worry for our State and yes, the nation. We're supposed to be neighbors here and be charitable towards one another. I think we've lost that that's a very bad thing. I don't think liberals are conspiring to take over academia and the courts to destroy God or make homosexuality manditory for school children or any of the other right wing conspiratorial nonsense you hear. Likewise the Republicans are not out to bring back slavery, ban women from education and voting and starve as many orphans as possible.
I firmly believe that writ large, we all want the same things; good government, good schools, low crime, clean air and water, a fair legal system and the right to govern our own affairs so long as they do not infringe on our neighbors. How we get there is the arguement. You should should be tough on people's ideas. There's nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is ascribing motives to them that are evil. I'm here to talk to people I wouldn't ordinarily talk to. To have (hopefully) meaningful dialog not diatribe. I've had absolutely zero luck in that regard as I have all of 3 regular readers and very very little of what I post inspires any sort of comments or dialog. (Still haven't figured out why that is). Partisanship is boring and counterproductive. We have far more in common than not and it's important that we not lose sight of that.
I've been reading DV's stuff since before he joined Jason on his site and I've noticed a change in tone which seems to have accelerated of late. I enjoyed going to the old site because it was one the few places I could engage someone with different ideas than mine without things crashing headlong into Godwin's law within 3 posts. In short, DV acted in good faith and was rather deferential to his visitors which I greatly appreciated. Since pulling the old blog and posting on DelwareLiberal, I've noticed that ground has eroded rather quickly. I've never agreed with anything Jason posted but found him a book end to DelaThought's knee jerk partisan right wingery. Fine, every Yin needs a Yang.
I found Jason's 9/11 post reprehensible and said so. He found nothing wrong with focusing on the Amerca's wrongs (real or perceived) rather than remembering the victims. No thoughts of rememberance for 3000 of his fellow countrymen slaughtered for no other reason than they were Americans.
When I read the post featuring a disfigured soldier it made me sick. Rather than any sort of thoughtful discussion on what the man had given for his country or his unit, it was simply a "screw him, he got what he deserved" post. The callousness and vitrol was evident. In no way was this post about anything other than scoring partisan points. With those two posts I knew that any sort of intellectual inquiry or thoughtfullness was gone.
Even Dana, to his credit, denouced the post as wildly inappropriate. Dana is nothing if not a political animal. If he's telling you you've crossed a line in an effort to bash Bush you are way beyond the realm of fairness or decency.
I'll no longer be reading, visiting, linking to or commenting at Delaware Liberal. It's a (very) small gesture as they get more hits, comments and links on a single post than I do in a year. However, I do think it's an important one. What we do here matters. The DE blogosphere is small but it's pretty close knit. There are only a handful of us and if we can't keep ourselves in the realm of fairness and decency then I really worry for our State and yes, the nation. We're supposed to be neighbors here and be charitable towards one another. I think we've lost that that's a very bad thing. I don't think liberals are conspiring to take over academia and the courts to destroy God or make homosexuality manditory for school children or any of the other right wing conspiratorial nonsense you hear. Likewise the Republicans are not out to bring back slavery, ban women from education and voting and starve as many orphans as possible.
I firmly believe that writ large, we all want the same things; good government, good schools, low crime, clean air and water, a fair legal system and the right to govern our own affairs so long as they do not infringe on our neighbors. How we get there is the arguement. You should should be tough on people's ideas. There's nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is ascribing motives to them that are evil. I'm here to talk to people I wouldn't ordinarily talk to. To have (hopefully) meaningful dialog not diatribe. I've had absolutely zero luck in that regard as I have all of 3 regular readers and very very little of what I post inspires any sort of comments or dialog. (Still haven't figured out why that is). Partisanship is boring and counterproductive. We have far more in common than not and it's important that we not lose sight of that.
Comments
About the only liberal blog I can read any more is Tommywonk, but he's posting virtually solely about wind right now, which is an issue I just can't get into. Liberal Delight was good as well, but he's behind a password protected site now and I forget to check him since my RSS reader can't handle that. (I think it's due to the way blogspot handles RSS feeds for password protected sites.)
So, yeah, it's kind of depressing out there right now for those who want calm, rational discussion. And maybe that's why you don't get more comments: you're calm and rational and therefore uninteresting to those who seek only to generate heat, and not light.
Moving to an invitation only blog was sort of a weird move. I guess either he got tired of the trolls or whatever. I don't have any readers now let alone going to a private blog. Good Lord I may as well be writing on a legal pad at that point and leaving it at the bus station or something.
To be fair, I do think LiberalGeek over at DE Liberal is a fair-minded guy. And of course Tom Noyes (he's listed as a contributor).
Personally speaking, even though Dana G. and I had some knock-down, drag-'em-out flame wars in the past, we've mended things and he's been quite a fair-minded thermometer of late, so to speak, on calling out bullshit. I still rarely agree w/his personal political positions, but he shows no sides when blogger inanity rears its head.
While I can understand your view on my post I'm just surprised that only a selct few, Von Cracker and I think smitty.
It was a dual post and the post before it hardly gather attention.
I find it amusing that everyone gets so out of shape in regards to the post. For one because I am a veteran, a disabled one at that but that is for another time.
I find it amusing that everyone got so out of shape because for so long veterans have been used to score political points but no one has spoken out about it. In delaware or this nation besides maybe Olberman. This war has gone on for how long? and you duffy I am sure can't deny the incredible deception, out right lies as well as flat out law breaking that has gone on since it began.
everyone wants to celebrate Veterans day, march down main street and get all emotional about our country and this nation. Then go home and watch TV.
They don't think Duffy, they just don't. They don't care. People are dying and all that people say is we are over there to free people? because of Saddam. This war is disgusting the law breaking is disgusting, this administration is disgusting, the people supporting the war are disgusting. Bush marching general after general out then firing them after a few months is disgusting but no one has the outrage until me. Donviti, some freaking tool on a blog posts a picture of a burnt soldier on a blog.
Duffy, I respect your opinions, your level headedness, your fairness, but to ban the sight because of an in your face blog is...well, I guess your right, but it is wrong.
You just can't tell me man, that what is going on in this country, what Bush has done, what he continues to do with the DOJ, the CIA, the bribes, the corporate sucking up, the politicizing of every facet of this government hasn't turned our country upside down.
I am saddened that this post has affected you to this point, but I am not sorry I posted it.
in a world where people spend 15 million dollars to post a commercial of a legless soldier telling the country to support the surge, an idiot like me posting a picture of a maimed vet hardly warrants your reaction.
Hope to see you tomorrow, I think you will find me much different from the blog.
peace compadre
What does it mean when the men on the blogosphere are as emotional and more so than any female I ever knew?
I have to admit that I became disenchanted with the blogosphere because of the lack of real discussion. It hardly seems worth the time just to name call.
Is there a word missing or something.
I know you're a veteran and I thank you for your service. I also agree that people want to wave the flag and go home. Remember the heroes and the fallen but the wounded and the maimed tend to get short shrift. However, it was the tone of the post that I take issue with. I don't know how it was intended but the whole thing came across as "screw this guy he knew what he was in for and he got what he deserved fighting in this illegal war". That's something I just cannot abide. Being a veteran (disabled or otherwise) doesn't excuse anything on that front.
Perhaps my decision is wrong but I can't link to or visit sites that have become echo chambers with perpetual sniping and blamestorming over and over and over.
You and I do not agree on the legality, morality, necessity of the war or whether or not it is based on lies. I've always found you a reasonable person when we disagree. Polite and respectful. DelawareLiberal as a whole, however, is not that. It's become the Delaware edition of Firedog Lake or Buzzflash.
Maybe I'll be back. I left Dana's site for a good while b/c he went through the same thing a while back. That time, I did so quietly b/c I had mostly been a lurker and I remember posting one comment/question and was heaped with scorn.
It's your site and post what you wish, I ask only that you think twice before you do.
I think the blogging community promotes understanding. If one strays over the line of decency, it is not done in some quiet home outside Columbine, it is done in public where someone can and will call you out.
For those who yearn for discussion, try the forum. I used to be part of one, but could not keep up with the research for both forum and blog, so chose to continue in the direction where I thought would help things along a little faster.....The forum was fun, I was one of the few who wasn't far right. By being expposed to the logic behind the opposite viewpoint, well, I like to think it rounded me a little..It was like going to a debate maybe 1,2,3,4, 5, 6 times a day....
Please don't be put out by a lack of comments... I think one only comments these days if he feels he has a unique vision to offer the world. Just sayin' Hi, I agree, is almost a waste of bandwidth......Personally I have laid down so many comments, then looked at it and said "nah" then highlighted them, and hit delete....
Pay not attention to those who spout hate at the drop of a hat. There are those who scream at anything...That is what they are...There is a purpose on this planet for them I am sure, but like the mosquito, we just don't yet know what it is...........
I know; I started with one too! Yeah, it's free, but even paying for my site now is only $199 a year for the hosting service and $19 for the domain name registration. I use WordPress as my software, and it not only works very well, and is very user-friendly, but it is continually improved, and the software is free.
As far as no longer visiting or linking to Delaware Liberal, well there are so many sites you can never visit more than a tiny percentage of them, so you may consider it to be a small loss. But you apparently have some friends there.