The Ongoing Disgrace of Democratic [sic] Underground [sic]

[Ike Broflovski]

I'm of two minds about this. On one hand, sure, the groupthink at those places is obnoxious, and I wonder what planet the smug status-quo-defending commenters are living on. (The feeling is mutual, I'm sure.)<br><br>On the other hand, Markos Moulitsas is pretty explicit that the purpose of his site is to get more Democrats elected -- no more, no less. It's not there to foster parapolitical awareness or spawn a radical progressive populist uprising. Just elect Democrats.<br><br>So....fair enough, as far as that goes. I've never spent much time on that site because it's full of smug groupthink on many topics, not just things they deem "conspiracy theories." It's their soapbox and they can use it as they like; it's just not very interesting.<br><br>The candidates Kos spotlights for support do tend to be pretty good for mainstream politicians....for whatever that's worth. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rolleyes --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eyes.gif ALT=":rolleyes"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

[Rigorous Intuition]

from DU admin for why my post was moved:<br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>"It's got links to many highly questionable conspiracy sites."</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br>Chris Floyd, Counterpunch<br><br>globalresearch.ca, for a translation of <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.albasrah.net/maqalat_mukhtara/arabic/0505/moradi2_110505.htm">Arabic text</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> from Iraq.<br><br>Information Clearinghouse's reprints of Robert Fisk's work for The Independent.<br><br>This forum, for an <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.roadstoiraq.com/?p=723">Iraqi blog's</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> account of the Samarra bombing. <br><br>My blog, for the wire story out of Basra. <br><br>The LA Times.<br><br>Daniel Pipes' website.<br> <p></p><i></i>

[Bismillah]

Sir, to clarify: <br><br>Premise 1: Any website that contains allegations or evidence of serious, clandestine government wrongdoing shall be deemed to constitute "a conspiracy site".<br><br>Premise 2: Inasmuch as an "approved" website contains evidence <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>supporting</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> allegations of serious clandestine government wrongdoing, that website shall also be deemed to constitute a "conspiracy site". (For example: any page on the website of the Independent newspaper that contains evidence of serious government wrongdoing shall be deemed to constitute a "conspiracy site", notwithstanding the general acceptability of the Independent website as a whole.)<br><br>Premise 3: It is forbidden to link to conspiracy sites under any circumstances whatsoever.<br><br>Conclusion: No-one may ever link to any evidence that supports allegations of serious, clandestine government wrongdoing. Any protest will be construed as insurrection and punished with a permanent ban.<br><br>Otherwise, sir, you are perfectly free to do as you please; but should you be laboring under the laughable delusion that I have failed to justify my eminently democratic policy, then please recall the words of His Holiness the Pope in James Joyce's Ulysses:<br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>"I'm infallible - kiss me arse!"</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.<br><br> - Your Democratic Underground Moderator. <br><br>P.S. Should you wish to contact me, you can reach me by post at the Big House, Undergroundville, South Carolina. I'll be sitting on the verandah with my shotgun, meditating on the works of Edmund Burke while keeping a close eye on those cheerful but indolent darkies in the fields. True democracy, sir, requires tireless vigilance; does it not? <p></p><i></i>

[HamdenSRice]

Jeff, <br>Sorry not to get back to you sooner, but Dugoboy posted a response citing to the thread about Mopaul's being tombstoned. It's a complete mystery, inasmuch as he basically posted morning rants that had nothing to do with verboten 9/11 topics as far as I know.<br><br>I also note that you have also moved over to ProgressiveIndependent. Look forward to seeing you over there. I just re-registered there myself. <p></p><i></i>

[Sweejak]

Bismallah, this is for real? <p></p><i></i>

[Et in Arcadia ego]

DU's a full blown Gate Keeper site..Seems to have been that was since before I began attending. My first post was a large one in a Katrina/NO discussion that really didn't get very tinhat-ish, but it was immediately removed. Several non-aggressive posts of mine have been removed for no good reason afterwards.<br><br>I'm surprised I haven't been banned from there yet, TBH. I dislike the place enough to sacrifice my account for the right cause.. <p></p><i></i>

[NewKid]

I guess you just had to be there, but I don't really get the surprise and disappointment everybody here has about DU. <br><br>It sort of feels like hearing about people continually calling the psychic hotline and then complaining that they just don't understand why events Miss Cleo predicted never actually happened. <br><br>And she had the gall to take my money!<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[Hugh Manatee Wins]

Have we all noticed how easily we lose interest in a site that messes with our sense of integrity?<br><br>All it takes to be rid of people like us is to mess with us a little. <br>*Poof.* Problem gone. So easy. Plausibly deniable, too. <p></p><i></i>

[chiggerbit]

I see DKos made the HuffPo. DKos and DU are both a little too much like high school popularity cliques for me. Ack.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://trollhunters.cf.huffingtonpost.com/">trollhunters.cf.huffingtonpost.com/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[kurtangleitstrue]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Anybody know a messageboard where I can dump a copy of TIA's 2004 Election Collection, because this one will soon be one of the places we can't mention anymore...<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br><br>Try <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://gnn.tv/forum/index.php">gnn.tv</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> they tend to like stuff like that there. <p></p><i></i>

[kurtangleitstrue]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>There's NO evidence that the official story about 9/11 appears to be a conspiracy theory - there is no evidence that they failed to look at RELEVANT evidence, that they ignored ANY evidence that disproved their theory, or that they jumped to ANY unwarranted conclusions.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>The claim that they failed to look at relevant evidence is false, as was shown by the poster who originally posted the above with many instances of ignored info. <br><br>But on top of all that info is this fact - By <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>definition</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> the official story about 9/11 is a conspiracy theory.<br><br><br>con·spir·a·cy -<br><br>1. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>2. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>A group of conspirators.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>3. Law. An agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action.<br>4. A joining or acting together, as if by sinister design: a conspiracy of wind and tide that devastated coastal areas.<br><br><br>the·o·ry -<br><br>1. A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.<br>2. The branch of a science or art consisting of its explanatory statements, accepted principles, and methods of analysis, as opposed to practice: a fine musician who had never studied theory.<br>3. A set of theorems that constitute a systematic view of a branch of mathematics.<br>4. Abstract reasoning; speculation: a decision based on experience rather than theory.<br>5. A belief or principle that guides action or assists comprehension or judgment: staked out the house on the theory that criminals usually return to the scene of the crime.<br>6. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br><br>The official story is itself a conspiracy theory. I guess when the term(s) conspiracy theory are used as nothing more than a slander to ignore things that disturb you and marginalize them, one shouldn't expect people to know the actual definitions of the words, if they did, then they couldn't be used to label/marginalize/ignore.<br> <p></p><i></i>