A thank you to Democratic Underground, and a plea.

[kentuck]

48. I signed on to DU about March or April of 2001...

Last edited Sat Aug 17, 2013, 11:32 PM - Edit history (1)

Very early. But I had posted under my real name for a few weeks before I signed on with the pseudonym of "kentuck". Because Skinner was looking for writers so there would be something to talk about and something to fill up the homepage. I thought I was a writer?

In the beginning, DU was an honest and passionate place. I admired how honest and truthful most people were. Of course, there were no Democrats running for President at that time. George W Bush had just commandeered the Presidency, with the help of the Supreme Court. So we were focused mainly on the fact that an election had been stolen and we did not know what to expect in the future? We had not yet been divided by Democratic primary politics. That would not come until Howard Dean jumped into the race in 2004. He was probably the favorite of most DU'ers at that time?

The thread that has held DU together all these years, in my opinion, was the search for the truth and facts, without regard to Party or ideology. That was our strength. At one time, there was a debate about whether or not it should be called "democratic" underground with a small "d"? We did not stand for Party as much as we did for the principles that our Party stood for, or was supposed to stand for? It was more a given than today.

We were called the "10%'ers" because the rest of the country seemed to support George W Bush after September of 2001? It was a tough time to try and get the word out. It was a big deal when we broke 10,000 posters for the first time. It was a celebration of sorts.

But DU changed after Obama became President. Many on DU had expectations that a lot of things would change after the disaster of a presidency under George W Bush. When it didn't happen as expected, the divisions on DU widened. And it didn't help that it was easier for trolls to hang around longer than before and to create turmoil within the partisans.

That is sort of where we are today...