Lately there have been a lot of Good-bye Cruel World (GBCW) diaries here, and I must say that I have some sympathy for the sentiments therein. The level of bickering between the "Obama has sold us out" and the "Obama is the best thing since sliced bread" crowds has reached a crescendo. Disclaimer - I happen to belong to the second group, which is something coming from me, as I really do like sliced bread (so much easier to toast!).
First of all, while I regret that some of my favorite diarists have decided to leave, it really is their decision where to spend their time, and if they have decided that this place doesn't reflect a community they want to be a part of, then so be it. You lose some good voices, but hopefully there are others who will step up to the plate.
I have felt that the discussions here have become overly strident, but I choose to stay because it is still one of the best alternatives for expressing progressive views, and hasn't completely jumped the shark on joining forces with wingnuts on equating Obama with the worst people ever to grace this planet. Whatever can be said of the Obama critics here, the causes they espouse are unabashadly progressive and clearly come from hearts in the right (that is to say left) place. And even this Obamabot can see that he needs pushing from the left to ensure that he doesn't become too lost in his fetish of bipartisanship to see that the other side is not interested in working with us, but would like to see our utter destruction, as in final solution destruction.
I choose to stay (mostly to lurk) because I like it here. I do hope we can maintain our civility and that we can remember who the real enemy is - conservatives who don't want the poor to breed, don't want women, anyone a shade darker than pasty, or of LGBT ilk to get too uppity, and think that corporations make better people than you or me.
Peace