So that I can remind you about what we are really all here for...
#OrangeTerritory is not the small-town type of blog it started out as. Where there were a few thousand die-hard political junkies, all bent on reaching out and conversing with other people who felt the same way, like no one any of us had found in our real-world lives.
Where the goal of all of us was more and better democrats, to combat the insane Republicans who were running everything into a ditch.
This place grew from that smallish Blog into a huge, complex News Hub and extended Community...
and like in any Community there are, on occasion, moments when someone looks around and says, "Hey, something is fucked up here, what the hell is going on!"
So those of you who keep writing diaries about what's wrong with Daily Kos?
I've got news for you.
It's not the place that has the problem.
More importantly, I've spent far too many hours of my life reading a variation on a theme diary about what's wrong with Daily Kos for about a decade now, and to be honest, I'm fucking tired of it.
Does anyone ever send a Letter to the Editor of the New York Times bitching about how the paper just isn't what it used to be, and that their itty-bitty, tender feelings are hurt? Hell no they don't. Because the Editor would print their bitchy little screed out, but only to run it through the shredder!
Just today I read another one. This one was pissed because too many Front Pager diarists are writing stories about crazy, stupid Republicans and far too few (if any) about the More and Better Democrats the joint is supposed to be trying to get elected, for christ's sake!
Did this diarist write a diary about something wonderful some Democratic Party member in Office somewhere in the land did? No? Well, why the hell not. After all, this is the sort of place where, if you want something, it's up to you to make it happen.
We are not children who need to be directed on where to go and what to do when we get there, are we?
If you think Daily Kos should be publishing stories about superior politicians who have taken a stand on an issue dear to your heart? Then find one and write about it, so that the rest of us can read it, and Recommend it, too.
That's how things will change here, on the Front Page, on the Rec List, in the Threads.
It's not enough, not nearly enough, to point out a problem and bemoan that it exists. That's for the couch potatoes we have all been trying to get up, get energized, and get out in the streets knocking on doors and changing minds about politics in general and the next election in particular.
When you learn about something and your first thought is, "That's wrong, that's just wrong!", then what you should do is come here and write a diary about it, so that you can get some of your compadres in burnt-umber excited about it, too - and then all of you can try, together, to figure out how to make something happen.
I know it's a damned cliche, but in this case, it's true...
Be the Change you want to See
It's the only way anything worth anything in this country ever gets started, because a few people who just couldn't sit there and do nothing got up and started doing something.
It's how MoveOn.org got started. 2 people got together and decided that they were going to do something. 2 people. Today they have 7 million members.
Daily Kos started because 1 guy decided he wanted to talk about politics, and he found a lot of other people who wanted to do the same. Today as many as over a million unique visitors come to the clubhouse every day. Every day.
So if you see too many diaries on Daily Kos about stuff that you think is foolish or irrelevant? Don't read them.
Read the ones that someone wrote about the latest news on a possible settlement in the Banking Scandal on Foreclosures (which I read two days ago), in which Consultants got over a billion in fees and homeowners who lost everything will get between $300 and $800. Or about the latest news in Climate Change, which is that observatories are reporting 400 ppm of CO2 (which I also read two days ago).
Or any of the many and various diaries about things of substance, which you will find published here on Daily Kos ever single hour of every single day.
Or write one yourself, about whatever concerns you most, about whatever you are most passionate about.
Because all of that is available on Daily Kos, too.
This is a clubhouse, a Community, and sometimes people here act just they do in any clubhouse or community, they forget what they came for and start making trouble out of thin air, just to have something to do.
So don't do that. Do something positive, instead. Make a difference. Be the change you want to see in the world.
Remember always: #UnitedWeStandStronger
If you are a Twitter user, would you be kind enough to RT my Tweet, so that other Kossacks on Twitter might come read, too? Thanks.
The point of this diary, from my Community (Tip) Jar
So get over your bad selves and stop fighting with each other - and remember that we need to fight the crazy Republicans...
so that our kids and their kids will still have a nation worth fighting for!