I have to admit that it bothered me to see the leadership of this blog trying to talk out of both sides of their mouth by claiming that they were both a site dedicated to electing more and better Democrats, and also a progressives-friendly environment.
Long ago it became clear to me that the "electing more and better Democrats" mission was a euphemism for really being a Party mouthpiece, which allows for "some" dissenting voices as long as they're within a certain "spectrum" of acceptability--to the Party establishment.
To me, personally, I thought it important that there was no ambiguity about the real and true nature of this blog, especially if we are going to stick to the notion that this is a reality-based community.
I now feel that there is no ambiguity, that the leadership of this blog has clearly shown that what they are indeed is a mouthpiece of the corrupt corporatist Democratic party establishment.
Therefore, I'll be moving on and will continue writing for progressive readers.
My take is that folks will soon find out that choosing to stand with the corrupt corporatist Democrats was a mistake, a self-defeating (and self-serving) attitude which will turn out to be choosing to stand on the wrong side of history.
There are lots of people here whom I've come to respect and value, including OPOL, LaFeminista, bobswern, 3rdOption, DeadHead, TheMomCat, lunachikie, and literally hundreds of others. Your presence here made the rest of the nonsense tolerable.
Those who want to stay in touch, you know where to find me. I'll be sending a weekly newsletter starting this weekend. My first essay: "Polishing The Gates."
Ray Pensador
UPDATE: FRI MAR 14, 2014 AT 10:00 PM PDT: Regardless of what the site admin decides to do with my account, this words (this update) you are reading right now will be my last ever written in this blog. First of all, I appreciate the support of all my friends and the commentary of honest critics. When it comes to debate, I value both. But I want people to understand something... I've known for some time that this moment was coming, and I've been actually looking forward to it. This place is toxic. There is something very strange going on, and I'm not talking necessarily about my own experiences here. I'm talking about the pattern of harassment of people who focus on certain topics (mainly corruption, government abuses, etc.).
You have these packs of what seem to be Democratic Party loyalists (or hacks) polluting the comment threads of certain diarists, sometimes posting dozens of insults, totally absurd fallacies, and all kind of provocative comments. It all seems to be sanctioned by Kos and admin. There is no real even-handed moderation here. It is transparently biased and dishonest.
Since I posted this diary over 90 people have signed up to my email list, which now has about 600 people. I will continue writing and also providing progressives with another option to interact with each other, and of course, I'll be posting at TheMomCat-affiliated websites.
That this site devolved into such a phony front for the Democratic party establishment is really sad. Either way, rest assure that I'm actually very glad I won't be writing here anymore, not because there aren't a bunch of really great people, but because there is a abject failure of leadership. The good, honest folks who value intelligent and respectful discussions and debate, will know where to find me. Either way, I part with this: This type of dysfunctional environment is not normal; there is no reason for people to subject themselves to it, and because of it, I'm very glad I'm moving on...