Links and quotes,
that’s the key.
For example, if I were writing a diary explaining why we have millions of American voters, who always vote for Republicans, after choosing a title that truly tells the reader what the diary is about, such as,
This is why they support Trump
I might use these two sources:
There is a book, available to read online, that explains why some folks seem to have an irrational desire to support leaders, and seem angry, as if they want violent conflict:
theauthoritarians.org/…
Authoritarian followers usually support the established authorities in their society, such as government officials and traditional religious leaders. Such people have historically been the “proper” authorities in life, the time-honored, entitled, customary leaders, and that means a lot to most authoritarians. Psychologically these followers have personalities featuring:
1) a high degree of submission to the established, legitimate authorities in their society;
2) high levels of aggression in the name of their authorities; and
3) a high level of conventionalism.
This book has some survey questions, that are used to see who are the radical followers:
16. God’s laws about abortion, pornography and marriage must be strictly followed before it is too late, and those who break them must be strongly punished.
17. There are many radical, immoral people in our country today, who are trying to ruin it for their own godless purposes, whom the authorities should put out of action.
I encourage you to go to the link, and read the whole book.
There is also an opinion article in the New York Times, that analyzes the same people:
www.nytimes.com/…
Month after month, with one outrageous, norm-shattering comment or action giving way to another, Republicans who in the past could never have envisioned being Trump acolytes, have been ground down. Accommodation has kicked in, which is a psychological relief to many of them. For those who view Mr. Trump as a model politician who voices their grievances and fights with a viciousness they have long hoped for from Republicans, the accommodation is not just a relief but a source of delight.
As the psychologist I spoke to put it to me, many Republicans “are nearly unrecognizable versions of themselves pre-Trump. At this stage it’s less about defending Trump; they are defending their own defense of Trump.”
“At this point,” this person went on, “condemnation of Trump is condemnation of themselves. They’ve let too much go by to try and assert moral high ground now. Calling out another is one thing; calling out yourself is quite another.”
So, that is the way to write a Daily Kos diary.
Links and quotes are the key.
Links and quotes.
I wrote this diary, because all too many diaries, including front page diaries, have some links, and some quotes, but mostly just one long quote, from one source,
rather than a nice quote from each link.
And they change the link to a word or phrase that fits into the diary,
rather than a link that tells what it is.
This forces us to either click on each link, or simply wonder what site the links go to,
and wonder why the diarist is acting so coy.
We don’t need coy.
We need information.
The way I demonstrated here,
I told you what the link goes to,
and the name is in the link,
and I give you a quote, an informative quote,
from each link.
Seems better, to me.
Thanks for reading.