Oh, yeah, that's me. I'm an ornery old Daily Kos cuss who has seen flame wars, bannings, STRIKES! (heh), and all sorts of personal detritus in the years I have been posting here.
But one thing I always find amusing are the parting words of the (relatively speaking) very few folks kos has banned since I've been around. (Keep in mind many find themselves subject to autoban, and many others leave of their own volition, often storming out in a huff.)
Tocque's posthumous GBCW, kindly posted here by buhdy, reminds me of so many previous declarations of the demise of Daily Kos...
(more)
Tocque's farewell includes many of the classic elements I find so silly in GBCW pieces...
This point offers a nice segue to something I've been wanting to say at Daily Kos for a long time though: Don't call this a community.
Imagine if everyone were to have gotten together 6 years ago and said, we need a community website for progressive Democrats that we can use to organize, raise money for our candidates, and spread our message. How do we want to do it?
Now imagine someone stood up and said, "I have an idea. Why don't we create this website. I will run it and provide the servers. For doing so, I will run ads and get all the ad revenue. Sound fair?"
"We're still listening", someone replies.
"I would also, of course, have complete and absolute authority over who can come, and who can stay. I will set the terms of the site, and I will set the rules. If someone breaks my rules, or even if I just get the sense that someone has broken the rules, I will banish them into the aether, never to be seen again. Still listening?"
[Silence]
As if there are hordes clamoring for that authoritarian monster, Markos, to stop banning the five or so people he bans here a year (or less). Out of a community of tens of thoussands of active posters.
You're kidding yourself, Tocque.
The great thing about the Internets is that it is vast. Anyone with web access can start a blog. Anyone. My dog had a blog for a while.
kos started his blog as a place to vent his political opinions. The the site grew and grew. It was organic, not planned.
The world wide web is a great big place. No one keeps anyone here, nor does anyone demand that others like it here.
It is what it is. And for those who seek something different in a "community," well, then, go for it.
Damn near every prominent or long time poster who has been shit-canned from this place (and it seems to me this has been an incredibly small number when one considers the number of active members here) has declared Daily Kos dead. Or worthless. Or not what it used to be. Or not a "community." Or a place which no one goes to anymore because kos is a Nazi or an asshole or an authoritarian jagoff.
And guess what? The place has gone on without them. Much to their chagrin, I am sure.
So, no, the world does not revolve you or your ideas of what this place is or even your views of what constitutes a "community." And it doesn't revolve around mine, either. Or anyone's really, including kos, who generally stays the hell out of the inane, personal, ticky-tacky bullshit that makes up a part of this place.
There's a whole huge world out there waiting for your genius to pour forth. And you can do it in your little self-created community where others like you reside.
But I highly doubt whether you'll ever build an online "community" as large and diverse and as interesting and as rough-and-tumble as this one.
I always miss the long-time posters who leave for whatever reason. But, like sports, there is always some other new talent waiting in the wings to have their voices heard.
You'll be missed. Good luck in your new home.