I saw a few references to "DU" here, and it took a little while to figure out what it was.  So, I ventured over there last night to have a look around.  Wow!  What a hillarious spectacle!

Checking back this evening, it got even better.  With the untimely death of the Senator today, the downright wacky conspiracy theories that are being offered up are just too funny.

Best of all, there are a whole bunch of posts there instructing everyone there to boycott CNN and send them angry e-mails.  Apparently Lou Dobbs and a few other people said something about Wellstone that upset them.

Poor CNN... conservatives hate them because we say too liberal, and liberals hate them because they think they're too conservative!

Anyway, I'm wondering how they react when conservatives show up and ruin the party.  Do they ban people who are non-liberals?  If so, I won't bother trying to register.

--Mike

Perhaps this will answer your question...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/duforum/DCForumID47/76.html

For the last 21 months, we have tried very hard to keep this discussion board open to all left-wing points of view. It was one of our guiding principles, because we believed deeply that talking is better than not talking.

But now we have come to the conclusion that the current state of affairs is untenable. In the past few months I have become convinced of two things:

1) There is a small but outspoken group of liberals who simply are not our friends. Please be aware that I am not singling out Greens, most of whom are capable of participating on this message board in a productive and thought-provoking way. Rather, I am referring to people who are consumed with hatred and contempt for any and all liberals who don't share their exact point of view.

2) It is simple to disrupt this message board, and post the most vile and offensive propaganda if you simply declare yourself to be a liberal, Green, or even a Democrat. Some of the things posted by our "fellow liberals" would make a FReeper blush. In fact, some of these "fellow liberals" might even be FReepers. If they are, they've found a rich vein for disruption, because I let them get away with it. Well, no more.

Over time, the result has been an increase in postings by rude, anti-social disruptors, and a decrease in postings by thoughtful, productive members.

In case you haven't heard, there is a very important election occurring in less than three weeks. The stakes in this election are as high as they have ever been. You are being given a clear choice: Hand over complete control of all three branches of government to the forces of evil - or don't.

There is no viable third option. Choosing not to vote (or to vote for a third party) is a morally bankrupt decision during this time of crisis when the potential harm to our country is so great. You may claim you are standing on principle, but simply calling it "principled" does not make it so. Your stand on principle will have dire consequences, and you will share the blame when the Republicans in the House, Senate, White House, and Federal Courts undo a half century of progress.

As the administrator of this message board, I have the opportunity to have an impact on the outcome of this election. As an American, I have a moral obligation to do what I can to stop the conservative juggernaut. For the next three weeks, that is my greatest concern.

We still allow all points of view, but we have our limits.

For the next three weeks:

It is forbidden to use the DU message board in an effort to make our members withhold their precious votes from the Democratic Party, which is the only organization capable of stopping the Republican onslaught.

It is forbidden to use the DU message board to organize protests or other actions against members of the Democratic Party.

If the administrators of DU decide that the rhetoric of your posts would be more appropriate on Free Republic than on DU, then you are going to get banned.

We understand that many of you feel deeply disappointed with certain members of the Democratic Party right now. We wish to make clear that you are still free to criticize the Democratic Party, the Democratic leadership, or individual members of the Democratic Party.

But the stakes are too high to let DU argue its way to Armageddon. The stakes are too high to let a few angry partisans with dubious intentions hijack this message board.

I know what side I am on. If you are rooting against the Democratic Party in this election, then just let me know by posting in this thread and I will shut off your account myself.

To repeat: these changes are in effect until the election is over. At that point, we will review whether it is in the best interests of DU to remove these restrictions.

Thank you for your understanding.

Skinner
DU Administrator

Well, THAT is very telling.  Apparently libs care even less about the 1st Amendment* than they do the 2nd.  

In stark contrast, in reading the Forum Conduct Code tacked here, it seems that the only guideline is that there should be no "pure trolling", which I suppose means you can't simply pop in here and say "all you crazy right wing gun owners are responsible for our children being mowed down!" or something like that.

I thought liberals were supposed to be the tolerant, understanding, compassionate among us.  Yet DU has now adopted a strict "either you agree with us, or you shut the f*** up" policy.  Doesn't sound like tolerance to me.  What it sounds like is a couple of people who are in a state of panic because they are about to be completely shut out of control of the government.

The "state of emergency" attitude was amusing.  To them, the ends always justify the means... these elections are so critically important, that the draconian step of silencing all voices of opposition (or voices of reason, depending on what side you're on) is considered a necessary trade-off.

Very interesting.

--Mike

*I realize that it's silly to imply that the 1st Amendment applies to a private forum... but their actions do at least violate the spirit of free speech.