General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I have been on DU for almost nine years now. [View all]MineralMan
(146,351 posts)DU is my political discussion home. There have been some rocky times for me here, but I'm a tough old bird and really have no problem dealing with such things. I think, over my time here, I've had about 8-10 posts hidden, and have learned from each one of those. I try to maintain my cool and politeness whatever happens, even when things get all wonky.
I don't alert on replies to any of my posts, but only on personal attacks against other DUers. When serving on juries, my votes to hide are also reserved almost exclusively for personal attacks, as well. A number of people have assumed that their hidden posts were because I alerted on some personal attack on myself. I never have. I prefer to respond to such things directly in the thread in which they occur, and in a calm, reasoned way.
I've served as a DU host several times, and on MIRT for a term or two. Many times, I've argued for people who have attacked me, since I believe that there's room for all sorts of things on DU. There are a couple of people who show up pretty much only on my threads, oddly enough. I find that amusing, really. A number of people who don't care for my posts would be surprised to learn how many times I've defended them and their right to post their opinions.
My screen name shows up frequently on DU-bashing web sites as a topic of conversation. I find that amusing, as well. Apparently they find me amusing, which is always interesting. I've been around online since the 1980s and on the Internet when I had to get on with a 2400 baud modem. I've always been active on political forums and many other forums on special interest topics. I have spare time, type over 100 words per minute, and enjoy putting thoughts into words, so I've racked up several books worth of writings on all sorts of topics.
I've had only a few screen names, with my current one being the one I almost always use on political sites. I've visited and posted on many of them, up until 2008, in November. At that time, I stopped writing on all political forums other than DU. I've been banned from exactly one discussion forum in all those years of writing, but am still getting blowback from my participation on that one, where I used the same screen name. I don't care. it doesn't matter to me.
I have an opinion on almost everything political. I'm not always right, of course, but I'm always ready to explain my opinion. Even my signature line contains a disclaimer about my posts being my opinion, and that only. I assume that everyone is stating their own opinion, to which they are entitled. If I disagree, I say so. If I agree, I say so. If I write something, it's because that's my opinion. I don't mind if everyone doesn't share it.
I would never start a discussion forum. It's too much work and too much heartbreak. I don't know how the DU admins manage to deal with it all, and would never undertake a thing like that. I appreciate this forum and contribute to it, both in posts and donations. I'll continue doing that as long as I'm interested in politics and able to pound on a keyboard.