Post-election DU upgrades and news

[SpankMe]

84. For the proposed "future-of-the-Democratic-party" forum, posting rules will have to be relaxed significant;y

You ain't kidding when you say DU'ers have been less tolerant of criticism of Democratic politicians. They're less tolerant of a lot of things.

With all respect due to my fellow Democrats and libs, DU has strayed far from being a "free speech" forum. As an eligible juror, I've served on a lot of juries where people seem to interpret the most benign statements or questions as "divisive group attacks" or "parroting Republican talking points". Yes, we're partisan Democrats. But we've become so partisan that we've started eating our young in some threads here on DU for the crime of questioning a Democratic policy or preferring one Democrat's approach to another more liberal Democrat's approach.

It's sad. I've proffered certain criticisms - mostly in a constructive way, but sometimes with emotion - and have been attacked by iconic DU'ers whom I've respected and agreed with for years. It sucks when a DU'er that you're a fan of comes out and attacks you based on a misinterpretation of what you've said, or applying a level of sensitivity so high that there's no way you could have put it more delicately.

Some DU'ers can get quite prickly. I've had to post less because of it. The future-of-the-Democratic-Party forum will be a minefield in this puritanical climate. All options will have to be on the table if we're going to take this country back from the manifest evil of the Republican party and Trump's administration of hate, corruption and authoritarianism. That means feathers will get ruffled. We have to lower the censorship threshold so we can put some winning ideas on the table.