The writer stated  "This was the first time I ever trusted a party in the first place"

If the writer has no party affiliation, does that make them an independent.?

I also drew the conclusion, when the witer also said "Y'all do whatever the hell you want with your party.

Your party; as opposed to his party 

I read this comment somewhere on this site, do you suppose I should have given credit to Dagblog for such an informed opinion?  

Your points have merit.  What I was responding to was the claim that the Obama critics never have any new ideas.  You might think the ideas are bad or unrealistic, but the critics offer ideas all the time.  I only touched on the domestic economic policy ideas.

As for the Affordable Care Act being a first step, I agree.  But the President appears to disagree with you.

I too would love for the adults in the group to moderate themselves.  But almost every post with a long string of comments inevitably turns from sensible, interesting arguments into "How do I humiliate thee?  Let me count the ways."

I stay away from those "discussions", and usually leave it to others to moderate them.  They're stupid and non-productive and I don't see anything to gain from jumping into the thick of it.  But I do think they can be watered down simply by creating more posts that are, in fact, interesting and sensible.  And that means creating an atmosphere where people who lean that way want to be here. 

There are enough sites already taken over by the bullies of the world.  I want this one to be different, and it worries me that so many people see it as a haven for bullies.  I think we need to change the atmosphere here, but it's walking a tightrope between stifling voices and moderating them.  I think that's why everyone approaches it with caution.

I'll be honest and admit I'm getting nervous watching so many women leave here.  When most of us were at TPM the blend seemed to be about half and half, and it worked fine.  There were always the bullies, but the more temperate voices prevailed.  We felt we had a home.  It bothers me that the women I've known and liked don't feel that way here.  I'm going to work to change that, and if that means chiming in when things get ugly, so be it.  I've held back a few times lately, just because I didn't want to get involved.  I won't be doing that anymore.

Ramona. I am first going to do my best to understand what you feel, even though my own views and feelings are somewhat different, ok?

I GET, from my gut, my lived working and daily experience, what it is like to back a politician and a political party that somehow fails to live up to peoples' expectations or demands. I also get how hard it is to hear their attacks, and not to take them personally. I have done politics, in some form or other, all my adult life. I have been with politicians as they won, sustained themselves, and as they went down in flames - including some who went down to vicious personal attacks, splits within the party, etc. 

And I know that it is incredibly difficult, right now, for backers of Obama. The Republicans are damned near insane - on a vicious, socially-destructive tear. We know that.

Now, I would argue that the Obama Administration has done a poor job of arming its defenders. I've been on the inside of governments which had to change course primarily BECAUSE they needed to arm their people, motivate the base, and I expect Obama's will be no different on this. But right now... and this is not some grand attack on Obama... I just feel he and his advisors have done a poor job on this front. 

More deeply, I feel they have done... a poor job, substantively. Compared to the Republicans, yes, they've done better. But when you win office it's not enough to just be better than if the other guy was in. You have to move the nation, at all speed, toward a place where - the NEXT time the Republicans get in - they're the ones facing more ground to make up, more accomplishments to undo. In short, you have to move YOUR agenda forward. Otherwise, year on year, there is a net loss, as governments of the two stripes come and go, and eventually... a nation can be lost. 

And right now, my worries about the US are extreme on this front. 

It is an absolutely natural part of the response of people who backed Obama for some to feel... he has failed. First on some policy or other, but it often grows until they feel it across an entire Presidency. Some will feel he failed and will decide to sit back, and not be as active. Others will disappear, oft-times in despair. Some will decide to stand and fight, from within. Others will feel their best course is to fight, and threaten to withdraw their money, energy and even vote. Others still will look 3rd party.

I don't know what to say to Obama backers who find this personally upsetting, other than... above all else... you CANNOT own these attacks as personal attacks. I know, I know, it's almost impossible. But let me tell you. I lived through - amongst many others - Tony Blair's decisions and ultimately, the loss under Brown. Ken Livingstone's loss. Various Canadian examples. As well as Clinton and company.

And in each case, the same issues arise. And while the usual nature of blogging is to declare triumphantly that this means the personality of centrists of leftists is somehow perverse, I don't actually think that's right. Partly because... I have found myself on BOTH sides over time. 

And not to put to fine a point on it, I have run myself. I have a family member who is the chief advisor to a major leader. I was a partner to a very major female leader for a number of years, and went through some of the most vicious attacks I have ever witnessed. I have many school friends and life friends who worked for the Clinton and Obama regimes, and governments in Canada and the UK. 

And what amazes me is that people don't seem to understand that for those people, their daily lives are FULL of these sorts of debates, and attacks, and defences, and decisions, and maneuvers. It's just that they're a bit more used to it. It's emotionally still brutal, and usually they have to step out after a few years. And it's why I could never again return to the 24/7, inner circle, Blackberry pasted to one ear brigade. Emotionally, my guts can't handle it.

But to hear people say ---- The Obama Admin isn't equipping its people for the fight.... Or, he appears to be detached... Or, they never should have shut down their grassroots election machine... Or, he's made a mistake by not pulling back mush faster from Afghanistan, or by not trumpeting a HUGE Job Creation bill, even knowing it would lose, etc. etc. etc. --- All these things are bog-standard, day-to-day, eating lunch kinds of discussions for those in that world.

But for many in blogworld, they FEEL like a "gut-kicking" to hear that sort of debate. They just do. And that is just plain something that has to be coped with. Because it's NOT something that is going to go away. 

*

Now. That was my best attempt to understand things from the inside of an Obama-backer's mind.

As for the bullying thing. What I'm going to say is simple, and blunt. If there is bullying happening, and you're on the masthead, then tackle the problem person by name, and deal with it, at the time, on that blog.

After that, it is not in general acceptable to go on about how anti-Obama people here are bullying. Name the names, and deal with it - right at the time, on that blog - or leave it out. Because otherwise, it's not just meta, it's smearing. 

From my perspective, I think the problem is actually more what I discussed above. People backing Obama are finding the criticism hard to handle right now. As I said, I think that's unavoidable. 

As to the claim of bullying more generally, let me just note a few things. For starters, if you are convinced bullying is happening, I would - once again - point to the masthead. The group there is enormously more pro-Obama than anti, and if it's a problem, they should change how they're doing their job.

Secondly, none of you seem to be posting about the bullying problem, even as people like Miguelito and Sleepin' have taken leave of us, or as Cho and Des have downscaled their presence. 

Third, I listed as many vocal Obama critics as I could in my comment. If there is "bullying" being done, then there pretty much has to be a gang. But once you remove those who have already largely stepped away... and recognize that people like Seaton rarely enter others' threads anyway... and that people like me fight with other anti-Obama types like kgb and oleeb and cmauk and such, who are thus crap at forming "gangs".... and note that you'd be hard-pressed to see anyone swinging through the threads with semi-lone wolves such as Resistance, DanK or Jolly, then... even in theory... who do you have left who is doing this "bullying?"

Maybe me and Stardust? 

Seriously? 

I just don't believe this is the heart of the problem. The heart of the problem is that right now, as an Obama backer, it's hard to take heart, and hard to hear the attacks.

And the only way to deal with that is to make better arguments and pitches about why what's being done is positive and beneficial... or to change some policies, and then promote the hell out of that. As somebody noted, even bothering to raise the issue that the Republicans are worse is really not worth the time, especially to people who saw their way clear to vote for Obama last time, because they GET that. And in fact, for those of you interested in keeping score, chasing around waverers and critics and screaming "you're a Republican" at them, happens to be pretty much the best ANTI-Obama trolling method available, right? 

So. The case for Obama... or ideas he should propose.. or policies he should implement.

Your response here is dead typical. Even when I point out that the masthead is ENTIRELY made up of strong or moderately pro-Obama voices.... Even when I go through the list of other bloggers and make crystal clear that there is no huge preponderance of anti-Obama types... Even without noting that the mainstream media provides vastly more room for traditional Democratic voices than  it does to the "far left" critics... You fall back on a further, perhaps even more bizarre defense, that somehow the bullying is down to the fact that they outpost you. 

I'm not sure I even need to point out the humour in the fact that you... don't post.

And now, as I continue to request, you should please stay away from me. 

Sorry, this was not a response to you. It was meant for the general comments section.