Reply #49: Yeah, but on the whole it used to be much cooler around here. [View All]

As someone who's been around since 2003, I have to say that I used to find DU a much more intersesting, inviting, and intelligent place. I used to be in awe at the scads of rational, super-intelligent posters who had all gathered here to create such a vital community.

Nowadays, it's much less rational on the whole. The rabid, the extremist, the proudly ignorant - these groups seem to write 70-75% of the posts I read here, especially since Cindy Sheehan began going nuts. People consistently mistaking opinions for facts, the bizarre misuse of the term "strawman," and a spiky-for-no-reason approach to discourse are just some of the reasons I stay away from DU these days. And don't get me started on GD:P; the bickering over candidiates I see there reads to me like a tiny taste of what hell must be like.

I dunno - it's probably me, though. I rarely post; I mostly stick to reading. But I can't imagine feeling compelled to post with every screaming cell in my person like I did back in 2003.