Guy James just trashed Democratic Underground, and I agree with him

On his radio show, Guy James just said that he will never let his program become like Democratic Underground where the main topic lately has become trashing all the Democratic candidates except your own. Okay, that statement was a little bit of an exaggeration, but his feeling was accurate. He said that whoever the Dem candidate is, we MUST work to get that person elected because we cannot risk another 4 years of Republican rule. He said that he will never trash ANY Dem candidate and I am making a similar pledge.

There's gonna be times when passions run high about candidates. I'm guilty of it, too. I think we all want the Democratic Party to shake off the dust and become a real driving force for change in America. Towards that goal, clashes within the party are inevitable.

worse in 2004 and I said I would never do that again..but, we all came together for Kerry.

And, here I am again..this time I don't have a chosen "do or die" candidate, yet, so maybe that why I don't feel it as intensely but I sure know who I don't want.

Mostly because Howard Dean was such a lighting rod and his opponents were so dedicated to tearing him down. I haven't seen nearly anything as ugly as the Osama ad this time around.

getting it from the right and the left..and his supporters were right there in the middle except some of us were Lefties! Whew! We were right, though..he would have made a good Prez..but I got thoroughly behind Kerry and went to his last rally in Manchester, NH on Nov 2, 2004. We were all so Pumped! Devastating, what happened Again.

The osama ad and the m$$$$m replaying his rallying cries to his supporters without their shouts of supports in the mix ( manipulating the microphone)..about 800 times on the corporatemediawhore airwaves. Having to defend him to people who didn't have a fucking clue that..no Dean wasn't "crazy".

I'm grateful for Howard Dean, John Kerry, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Al Gore, and real progressives ad infinitum! :) Happy Thanksgiving Hippo Tron!~

Zell Miller for President? Never say never...

It's the primaries, it's always this way. If Al Gore throws in, we'll all be unified in the primaries. How's that for an answer. hehehe

:rofl:

Yes, discussions get heated here. So what? And, Democrats will win big in 2008 unless their candidates are caught eating babies because this country has HAD it with Republican governance.

My two, and, I didn't hear the broadcast myself.

F him.

Btw, we were discussing women's right to choose.

that they'll never vote GOP again. And considering that our Dems ... aren't, I can't disagree much.

candidate, and evolves into trashing the DUer him/herself.

I really love the threads when people step back and objectively view the pros and cons of each candidate and have legit discussions. Those threads too often turn into the candidate bashing mentioned by Guy James and none of us benefit.

We're all so passionate about our chosen one, it's sometimes difficult not to get sucked into these 'debates'. We all need to make a concerted effort and always try to remember we're ALL the good guys.

You make some excellent points here.

Discussion...sometimes heated, sometimes passionate, of potential candidates from the Democratic Party on a Web Site like Democratic Underground is to be expected.

The "Joe Blow once again proves why he's not fit to lead this country"...Joe Blow being Hillary, Edwards, Obama, or whoever is in that particular poster's crosshairs...are the kind of posts I'm sure Guy is referring to.

It's not unusual to pull up DU's front page and see that a single individual has cross-posted to GD and GD-P with a slightly reworded "bashing" post (or posts in favor of their candidate that come across more like an infomercial than spirited discussion).

I try to follow the "Illegitimis non carborundum" rule of thumb. One thing that blue state Web Sites and red state Web Sites have in common is a certain element that would rather get in your face than show civility. There are people who come here looking for a fight, and people who come here looking for intelligent discussions. Kids want attention. Some of them decide that the best way to get it is to make noise, and keep on making noise until someone pays attention to them.

As a long-time listener of Guy's show, I'd be willing to bet that he was talking about the DU "kids" and not DU as a whole. It may have come OUT that way, but hey...anyone who feels that Guy was trashing DU and doesn;t like it has the right to call his show toll-free and discuss it with him, right?

:patriot:

Apples and oranges, and Guy James should be able to figure out the difference.

I miss listening to him and to Mike Malloy.

WRONG! Democracy must always be a debate. There is no room in an open system for icons. If it's not subject to review, it's not democratic. That's the reason we're in so much trouble now. There is no debate. It's George Dubya Pelosi's way or the highway.

is different.

The DLC has never been this persistent, because some people are waking up to just how Republican they can be.

Did I just trash the DLC? Maybe. Deservedly, imo, from what I've seen and observed. The facts as I've gathered them, makes me sick to my stomach. Which comes first the sick feeling or the trashing?

I cannot and will not support war for profit.

I will only support a military for defense.

I will not support a military that exists for baron, corporation, world control purposes (for/by a few) and especially a military that uses our kids to do it - or worse yet, uses mercenary armies of the State Dept.

If I don't envision any improvements through the DLC, I have every right to fight them and the people they support and are planning on planting on us.

I have yet to see one post where you simply tout Senator Clinton's good points - without first trashing Senator Obama. Why is that?

Looking through my iPod:
Randi Rhodes, Seder on Sunday, Thom Hartman, Stephanie Miller, .... etc., etc.,

Nope, no "Guy James."

And anyway, FWIW, the only Democratic candidate that I trash is Joe Biden.

I'd be very happy with ANY of the other Democrats becoming president.

The man is the ONLY person with the courage, and the fortitude to run a radio show that was almost completely paid for BY HIM in Southwest Florida.

He is the ONLY liberal talk show host that regularly featured DU callers, and supported DU on the air.

On that budget, the man has interviewed countless celebrities in the democratic party.

On that budget, he has endured the Republicans in Florida attempting to constantly force him off the air.

The fact that you haven't heard of this man only means that you haven't been paying attention for that long-maybe you should try listening if you want to know who he is.

earth to IanDB1.....

Note your Ipod radio jocks aren't down there.

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Wake the hell up, man.

:shrug:

He's just basking in our fame. :D

--IMM

check the archives.

And I never heard Guy's show, good as it may be. I'll maintain that it's an inappropriate comparison. We're a discussion board.

The fame remark was tongue in cheek. From your post above, I understand your admiration for him. :)

--IMM

with hundreds of posts every saturday afternoon.

Yes, I do admire this man. The only DJ I know of that paid for his own show. The only one....and because a handful of people didn't hear him....well...whatever.

A DJ paying for his own show is not an unusual thing in radio. Most are not about altruism though, I'll admit. It's typical that they have a deal with their own sponsor and then purchase blocks of air.

I'd have to say that I was usually not around on Saturdays. And I may be wrong, but I don't think I'm unique in not having heard his show. It might be that I got most of the same information/insight from other sources.

It's not too late though, I will get to hear him sometime. :)

--IMM

and most of the House "democrats"

I agree.

The way the system is currently set up, it's a battle. Even the candidates know that.

If a person has earned excoriation, so be it. Can the phony-baloney and ship it to Rushbo.

2000? We won then, for one. What did it? I think the fact that over 500,000 Americans could see that Bush was a bad idea helped somewhat.

Gore was the better choice.

Anyone who can't trash almost any candidate isn't paying attention. Blindly electing Dems won't change much. We must stand up for ethical behavior 24/7, lest the quest to get elected at all costs become the end in itself.

just Republicans no matter the party affiliation.

... raising very good reasons why a candidate should NOT be the Democratic nominee.

The difference, of course, is in tone and content.

There have been lots of real trashing which I wish would stop, but we have to debate who we think who should or who shouldn't be the nominee. It would be nice if RW sources weren't used in the process though.

I think all of our guys and gal are very capable and I will be proud to vote for either of them

I'll be happy with any of them. Some more than others:)

not the Democratic party.

:headbang:
rocknation

after poll posted that one's personal candidate is up and trashing the rest of the pack. The threads are filled with cheerleading and any criticism that goes longer than two lines of snark (troll stuff) is roundly trashed and the poster is treated as a pariah.

There's little discussion and the discussion attempted ends up in a gang bang. For those who are partisans and want to discuss the Polls there are forums for most all the Dem Candidates. If you want only the folks that support you then why not stay in those Forums. If you want to discuss then why not be open to arguments from those who disagree or have challenges to the polls.

:shrug: Otherwise it's just cheerleading while casting out any discussion or dissention and makes DU look like some kind of "free-for-all" with snarking and snipping and driving out opinions.

I am highly suspicious of ANYONE who "turns their life over" to another person's aggrandizement..Some of the adulation for ANY candidate reminds me of the mindless teenybopper frenzy at the Beatles.. They screamed & cried because everyone was crying and screaming..

Candidates come and candidates go.. They all have "ideas" , good or bad, and once elected they rarely get their way (the last 2 terms are the exception..but we won't GO there)..the best most can hope for is that SOME of their plans get implemented, but at their core, MOST politicians are about 4 things..

1. GET MONEY
2. GET VOTES
3. GET RE-ELECTED
4. See 1,2,3

No matter their party, they are all about THEIR jobs, and if some good happens along the way, great..but first and foremost it's about THEM , staying where THEY are..or WANT to be..

For the rabidly faithful, they are grateful, but I think MOST people decide on a given philosophy, and try to see through the veil of half-truths that shroud ALL candidates... then we choose the one closest to our own beliefs..

That's how most people vote..

:evilgrin:

Or does he like to join the other lemmings as they go over the cliff.

Guy, the saving grace of Democrats and the Democratic party is that we do not walk in lockstep.

We vet, we nudge, we rail, but we know when the time has come to act decisively.

We don't wait for later, because we know later may never come.

Stop sniffing the DLC glue and open you eyes.

I would hope that he qualified it per dynamics of discussion (of which I agree and would have agreed with the same commentary in 2004). Without such a qualification (eg condemning a tone of discussion, rather than condemning the entire community) I would be a little taken back. Guy stayed on the air due to his own $$ - and (to a lesser extent, I believe) due to DU solicited donations.

are just so bad here..duking it out in the primaries. "Trashing" or stating facts? Sometimes candidates are unfairly smeared but that's a mighty big brush..

We are fortunate to have such a great group representing our party.

And, we have a second team and a third team just like them!!

Meanwhile, Thompson is the great hope of the Rs :rofl:

Edwards' hair, Clinton's cleavage, and the issue of whether Obama is "black enough" are all just irrelevant bullshit. I don't see too much of it on DU, but plenty of it in the MSM.

I never click on those threads unless I want to fall asleep. I disregard the comments whenever I see them. So yes, I'm also really sick of candidate bashing.

There ARE several DUers who do precisely that...launch themselves into any positive thread about a candidate not their own and repeat the SAME talking points over and over again. Now there's only one potential candidate I've set myself against, and I've never used a single RW talking point against that candidate. My reasons for distrust run strong and I won't apologize for them. But I also have said on numerous occasions that, come election day, I'd vote for any of our Dems against anyone the Repugs put up.

it was worse then except for a few exceptions. We all came together for Kerry. And, yeah, I like to deal in facts, too..there's enough of those to go around.

Some supporters don't like to deal in those though.

Check us out..we're skirting the issues on this thread cause we're trying to be so nice. :)

Far be it from me to pummel a deceased equine.

No "pummeling a deceased equine"!

Criticism is only bashing to those who refuse to address problems.

the democratic party being clearly ''leftist -- for lack of a better word.

i want far far less corporate influence -- conservative influece -- fear of being liberal -- etc in the democratic party.

one goal does not preclude the other.

for trashing Dems.

Thanks, Guy, for adding to the NOISE.

http://server2.whiterosesociety.org/content/james/JamesShow-(21-11-2007).mp3

about 8 or 10 minutes into the program.

Face it, there has been a tremendous amount of Democratic candidate bashing here lately. I'm not talking about the regular politics either. What caused my comments was a post on DU last week where a "Democrat" posted a picture of Hillary Clinton in a Nazi uniform. Thats not funny nor is it kosher. No matter how strong your feelings against a Democratic candidate this IS DEMOCRATIC Underground and I would not expect to see such outlandish, offensive posts as that one against ANY of our candidates.

Guy James