I'm done with MyDD.

At least, I'm done coming here are a regular user - I'd still like to retain the right to comment if I see something really egregious. But my guess is I'll be reading this site less and less, and eventually stop altogether.

Why? Quite simply, it's just too unbearable. The sheer amounts, if you'll excuse the language, of assholes with user names is amazing - I know anonymous internet sites make people bolder and angrier than they might be in real life, but never did I expect such rampant jerk behavior.

This will be a short diary...or at least as short a diary as a rambling person like myself can write.

All I really want to point out is the increased use on MyDD of a common phrase. It seems to be becoming very common for arguments about candidates to get so heated that one person in the argument accuses their opponent of not being a real Democrat, or saying something along the lines of "You hate X candidate so much...I bet you'd vote for a Republican over them!" The accused is then left to write what is possibly the most common post on this site: "I like all of our candidates. I would vote for any of them in the general." Often, this post is unsolicited, as if the user merely wishes to showcase their Democratic credentials.

Though I know copy-paste diaries, which provide almost no original thought from the user and are simply repostings of already-published articles, are frowned on at MyDD...I thought I'd do one anyway. Hey, a copy-paste diary made the recommended list this morning...what's to stop me from copying and pasting on my own? Also, I think the article, written by Eli Sanders in Seattle's alternative newsweekly The Stranger, is an important thing for the blogosphere to read. In general, if you ever make it out here to Seattle, try to pick up a copy of The Stranger, which is available in most coffee shops, independent movie theatres, and on street corners. Despite the pages of hooker ads in the back, it is usually full of insightful and worthwhile (and sometimes hilarious) content.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Conte nt?oid=284694

As both a Barack Obama supporter and a fairly new participant in the blogosphere, I must admit that I have been honestly surprised and disappointed by the reception I've seen for the junior senator from Illinois in the so-called "netroots." Perhaps naively, I assumed when I started paying attention to the liberal blogs that Obama would have a rather large following. I assumed this for several reasons:

- the stereotype of a blogger seems to be someone young and idealistic; this is also the stereotype of an Obama supporter

• Obama is the most popular candidate on Facebook and MySpace, leading to the assumption that he has widespread support on the internet
  
• based on his 2004 convention speech, book sales, and his high favorability numbers, he seemed very popular with Democrats; I assumed this popularity would translate onto Democratic blogs

However, I have found that Barack Obama is by no means beloved by the netroots. Of course, there are many vocal Obama supporters on various liberal blogs, and they shouldn't be forgotten. But we're all aware that the candidate of the left blogosphere in 2008 is John Edwards. And while Obama has netroots support, he also seems to be the target of much of the netroots' scorn. Even the scorn directed at Hillary Clinton isn't the same, as Clinton is widely accepted in the left blogosphere (with exceptions of course, there are pockets of vehement support and unspeakable hatred) as a moderate, competent, unexciting candidate. Often the charges against Obama hit closer to home, as many accuse him of not being a true progressive, of selling out, of being an empty suit, of not having any real ideas, of being inexperienced, of not being a true leader, of not being ready, of being a celebrity candidate, and on and on. Just in the last few days I've seen, in addition to the diaries and comments defending him, a swarm of virulent anti-Obama diaries and posts regarding his spat with Clinton over foreign policy.

I admit that this initial hostility from many bloggers towards Obama confused me. But spending time on MyDD has lead me to these observations (and keep in mind these are of course personal opinion): here are my Five Reasons Why Barack Obama and the Netroots Just Don't Mix.

I am an upper-middle-class white male.

Because of this, I realize that my talking about race or gender politics has the potential to get me into a very dicey situation. I know that one thing said wrong and my credibility instantly crumbles. However, I've been noticing a trend here in the blogosphere regarding race and gender and the presidential election, so I think it's worth talking about.

I am also writing because of this:
Esquire - August 2007

The two diaries that I've written so far have been opinon pieces, and I was blasted by some in the comments for not having any links, despite the nature of an opinion piece as, well, opinion. So I've made it a priority to squeeze a ton of links into this particular diary.

The phrase "9/11 changed everything" has been repeated so often in the last six years that whatever meaning it had is now gone. Of course, 9/11 changed a great deal, enabling Bush to lead the country into two wars (though we would probably be in Iraq even if 9/11 hadn't happened), and our national mindset is defnitely different than it was prior to the attacks. But to assert that the United States will never be the same seems to be stretching it a little. The country's gone through the revolution, the Civil War, two world wars, and the Cold War, and while each of these events changed America, some sense of normalcy was always reasserted after they passed.

I'm ready for the normalcy to return, in terms of our post-9/11 mindset. Everything we've done after 9/11 has been a disaster: the Taliban are back in force in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq is obviously a complete failure, New Orleans was a watery hell for several days because homeland security had their attention elsewhere, and al-Qaeda is back to their 2001 strength, despite the billions we've spent trying to destroy them for six years. I say, let's move on, and I suspect that many Americans feel the same way.

This is a topic that's been bothering me for quite some time now, and I think that writing a diary about it will be the best way to get it off my chest, rather than endlessly debating it in the comments.

As a fairly regular reader of MyDD, and as an Obama supporter, I can't help but notice a recurring theme in the comments about the presidential race. There seems to be a tendency for the supporters of other candidates to sometimes dismiss Obama supporters as so uninformed about or charmed by or enamored with Barack Obama that we clearly overlook the real issues. I've even seen it referred to as "Obama Worship." The gist of this idea is that because Obama is a charismatic and captivating politician (some might say "rock star"), then hi supporters are drawn not to the issues he stands for, but to his star power. I've seen comments that say Obama supporters are blind followers of a media creation. A diary I wrote was referred to as "the Church of Obama." One lovely commenter even went so far as to suggest that I didn't know the meaning of my user name (if anyone was wondering, it comes from the famous sticker that Woody Guthrie would put on his guitar), because one of the tenets of fascism was the blind, rabid support of a single leader.

A brief introduction/disclaimer: a popular topic on MyDD recently has been the increase in the number of 'hit diaries' dealing with the presidential race and the lack of diaries focus on the issues of substance. While I don't think this is a hit diary, it is certainly focused on the race rather than the issues. The issues are important, but it is also important for us to analyze why we obsess over the campaign minutiae, and why often discussion of the campaign turns nasty.