Jeff, would you consider doing an AMA?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are you so liberal

and will you ever admit your liberal bias on things

I am liberal because I have the ability to empathize with others and I try to think beyond the narrow confines of what will directly benefit me. I try to think about what will benefit us.

When have I ever denied my liberal bias?

Followup

Do you think Conservatives only think about what benefits them vs what benefits society. Can you agree there are multiple ways to get to what benefits us and that perhaps liberals are wrong sometimes.

Conservatism barely exists in the US at the moment. Instead we have this weird Trumpism. "Me first" is very much a part of Trumpism. Trumpism views the world as being divided between us and them. I don't think they conceive of society in the way that it has normally been viewed. Social cohesion is replaced with resentment. There is no interest in doing what is best for society, but rather what is best for Trump followers. This was very aptly demonstrated recently when Mitch McConnell referred to "blue state bailouts". A wiser politician would realize that it is in Kentucky's interest for New York to recover from Covid-19. But Trump-supporting politicians see everything as a partisan battle.

To directly answer your questions, yes there are multiple ways to get to what benefits us and liberals are wrong frequently. But, Trump and his cult have no interest in what benefits "us".

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are you so liberal

and will you ever admit your liberal bias on things

I am liberal because I have the ability to empathize with others and I try to think beyond the narrow confines of what will directly benefit me. I try to think about what will benefit us.

When have I ever denied my liberal bias?

Followup

Do you think Conservatives only think about what benefits them vs what benefits society. Can you agree there are multiple ways to get to what benefits us and that perhaps liberals are wrong sometimes.

Conservatism barely exists in the US at the moment. Instead we have this weird Trumpism. "Me first" is very much a part of Trumpism. Trumpism views the world as being divided between us and them. I don't think they conceive of society in the way that it has normally been viewed. Social cohesion is replaced with resentment. There is no interest in doing what is best for society, but rather what is best for Trump followers. This was very aptly demonstrated recently when Mitch McConnell referred to "blue state bailouts". A wiser politician would realize that it is in Kentucky's interest for New York to recover from Covid-19. But Trump-supporting politicians see everything as a partisan battle.

To directly answer your questions, yes there are multiple ways to get to what benefits us and liberals are wrong frequently. But, Trump and his cult have no interest in what benefits "us".

Very well put. I really appreciate you Jeff. I used to occasionally read Fairfax Underground years ago but once I discovered DCUM I never went back to that cesspool. This forum is a great example of how an anonymous forum ought to be managed and your success proves it. It can be quirky and the longer one is here the more one understands the quirks. I often feel sorry for people who wander into DCUM and innocently post an issue or ask a question and then BAM! they don't know what hit them. If they hang around, though, they will eventually see the benefits of this type of forum, as long as it is moderated of course. Thanks again for what you do.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Followup

Do you think Conservatives only think about what benefits them vs what benefits society. Can you agree there are multiple ways to get to what benefits us and that perhaps liberals are wrong sometimes.

Conservatism barely exists in the US at the moment. Instead we have this weird Trumpism. "Me first" is very much a part of Trumpism. Trumpism views the world as being divided between us and them. I don't think they conceive of society in the way that it has normally been viewed. Social cohesion is replaced with resentment. There is no interest in doing what is best for society, but rather what is best for Trump followers. This was very aptly demonstrated recently when Mitch McConnell referred to "blue state bailouts". A wiser politician would realize that it is in Kentucky's interest for New York to recover from Covid-19. But Trump-supporting politicians see everything as a partisan battle.

To directly answer your questions, yes there are multiple ways to get to what benefits us and liberals are wrong frequently. But, Trump and his cult have no interest in what benefits "us".

I beg to differ. I think a better description is that Conservatism has been completely overshadowed in the US at the moment.

I know many who are like me, socially liberal, religious and fiscally conservative. We favor smaller government, less government intervention, but strongly champion individual rights. Once upon a time there was a large group of us. We elected Reagan and Bush 41 and even Bush 43. We don't agree with McConnell and Trump. We are the same brand as Hogan and Baker. There's a lot of pragmatism in what we do. We have ideals, but we focus on what can realistically be done, rather than insisting on what MUST be done as idealogues tend to do.

There are still a lot of these types out there, but I know many who "converted" to Independent or "Democratic" simply because the Republican party has moved away from us and sadly, the Democratic party seems closer than to us that the Republicans do. Not too many went Democratic, and most went Independent. The problem is that if we speak up, we can bombarded, blasted and criticized by both sides. Our pragmatism tells us that it is easier to work to get things done than to talk about what needs to be done. So we do what we have to, support others that are doing work that we support and stop talking with what feels like clowns to the left of us, jokers to the right.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are you so liberal

and will you ever admit your liberal bias on things

I am liberal because I have the ability to empathize with others and I try to think beyond the narrow confines of what will directly benefit me. I try to think about what will benefit us.

When have I ever denied my liberal bias?

Followup

Do you think Conservatives only think about what benefits them vs what benefits society. Can you agree there are multiple ways to get to what benefits us and that perhaps liberals are wrong sometimes.

Conservatism barely exists in the US at the moment. Instead we have this weird Trumpism. "Me first" is very much a part of Trumpism. Trumpism views the world as being divided between us and them. I don't think they conceive of society in the way that it has normally been viewed. Social cohesion is replaced with resentment. There is no interest in doing what is best for society, but rather what is best for Trump followers. This was very aptly demonstrated recently when Mitch McConnell referred to "blue state bailouts". A wiser politician would realize that it is in Kentucky's interest for New York to recover from Covid-19. But Trump-supporting politicians see everything as a partisan battle.

To directly answer your questions, yes there are multiple ways to get to what benefits us and liberals are wrong frequently. But, Trump and his cult have no interest in what benefits "us".

Fair enough. I would add there is a category of kooky liberals who have trump derangement syndrome as well and the board tilts overwhelmingly left (not surprising Hillary got I think almost 90% DC and probably close to that in many of the inner suburbs). That's why the politics forum is such a cesspool

Thanks for the responses and the website

[Anonymous]

You use the word cesspool yet I don't think that word means what you think it means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You use the word cesspool yet I don't think that word means what you think it means.

Dictionary definition:

cess·pool
/ˈsesˌpo͞ol/

noun
an underground container for the temporary storage of liquid waste and sewage.
a disgusting or corrupt place.
"they should clean out their own political cesspool"

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the background on the origins of DCUM.

To followup, when and why did you decide to make it anonymous?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why are you so liberal

and will you ever admit your liberal bias on things

I am liberal because I have the ability to empathize with others and I try to think beyond the narrow confines of what will directly benefit me. I try to think about what will benefit us.

When have I ever denied my liberal bias?

I’m Conservative for the same exact reasons. Go figure.

[Anonymous]

Is your mom Orthodox Christian? Or Muslim originally?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Is your mom Orthodox Christian? Or Muslim originally?

Her family was Orthodox in Lebanon but ended up in a small town in the US that didn't have an Orthodox church. So they became Presbyterians.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the background on the origins of DCUM.

To followup, when and why did you decide to make it anonymous?

When we started the mailing list, Maria didn't want to collect a lot of information about subscribers because she hated having to provide a lot of info to sign up for something herself. So we only required an email address. Then, when we set up the website forums, we only required email and a name to register -- just like now. But, when we moved the nanny posts to the forums, one objection users had was the need to register, so we started allowing anonymous posts. Around the same time, we started to have issues on the mailing list involving privacy. This created an awareness of the benefits of anonymity.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your mom Orthodox Christian? Or Muslim originally?

Her family was Orthodox in Lebanon but ended up in a small town in the US that didn't have an Orthodox church. So they became Presbyterians.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the background on the origins of DCUM.

To followup, when and why did you decide to make it anonymous?

When we started the mailing list, Maria didn't want to collect a lot of information about subscribers because she hated having to provide a lot of info to sign up for something herself. So we only required an email address. Then, when we set up the website forums, we only required email and a name to register -- just like now. But, when we moved the nanny posts to the forums, one objection users had was the need to register, so we started allowing anonymous posts. Around the same time, we started to have issues on the mailing list involving privacy. This created an awareness of the benefits of anonymity.

Interesting. Personally I think being anonymous is critical to your success.

When I had toddlers I was an avid user of MOTH. But as kids got older the ability to get candid views about things like local schools became increasingly important. (I think DCUM’s success has contributed to the demise of MOTH.)

[Anonymous]

Jeff the part about subpoenas in cases of defamation is really interesting and I've often wondered when I've seen those kinds of posts or threads, how that might play out. You say that you'd never provide access to a poster's full array of posts/ threads etc.

But its my understanding, (and I could be wrong - so I'd be happy to be corrected on this) that the FBI could without any need for permission from you, access all your users IP addresses and all posts by any one particular poster, if they required it.

I am guessing that only would be for far more serious cases than just "defamation"

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff the part about subpoenas in cases of defamation is really interesting and I've often wondered when I've seen those kinds of posts or threads, how that might play out. You say that you'd never provide access to a poster's full array of posts/ threads etc.

But its my understanding, (and I could be wrong - so I'd be happy to be corrected on this) that the FBI could without any need for permission from you, access all your users IP addresses and all posts by any one particular poster, if they required it.

I am guessing that only would be for far more serious cases than just "defamation"

I am not aware of any process like you describe though it is possible there are some sort of national security laws. The only way the FBI or anyone else could access our users' IP addresses without my permission is to hack the site or take physical possession of the servers (after which they would have to hack them). I own our servers so this is not a situation where the FBI could simply approach our hosting service because I am the hosting service.