Monday's Most Active Threads

Yesterday was another day in which politics dominated discussion. Over half of the ten most active topics were political, including the top four that I will discuss toda. The first of those was titled, "2024 Democratic National Convention" and, of course, posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. This thread was started Saturday in advance of yesterday's opening day of the Democratic National Convention. The original poster appears to be a Republican who asked if anyone was planning to attend the convention and then quickly turned to expectation setting by suggesting that the DNC might get a bigger audience than the Republican National Convention because the RNC was held while everyone was on vacation. It is clear to anyone that enthusiasm and momentum have clearly switched to the Democrats since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the presidential nominee. That even Republicans understand this is evident from the preemptive excuse-making of the original poster and the apocalyptic tone of many of the Republican posts. For instance, one MAGA poster claimed that the DNC would be "watched for decades to come as the death of democracy in America". The thread was 10 pages long before the convention even got started as posters debated whatever political issue crossed their minds. I have long since given up that any thread in the political forum will stay on topic for longer than a few posts. In this thread, posters were debating Harris' anti-price gouging position and Doritos, both of which have their own threads. Once things finally got started, the thread settled into a routine of each side trying to spin events as much as possible. There have been expectations of large, possibly violent, protests against Israel's war in Gaza. As it turned out, the number of protesters was smaller than expected. Police had erected several rows of fences to contain the protesters and, while protesters broke through one row at one point, things remained under control and there was no real violence. That didn't stop some posters from fixating on the protests and doing their best to blow them out of proportion. On the other hand were posters who attempted to minimize the authentic anger aroused by Biden's complete and total support for Israel while it kills tens of thousands of Palestinians, blaming the protests on Iran. With regard to the speeches, things were much the same. Conservative posters found many things about which to complain while liberals were full of praise. Much of the discussion revolved around Biden and his stepping down from the race. Many posters, most of whom were probably Republicans, claimed that there was something irregular about Harris replacing Biden at the top of the ticket. Former President, current cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump has been referring to this as a coup and some of his supporters in this thread followed suit. Several posters asserted that nobody had voted for Harris and, therefore, her accession to presidential nominee was anti-Democratic. Factually, due to the peculiarities of the American political system, voters in the primary elections actually select delegates rather than an actual candidate. The majority of the delegates elected were pledged to Biden. When he stepped down, however, Biden asked his delegates to support Harris. Those delegates were free to support any candidate of their choice, but most chose to support Harris. There is nothing anti-Democratic about this, particularly since Harris was Biden's running mate in the first place.

Next was another thread from the "Political Discussion" forum titled, "Are DCUM Political Topics Changing Your Vote?". This thread is not about a political issue, but rather the forum itself. As the title says, the original poster wants to know whether anyone's opinions are changed by what they read in the forum. The tendency of posters in this forum, especially these days, is less to read to become informed and more to post to advocate a policy. As such, very few forum participants are presupposed to change their opinions based on what they read on DCUM. To the contrary, they are trying to change the opinion of others. However, a few posters do admit to changing their opinions on various topics, if not actual votes. Some posters say that they do not follow the news very closely and sometimes learn about an issue for the first time in a forum discussion. The posts they read influence their opinion on the topic. In recent years, many Americans have retreated into their own political bubbles with siloed media exposure. This has led to the development of different realities, something about which I have complained many times previously. One of the most recent demonstrations of these different realities surrounds Minnesota Governor and Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz. Republicans are convinced that his selection was a total failure, that he is a huge drag on the ticket, and that he may well be replaced. Democrats, on the other hand, are infatuated with the man and believe that he is hugely popular. As in almost every case of these separate perceptions, reality — at least as it is supported by public polling — supports the Democrats. Regardless, the DCUM political forum is one place in which those who normally exist in separate realities come together, if not exactly in harmony. Many of the MAGA posters admit that they frequent DCUM specifically because it is a generally liberal forum. Whether they want to troll liberals or debate them is a question of interpretation. The polarization that effects many Americans is clearly evident on DCUM with posters on the extremes of the political spectrums often dominating the discussion. In the midst of this are a band of "centrists" who smugly act as if they are above the fray while lamenting that they are homeless among the major political parties. This thread developed into an almost greatest hits of grievances about the forum. MAGA posters complain that they don't get fair treatment by me. That's true. They don't get fair treatment and they should not expect otherwise. They should be happy they don't get treated worse. Their reality is not my reality and I have no interest in it becoming DCUM's reality. Other posters were upset that they are not able to have serious discussions about transgender issues. Inevitably, what they consider "serious" quickly turns to base anti-trans advocacy. Again, I have no interest is such a thing. But, perhaps the most hilarious complaint was by a poster who complained that I have removed a fact check showing that the rumor about Ohio Senator J. D. Vance and a couch is false. First, this "fact check" was posted multiple times before I started removing it. But, more importantly, is there a single person on earth who believes that rumor is anything other than a joke? Even the thread about it on DCUM said in its title that it was not true. But, listening to this poster, you would get the impression that the story of Vance and a couch is widely believed and equal in importance to former President, current cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump's claims that the election was stolen or that the investigations of him are a political witch hunt.

Next was a thread titled, "Trayon White Arrested by FBI". While this is a political topic, it was posted in the "Metropolitan DC Local Politics" forum and is alone among today's posts in not being in the main political forum. The thread is about the arrest on Sunday by the FBI of Trayon White, the Council Member representing DC's Ward 8. At the time this thread was started, no news had been released regarding the reasons for White's arrest, leading to considerable speculation regarding possible charges. Yesterday, it was revealed that White had been caught accepting bribes from an executive of an organization that received contracts from the District. Moreover, White was arrested outside a building in which he has apparently been living. That building is outside of Ward 8 and, if it is his actual residency, would make him ineligible for the Ward 8 seat on the Council. White just won the primary election and has been favored to win the seat in the general election. His arrest raises a number of questions about his political future as well as the future of his seat. Currently the only other candidate is a Republican. White has long been a controversial figure. He once made news because he recorded himself suggesting that the Rothschilds controlled the weather. Following the outcry over this display of anti-semitism, White agreed to tour the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. However, he appeared bored during the tour and departed early. On the other hand, he is very active within his ward, often showing up at crime scenes and offering families of victims support. He has been outspoken about the high levels of crime in the ward and some feel that he is one of the only council members to take crime seriously, In addition, there are several posters who frequent the local politics forum who, despite the fact that they may live in DC, seem to hate DC, or at least its government. For this group, White's arrest presented a perfect opportunity to disparage the DC government generally. Moreover, the bribe that White was photographed receiving apparently came from the leader of an organization that supports violence interrupter programs. The "law and order" posters who are vocal in the forum are not interested in violence interruption. They want to see people being arrested and thrown in jail and are consistently critical of DC's violence interruption program. I want to quote a tweet by Brian Weaver who has worked for years to reduce violence in DC: "I fundamentally believe in the power of healing and community! Violence interruption programs are crucial in breaking the cycle of conflict and creating safer neighborhoods." Weaver went on to say, "My fear is that VI programs will become targets during this CM White corruption scandal." Based on the responses in this thread, Weaver's concern is well placed.

The final thread that I will discuss today was another one posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "$25K in down-payment support for 1st-time homebuyers", the original poster is upset by a proposal by Vice President Kamala Harris to provide up to $25,000 in down payment support to first time homebuyers. The original poster complains that she worked for 8 years to save for a downpayment and now her taxes will help pay for others' down payments. One aspect of this discussion is the tendency, which is clearly demonstrated by the original posters, for some who have struggled to expect others to struggle as well. This is the old, "I walked 8 miles to school in 6 feet of snow uphill both ways" and you should too mentality. Many posters in this thread take issue with that thinking, but I'll leave that discussion to others. I complained yesterday about posters being in a contest to post the least informed thread possible. This thread is another strong entry into that competition. The thread is currently 13 pages long and, unless I missed it, Harris policy was not correctly explained a single time. Most posters seem to be unfamiliar with the meaning of the words "up to". "Up to" is an upper limit. It is not the lower limit. Harris' proposal is to provide "up to" $25,000 in down payment support to first-time home buyers. But, only first generation buyers will be eligible for the full $25,000. Other first time buyers may be offered a $10,000 tax credit. Beyond that, reading this thread causes one — or at least me — to wonder if any of the posters actually understand the mechanics of home buying. A very common and often repeated response is that a proposal such as this will simply cause the price of homes to increase by $25,000. Let's think this through. Nobody other than the very rich is going to pay cash for a house. The upper limit that most people are able to pay is set by two things: the amount of a loan for which they are eligible and the monthly payments they believe they can afford. I don't see how Harris' proposal would have any but the most minuscule impact on loan eligibility. In the case of monthly payments, the primary contribution of the support would be in cases that the Harris proposal would allow the buyer to cross the 20% threshold and not be required to pay PMI. That results in a significantly lower payment. But, I think that the main impact of such a policy would be for buyers who have not been able to save much at all for a down payment. In such cases, the support would allow them to get the bare minimum needed to buy a home. But in neither of these cases would the support allow buyers to immediately be able to afford to pay $25,000, or even $10,000, more for a house than they could previously. It could be argued that by increasing the pool of eligible buyers, demand will cause the price of houses to increase. However, Harris has another proposal for increasing the number of houses being built that could offset that demand. There is a lot of screeching in this thread about "free things" and vote buying and so on. I wonder how many of those who complain about Harris' proposal would also advocate eliminating the home mortgage interest deduction?