We’ve all heard that old saying, “Loose lips sink ships!”
It seems to me that a palpable sense of fear is devouring what was once a vigorous free speech arena. Some here genuinely fear that words spoken in focused issue debate will somehow doom our party’s eventual nominee to tragic November defeat. How can we have forgotten the wise counsel of the most successful candidate ever to run as a Democrat, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself!”
Saturday night I threw a flag on another Kossak’s words for the one and only in all the years that I have been a member of DailyKos. My flag was immediately called out and hidden from public view because my flag was judged guilty of the cardinal sin known as retaliatory flagging.
Before I show you the comment I included (the one censored for retaliatory flagging) to justify my flag and the exchange of words I had with the person who wrote the diary that I flagged, let’s look at what it means to retaliate.
www.thefreedictionary.com gives this definition of retaliation and retaliatory behavior:
re·tal·i·ate
(rĭ-tăl′ē-āt′)v. re·tal·i·at·ed, re·tal·i·at·ing, re·tal·i·atesv.intr.To do something in response to an action done to oneself or an associate, especially to attack or injure someone as a response to a hurtful action.v.tr.To pay back (an injury) in kind.
Adj. 1. Adj. retaliatory - of or relating to or having the nature of retribution; "retributive justice demands an eye for an eye"
With these definitions in mind, I honestly do not think that the flag I dropped or my justification for dropping amounted to an case of retaliation. But I invite you be the judge.
First I offer my comment, that the DailyKos community was not permitted to see. I ask you to consider my words as an indication of my intent. Do you think my action in dropping the flag amounted to retaliation?
HIDDEN COMMENT
Flagged for quick flag-itis. Debate the climate issue. Hold the flag for obscene and bullying language, please. Pick up your flag and I will pick up mine. Deal?
To the contrary, I dropped the flag in a spontaneous effort to argue that dialog is a better option than flag dropping. Examine the comment that moved me to drop the flag.
I usually never tell people why I flagged them. I just flag and move on. One day they may make them transparent again or not, I don’t really care either way. But I’m telling you right now that I’m flagging you for lying, in the very first sentence in this diary.
I see evidence in these words of a willingness to be too willing to too quickly drop sanctioning flags.
I hoped my also dropping a flag would encourage issue dialog as a better option than labeling and and sanctioning.
Take a thoughtful look at the original sentence that inspired the flag that I objected to. Read it in the context of the full paragraph where it was written.
Hillary Clinton and her supporters are climate deniers. They acknowledge a portion of climate change reality, but deny the big picture. Her policies do not reflect the most recent discoveries or the breadth of the science. These views are just as dangerous as republican denial, because a lukewarm stance will not inspire the immediate action required.
Again, after acknowledging receipt of my official reprimand, I reached out to the writer I tried to open up lines of communication between the individual I had flagged and the person he/she had flagged.
Would you drop a flag if the diarist had said
"Hillary Clinton is a climate denier because she denies the scope and severity of the problem, seeking instead to nibble around the edges in a way that does not improve the situation."
Why did you hesitate to dialog with ____ ? Aren't we on the same side?
In a moment of successful dialog, I received a reply.
yes, I would.
purity politics have no place in science.
I would NOT flag if mhagle had said “Hillary Clinton’s climate policy does not get us to where we need to be.” There’s a place everyone can discuss.
But outright saying “well, you’re a denier,” well, you won’t get much action there, especially when everyone on this site accepts the scientific consensus. I loathe the attempt to put purity politics in science. I absolutely will flag that.
Keep it to politics. You want to go around and decide who is and isn’t a real progressive? Purity is great there, go right on for it. That I won’t flag.
I moved to draw the conversation to civil conclusion
Your eagerness to flag buzzwords that get your goat will get in the way of any desire you have to convert others to your positions. I suggest you listen, actively by asking for clarification as I'm doing, and don't have a short fuse on your flag dispenser.
The final response I received cause me to wonder two things out loud, “Exactly what deserves to be flagged? Who should set themselves up as the authority over what is appropriate at DailyKos
i’ll do what the fuck i want. bless :-)
The standard followed by YouTube, which I quoted at the top of this diary, seems much more healthy than what has developed here. I may be naive. I may be an old McGovern voter suffering from memory loss. But I don’t think the flagging practice was as common during my early days as a Kossak. The justification and motivation for flagging is anything but clear. Over flagging is damaging DailyKos.
I do wish we would remember the words of F.D.R. and also the words of Kris Krostofferson.
You Show Me Yours (And I'll Show You Mine)
If you're feeling salty, then I'm your tequila
If you've got the freedom I've got the time
There ain't nothing sweeter than naked emotions
So you show me yours, hon, and I'll show you mine
No ma'm I know this ain't all that you've ever been used to
You with your rings on your fingers and time on your hands
Sometimes it's nice to have somebody nice to be close to
God knows I've been there before you and I understand
If you're feeling salty, then I'm your tequila
If you've got the freedom I've got the time
There ain't nothing sweeter than naked emotions
So you show me yours, hon, and I'll show you mine
I wish that I was the answer to all of your questions
God knows I know you wish you were the answer to mine
Darling a view ain't a thing but a change in direction
Lord don't you know you'd be somethin' I'm lucky to find
If you're feeling salty, then I'm your tequila
If you've got the freedom I've got the time
There ain't nothing sweeter than naked emotions
So you show me yours, hon, and I'll show you mine
So you show me yours and I'll show you mine
