Unfortunately my memory of DU goes back to my original account circa 2003

[Model35mech]

and a membership number that IIRC was around 23,000, give or take a thousand.

I come here not to disparage Mr Pitt, but to acknowledge him, his successes and also the sharp stones along his path.

Will Pitt was a human being. He had feelings, and passions. He touched hot rails, and his account was closed several times.

If you are swimming up-stream, and feeling like things are working against you, I ask you to not cave-in to disappointments and stress. Will Pitt paved a path that I am sure presented him with disappointments.

Consider these old old texts.... and remember, people get over it, and so can you




Dear William Pitt,

I'm sorry you're being flamed here at DU, and I'm sorry you're thinking of leaving. I'm sure I speak for a lot of people when I say your work has informed, inspired and moved me, and I hope you decide to stay.

Truthout was the first alternative news source I found, and it's still my favorite. Your interview with Scott Ritter opened my eyes to the truth about Iraq, and opened the eyes of my Republican in-laws. When the MSM ignores or distorts a story, I know I can go to your site and learn what's really happening.

Your presence at DU is valuable in a different way. First, if reading Truthout is like attending a great lecture, then reading DU is like attending a great seminar. Okay, maybe it's not always so great. It gets snarky and petty sometimes, I agree. But posters like you bring it back to a higher level. DU is self-correcting that way.

Second, your presence here at DU is a constant reminder that the people who are changing this country for the better aren't superheroes, aren't gods and goddesses, aren't abstractions of any sort. Nope. They're people. And I could be that kind of person, too, if I were willing to act with your courage, integrity and focus.

Third, this is selfish, but I would really miss reading your journal if you left. Your journal entry about meeting Cindy Sheehan filled me up and made me cry and kept me from just slogging through another day, numb and unaware.

Maybe you can keep posting your journal entries without reading the comments if things get to be too much? Or maybe, maybe, lots of other folks will chime in and tell you how much your work here means?

p.s. For folks who don't know what prompted this post, I'm responding to this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1056736&mesg_id=1059497




WilliamPitt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-29-06 08:49 PM
Response to Original message
72. A humble answer

Somehow, I managed to become central to a DU flameout that I have since completely missed. I headed up to New Hampshire to dog-sit for my mom, who went to South Carolina for a "We're all turning 60!" reunion gathering this weekend. I haven't bothered since then to check the web, because the internet connection here in the woods is dial-up and galactically slow. So I finally got around to checking in tonight, and lo & behold...

* One thread from a man I once considered an ally shitting on me, another truthout writer, and basically everything not oriented with pushing his film project;

* Several threads about Raw Story and atheists, which became my problem because I chose to support Raw for the five thousand good things they've done, rather than burn them down for one ill-advised article;

* Several threads about all this together.

To answer your question, *****, about why there is so much fighting, I can give you the perspective of someone who has been here since May of 2001. That perspective is pretty straightforward: most of the people who post here agree with you completely. Those that don't - people whose professional jealousy overwhelms their good sense, people whose single-issue monomania denies the viability of even a nanoblip of disagreement, people who get phony-tough behind a fake name and a keyboard, and people who are here to do nothing more than tear up the process - will always make this place disagreeable. This place will never, ever, ever live up to its potential because of this, and that is sad.

Before too much time passes, there is going to be a decent crowd of people on this forum who will owe Jason Leopold an apology. I'll bet you all the money in my wallet they won't offer one, but there it is. For myself, I apologize to anyone who felt that my support for Raw Story equalled support for a column that unnecessarily (and incoherently) attacked a group of good people. That was not my intention, and in retrospect, I should have made that clear from the jump. I wanted to help Larissa, because I believe she deserves that help and respect, and inadvertantly made things worse. That was my failure, and I am sorry for it.

This is a good thread, *****, and well-meaning in every sense. But I have been here too long and seen too much shit (and, to be fair, caused too much of my own shit) to believe this place can or will ever rise to the level of integrity that people like you bring to it every day. The same reasons why this place will never reach its potential are the same reasons why the Left spends so much time on the outside looking in politically. You would think we wouldn't have to learn the same hard lessons over and over again, but you'd be wrong.

It has been said by many long-time posters that the healthiest thing one can do from time to time is take a break from this place. I seldom do, and when I have tried in the past, I always get sucked back in. But I think the time has come for a real one. I have too much to deal with in my personal life, too many pages to edit for my next book, too many real enemies in the Bush administration and congress to fight, and too many good Democrats to help get elected in '06, to spend my energy here fighting people that - in any sane, stable community - would be natural allies.

In other words, I have better things to do with my time. Guess what, *****: you and everyone who agrees with you also have better things to do with your time. If there are people here who want to turn this forum into a boneyard for jackals and phony-tough flame-warriors, you should let them. You can't stop it, no matter how hard you try, and your skills and passion are far better served in a place where you don't have to ask people on the same side to stop tearing each other apart.

See ya on the flip-side.

[liberalmuse]

1. I'm really sad to hear of his passing.

I loved reading his stuff. I've ready many of his articles since I joined in 2002.

[Model35mech]

3. Me too. And I wasn't with him on his support of Jason Leopold

But, he worked for Truthout and worked with Leopold, and he was loyal to both.

I think that much of this is understandable.

I think most importantly, we must remember despite the rough times he didn't quit. He overcame, and mostly fixed what he himself referred in the above post as self-caused problems.

May we all be as committed to what we believe as Will Pitt

[liberalmuse]

7. This is the post where I found out he had passed.

I'd seen a couple posts with his name in them earlier but had no idea it was because he had passed. He was too young to die. I have respect for him for his insights, but hadn't kept track of him in a few years. I had to look up Jason Leopold as I don't know anything about him.

[Model35mech]

8. Yes, he was way to young to die.

It's an old saw, but the good die young is too often the case.

His family should know, and I think they do, that his was a special spirit.

[RussBLib]

11. If only the good die young

...we.coild have Trump around for a long long time. Yuk

[Model35mech]

14. Ya, that's possible,

but I doubt that Trump survives more years than my memory of ehe first 8-10 years of DU and all that meant to members.

[GentryDixon]

2. I remember the grief he was given. 😥

RIP Will. 💔

[Hugh_Lebowski]

4. My account start date LOOKS like I haven't been around DU since those days, but I actually have been

I (almost) always loved what WRP had to say/inform us about, and when occasionally I didn't ... I kept my mouth shut.

And I mourn his passing for sure.

Thanks for sharing

WRP

[Samrob]

5. Me too. And i remember all of this too well.

[Model35mech]

12. Maybe I'm getting old, but I think it turned out ok for him.

At the time passions here ran very high. Everyone wanted to see Rove frog-marched out of the West Wing.

As history attests, that didn't happen. The folks that help draw out our expectations on justice for W's Whitehouse got the back-hand of that...

but they did add "Fitzmas" to our lexicon and all that meant to our learning about irrational exuberance.

[SergeStorms]

18. I took a hard path here myself.

I initially joined shortly after the 2000 election, and was overjoyed to find a group of like-minded Democrats. It was informative and fun, and there was a great cast of characters.

Everything was fine until the great Hillary/Barack wars. I had differing opinions on some issues, as did many others, so I foolishly decided to intentionally tombstone myself. It took a lot longer than I expected, but I finally succeeded. What an idiot.

I lurked for a few years, but decided to atone for my transgressions and emailed the administrators, made amends and a donation, and was allowed to return on a provisional basis. I've been relatively benign since then.

Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes we shoot from the hip when we shouldn't be shooting at all.

I understood where Will was coming from because I'd been there myself. We live, we learn.

I miss those early days of DU. Of course I was 20+ years younger and had a lot more fire in the furnace. I miss Will's informative and unique writing style. He left us far too soon.

[Skittles]

6. "see ya on the flip-side"

[Model35mech]

9. Ya, as epitaphs go

that one is quite eloquent.

[H2O Man]

10. Recommended.

Extremely well done.

[dalton99a]

13. Kick

[wnylib]

15. I first discovered WRP at Truthout

in the early Bush years. I occasionally looked in on DU at that time but was not a DU member then so I have no memories of WRP's time here.

But I remember him well from Truthout. I relied on him for many years to clarify and report on what was happening.

His passing is a great loss to journalism and to his many devoted readers.

[yonder]

16. Thanks your post. WRP's reply is a great example of his fine skills as a writer.

[Horse with no Name]

17. Great job!

I am so saddened at his passing. It surprises me. I feel like someone close died.
None of us are perfect.
Will was passionate and that is important.
That’s how I will remember him.

[Hekate]

19. KnR

[Laura PourMeADrink]

20. In my memory it was never antagonism related to opinions and politics

In my memory it was about treating people with common decency. Sorry to have to say that, but it's the way I remember him. Thanks for sharing another, better side!!!

[ForgedCrank]

21. Well,

he sure did hit that nail square on the head.

[malaise]

22. Thanks for this

I liked Will Pitt