I think

The idea was that since these people were there, he could bleed them off here, make THEM pay for it, and keep DU clear of the nastiness that had infected it.

Problem is, that strategy does not work. The bigots and thugs do not want co existence, they want EMPIRE. You cannot appease them, you cannot harness them, nor help them to see reason, until you make it clear that you have established a firm boundary that they will NOT be able to run over! They need to learn neither trick nor threat will help them get past that boundary. They can try a deceptive Trojan horse (we can really be friends, we hate the drug war too), or a horde of angry, gun-toting barbarians (do what we want or we will kick your ass!) but the result must be the same; they must be lying in wreckage and carnage at the foot of our wall, period.

If I was Skinner, I woudl have made the second site a haven for the left. Let's be honest, if the MRA want to light candles to St. Roger Eliot, matryr in the war against women, they will have plenty of forums to do it, not including the ones they have taken over, the way vermin spoil nests and eat eggs. If they want to espouse the Center-right they pretty much have the lions share of media. I would have given a discussionist like panel, picked some mods from here, and say "OK, this is your park." Now, many people would have stayed in DU, and yes, they probably would have paid for that site. Yes, there would be people not happy, but the point is, a market that is not served would be. If he wanted to harbor/exploit the center-right, aka those pined after, worshipped,"REAGAN DEMOCRATS", he could have also done that, but only after the idea was set that yes, the left have their park too.

Now..what we have is discussionist, a place that the cranks who are unhappy with DU are supposed to go, but since those folks are little Imperialists, they will manitain the war. They will still stop here, post their flamebait, get 300+ hits, and worse, get away with exploting the jury system to make sure that they do not get hidden, but that the feminists and other leftists do. What is sad is, for all the faults of the old mod system, the Jury system has been so demonstrably proven to be worthless in protecting the rights of the leftists DU was supposed to welcome.

The post I will not post a blue link to, the one which might as well have been "It was tragic what Roger did, but you wicked feminists made him suffer so much you deserved it." did NOT get hidden, even though it had a lot of vile, sexist statements, but lo and behold, some of the ones that opposed it did. Off to the greast page it went.

The point is, yes, some ideas may sound good, but until the left is given a place of respect, a boundary that says they are not to be mowed down like grass, any attempts to do "bipartisanship" or "coexist" will be a joke. This is sad because, outside of polticis, Discussionost could be a place where ideas are tried out that could be imported to DU; from web fonts to gadgets. However, as long as the right wing gets to poop on everything and salt the fields, it will be nothing more than pearls before swine.

about Asbergers and shooting

Adam Lanza, and now, Robert Eliot. Of course, most people hear about AS only through the news media, so of course, I know I better say something, as one.

Yes, we are socially inept at times. We do not read social cues, nor understand the "in between the lines" stuff most people use to communicate. We are often that kid in school that is so smart, yet cannot apply themselves." Kids pick on us, teachers dislike us, but often, the intelligence we have shows later on.

Acompuer whiz name Mark had so much a problem finding friends he tried to make a new way of doing that, aka facebook. An awkward guy named Bill made windows. Sadly, many of the successful aspies wind up buying into the idea that "everyone hated me and no one helped me", which explains why Bill gates and Mark Zuckerberg hate public schools. They are fools for that, but it does show that many times, an Aspie feels that people hate him, or do not care.

However, we are nopt killers, or psychos. And while I will agree that mental health is badly needed, those who would shield the victim are not hel;ing. Did I hate my school, yes, but would I have killed anyone, no!

about Discussionist (talk me down)

Ok, disclaimer..for all I know, Discussionist may be a great new venture, one that can also benefit DU. If so, congratulations.

However, I would like to offer why this creeps me out a bit.

When the pitch is "if you hate the jury system, you will love this." Then a red flag is set off. After all, many people have questioned the jury system, especially as there is suspicion that people are using it to make mischief, especially those who so want throw something that insults a minority or a female, and then scream "I am not sexist/racist/I am jus tellin duh troof!"

Part of me thinks that the new board can be a sandbox/litterbox where all those who think the evil feminist/minorities who just do not understand them can go play. If that is the case, have a blast rolling around in the sand and feces. However, it does say something where these types seem to be getting their own board. Give a scrap to the left, give a hunk to the center. It also worries me that is is happening right around the 2014 and 2016 elections, where a lot of center right types are dominating the message.

Again, I could be wrong...however, I hope the powers that be understand that if you want to make those center right types happy, you will need to throw some of the good stuff back to the DU ranch, even if it is on the left side.

The New York Times Just Fired One Successful Editor