The good old days

[muriel_volestrangler]

I remember back, waaay back -- had to have been, maybe, January of aught-eight, so we're talking 80, maybe even 90 days ago -- participating in online discussions about the Democratic primaries. This will just sound crazy to you young 'uns, but way back then, you could actually do that online without fisticuffs or weird, out-of-nowhere accusations.

I see some of you looking skeptical, but you kids'll just have to take my word for it. It was another time -- another world. I was there. It might have been a very long time ago, but I remember.

People would ask one another which way they were leaning and then they'd just, you know, talk about it. "I like Bill Richardson," they would say, "but I'm leaning toward John Edwards." Or, "I like John Edwards, but I'm leaning toward Chris Dodd." Or even -- and you kids today will just find this impossible to believe, but I swear it's the truth -- "I can't make up my mind between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, I like them both."

And the thing is -- again, I know you won't believe this, but it's true -- the thing is that back then we had conversations like that all the time and I don't remember ever, not even once, hearing any hostility over such expressions of preference or support. If one person liked Candidate A and the other liked Candidate B, this wouldn't be perceived as some kind of attack on Candidate A. If Candidate A gave a good speech you could say, "That was a good speech" without people screaming at you to stop attacking Candidate B.

...

http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2008/04/the-good-old-da.html

[hfojvt]

1. It's almost 11 O'Clock in California

but I remember it differently. I am pretty sure that some people were bashing Clinton way back in January. I am not gonna name any names

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/71

That there were regular dust-ups between Clinton fans who regularly posted "Hillary gets another endorsement" or "Hillary is still ahead in the polls" or "you have to vote for Hillary if she is the nominee" while others were posting "God, I hate her!" either as a reply or as an OP.

Of course back then this was happening in two forums - GD and GD:P. When we got crowded into one forum and the race heated up it seems that perhaps more people were getting their toes stepped on or taking an elbow to the ribs and being thus agitated, starting throwing some elbows of their own.

But yes, battle line have been drawn since late January and people are lobbing grenades and laying down machine gun fire from entrenched positions across a no-man's land.

[pecwae]

2. I long for them.

:hi: