Etiquette

DP Etiquette

First rule: Don't be a jackass. Most people are good.

Other rules: Do not attack or insult people you disagree with. Engage with facts, logic and beliefs. Out of respect for others, please provide some sources for the facts and truths you rely on if you are asked for that. If emotion is getting out of hand, get it back in hand. To limit dehumanizing people, don't call people or whole groups of people disrespectful names, e.g., stupid, dumb or liar. Insulting people is counterproductive to rational discussion. Insult makes people angry and defensive. All points of view are welcome, right, center, left and elsewhere. Just disagree, but don't be belligerent or reject inconvenient facts, truths or defensible reasoning.

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Who are we reaching?

I have given this some thought. And have come to no definitive conclusions.

I applaud Germaine for his tenacity, I really do. He even took his crusade over to BNR. That is COMMITMENT.

But who are we reaching? It's the same with just about any online debate site. No debate is happening.

Everyone is in their own camp and happy to defend their camp. So when we make an effort to reach those stuck on the other side, we get the usual tripe and name-calling and put-downs.

Then there is the media. Page after page after page of focusing on ONE story. Typically with a partisan slant. As if there are NO other news stories to focus on other than Renee Nicole Good.

AND depending on which political forum you go to, you will either hear that ICE are Gestapo, or that Good was a radical Liberal out to run over a cop. AND the media coverage is seldom any better.

So, I got to wondering, what is the answer? My own opinion is less hyperbole, more actual news that helps paint a picture.

Example:

Oceans shattered heat records in 2025

Most countries today torture people. Torture is not an “aberration” of “a few bad actors.” It’s an habitual practice in many nations — including the United States.

Ohio appeals court quashes overly broad ruling used to strike down abortion law

China, Russia and Iran join South Africa for naval drills as tensions run high

But all we hear about is Fascism and Radical Leftists. Trump this, Trump that.

Yet, there is no getting away from Trump this, Trump that, because he IS THE NEWS.

But if people on debate forums, on social media, are unreachable, why not give them OTHER stories to debate on?

Here is why not: Because WE, and THEY, don't care. We want to know the latest twist and turn in the Renee Nicole Good story. It's like the latest episode of The Young and The Restless.

I could do an experiment, and may actually attempt it, where I post stories here that have nothing to do with the Threat to Democracy, or with Trump (at least not directly) or the latest twist in the Renee Nicole Good story and see if it flies.

Because who is really going to participate in conversations about oceans warming, torture still being practiced, abortion laws in Ohio, or naval drills in South Africa???

Dissident Politics