Welcome Pilgrims - Let me tell you about this joint called Partizane

I see another diaspora on the tubes. 

Some of our friends are closing shop and others are just quieting down.  Many people are just running out of things to say since it's been such a long strange trip.  I'm sometimes wordless for days on end, but Partizane is fine when I shut up because, well because we're sort of a team and there'll be somebody posting in my absence.

We're like many blogs that have a group of writers, yet we're different too. But I'll come back to that in a bit.

A little of my own history and what drove me to create this experiment in adult communications.  I think it was Cal who ealier today called it an experiment and I think that hit the nail on the head. 

So,  I can be a royal pain in the butt.  I'm one of those snarky, ADHD commenters that can sometimes torment a serious blogger.  I can also be very serious myself and take things like my belief in women a little too seriously at times.  I'm a Dennis Kucinich lover, but a realist Clinton Democrat.  Wait!.  I'm no longer a Democrat since formally becoming an Indi this spring.

I've been politically posting, not blogging, since my complete and crazy support for Howard Dean on Democraticunderground.  The Dean Kerry wars on DU were just as nasty as the Clinton Obama battles on Daily Kos last year.   I made what i thought were many friends on DU and even attended a real world get together in Cambridge with about 25 or 40 folks from all over the north east.  Had a great chat that evening with someone I still respect, Will Penn.  But that was back in '04 when I did the proper Dem thing and proclaimed my support of Kerry when Dean dropped out

My first diaspora was in leaving DU with many other Hillary supporters.  Some you know like Taggles who went by another name at DU.  She and I canvassed together in Cranston during the Rhode Island primary.  So we Hill supporters were pretty much rail roaded off DU, a place I had donated many dollars to over the years.  A place I considered my second home.  I was on DU almost 24 hours a day and it hurt like hell to leave.  I've since been banned.

We, or most of us landed at Daily Kos where I quickly got involved with a positively criminal group ;-) called the Flying Monkey Squadron.  A bunch of writers under the guiding light of Alegre and Campskunk.  Dang it but we had fun and always went to those cocktail parties thrown by Goldberry.  Until she got herself banned.  Goldberry's (you know her as riverdaughter) banning was the beginning of the end at dKos so we began to look around for a new home again.  The world famous writer's strike was a fun way to exit en masse and give Marcos a finger on the way out the door.

We went brieftly to a new place I helped Alegre build, called HillarysBloggers then very quickly we started to discover MyDD where we Hillary people felt somewhat welcome even though it already had it's share of O'bots.  MyDD was a good and fun time too and I'm sort of proud that I posted on what Marcos calls the Blog Father.  Alas, things did not work out at MyDD and we eventually went home to the newly re-named Alegres Corner.  And, well eventually some of us couldn't stay there any longer. That was one year ago, when Hillary bagged it and certain people expected us to all jump on board the O train.

Some, like me, couldn't or wouldn't jump on the train.  We prefer it here under the bus with other castoffs of the blogs.  I do by the way, still cross post once in awhile at NoQuarter, Widdershins, recently at Dkos for Iran and rarely at my friend Alegre's site.  We're all a big family aren't we?

Ok.  Enough of the history crap.  We are as I said, a group of writers.  But where we are different is that anyone can post without moderation.  If we like the post and someone is paying attention then it will get promoted to the front page.  The only rule is the only rule.  (I sort of lied.  we also believe in fair use. The rules are here)

The Rule: 
Disrespect of others is the only thing not tolerated here.
Civil Discourse is the rule of the day.

Seriously.  Not all people here are former Hillary supporters, though most are.  We even have an Obama supporter or two.  But we treat each other with respect and expect the same in return.  We really believe in Voltaire.  Example: As I said, I consider myself a proud liberal (I hate the overused word Progressive) and I am almost violently opposed to guns, yet a few of my best friends on Partizane are strong defenders of the NRA.  Once in awhile I'll lose control and post again about guns then get into a blowout argument with Creeper.  But we leave the F words at the door, yell at each other like family and give each other the respect everyone who speaks up deserves. 

To me the only ones I don't respect are the ones who shut up.  Writing on blogs is not easy nor is it always fun to bare your soul.  I respect all who value this country, this planet and their fellow people enough to write about it.

I built this place using software to as closely replicate dKos as i could.  Yes, I love his code.  I would love to have a blog that automatically refreshes while we comment.  I think that cost him dearly.  But what I so love about dkos is that me and my seldom read posts are kept in their own section, my blog.  We have issues with a weird editor and a coder who isn't too good.  But each and every user here has their own blog.  Here's Kim or BJ, twandx and of course madamab and marge. And also the poet Mountain Lion and too many others to list.  I just want to try and give an idea of what is a little different than your standard wordpress blog and my sincere apologies to all I didn't mention.  I'm sure I'll hear about it.  Yeah I better mention our resident investment guru and lover of all things Apple, Ron.  Ron changed his negative name when he realized we're stuck with Bama.

So in a nutshell or hamster wheel.  Partizane is the anti-echo chamber.  If you want to be bored reading and writing among a group who all agree all the time, this ain't the place.  if you think the world might be better if we could all at least try to listen to each other, then please hang around a bit.  I'm sure that eventually someone will say something you love or it pisses you off so much you just have to reply.  Just do it with the same respect you'd want in return.