Motley Moose – Archive

Love him or hate him….he was a masterful musician and phenomenal entertainer.

Michael Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)

Consider this an Open Thread.

Ladies and gentlemoose,

You may have noticed that our lovely purple banner is turning green! And unless you’ve been living in a cave (and likely even if you have), you’ve probably guessed that it has something to do with the current protests in Iran. The Moose has gone green to show solidarity and support for the Iranian protesters and for free and open elections. The protesters’ determination to see their votes counted, and their dedication to fair elections, is inspiring. It is indicative of real progress, and The Moose supports Progressives the world over.

Calling all Moose!

Moderation Guidelines

Diaries

Whether in comments or in email, above all, be fair, consistent, and level-headed.

Moose are calm herbivorous creatures. Except in rutting season we don’t fret. Despite what the would-be Republican Vice President thinks of us, we usually remain aloof and majestic.

But the next few days will be a challenge to us. There are so many things to do…

Quite simple.

We are not responsible for personal information you opt to share in an open manner (in a diary or comment).

In other words….TEH RULZ.

MOTLEY MOOSE POSTING GUIDELINES

1.  Personal attacks will not be tolerated. If someone says something with which you disagree you should attack the argument, not the person who made it. Persistent harassment of another user will also be judged as a personal attack.

2.  There is no litmus test on the issues. Attack the argument, not the person who made it.  There are Democrats who, while generally agreeing with most of our platform, hold some views the rest of us don’t: they are allowed to make their case should they choose to do so respectfully.

3.  It is acceptable to say something nice about a Republican, or something negative about a Democrat, without being labeled a troll.  Not every Republican is evil, nor is every Democrat a paragon of virtue.  We won’t delete a comment to the effect of “John McCain adopted a southeast Asian child, and I respect him for doing that.”  That’s fine.  It’s also fine to say something like “Congressman Jefferson looks guilty as hell, I mean, they found a ton of cash in his freezer!”  They are both reasonable observations. Constructive criticism is not only acceptable, it is welcomed. Context is key.

4.  It is emphatically not acceptable to try to dissuade other members from voting for Democratic candidates.  We know that this is subjective and it is possible that someone could honestly believe that what they are promoting is best for the Democratic party, but there is a point past which this turns into trolling and it will be dealt with accordingly. If we see that a member’s only contributions are lamentations as to the general evil of the party, it’s nominees, or their supporters we will likely consider that person to be a troll.

5. It is unacceptable to campaign for or promote Republican candidates.  The fact that we accept contrarian issue diaries and comments does not mean that a member can include something to the effect of “And that’s why I’m voting for John McCain, and that’s why you should, too.”

6. Profanity is not allowed in Diary titles. Profanity is permitted in diary content and comments except where it runs afoul of rule number one.  We expect you to behave like an adult, of course, but you are free to use salty language.  Don’t abuse that privilege.

7.  Derogatory language against arbitrary groups is not acceptable. We strongly discourage labeling any group in a negative way. Derogatory terms used against fellow Democrats or Progressives are absolutely verboten and will be dealt with accordingly.  A person is not evil because they belong to an organization you do not, or believe something you don’t, and casting wide nets of derision over them is against the fundamentals of Democratic beliefs.

8.  No commercial interests are permitted in comments or diaries without explicit prior permission on our part. Explain to us why it makes sense to allow you to promote a commercial interest and we’ll think about it. It is incredibly unlikely that we will approve any such requests.

9.  One person is not permitted to have multiple accounts (so-called “sockpuppets”).  If a member is banned, they are not permitted to register a new account without prior approval from the moderation team. Accusations of sock-puppetry should only be made if absolute proof is known. If you have proof, provide it to the Moderators. Without solid proof, continued accusations will be seen as trolling.

10. The First Amendment does not apply here.  We are not an arm of the government and we are not a state-actor.  As such we are free to regulate your diaries and comments as we see fit.  We are disinclined to touch anything you write, respecting the fact that the free flow of information and ideas is essential to our society.  However, we have created this forum in large measure because we want a place wherein we can organize for our issues and our Party.  If you’re here to harm that effort we have no use for you and you are not welcome.  If you are here to take part honestly but disagree with the majority of us on some issues that is fine.  Again, there’s a line and it isn’t easy to define.  If we see that a poster is getting hide-rated into oblivion, for example, that would be a good indication of trolling.

The following may result in immediate banning.

1. ‘Outing’ another member’s private info (be it their name, likeness, address, phone number, email, place of work, etc).

2. Promoting Conspiracy Theories and/or repeatedly linking to sites that embrace and promote them.

3. Blatant trolling, spamming or any other flagrant abuse of our hospitality.

CONSEQUENCES:

Getting a warning every few months is no big deal, good people can make mistakes, but if a member cannot operate within our rules we will act to maintain the purpose of the site. We have no willingness to allow open Republican trolls or other obvious agitators to derail useful conversations and Moderators will act accordingly to stop the bleeding.

* Deleted Comments and/or Diaries, or the breaking of any of the above rules, will result in the user being issued a Warning. Repeating the offense can and will lead to the member being Banned.

* If a Comment or Diary is deleted by Moderators, an explanation as to the deletion will be left in their place.

* Any moderator can temporarily freeze/suspend an account, after which the Moderation Team will meet to decide what action to take next.
If you find that your account has been frozen you will be informed of the reason, and of the Moderation Team’s  decision, within 48 hours.

* Banned members have the right to an appeal.
If reinstated, the community will be informed of the reasons.
Deleted content, however, is deleted forever. (be it a comment or a diary)

* Though the community will always be informed of the reasons for a member having been banned, we have the right to ban anyone at anytime for any reason.

In other words….TEH RULZ.

MOTLEY MOOSE POSTING GUIDELINES

1.  Personal attacks will not be tolerated. If someone says something with which you disagree you should attack the argument, not the person who made it. Persistent harassment of another user will also be judged as a personal attack.

2.  There is no litmus test on the issues. Attack the argument, not the person who made it.  There are Democrats who, while generally agreeing with most of our platform, hold some views the rest of us don’t: they are allowed to make their case should they choose to do so respectfully.

3.  It is acceptable to say something nice about a Republican, or something negative about a Democrat, or to question a Libertarian’s sanity without being labeled a troll.  Not every politician is evil, nor a paragon of virtue- especially when based solely on political affiliation.  We won’t delete a comment to the effect of “John McCain adopted a southeast Asian child, and I respect him for doing that.”  That’s fine.  It’s also fine to say something like “Congressman Jefferson looks guilty as hell, I mean, they found a ton of cash in his freezer!”  They are both reasonable observations. Constructive criticism is not only acceptable, it is welcomed. Context is key.

4.  It is emphatically not acceptable to try to negatively dissuade other members from voting for the Democratic candidate.  We know that this is subjective and it is possible that someone could honestly believe that what they are promoting is best for their party, but there is a point past which this turns into trolling and it will be dealt with accordingly. If we see that a member’s only contributions are lamentations as to the general evil of the party, its nominees, or their supporters we will likely consider that person to be a troll.

5. Profanity is not allowed in Diary titles. Profanity is permitted in diary content and comments except where it runs afoul of rule number one.  We expect you to behave like an adult, of course, but you are free to use salty language.  Don’t abuse that privilege.

6.  Derogatory language against arbitrary groups is not acceptable. We strongly discourage labeling any group in a negative way, no matter the political affiliation.   A person is not evil because they belong to an organization you do not, or believe something you don’t, and casting wide nets of derision over them is against the fundamentals of (small letter d) democratic beliefs.

7.  No commercial interests are permitted in comments or diaries without explicit prior permission on our part. Explain to us why it makes sense to allow you to promote a commercial interest and we’ll think about it. It is incredibly unlikely that we will approve any such requests.

8.  One person is not permitted to have multiple accounts (so-called “sockpuppets”) without prior Admin approval.  If a member is banned, they are not permitted to register a new account without prior approval from the moderation team. Accusations of sock-puppetry should only be made if absolute proof is known. If you have proof, provide it to the Moderators. Without solid proof, continued accusations will be seen as trolling.

9. The First Amendment does not apply here.  We are not an arm of the government and we are not a state-actor.  As such we are free to regulate your diaries and comments as we see fit.  We are disinclined to touch anything you write, respecting the fact that the free flow of information and ideas is essential to our society.  However, we have created this forum in large measure because we want a place wherein we can all organize for our issues.  If you’re here to harm that effort, we have no use for you and you are not welcome.  If you are here to take part honestly but disagree with the majority of us on some issues, that is fine.  Again, there’s a line and it isn’t easy to define.  If we see that a poster is getting hide-rated into oblivion, for example, that would be a good indication of trolling.

The following may result in immediate banning.

1. ‘Outing’ another member’s private info (be it their name, likeness, address, phone number, email, place of work, etc).

2. Promoting Conspiracy Theories and/or repeatedly linking to sites that embrace and promote them.

3. Blatant trolling, spamming or any other flagrant abuse of our hospitality.

CONSEQUENCES:

Getting a warning every few months is no big deal, good people can make mistakes, but if a member cannot operate within our rules we will act to maintain the purpose of the site. We have no willingness to allow open Republican trolls or other obvious agitators to derail useful conversations and Moderators will act accordingly to stop the bleeding.

* Deleted Comments and/or Diaries, or the breaking of any of the above rules, will result in the user being issued a Warning. Repeating the offense can and will lead to the member being Banned.

* If a Comment is deleted by Moderators, an explanation as to the deletion will be left in their place.

* If you find that your account has been frozen you will be informed of the reason, and of the Moderation Team’s  decision, within 48 hours.

* Banned members have the right to an appeal.
If reinstated, the community will be informed of the reasons.
Deleted content, however, is deleted forever. (be it a comment or a diary)

* Though the community will always be informed of the reasons for a member having been banned, we have the right to ban anyone at anytime for any reason.

The Moose Is Watching

Motley Moose is a community blog focused primarily on American Politics. The site was a joint effort by twenty-five active political bloggers (a healthy mix of long-time Obama supporters, ‘Clintonistas’, centrists, libertarians, and non-partisan moderates) who had become tired of the trolling and flame wars found on many political sites. The idea was to build a post-partisan site that could move forward instead of looking back. The Motley Moose springs from the rich history of Progressive Blogs including MyDD (aka “The Blogfather”) and  DailyKos.

The Moose has grown far beyond those original 25 bloggers by becoming a ‘home base’ for many long-time as well as new political bloggers.  In separating ourselves from the political blog herd, we set out to build a new place to gather that had clear lines of moderation, fostered a strong community, promoted reasoned discourse and well-researched diaries, and included a healthy dose of snark and dry wit.  While we trend to the Left, we are focused on political pragmatism because we believe that without a dialogue from across the political spectrum, we’ll never be able to move forward, beyond partisanship and rhetoric, and make progress on the challenges we face.  We have built a strong community on which the success of the blog rests, and we believe that one blog and one blogger can make a difference in the world.

We wholeheartedly believe that there can be progress through politics.  We invite you to join the discussion!

Motley: Having elements of great variety or incongruity.

Moose: A reference to the Bull Moose Party (the first Progressive Party) and a nod to our Progressive beliefs.

The Moose was born on Wednesday, September 10, 2008.

How do I write a Diary?