Sacbee Commenters

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by justducky2

I post because I don't want the haters to think they rule the world. People need to stand up to the haters before others just start to believe the rhetoric. What happened to civilized disagreement?

Good that you participate, and I think it is always a good idea to provide a counterbalance in discussions.

Regarding your comment about civilized disagreement, I think that generally began to fade a bit in the period after national leaders such as Bob Michel, Jim Wright and Dick Gephardt.

Just to present it analytically and within context, I believe what happened is that folks felt like the two parties were too much alike. You started to see the elevation of folks like Newt Gingrich who were willing to be more on the edge and partisan, and many folks rallied around these more polarizing political figures. When this happened, both parties kind of started to "climb the ladder" and seek candidates who were more hard edged and strong willed to espouse and hold their positions.

I also think the internet has greatly expanded political participation and rancor. Many things are stated in the public domain that weren't previously presented, due to editing and screening by publications. Folks react in support, seeing points of view they can identify with and are more extreme than previously expressed in public, and likewise others find them repulsive and respond in kind.

Is it better or worse when more partisan? Probably depends on how you see politics and national discussions. One could argue less gets done when partisanship is greater, but others would argue that a drag on legislation results in more limited and measured outcomes. The rancor likely results in some legislators muting or altering their proposals.

Definitely an interesting topic, at least to me.

[smoking357]

Originally Posted by Majin

Anybody else lurk there? Sometimes I really can't believe what I am reading. I know every community has their village idiot but sheesh

The online comments section of most newspapers is heavily over-represented by bitter people, heavily Caucasian, who are genuinely angry at a great deal in the world.

The themes are simple and universal, from coast to coast: Obama is a Socialist who is turning us into France (as if France is bad); illegal immigrants are destroying America; Liberals hate America; support the troops; anyone shot by the cops deserved it; the really big state on the West Coast is known as "Kommiefornia," "Kalifornia," or some insulting equivalent.

To read the Internet, you'd think that Obama became President by force.

Yeah, there are a lot of vociferous troglodytes with Internet access.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by Majin

I have signed up for sacbee and be lurking/trolling the comment sections for about a month now and I simply can't believe how many haters and ignorant people are there. No they are not trolls, I can tell the difference, they are the real thing.

Anybody else lurk there? Sometimes I really can't believe what I am reading. I know every community has their village idiot but sheesh

Also, I can't believe the sheer amount of people who post there. It seems like single article gets 100's of comments.

For example:

New bus transit center to be built in West Sacramento - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee (http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/08/2663288/new-bus-transit-center-to-be-built.html - broken link)

Good news right? Wait...

I could go on and on but you get the point.

Every I read the comments from any sacbee article I can't help making this face

I could have written the same post regarding the SFgate (San Francisco's online paper).

Same type of horrible, ignorant, mean and raging psychos saying ridiculous, pointless things...One poster in particular reads the "mommy blog" via SFGate (not even news) and never fails to express her outright hatred for children and parents. Calls parents "breeders" and children something so vile that I won't even repeat here. Weirdos abound! You gotta wonder about people...and hope that the majority of us are fairly normal.

[webdev]

Originally Posted by clongirl

I could have written the same post regarding the SFgate (San Francisco's online paper).

Same type of horrible, ignorant, mean and raging psychos saying ridiculous, pointless things...One poster in particular reads the "mommy blog" via SFGate (not even news) and never fails to express her outright hatred for children and parents. Calls parents "breeders" and children something so vile that I won't even repeat here. Weirdos abound! You gotta wonder about people...and hope that the majority of us are fairly normal.

Wow thats crazy. Some people are just on the extremes of the right or left. What can you do.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by webdev

Wow thats crazy. Some people are just on the extremes of the right or left. What can you do.

Hope they don't breed and multiply!

[Majin]

Originally Posted by smoking357

The online comments section of most newspapers is heavily over-represented by bitter people, heavily Caucasian, who are genuinely angry at a great deal in the world.

Sounds like the Tea Party.

[smoking357]

Originally Posted by Majin

Sounds like the Tea Party.

Yeah, it's the same demographic.

[krudmonk]

SacBee commenters: the grim reality that Majin won't accept