Displaying 18,331 To 18,360 Of 19,504 Comments INCREMENATALISM: Grown Up or Beaten Down? Wonderful and very thoughtful article, Cher! I would say though that big leaps in change are possible and even were possible at the beginning of the year. As Naomi Klein wrote in “The Shock Doctrine”, a period of great turmoil allows for big shifts and changes when the public as individuals are helpless to address a big crisis and are far more willing to allow leaders to take big steps to help them. Think about the huge changes in executive power, constitutional rights and American policies following 9/11. Overnight we became a country that spies on its own citizens, practices state-sponsored torture, forfeited rights of privacy and free expression along with having an MSM that became lockstep propaganda machines for a president. I think, had Obama come into office and immediately made bold moves on reigning in the banks\restoring oversight, economic fairness to American workers and expanding Medicare for all (single payer, those below retirement age would buy in as suggested currently in The Senate), he could have accomplished all of those goals. That brief window of time when the intense crisis was still on us was still open then but it’s closed now and incremental change is a realistic and sensible approach. As far as the Public Option goes, I think we would all be better off in the long run to have a buy-in option to Medicare than a different Public Option. The current PO as The House bill designed it, is even more expensive than private plans AND would only apply to 5% of the nation. So how will that benefit anyone, really? Allowing access to Medicare to people who are 55 and up would bring in far more people and set the precedent for an incremental lowering of the age to buy into Medicare. In that way, we can be moving directly toward single payer whereas my concern with the current PO is that it could end up to be an Edsel, cobbled together as something that could pass both houses but in the end be poorly received by the public (not to mention only available to a small number of people) and ultimately shrivel up and die. It’s a much longer path going up from 5% on the Public Option then Medicare going down from age 55. Hope that gains some steam in the Senate. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 3:24 pm BTW, welcome to The Planet, Hallucinocynic! » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 2:53 pm Huh? It is on the front page, as it should be. Well done Khirad! » Posted By AdLib On December 10, 2009 @ 1:57 pm An Open Letter to Arianna, With Deep Sincerity K7 was having a similar problem but once he cleared his cookies and his cache, all was cool. Try that and let me know if that solved the problem. And thanks big time for helping promote The Planet over there! Lots of good folks still there and more coming every day, I think they will be as appreciative for being invited to come here as we will be to have them here. Cheers! » Posted By AdLib On December 10, 2009 @ 1:55 pm The blog is well intentioned but the posts and its very existence makes more of a statement about the need to let go of HuffPo. I let go nearly a year ago and it was a healthy choice, no more do trolls posting there or the cliques and competition for approval, fans and attention intrude on more meaningful pursuits of blogging. I’m back to what I originally joined HuffPo to do and that works for me. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 11:30 pm Co-sign. It reminds me of the parents of kids who grow up to be rotten human beings. “But he was such a happy child, I remember when he’d make me drawings and was so loving and sharing!” That kid grows up to be a criminal and the Mom still sees him that way, not for who he is today. People grow and change, they rarely revert back to a previous state. They may grow more thoughtful and more patient or more spiteful and more cynical. Who somebody is right now, is who they are. What the sensibility of a business is today is who it is. HuffPo can’t go back to being a startup or one or two years old. It can’t go back to not being owned by Oak Investments’ hedge fund. The HuffPo that people here remember from 2 years ago is gone and though nothing is impossible, its reverting back to where it was several years ago is highly improbable. Simply put, hedge funds don’t care about principles or respect for you as a human being. They care about making as much money as possible and clearly, they are convinced that HuffPo being a non-stop mudfight is the most profitable model. Lastly, a word about going to HuffPo to prove trolls are lying. That was one of my major motivations for blogging there towards the end of the election. I took a break from blogging after the election and with some perspective and looks of amusement from friends when I told them about my purpose for taking on trolls, I realized that it really was meaningless and I had allowed myself to think it mattered. Thoughtful people will never buy what trolls say. Less thoughtful people may not believe what you blog over what a troll blogs. The propaganda they spew is on plenty of other blogs and websites than HP so proving them wrong there doesn’t affect what they write elsewhere. What I’m saying is…we were convinced that confronting trolls at HuffPo matters. And the truth is, it doesn’t…not to the opinions of the majority of the American people, only to HuffPo’s quarterly returns. It’s a game, like Dungeons and Dragons and you can get into the role playing and combat but the only one who profits from it is HuffPo. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 3:47 pm Sue, thanks so much for your kind thoughts and support of The Planet. There are four great ways for members to help The Planet grow bigger and better: 1. Invite others to join The more that members here can spread the word over there about The Planet, on a daily basis, the more folks will know to come here for real Freedom of Expression. Since HuffPo doesn’t like that, I would strongly suggest creating a disposable sock for just that purpose. Keep in mind, our URL is on the word filter so you can type “planetpovdotcom” or “planet pov.com”, just so that you don’t copy the URL completely. We have also set up an endless amount of referral links which will escape the word filters, including this one: http://welcome.to/planetpov2.com 2. Write articles and comments here. 3. Share your suggestions about The Planet. This is a growing and evolving Planet, the more feedback we can get on making it a better site, the better it is for all of us. 4. Donations There is no obligation to any member to contribute financially, especially in these tough times. However, to those who can comfortably afford it, we really do appreciate whatever you can afford to donate whether once, from time to time or on a regular basis. Our amortized monthly budget, including monthly expenses and our budget for ongoing development of the site exceeds $300/month. So even a single contribution of $5 or $10 makes a difference and is greatly appreciated. We do see The Planet growing into a stronger and stronger force in the blogosphere and as an alternative to HuffPo. Since we are a member driven site, our progress towards that is driven by our members. And so far, this community has been quickly building a remarkable and dynamic community which I hope everyone here is as impressed of and as proud of as I am. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 10:36 am I’ve fixed it, all is cool but thanks nellie! » Posted By AdLib On December 9, 2009 @ 1:37 pm Cheers TheRarestPatriot! A great statement all the way around! » Posted By AdLib On December 9, 2009 @ 1:17 pm It’s all about what happens as time goes by. If people are earnest in their desire to have calm, thoughtful, constructive conversations here and put the HuffPo Grudge Match fights aside, the proof will be in the pudding. I will say that all members, including you of course, must be treated with respect here and are welcome to participate here as long as they wish to return the same. There will be folks on opposite sides of the fence and even on the same side of the fence who come here and find people with whom they’ve had conflicts. It’s not optional here, the conflicts are not permitted to continue here in any way. President Obama tried holding out the hand of reason and bipartisanship at the beginning of his term and I don’t think that was a mistake, if we can find a better way to communicate and respect each other, that is a noble goal. Though, once the hand was slapped away, if I was Obama, I would have taken “no” for an answer and acted accordingly. » Posted By AdLib On December 9, 2009 @ 1:15 pm I agree that the environment at HuffPo can whip up some pretty unacceptable behavior in even the most decent people. At this site, it’s an opportunity for a fresh start and a place to have thoughtful debates and discussion between people of similar or opposing POVs, without the hostility and personal attacks. How we differ from HuffPo in one of many ways is that respect for all other members and this site is a primary rule. Fortunately or unfortunately, we’ve been through the wars, we can recognize baiting, harassment, hostility and intentional disruption of the site or threads very swiftly, none of those actions will be tolerated and any members practicing any of those will lose the opportunity to enjoy the freedom of having satisfying conversations about issues that really matter to them. I would add that once someone is a member here, it is expected that they would be as respectful to their fellow members elsewhere as they would be here. Welcome to The Planet, I hope the madness of HuffPo is left at the doorstep by all and as our community grows, people of all perspectives come to appreciate the ability to openly discuss their POVs in an adult and thoughtful way. » Posted By AdLib On December 9, 2009 @ 1:03 pm K7 is right on the money. Everyone is welcome to join here as long as they show respect to all members and the site. With HuffPo being the pressure cooker that it is, many of us, including me, have crossed the hostility line over there in a way we are hardly proud of. For those who want to leave that HuffPoo behind, they are welcome here, especially reasonable Republicans who really want to discuss and debate issues respectfully. For anyone who wants to bring the muck and troll behavior here from HuffPo, they will not be here for long. There is an open door here for everyone but a zero tolerance for disruptive or hostile behavior and if there is any question on this, the rules here will be swiftly and firmly enforced. On the other hand, I do hope that our members are comfortable and confident as to what this site is and what it stands for…and against. I guarantee that the confidence of our members will always be proven justified. » Posted By AdLib On December 9, 2009 @ 11:25 am Good afternoon and welcome to The Planet, Ramirez. » Posted By AdLib On December 9, 2009 @ 11:14 am The thing is, The Planet is open to anyone to join. It’s a slippery slope to start picking and choosing who can or can’t join or act respectfully based on how they’ve behaved at HuffPo. It’s not our job to follow all the conflicts on another site and restrict membership based on that. As I said. people will fit in with being a respectful member of this community or they won’t. If they don’t they’ll have to find another place to blog. It’s a fait d’accompli that will sort itself out and nothing to be concerned about. Glad you invited that blogger, be happy to have thoughtful Republicans here to debate and even find common ground with them. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 9:48 pm Exactly. And though I share Monk’s sentiment about not allowing anyone to come here and track HuffPoo all over the floor, I also will stand strongly for The Planet to be a site open to all who agree to act respectfully. For example, how refreshing it will be to have Republicans here who can thoughtfully present their POVs and debate them without conversations degrading into personal insults. HuffPo has made and encouraged many to act horribly. Here, everyone will have the opportunity to be a respectful member of the community. It’s up to them to leave HuffPo behind or be forced to return there. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 9:40 pm First, I think your description of AC and the way some male progressives have dealt with her is very clever and on the money. However, I strongly disagree with your closing ultimatum. You have just laid out a road map, even and invitation for AC to chase you off from The Planet. If I was AC and I read your comment, to mess with you and The Planet, the first thing I would do is sign up and post, “Hi everyone!”. I approach this from the other direction. Anyone who wants to join here can but they must show respect to all other members and the site. If someone joins who you think would not honor that then they will do themselves in quickly. I don’t think any of us should cede that kind of power and influence over us to any troll. This is a place for thoughtful discussion, those seeking to disrupt that will quickly be shown the door. The adults are at the controls here. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 9:16 pm A warm welcome to The Planet, kalicowgirl! If you’re interested, we’ve compiled a number of insightful and revealing articles here about HuffPo and its decline from Western Civilization. You can browse through them here: https://planetpov.com/category/news-and-politics/the-media/huffington_post/ No trolls, cliques or snipers on The Planet, this is the adult’s table of blogging. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 6:16 pm May the Snark be with you! » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 11:53 am It wasn’t me but whoever that Lone Planetarian was, thanks Masked Man/Woman! » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 11:12 am As George Costanza said, “I’m bustin’!” Thanks nellie! I do have to add that you and all of our members are helping to shape what The Planet is through your words and actions so cheers back to you and everyone else. As you said, the best thing we can do with this freedom to think and express ourselves is to share it with as many people as possible. The more it becomes a given with others, that people with different opinions can and deserve to blog without hatred and division, the bigger a positive influence we can be out there. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 11:10 am *blush* kesmarn, thanks so much for your very kind words. I and my co-founders just wanted the same thing you and all the rest of members here do, the kind of thoughtful, fun and enlightening conversations we could only have in brief moments at HuffPo but as a full time thing. We had every confidence in our fellow bloggers, that giving them freedom to express themselves was not a danger but a boon. And you and everyone else here has proven that to be the case. I feel very fortunate to have helped found something that has attracted this caliber of people together so I must turn around and thank you and every other member for choosing to be a part of this community and contributing to it as much as you all do. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 11:02 am Hey KK!!! Where ya been?! BTW, AC is a “fan” of The Planet’s Facebook page. She wants to know all about us, I’m very flattered that she views us as a force to be reckoned with. I have no ill will towards AC, she’s playing a game over there, it’s quite plain and I understand it. I just prefer not to play games so I don’t participate in them or in HuffPo any more. It doesn’t bother me, it’s irrelevant to my life and to any substantive discussion about issues. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 10:43 am Pepe, cheers on canceling your account at HuffPo, of course, we’re very pleased and fortunate to have you at The Planet. As for trolls…fuck ’em. What I write on any blog on the internet, I allow for the fact that those I would like the most and those I would most detest could be reading whatever I write or even C&Ping it. Two thoughts on that. Just as we do at HuffPo, we all use anonymous usernames here. So who cares if a troll doesn’t like hearing the truth here, all they can do is whine and stamp their feet about it at HuffTroll. Our members should never feel concern about freely expressing themselves here. Secondly, as mentioned before, when it comes to the soap operas over there, we do prefer that what happens at HuffPo, stays at HuffPo. The personal clashes and troll battles that go on over there don’t even deserve the attention of being discussed elsewhere. It’s all a farce, an artificial, never ending cage match perpetrated by Huffington Post to enrage people into clicking and visiting more so they make more in ad revenue. It is all part of a cynical game and discussing the specific conflicts further over here only offers aid and comfort to those behind it. Also keep in mind that by being such a pressure cooker of cliques, competition, trolls, censorship and hatred, even good natured and principled people can be influenced into acting in ways they aren’t proud of. So judging people based on a single conflict or “slip” over there, isn’t fair. We’re not arbiters of HuffTroll conflicts between members, we don’t take sides, any member of HuffTroll that wants to join here, is welcome. As long as folks show respect towards each other here, all is cool. At the Planet, you will always have true Freedom of Expression. Never let the concern that it might be fodder for a troll make you censor yourself because in truth, there is nothing they can do to you. I’m not concerned about the same people who hate Obama because he’s black, attacking The Planet because it’s free and open and opposes what’s going on at HuffPo. Whichever folks over there want to take the word or representation of a troll for what this site is instead of taking one minute to come here and skim the posts and comments, is someone who is not showing great judgment or thinking for themselves. And there’s nothing any of us can do about that. However, my experience is that smart bloggers and Progressives seek out the truth for themselves, to make up their own minds, so those who we would most want to see The Planet for what it is, will most likely do so. Lastly, though I prefer that discussions of the HuffTroll conflicts not overflow here, the topic of HuffTroll as a corrupt corporate poser, as an oppressor of free speech and as a faux progressive site that deals in untruths and attacks on progressive politicians, causes and principles, is indeed fair game here as it is with regards to Faux News, CNN and the rest of the corporate, agenda-driven MSM. That’s the whole point of a Progressive political blog…unfortunately, HuffTroll apparently didn’t get the memo. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 9:07 am Hitchens skewers Palin as mouth-piece of anti-semite. That was just the “sign of victory” talking. » Posted By AdLib On December 7, 2009 @ 8:48 pm The New Face of the Senate Health Care Bill Here it is folks, from the AP: In place of a government-run plan, originally designed as a way of forcing competition on private industry, officials said the Democrats had tentatively settled on a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage. Additionally, the tentative deal calls for Medicare to be opened to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government health care program that currently serves the 65-and-over population. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091209/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul I really like the Medicare provision and the precedent it would set in opening up to more and more Americans…it is the clearest and smartest way to get to single payer. As for the private insurance arrangement, my bet is that it will be a disaster since it would seem to put people back at the mercy of the insurance industry. Thoughts? » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 6:37 pm Rahm hates Dean and made sure that Dean was tossed out into the cold. He opposed Dean’s 50 state strategy and Dean’s progressive positions yet when the 50 state strategy yielded successes in 2006 and 2008, guess who jumped in to take all the credit…yep, good ol’ Rahmy (and he elbowed Dean out of the way of getting any credit). Rahm is old school DLC, he opposed the Public Option from the beginning and was pivotal in positioning Obama away from being an aggressive supporter of it (his fingerprints can be seen on all the Admin folk who have downplayed the necessity of a PO. He is one of those who have pulled Obama away from being more progressive. Can’t stand him or the DLC. » Posted By AdLib On December 8, 2009 @ 1:50 pm The Senate and House in Reconciliation: » Posted By AdLib On December 7, 2009 @ 6:22 pm Rashomon: Twelve views of President Obama’s visit to Capitol Hill Congrats and cheers, Bernard! I still have my account there, amuses me to think they have to retain me as a member while I campaign to expose them but I just can’t rally the motivation to use it. I do have a sock I use occasionally to invite folks here but I don’t write comments there anymore. Once you discover Soylent Green is people, you don’t keep eating it. » Posted By AdLib On December 7, 2009 @ 12:43 am This was a great idea, escribacat! An excellent way to let the MSM tools expose themselves. As KQ mentioned, it’s striking that the negative stories on health care and Obama are once again, Drudge, Fox and Huffington Post. And also interesting to see the NYT have a story that directly conflicts with Huffy’s assault on Obama. We should do this on various stories, very enlightening! » Posted By AdLib On December 6, 2009 @ 10:40 pm The evil distraction of Cap And Trade A carbon tax is like income tax, it can be mathematically computed instead of trusting polluters to account for what they owe. That doesn’t mean a Republican President can’t refuse to enforce actions against those in violation though. » Posted By AdLib On December 6, 2009 @ 10:49 pmComments Posted By AdLib
HuffPo is our best recruiting partner, the more they let hatred and havoc reign, the more they drive bloggers away from there. As far as I’m aware, The Planet is THE alternative site to HuffPo for many but some don’t know about it.
Your contributions of your POV to this site are incredibly valuable, they are the lifeblood of the site. The more you express yourself here, the better and stronger a Planet you make it.
Let us know which features you like, what ideas you may have for new features, what things about the site should be revised. As I’ve mentioned, we’ve made many revisions and updates to the site because of the valuable suggestions we’ve received.
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