Democratic Underground
Encyclopedia
Democratic Underground, also known as DU, is an online community
for U.S. Democrats
and progressives
. Its membership is restricted by policy to those who are generally supportive of progressive ideals and support Democratic candidates for political office. DU was established on January 20, 2001, the day Republican George W. Bush
was inaugurated president
.
According to Democratic Underground, as of October, 2010, over 163,000 user accounts have been registered and over 52.9 million messages have been posted. DU publishes articles several days a week and has an online store, a directory of links, and forum
s where members may post on various topics of interest.
s, and on any given day may have a number of guest columns sent in from contributors.
Bernard Weiner and Ernest Partridge of The Crisis Papers are frequent guests.
s and Other Articles for op-eds written by forum users, a Wiki
-like Research forum, and the Video forum which contains links to Youtube
.
, and Drug Policy. Some of the most popular forums under this topic are also some of the most controversial, and therefore the most closely moderated
. (see below)
, Australia
, and the United Kingdom
, as well as a catch-all "Democrats Abroad" forum. These serve a similar function to the U.S. state forums.
An "Ask the Administrators" forum was maintained until April 26, 2005; this forum allowed users to pose questions to the board administrators. This forum has now been shut down by the administrators. A "Rules" page, a "Frequently Asked Questions" page, and a "Contact the Administrators" page showing the email addresses of the administrators have been substituted.
Administrators sometimes ban users for violating site policies.
New members can be confused by DU vocabulary which includes references to pop culture ("this thread needs more cowbell
"), spelling that parodies other websites (such as "HUGH!", "series", and "cazy,") and famous images ("moran"), and long-running threads that have worked their way into DU lore ("dupe," "the kudzu thread").
Some common terms:
Bulletproof : The apparent ability of some members to flagrantly violate DU rules without punishment.
Tombstoned : To be banned from posting.
Repug/Rethug : Short for "Repugnican" or "Rethuglican". Both are pejorative
neologisms for Republican
.
Freeper : A term specifically for a member of the Free Republic
website. Sometimes turned into the pejorative "FreepTard".
Kick : To post to a thread to send it to the top of the forum.
Gungeon : The Guns Discussion board under Topic Forums. From "Gun Dungeon".
The Research Forum includes a "DU Glossary".
When a new user posts a message, the message header shows the total number of posts that user has made. At the 1,000 post mark the total number of posts are no longer shown in the message header. The total number of posts a user has made can be found in his or her profile. Some prolific members have written many thousands of posts.
and SEIU. Others are members of the DLC
, Progressive Democrats of America
, MoveOn, and Democracy for America.
), and run by David Allen, who posts under the screen name "Skinner" while on the boards and handles most of the issues relating to the forums. The other two administrators, "EarlG" (of Washington, D.C.
) and "elad" (of Portland, Oregon
), handle the articles and technical issues, respectively.
), the Remote Area Medical Foundation (providing medical services in remote areas), America's Vet Dogs (providing service dog
s to veteran
s), and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
.
, in which a few posts explored the possibility of "earthquake weapons". The posts were reported by The New York Times
and Fox News. The DU administrators deleted these posts and the threads were locked. The administrators officially disavowed what they called "kooky tsunami conspiracy theories". They added, "One wonders why the author [of the Times article] did not spend five minutes over at Free Republic
and instead write an article about how conservatives think the tsunami was some sort of retribution from God, or how Muslims deserved it." The administrators also sent a letter to the Times, which was printed.
Another example is the conspiracy theories revolving around the August 2006 terror plot to blow up airliners between the UK and the US, which received mention in USA Today
. Some posters felt that the American government's push to release the announcement of the plot was a conspiracy to bump Joe Lieberman
's primary loss out of the news cycle.
The site also saw criticism when, in 2003, a poster explained why he or she wished to see continued bloodshed in Iraq, and in the days following the death of Ronald Reagan
, when profane comments appeared that expressed joy over his passing.
for posts that, according to David Allen, violated the DU policy stating "Do not post messages that could be construed as advocating harm or death to the president or other high-ranking official in the United States government." Neither the comments nor the posters' identities are public knowledge, but David Allen said that both members had been banned prior to DU being notified of the investigation, and that no subpoenas have been issued to date.
. The suit was brought by Righthaven
, an entity that finds Review-Journal quotations online, buys the copyright for that story from the newspaper, and retroactively sues for copyright infringement. In response to the lawsuit, DU asserted that the quoted excerpt (five sentences of a 54-sentence article) was fair use
, and counterclaimed against Righthaven for fraud
, barratry
, and champerty
. DU is being represented in the case pro bono
by the Electronic Frontier Foundation
, attorneys from the firm of Winston & Strawn, and Las Vegas attorney Chad Bowers. After Righthaven lost a similar suit against Realty One Group over 8 of 30 sentences quoted from a news article, Righthaven asked the judge in the case against Democratic Underground to dismiss Righthaven's claim against DU.
In June 14, 2011, Judge Roger L. Hunt
ruled that Righthaven be dismissed from the case because Righthaven had never owned the copyright of the article and gave Righthaven two weeks to explain in writing why it should not be sanctioned.
Virtual community
A virtual community is a social network of individuals who interact through specific media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals...
for U.S. Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and progressives
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
. Its membership is restricted by policy to those who are generally supportive of progressive ideals and support Democratic candidates for political office. DU was established on January 20, 2001, the day Republican George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
was inaugurated president
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
According to Democratic Underground, as of October, 2010, over 163,000 user accounts have been registered and over 52.9 million messages have been posted. DU publishes articles several days a week and has an online store, a directory of links, and forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s where members may post on various topics of interest.
Columns
DU has several regular columnColumn
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
s, and on any given day may have a number of guest columns sent in from contributors.
- Mondays: Top Ten Conservative Idiots, a rundown of what DU administrators find as the most outrageous right-wingRight-wing politicsIn politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
activities in the past week. - In the past, DU occasionally featured a Hate Mailbag of hate mailHate mailHate mail is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient...
, but no new updates have been posted since 2005.
Bernard Weiner and Ernest Partridge of The Crisis Papers are frequent guests.
Forums
The DU Forums are sites for political and non-political discussions by registered DU users. As of January 2007, the number of individual posts in these forums exceeded 27,000,000. The main forums on DU have been re-arranged since the close of the 2004 US election season. They now include:The Big Forums
This section is the most active. Latest Breaking News, General Discussion, and General Discussion: Politics (which superseded "General Discussion: Campaign 2004") are the largest and fastest moving forums on DU. The Big Forums also include The Lounge, a friendly forum for general non-political discussion, EditorialEditorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
s and Other Articles for op-eds written by forum users, a Wiki
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
-like Research forum, and the Video forum which contains links to Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Topic forums
This section contains single-topic issue forums. Popular forums under this heading include Election Reform, Guns, the Israeli/Palestine conflict, Political Campaigns, and September 11. Other topics include Education, Homeland SecurityHomeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
, and Drug Policy. Some of the most popular forums under this topic are also some of the most controversial, and therefore the most closely moderated
Moderation system
On Internet websites which invite users to post comments, a moderation system is the method the webmaster chooses to sort contributions which are irrelevant, obscene, illegal, or insulting with regards to useful or informative contributions....
. (see below)
State and country forums
These provide a specific forum for each state, where state-wide and local issues are addressed. Residents and others with an interest in localized issues, such as congressional primaries and gubernatorial races, are encouraged to post questions in the state forums. Threads covering local news or events can be found in the state forums, and informal meetings of DU members are often coordinated from them. These "meet-ups" or "meets" include social gatherings, protest events, and political fundraisers. DU also provides forums for posters residing in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, as well as a catch-all "Democrats Abroad" forum. These serve a similar function to the U.S. state forums.
DU groups
Open to donating members only, Groups of users may charter discussion forums for topics of mutual interest such as hobbies, fan clubs, and potential 2008 presidential candidates. Many of these forums cover non-political topics, such books, sports, and cooking, as well as political issues surrounding ethnicity and religion. These forums are generally not as fast moving as the "Big Forums".An "Ask the Administrators" forum was maintained until April 26, 2005; this forum allowed users to pose questions to the board administrators. This forum has now been shut down by the administrators. A "Rules" page, a "Frequently Asked Questions" page, and a "Contact the Administrators" page showing the email addresses of the administrators have been substituted.
Administrators sometimes ban users for violating site policies.
An online community
Through frequent contact in the forums (including special topic groups) and online private messages, members come to know one another. Discussions range beyond politics to include such diverse subjects as pets, pet peeves, and pop culture. Occasionally, members organize face-to-face get-togethers.New members can be confused by DU vocabulary which includes references to pop culture ("this thread needs more cowbell
More Cowbell
"More cowbell" is an American pop culture catchphrase originally derived from an April 8, 2000, Saturday Night Live comedy sketch which fictionalized the recording of the song " The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult...
"), spelling that parodies other websites (such as "HUGH!", "series", and "cazy,") and famous images ("moran"), and long-running threads that have worked their way into DU lore ("dupe," "the kudzu thread").
Some common terms:
Bulletproof : The apparent ability of some members to flagrantly violate DU rules without punishment.
Tombstoned : To be banned from posting.
Repug/Rethug : Short for "Repugnican" or "Rethuglican". Both are pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
neologisms for Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
.
Freeper : A term specifically for a member of the Free Republic
Free Republic
Free Republic is a moderated Internet forum for activists, and chat site for self-described conservatives, primarily within the United States. It presents articles and comments posted pseudonymously by registered members, known as "Freepers", using screen names...
website. Sometimes turned into the pejorative "FreepTard".
Kick : To post to a thread to send it to the top of the forum.
Gungeon : The Guns Discussion board under Topic Forums. From "Gun Dungeon".
The Research Forum includes a "DU Glossary".
When a new user posts a message, the message header shows the total number of posts that user has made. At the 1,000 post mark the total number of posts are no longer shown in the message header. The total number of posts a user has made can be found in his or her profile. Some prolific members have written many thousands of posts.
Activism
DUers are active in U.S. politics in many ways. Many of them attend political protests and rallies, volunteer for campaigns, and write letters to editors of newspapers and members of Congress. Some are among the members of the Democratic Party infrastructure, serving as precinct chairs. Others actually work within the confines of various legislative and congressional bodies as staff. Many active posters at Democratic Underground have worked for various causes in both paid and unpaid positions, in campaigns and for special interest groups such as the AFL-CIOAFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
and SEIU. Others are members of the DLC
Democratic Leadership Council
The Democratic Leadership Council was a non-profit 501 corporation that, upon its formation, argued the United States Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it took in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s...
, Progressive Democrats of America
Progressive Democrats of America
The Progressive Democrats of America is a progressive political organization and grassroots political action committee operating inside the United States Democratic Party.-History:...
, MoveOn, and Democracy for America.
Owners
The website is owned by Democratic Underground, LLC (a limited liability companyLimited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
), and run by David Allen, who posts under the screen name "Skinner" while on the boards and handles most of the issues relating to the forums. The other two administrators, "EarlG" (of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
) and "elad" (of Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
), handle the articles and technical issues, respectively.
Fundraising
DU runs quarterly fund drives. Everyone who donates is recognized with a gold star next to his or her user name for the succeeding twelve months. Before each fund drive, members are invited to suggest charities that might benefit, and ten percent of the money raised is donated to those charities. For example, after the fund drive in the fourth quarter of 2009, Skinner announced that a total of $1,855 had been donated to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Modest Needs (helping low-income workers), Treehouse for Kids (aiding children in foster careFoster care
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....
), the Remote Area Medical Foundation (providing medical services in remote areas), America's Vet Dogs (providing service dog
Service dog
A service dog is a type of assistance dog specifically trained to help people who have disabilities including visual or hearing impairment, and also to help people with mental disabilities including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and severe depression...
s to veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
s), and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays is a socio-political group of family members and friends of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Its mission statement describes the goals of PFLAG as promoting health and well being of LGBT persons as well as actively supporting...
.
Criticism
Discussions from posters at DU have drawn criticism. One example of this was the dialog about the 2004 tsunami disaster2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
, in which a few posts explored the possibility of "earthquake weapons". The posts were reported by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and Fox News. The DU administrators deleted these posts and the threads were locked. The administrators officially disavowed what they called "kooky tsunami conspiracy theories". They added, "One wonders why the author [of the Times article] did not spend five minutes over at Free Republic
Free Republic
Free Republic is a moderated Internet forum for activists, and chat site for self-described conservatives, primarily within the United States. It presents articles and comments posted pseudonymously by registered members, known as "Freepers", using screen names...
and instead write an article about how conservatives think the tsunami was some sort of retribution from God, or how Muslims deserved it." The administrators also sent a letter to the Times, which was printed.
Another example is the conspiracy theories revolving around the August 2006 terror plot to blow up airliners between the UK and the US, which received mention in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
. Some posters felt that the American government's push to release the announcement of the plot was a conspiracy to bump Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
's primary loss out of the news cycle.
The site also saw criticism when, in 2003, a poster explained why he or she wished to see continued bloodshed in Iraq, and in the days following the death of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, when profane comments appeared that expressed joy over his passing.
Controversies
Two posters to Democratic Underground were investigated by the Secret ServiceUnited States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
for posts that, according to David Allen, violated the DU policy stating "Do not post messages that could be construed as advocating harm or death to the president or other high-ranking official in the United States government." Neither the comments nor the posters' identities are public knowledge, but David Allen said that both members had been banned prior to DU being notified of the investigation, and that no subpoenas have been issued to date.
Copyright infringement lawsuit
In 2010, Democratic Underground was sued for alleged copyright infringement in a member's posting of a few paragraphs from an article in the Las Vegas Review-JournalLas Vegas Review-Journal
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is published in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, and one of two daily newspapers in Las Vegas . It is the flagship publication of Stephens Media LLC...
. The suit was brought by Righthaven
Righthaven LLC
Righthaven LLC is a copyright holding company founded in early 2010, which enters agreements from its partner newspapers after finding that their content has been copied to online sites without permission, in order to engage in litigation against the site owners for copyright infringement...
, an entity that finds Review-Journal quotations online, buys the copyright for that story from the newspaper, and retroactively sues for copyright infringement. In response to the lawsuit, DU asserted that the quoted excerpt (five sentences of a 54-sentence article) was fair use
Fair use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders...
, and counterclaimed against Righthaven for fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, barratry
Barratry
Barratry is the name of four legal concepts, three in criminal and civil law, and one in admiralty law.* Barratry, in criminal and civil law, is the act or practice of bringing repeated legal actions solely to harass...
, and champerty
Champerty
Champerty and maintenance are doctrines in common law jurisdictions, that aim to preclude frivolous litigation. "Maintenance" is the intermeddling of a disinterested party to encourage a lawsuit...
. DU is being represented in the case pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
by the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
, attorneys from the firm of Winston & Strawn, and Las Vegas attorney Chad Bowers. After Righthaven lost a similar suit against Realty One Group over 8 of 30 sentences quoted from a news article, Righthaven asked the judge in the case against Democratic Underground to dismiss Righthaven's claim against DU.
In June 14, 2011, Judge Roger L. Hunt
Roger L. Hunt
Roger L. Hunt is a United States federal judge who has taken senior status. He now sits as a senior judge on the United States District Court for the District of Nevada....
ruled that Righthaven be dismissed from the case because Righthaven had never owned the copyright of the article and gave Righthaven two weeks to explain in writing why it should not be sanctioned.
External links
- Democratic Underground homepage
- "Agonistic Democracy and the Narrative of Distempered Elites: an Analysis of Citizen Discourse on Political Message Forums", by Jeanette Castillo, August 12, 2008 - doctoral dissertation analyzing Democratic Underground (pdf)
- Interview with David Allen on The Young TurksThe Young Turks (talk show)The Young Turks is a progressive Internet talk show via live web stream and YouTube, and starting in late 2011, a weeknight news and political commentary program airing on Current TV. It was Sirius Satellite Radio's first original talk programming. The Young Turks claims to be the first Internet...