Democratic Underground
Democratic Underground, LLC, or simply DU to its members, is a liberal/progressive online community established on January 20, 2001, the day President George W. Bush took office. The site publishes articles six days a week and has forums where logged-in members may post on various topics of interest. DU has signed up nearly 45,000 members since its inception.
Because of its highly political nature, DU is not without its critics. See Criticism below.
Columns
DU has several regular columns, and on any given day may have a number of guest columns sent in from contributors.
- Mondays: Top Ten Conservative Idiots, a rundown of the most outrageous right-wing activities in the past week, according to the DU administrators.
- Wednesdays: The Plaid Adder writes her column.
- Thursdays: Ask Auntie Pinko, an 'advice' column.
- Fridays: Equal Time with Bob Boudelang, a satirical column supposedly written by a Republican Team Leader.
- Occasionally, DU will feature a Hate Mailbag of hate mail.
Bernard Weiner and Ernest Partridge of The Crisis Papers[1] are frequent guests.
Forums
The DU Forums are a highly active scene where progressives of all types are welcome to come and talk. The site bills itself as welcoming to progressives of all types, though users are sometimes "tombstoned" (banned) by administrators for violating site policies. This term comes from the graphic of a tombstone that appears in banned member's profiles.
The main forums on DU include General Discussion, General Discussion: Campaign 2004, Latest Breaking News, and a Lounge for non-political discussion. Other forums include message boards for editorials, various issues of interest, foreign affairs, and an "Ask the Administrators" board. Two of the most controversial forums are often scenes of hot debate between posters:
- The Justice/Public Safety board, used for discussing gun issues and commonly referred to as the "Gun Dungeon" or "Gungeon"; and
- The Israel-Palestinian affairs board, sometimes referred to as the "Basement."
Owners
DU is owned by David Allen of Washington, D.C. He goes by the username "Skinner" while on the boards and handles most of the issues relating to the forums; the other two adminisrators, "EarlG" (of Washington, D.C.) and "elad," (of Chicago), handle the articles and technical issues, respectively.
Campaign Underground
DU recently launched a beta verson of an online campaign headquarters, "Campaign Underground." The site, which was put together with help from DU members, features a database of information about campaigns, voting trends, and media. Eventually DU hopes to have other features, such as a media blaster, integrated local news from the forums, a local event calendar, and other issues specific to states and locals.
Criticism
As with any politically charged website, there are many charges made against Democratic Underground from both the political Left and the Right.
From the Left
Critics of the site, some affiliated with the People for Change forums, allege that the site administrators and moderators are biased against, and unfairly ban or censor, posters that consider themselves to be to the political left of and disagree with John Kerry, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for US president.
These people claim that DU is not truly liberal or progressive, but rather centrist. In particular, many members claim that the moderators of the Israel-Palestinian forums enforce an anti-Palestinian bias.
From the Right
Conservatives that find liberal ideology distasteful see DU as a hotbed of it. Members of Free Republic in particular often dig through the DU forums for their "Barf Alert" stories. Occasionally, people from the right sign up for DU forum accounts and post hostile content. These people are often deemed "trolls" or "disruptors." When their accounts are suspended, often DU is accused of censorship.