Latest research at the time of this diary's creation indicated that Dale may have lived with his mother and son, but perhaps not Janet. Yet, it gets even more involved from a meta standpoint - online integrity and trust issues have blurred actual facts from being evident or easy to accept. This is an inherent exposure in every virtual community.
Following from a supposed online death march with political intrigue at DKos (edit: llbear may have voluntarily deleted that diary entry), and the interesting followup revelations, this diary goes even further into the muck, seeking to offer information for the community. I will admit my formed interpretation - from discovered facts- showing throughout this diary's presentation of said research, though my opinions are always open to change from new revelations by trustworthy sources.
Dale Peters has a growing trail of Google links which seemingly connect his style of earnest pleas for Veteran's support efforts with outright lies about his life in various, online communities. I assert that he has - knowingly or unknowingly - decieved US Military Veteran groups, political campaigns, social assistance organizations and now, Daily Kos. Notably, DKos appears but the latest in his string of hits at the time of this diary, but let's take a look at what led to his story being sent to our blue waters.
As noted in diary links above, we had a series of local diaries by his reported current wife, "Janet G", which soon ended in her dramatic passing and Dale's subsequent, emotional expressions of gratitude for incoming sympathy by this community.
This online event led to mild questions and even outright accusations about Dale and/or Janet not being genuine or upfront - in one recent case (see second link, above), the questioner was troll-rated numerous times. Sure, his attitude seemed inappropriate at times for the tone of diary provided, but he also had some keen points to offer. The questioner was also, due to entirely unrelated circumstances, going through a personal emotional event.
I did some basic research and found a disturbing link, but decided to take the matter offline for discussion with the beaten-down questioner, QuickSilver - his opinion seemed most worthy to consider on next actions in this context. In parallel, the same information was beinf referenced and parsed in Torta's diary by many others at DKos. After some discussion with QS and Shockwave, I did further research, noted the second diary's outing of the same link(s) about Dale Peters and his online past, then we agreed that I'd publish what is currently known. That's this diary.
I should make clear: I now believe that, aside from issues of tone he displayed at the time, QuickSilver was essentially correct in expressing his suspicions. He had excellent sense with regards to sincerity surrounding the entire situation.
Yet, this story is not actually about Dale Peters, Janet G or other people, at its core.
It's about an event that caused community disruption at Daily Kos and from whence it came. We should understand what happened and why, from whom and where, so that we can determine ways to prevent or minimize such divisive issues in the future.
Let's see what's out there.
Dale Peters and his job
Dale Peters has often claimed membership in "Veterans for Progress, IL" as their "head" and "Republican Representative":
. . .
Dale Peters, Republican Representative to Veterans for Progress (A truly non-partisan Veterans organization that needs not hide behind no Congressional charter to show who we really support America's VETERANS!)
I am the Head of Veterans For Progress IL . . .
The Republican Head of Veterans For Progress IL . . .
. . .
That organization's site has been out of commission since May, 2006:
http://www.vfp-il.org/
But, the Wayback Machine provides some context:
http://web.archive.org/...
The primary contact, Thomas D. Brophy, is consistent with their Internet domain record registrant information.
Was Dale a member?
Apparently, Thomas claimed in 2005 that Dale was formally dropped by VFP membership in a postal-mailed letter, but it was noted by another person that Dale had never registered with the national org:
- There was never any letter sent to Dale. Dale is not even listed anywhere (or wasn't) except on this website. If you have his address, then you know more than the rest of us.
- Dale received no phone call from Julie or myself telling him he could not be a member.
- Dale has not filled out a membership form or sent in any dues.
. . .
This theme will recur often in Dale's travels: he seems to setup a strawman personal or professional position in public posts or private emails, then later claims that an external hardship has taken away what he never had, or had in a different context than he offered.
He appears to be trolling for attention and building a false stature, in some ways.
Further, Dale and Thomas were actually intending to represent VFP IL at real-world events:
(from the linked Powerpoint presentation)
The Veterans March 2006
Chicago Veteran’s Shadow Rally
Chicago will be having a Veteran's Rally on the same day and time as the Veterans March in Washington, DC.
Website: www.vetmarch2006.com
The Chicago Rally will be at the Daley Plaza on April 25th at 8:00 am. Details on Speakers and Agenda are not finalized.
Information on Rally will be posted on Veterans For Progress Website
Chicago Rally: http://www.vfp-il.org
Illinois VFP Coordinators:
Tom Brophy TDBrophy@comcast.net 123 456-7890
Dirk Enger vets4dem@comcast.net 123 456-7890
Dale Peters dpeters@vfp-il.org 123 456-7890
Jack Picciolo purrsfive@comcast.net 123 456-7890
I am not sure if they went ahead and did so. Much of Dale's online past indicates good intentions towards Veterans support issue, but little evidence of actual efforts in the real world - let alone, results. (EDIT: In the course of active commenting below, I was (offline) given hearty thanks to Dale by those knowledgeable about the creation of VFP - IL, as he was a significant force in its original formation . . . and subsequent website sunset)
Dale Peters and his politics
Dale has an account at the national VFP org website, noting his address as "Darien":
Username: monkeyman
. . .
Location: DARIEN
. . .
MSN Messenger: DALES333@HOTMAIL.COM
. . .
He has been posting all over Illinois-related news and political sites for at least the past year and a half:
. . .
Veterans for AmericaDale PETERS. Friday, 6 October 2006.
www.veteransforamerica.org
The Swamp - Chicago Tribune - Blogs.Posted by: Dale Peters | Jul 28, 2006 10:54:49 AM
newsblogs.chicagotribune.com
This Veteran's Day | John Laesch :: Democrat for U.S. Congress - 3:08amThis Veteran's Day. Submitted by john on Fri, 11/11/2005 - 1:00am.
www.john06.com
sweet: 9-11: Five years later. Bush Monday night speech.Grow up you need help get it soon. Posted by: Dale Peters | September 13, 2006 11:23 AM.
blogs.suntimes.com
Daily Kos: Military Families support Lt Watada at Tacoma press ...Joe Colgan, WA veteran and father of Lt Benjamin Colgan, killed in Iraq in 2003. ... Dale Peters. by dale peters
www.dailykos.com
. . .
He seems to support Democratic candidates + veteran's issues in his postings - even our own llbear noted Dale's role at the John Laesch site:
. . . Dale Peters is an exceptionally committed volunteer leader . . .
Yet, per a prior link to Google results, Dale often notes himself as being a "Republican Representative" to VFP IL. Then, of course, he came to DKos and posted in our vein numerous times.
So, he has claims to the Republican party, posts at news sites by speaking about his association to a Veteran's organization which takes a nonpartisan view, then talks up Democratic allegiance for Veteran's affairs and related politics at DKos.
He's lying about something(s) in his political makeup, obviously. In fact, I'd say this looks like contextual altering of his beliefs to each audience. It's part of his shtick.
Again, he appears to be trolling for attention and building a false stature, in some ways.
Dale Peters and his family
Some info is far too personally identifiable for my comfort in a public forum, but let's just say that the friendly and helpful folks responsible for this expose of Dale Peter's exploits at Military/Veteran online sites felt that their research indicated:
- Dale may live with his Mom and possibly a son/brother.
- There is no clear piece of evidence yet uncovered that Dale was married at the time of prior diaries concerning his private life.
And further, note that Dale provided a phone number in a link I provided above. Guess who is associated with that number in phone and similar records - this is only from a cursory search:
BENINE M PETERS
BERNICE A PETERS
BERNICE D PETERS
BERNICE E PETERS
BERNICE I PETERS
BERNICE J PETERS
BERNICE M PETERS
BERNICE JOAN PETERS
DALE P PIERCEFIELD
JAMES PETERS
ROBERT D PETERS
I also found a record for Dale's address at intelius.org which listed the following public information (i.e., you don't need to pay for this information - it's just the top-level hit in their search engine):
DALE PETERS (Age: xy) / ADDRESS IN DARIEN, IL / BERNICE PETERS
Maybe you see a pattern in the naming, related to actual names. It's a similar theme to be explored in what appear to be his set of online aliases. My feeling is that Bernice is Dale's mother, if we simply want to understand the relationship between these records. I got multiple hits for addresses, but one kept shining through in regularity for both of their names. I will not publish that address or other private data - that is not the point of this diary. This may all support the research by Nelly, Paratroopers and others at the Military/Veterans sites which indicated that Dale lived with or near his Mom and son, rather than with a wife named Janet and having various kids in the military.
Dale Peters and his identities
Remember Dale's online friend "Mike", who also took turns using the "Janet G" ID at DKos recently? I think that he doesn't exist:
Chicago
Birthday: April 10, 2048
Hometown: Chicago
Website: http://www.vfp-il.org
Occupation: Forman
My Quote:
I love the smell of Peace in the Morning
About Me:
Staff Sgt 68-69-70-71 Vietnam 25th
Oh, another military veteran of Vietnam.
Notice how Mike's profile URL points to the Veteran's org which Dale Peters previously claimed to represent as a Republican. Yet, Mike is not listed in any of the links I've provided for either the VFP IL site or for volunteer efforts that VFP IL claimed to support.
Hmm.
Perhaps Mike is just a friend and informal supporter of Dale's efforts with VFP IL?
Well, there are no hits for "Mike Jluszek" in IL on any of the people search engines I used (this includes pay service sites).
Notably, the style of typos, careless editing, gung-ho/emotional phrasing and intimate knowledge of Dale's issues in Mike's posts seem to match Dale's online style. My guess is that they're the same person behind both aliases.
Further on identity, there was a blog which was supposedly established by Janet G, called "Janet's Conner." Yes, truer titles were never written.
Oddly, there were two comments to the first blog posting . . . by the author, herself:
Janet;s Conner said...
I have had a chance to read her post on a veterans site.Man come back she hit hard and tells it like it is.
3:33 PM
Janet;s Conner said...
This lady knows her stuff.She has for years MG
10:03 PM
Remember how we were told that Janet G had such a rich, storied past supporting Veterans? Maybe there has been such a Janet, in reality. We cannot yet say for sure.
If there truly is no Janet G, then it would seem likely Dale was fabricating a past for a fictitious persona (and wife) of his own design. This is only a small example of such propaganda - much can easily be seen at the linked blog or DKos.
And, your eyes are not deceiving: the ID for "Janet's Conner" is "Janet;s Conner" - another potential example of Dale Peters's frequent typos.
For me, Dale's identity oddities and seeming illusions of grandeur culminated in the below post, made during an exchange at the Chicago Sun Times blog between Dale Peters and . . . Peter Dale (no, really):
. . .
Sir using my name can get you in deep trouble.No while Dennis was not sevring a day .I was in Vietnam watching my brothers die.As to making the team I was a four letter man.Unlike you and Dennis Hastert my life is not a failure.I am The Republican Head of Veterans For Progress which I run 35,000 veterans an 3500 military families.I hope your life goes better but don't ever use my name again.Use yours or are you a coward like Hastert who ran from his duty 5 times (Dale Peters)
My name is Peter Dale , I would never want to use your name or anything remotely associated with you. I hardly believe 35,000 people would listen to you, and don't ever call me a coward you weirdo. Vetrans for Progress , I have never heard of that. But you sound like a pretty important guy, Mr. Peter. You are a strange individual. You sound like your group is imaginanary. And as far as 35,000 people listening to you, HA. Tell me how I can verify this group. (peter dale)
. . .
Even the blog news poster was wondering what the heckle was happening:
Lynn Sweet question
peter dale
and dale peters.....different people?
Finally, it should be noted that Janet G's blog and DKos diary posts often show evidence of the same style and typos seen in Mike's and Dale's online posts at various venues linked above. Her online posting also began in the same timeframe as seeing Dale's prevalent postings in other blogs. Mere coincidence, given the other factors already brought out?
Again, he appears to be trolling for attention (in any guise) and building a false stature, in some ways.
Dale Peters and Daily Kos
If we can confirm that Janet Peters is being laid to rest Friday, 01/19/2007, per the recent diary that kicked off this maelstrom, I'm really wondering if Dale has been impersonating a real-life Janet Peters online. It's a weird situation - we could use more info from the Coroner and Funeral Home, I feel.
There's more, of course - this is just a start. My primary points for now:
- Dale Peters, aka "monkeyman" seems to be lying about some aspects of his family and/or military history, according to various sources.
- Dale Peters has been an emotional supporter of Veteran's rights online for at least a year and a half.
- Dale Peters may have worked as a volunteer for John Laesch, as noted by llbear.
- Mike and Janet may have been impersonated by Dale Peters online. Mike does not seem to exist. Janet G may exist, may be deceased - more info needed. I feel she is mostly fictional at DKos, possibly based on a real person.
- Dale Peters has fooled, and been caught by, a number of online Veterans/Military folks at similar-themed blogs for claiming both a military record and family he does not appear to have, according to their pages.
- Dale Peters reportedly made untoward advances to at one least female member at such site(s), despite his "soul-bond" to Janet, also according to above pages at Soldier's Angels.
- Dale Peters has been posting at DKos in the past year under "dale peters" and likely "Janet G", at times clearly noting his "monkeyman" alias from elsewhere on the Internet, and recently we saw Janet G's alias being used for posts by (claimed) both Mike and Dale, but using the same voice.
- I have not yet seen a voice for Janet G which is markedly unique from Dale's or Mike's, but that's not conclusive.
It turns out that Dale's recent past appears a patchwork of online efforts, possibly some real-world political volunteerism . . . and some seeming lies about his family life and military background while here and elsewhere on the Internet, according to referenced sources.
I have no reason to think this is part of a more broad attack on community trust issues at DKos - at least, not yet. Like Buffy, this feels like a person looking for attention and wanting to be larger than life in some ways - someone who has a life, but maybe not as much as they would prefer.
Semi-concluding Thoughts
Motivations? Well, I can offer one example for context of my own thinking on this matter:
At another site where I was once a regular, a person impersonated a College football player - who was eventually picked up in a top draft round - to the point of even initiating a business deal with one of our members. This person consistently kept up the shtick for over two years. There was no reason for it except that they did it because they wanted to pretend. The impersonater had no idea his chosen College player would become a top Pro pick, either. Pure luck, that. It was the business deal that finally broke the persona - but, even then, it went all the way until there was nothing more that the ruse could drain from honest people on the other side. It was stupid and insulting, among other things. But, I think it was somebody who liked feeling that they were a star, garnering attention and . . . who knows what benefits they imagined might come of injecting themself into the world as someone who seemed "better" than them in some fashion?
I don't know Dale's motivations or real life actions, if any of this is true. As alluded to above, he seems to have his heart in the right place for many issues we can get behind at DKos. His personality seems to have caused a problem, and not a small one. If this was a simple misunderstanding, I'd imagine it would all be over by now. That, and we have this odd backhistory here and elsewhere to consider in our own context.
There are very interesting meta issues of trust in a community - online or offline - that are established, verified (formally, secondarily, through trusted parties, etc.) and maintained. I won't clutter this diary entry up with all that, because it's a topic unto itself. I eat up such topics, so maybe that's been part of my motivation in this diary - I sincerely care about community matters and fair play. Which means that I can be called out as easily as anyone.
I will suggest that there is something we can do right now: don't become paranoid.
One issue with any deceptive event that hits upon softer feelings in a general population is the recoil: suspicion suddenly becomes a possibility in many more situations than previously considered. Proper skepticism remains a hallmark virtue of this site, and this type of happening could help us consider that we offer great amounts of trust to those who demonstrate that they deserve it - by being honest and sincere, friendly or at least earnestly communicative. When claims are made, it's not unfaithful to check them - we review references and facts to understand another person's perspective ALL OF THE TIME. It's one way to stay on the path of being a reality-based community, I feel. And, if some odd odor wafts your way in the casual fact-checking, don't be afraid to ask what that actually means. It's not disrespectful - actually, it's most respectful to show that you are listening and trying to understand.
I offer that items shown above include speculation from available pieces of evidence on Dale, etc. If you disagree with any of my assertions, well, thanks for checking up and questioning the meaning of my "facts"!
*FIRST UPDATE*
I've received two emails from an email address previously associated with "Mike Jluseck" threatening a lawsuit and throwing indecipherable claims my way.
Of course, all information in this diary - as in other DKos diaries on the subject - is merely speculation and evidence from public links - including the prior, highly thorough debunking effort of Dale's military background claims.
Oddly, I ran across similar "threats" in a prior search. It was from Dale at a different blog site Admin.
If Dale/Mike wants to come here and provide some helpful facts - well, please do.
Although . . . how does "Mike" know about this? Just anonymous trolling? Intrigue!
*SECOND UPDATE*
Another simple search reveals that Dale is the owner of "Mike's" email address:
Name: Dale P Peters
E-Mail: {"Mike"'s email address from prior references and the two messages I received in response to the diary - click the above link to see}
. . .
So, I guess we should be waving "Hi" to Dale. Or, Mike. Or, . . . well, whoever sent this:
Subject: You where told to check your facts
From: MIKE JLUSECK <xyz@aplace.com>
Now that you kept this post up. We are asking Kos to release you name and address to file suit on you.
Don't release my f'in name and address, Kos! :)
I and everybody contributing, it seems, might get sued for . . . Googling.
*THIRD UPDATE*
I have been informed by another DKos member offline that there is a "Janet" whose body was released to Dale's family this week. No indication of relationship to Dale, and the secondary source which confirmed knowledge of Janet and Dale has not been identified. I do not have multiple sources on this news.
Indeed, we have not been able to find a single person who knew them both face-to-face, at least within the scope of Janet G's presence at DKos up through now. So, this could be highly revealing news related to a subset of the overall event.
How this jibes with all of the other reports we received from multiple, agreeing parties will be interesting - such news does not invalidate most of the perceived online alias abuse, nor eliminate the seemingly improbable personal claims which we have attempted to grapple with in the references offered here.
Further, in this preliminary report, there was NO indication that the Coroner delayed processes, whatsoever. So, as offered in references within the main diary, we still don't know how Janet was related to Dale or his family.
Could the story of Janet's passing be a simple case of embellishment, as for other personal claims addressed in the Comments, with the odd twist of multiple, online sockpuppets? That's pure speculation and may be entirely off the mark - more information desired. Trusting users and their communications at DKos is still the primary issue with regards to understanding the context behind this overall "event", I feel.
And, through it all, with current reports that a woman named Janet has truly passed . . . please consider offering some kind and respectful thoughts in her memory. This diary is not about her directly, but she deserves respect in moving on, I feel.
. . .
Much constructive and revealing conversation has taken place after 36 hours or so, and I wanted to offer some additional thoughts to both new and returning DKos peers as something of a wrap-up:
- The contributions in Comments have been tremendous, as clarity of some references and many speculations have been enhanced, I feel. Others have been admittedly opened to more broad consideration, and probably beyond the scope of this diary.
- Dale's situation that led to his recent DKos experience has been reasonably exposed in our context (i.e., the "Last Day" event and followon diary) - I see no need to dig further into that personal realm beyond current scope of DKos-relevant considerations. Sure, there's been context to consider off-site, but it has hopefully all been in line with understanding what transpired here to make so many people feel as if they were jumping through emotional hoops.
- Nobody should be "gunning" for Dale or anyone else, here or offsite. Please consider that hounding anyone about this series of events off DKos would be poor netizenship or even worse.
- I feel that Dale deserves at least a half-glass-full of sympathy, because we don't know yet why the disturbances surrounding his presence had to occur. We don't know if his personal claims at DKos that have been either solidly or speculatively challenged were something that he could have helped from offering as they were. None of us can claim to know his state of mind then or now, only see the results and try to understand as best possible.
- Dale was almost always described as having an overwhelming sense of support and inner energy for helping Veterans by those who knew him and contacted me offline due to this diary. I expressed the same observations within the diary, itself. He's been inspirational to many people in that sphere of work, both in Illinois and nationally.
- However, we have collectively determined that there were also highly negative and inward-facing trust issues that came about from Dale's presence at DKos. Again, we don't know all the causes, but they certainly occurred and many were discussed in this and Torta's diary- this diary will surely not be the final word on the events, especially since it was reported below that llbear will be posting by this Sunday (presumably on these topics). I hope this diary discussion has at least helped in further answering some of the "what?", "why?" and "who?" questions that it was created to be a vehicle for collectively addressing.
- I recommend we remain scrupulous of personal claims at the site in an open an friendly manner. Just as we nicely demand - and, expect to be asked - for links and context that can support our references to events, quotes and assertions, we should feel it natural in an online environment to ask/respond on personal claims, as well. Location, experience, expertise, profession, health, etc. - all fair game, I feel.
- We should try to move past this particular series of events with some increased wisdom, as well. With evolving food for thought on the meta issues of establishing and maintaining trust in a place like DKos, many diaries and sub-themes can be explored in such a topic realm of asynchronous cultural environments.
- Yes, open questions and speculative items are not all closed. The clear evidence of multiple aliases, some debunked personal background claims, bizarre Coroner politics, possible personal embellishments of the Last Day, etc. are still negative trust issues at DKos. They are what eventually sparked people to speak up in both llbear's and Torta's diaries, IMHO. I realize folks may keep coming back here for discussion. But, maybe another diary would be more appropriate to concentrate on followups, as I feel that this one has met its general purpose. Of course, it's owned by the community, and not up to me.
These are all suggestions, of course - I can't (and don't desire to) command anybody here. It's food for thought, and I thank everyone again for sharing in this provocative and practical experience.
*FOURTH UPDATE*
There is now an obituary in the Chicago Tribune for "Janet L. Peters-Gluszek" noting that she is survived by three children under the name "Gluszek" and Dale's son under the name "Peters".
This correlates with online records of her living around the area of Dale in various addresses, but there do not yet appear to be records of them living together. It may be that they were separated and/or divorced, or perhaps they did live together - against accounts noted in the Comments threads, below.
I noticed that there is also a Michael Gluszek listed in Chicago - perhaps related to Janet? Obviously, "Mike Jluseck" as an online alias falls directly in line with Dale's typo-laden style. Again, all the noise from these sockpuppets and related trust issues appears to have obscured easy truths from being accepted and verified.
This is generally positive and welcome news: adding a small amount of clarity and verifiable truth from beneath the canopy of noise from multiple online aliases pointing to the same person, IP and voice, background claims that were unverifiable, conflicting references from Dale's and Janet's IDs as to her role as wife/ex-wife/daughter, claims of the Coroner holding up Janet's body due to political and personal vendetta, etc.
So, there are still many trust issues with Dale's (and, possibly Janet's) presence at DKos, unfortunately. These may never be adequately resolved - but, I think that many lessons are already obvious from this larger event. As I suggested above, we should be able to ask for verification of even personal claims and expect reasonable answers.
It's too bad that did not occur in this case - we could have solely concentrated on the issues of alias sockpuppetry, background debunking, Coroner claims and so on - there was no need for Janet's existence to be questionable. It's possible that all the noise around Dale's online presence here, and the conflicting references to a real-world "wife" (however ex or not) made a truthful item seem as flimsy as many other issues this community previously found surrounding Dale's presence.
However, it is somberly positive that we can knowingly spend a moment to consider Janet's passing, before getting back to the other DKos-related community concerns. May she rest in Peace.
*FINAL UPDATE*
I have been asked to delete this diary by a handful of people. These were not hard requests, but possibly out of emotional fatigue from riding waves of up and down emotions for some days - ever since news of Janet's passing, essentially.
But, these events were not about her, nor about Veteran's issues.
They were about faith and trust in fellow DKos members, reaching out with sincere empathy for well-wishing and prayers in support of another member's ordeal.
Until the questions began and claims became unverifiable for no apparent reason.
That was unfortunate, but it's happened before under different topics and within disparate online communities. Soldier's Angels/USMILNET, Veterans for Progress - IL, VFMP - and now, even Democratic Underground has had some minor fighting on this.
But, what's "this"?
"This" appears to be a well-intentioned and energetic, Veteran-supporting individual. A man against whom strong cases have been made, that he has manipulated various online aliases and persona by creating them from variations of people he has known in real, offline life. For purposes which are only known to him, but which obviously provide some measure of attention and social interaction, one might offer.
This was Dale Peters - the same fellow related to the above-mentioned story of Janet's passing. And, the same person whose aliases and seeming embellishments at DKos and elsewhere brought a growing fog of uncertainty to this community, as queries into the nature of Janet's circumstances of passing and the Coroner's practices turned into serious debates between Kossacks.
And, that was the start of unnecessary conflicts at DKos, similar to the type of starts at prior venues. Mounting questions without suitable answers of integrity in the original stories, and protagonist, created layer upon layer of newly fresh cynicism. It became difficult to determine if anything being relayed was actually real, at all.
And, this is where something as seriously real as Janet's death became so difficult to fully accept: so much doubt in the speaker's online character would unfortunately muddy the water for most of us who wondered what was real, what wasn't and what we should do about the whole matter.
I want this to be behind us, eventually - good lessons seem to be exuding from comments below. It's my hope, at least, that we'll get better at handling such situations by experiences like this one
Attempts were made to summarize some prevalent comment themes in these last few diary updates, but the gold remains in our actual comment threads. Please go and glance through - again, maybe. There's great thinking, analysis and wondering about then, now and later from what has happened. It's been an interesting experience.
I don't desire to delete all this fine work from the DKos community - it just feels potentially useful to tap back into as part of a larger narrative and lesson on user/site behavior. We learned much about our problems from gleaning the very similar experiences shared by other sites and their organizational representatives, this time around - why shouldn't others also get the chance to pull in experience from us, as well? We've contributed to meta thinking here and elsewhere in web-land, hopefully in a positive fashion.
I personally feel more enabled and justified to properly critique claimed credentials, or other personal traits that are specifically offered, in what should be seen as a fair manner at DKos. We can't "see" each other's expressions online, but we can question meanings, intentions and claims openly and sincerely to make up for it. Just as we question reporting and claimed facts in most cases of news and political debate.
Let's seal it up, then, if you don't mind. Just stop posting here. You see, there used to be a mechanism for disabling comments . . . but that seems to no longer exist. Among other things, I'd hope we can avoid more runs like what happened with "Nadine G", below. In that case, one can see exactly what we came here to learn about and figure how to avoid.
So much meta can be written on the proactive management of trust in our community, I feel. I'd be one of the first to jump into that discussion.
And to Dale, his family and friends, we hope your private services go smoothly and well enough. Good thoughts go out for Janet and her loved ones from this community, as comments here and elsewhere have easily expressed.
Thanks all.
