When I was just a lad, my most favorite book in the world was a timeless classic some of you may recognize- as my daughter certainly will, before too long, as it was the first book I ever bought her. (Yes, there's a point here- bear with me)

It's called "The Monster at the End of the Book," and it's a delightfully funny romp. The plot revolves around Grover realizing what the title foreshadows- the fact that there's a monster at the end of the book- and begging, pleading, cajoling you not to turn the page to get to the end of the book. He ties the pages together, nails them together, builds a brick wall- all to no avail, as the story goes on.

In the end, it turns out the monster at the end of the book is Grover- silly him for being so afraid the whole time, right?

Well, this strikes a chord with what I just witnessed in a recent blog, except there's no lovable, furry, old Grover at the end of this story.

As I've said recently, and Student Guy pointed out in his recent diary, we're starting to see (and can expect to continue to see) an influx of trolls into our site. We've got a few on the diary list right now, of course. And we can only expect things to get worse and worse.

In the next two weeks, I predict it will reach a fever pitch. We'll have two sets of people stirring up trouble: GOP trolls, and Deadenders.

GOP trolls will be masquerading as Clinton supporters furious with whatever outcome will come from the RBC ruling, primaries in PR, SD, and MT, etc, or as Obama supporters gleefully trying to rub events in Clinton supporters' faces. Deadenders, as in people who are only interested in a Clinton candidacy, and no other facet of the Democratic party or getting progressive Democrats elected this cycle, will certainly join in the fun.

Make no mistake- it's their intent to sew discord and animosity, and if you respond to them, it will only embolden them and make them try ever harder- and it will have the effect of making them succeed at their job.

When you see a diary like that, there are some things to consider- if it's a Clinton-slanted "Obama Sucks/Take it to the Convention/Here's another scandal/Unelectable" motif, wonder aloud to yourself if:

A) You recognize the diarist,
B) The content/title is purposefully inflammatory, or
C) Any of the real, honest to God, reasonable and honorable Clinton supporters we've got around MyDD have responded to it.

For instance, let's pretend there's a diary titled "Obama, an unelectable nightmare". I click on it, obviously miffed, and look through the comments section.

Who's commenting on it? Let's see. Sricki? VAAlex? Canadian Gal? Zclint? Rummarhazzit? Jarhead? SevenStrings? LDFan? Lombard? Slynch? LadyEagle? Bobbank? Emsprater? Kevin22262? Bobswern? searchforsolidarity? et cetera. No?

It's flame bait. Ignore it.

Now, there's some reasonable Clinton supporters I missed in there, and some I did include I personally have had sharp words or ongoing feuds with. One of the aforementioned people, for example, is responsible for the quote in my sig line. But he's just passionate about Senator Clinton, which I can respect- he's not a troll. He doesn't post smear diaries and then flee, never responding to honest criticism. He doesn't resort strictly to ad hominem attacks when it gets too tough to have a conversation. You may disagree with him, and he may get aggressive, but he's not out to destroy our party.

Trolls thrive on attention- so the best thing to do? No matter how tempting it is to respond... ignore them. If it's a diary posted by the one or two diarists who seem to thrive on disunity and a total lack of substance in their- ignore them. There's nothing they hate worse than that, and especially the ones getting rec-shot up the list by people who don't participate in our community, or respond to any of the diaries.

Just. Ignore. Them.

Thanks for listening to this public service announcement!

Unity.

Unity is a term we've been hearing a lot about lately, and for good reason. We're going to need it in spades, whether Senator Obama or Senator Clinton win the nomination to be our candidate for the President of the United States.

Of course, unity is something we're currently in short supply of. Over the last few months, tempers have flared, angry words have been exchanged, friendships have been broken, bridges burned, and hateful and spiteful things said all around. It's no surprise, of course- we've got two supremely talented candidates running against each other, whose policy platforms and ideology are markedly similar (broaching the level of carbon copies in more than one circumstance). When you lack substantial policy differences to differentiate the two, the dialog almost inevitably turns very personal.

This has the downside of making the process of hammering out the differences between the two a personal process, as well, one that have reached very serious levels. On this very site, we had diaries which seriously compared a candidate to a white supremacist; we've had diaries which have done nothing but denigrate supporters of each candidate as stupid, naive, racist, sexist, cultish, subhuman, so forth and so on. None of which, I expect, the site founders ever expected to see on one of the pioneer sites for electing progressive Democrats- nothing I expected to see, that's for certain.

Is it a reason for concern? Absolutely, and I am definitely concerned about the process. However, I'm also certain that we will have unity; we will have a "kumbaya" moment; and we will win in November.

Why?

Because we're all human beings.

Huh? Well, duh, right? Let me explain.

Sorry to write such a short diary- I'm fighting polling numbers with polling numbers.

Submitted for your consideration-

And, topping that off with...

Of course, polling only means so much. We had two awesome candidates this year, and both would've been great. But the people's voice is being heard, as you can see here.

Sorry to have to do such a short diary. I'd intended, and probably still will, write a longer piece on unity and such, but I just found this. And I want anyone, no matter the side, who says they'll stomp their feet and won't vote for the nominee if their candidate doesn't get the nod to look at this.

Look at this EVERY TIME you say that. Then, come back and tell us you still won't vote for the nominee.

I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge the blatant and outright disrespect- nay, disenfranchisement- Obama supporters have been shown on this site. And I want to thank Senator Clinton for the courage and strength to give me the right words to use to frame this very important argument.

There's a reason why so many have fought so hard and sacrificed so much this primary season. It's because they knew that to be a citizen of this country is to have the right and responsibility to help shape its future. Not just to have your voice heard but to have it count. People have fought hard because they knew their rec/rate ability was at stake, and so, by proxy, was their children's futures.

Those people refused to accept their assigned place as second-class citizens. Men and women who saw America not as it was, but as it could and should be, and committed themselves to extending the frontiers of our democracy into the blogosphere. Just like the abolitionists, and all who fought to end slavery and ensure freedom came with the full right of citizenship. Just like the tenacious women and a few brave men who gathered at the Seneca Falls convention back in 1848 to demand the right to vote.

We're seeing a situation occurring just like this, right now in Zimbabwe. Tragically, an opposing viewpoint was held, the site moderator lost it, and then refused to abide by the will of the people.

So we can never take for granted our precious right to rec and rate. It is the single most important, privilege and right any of us have, because while rec'ing and rating, we are all equal. You're equal to a billionaire. You're equal to the president, every single one of us.

Why, Jerome? Why are you disenfranchising us? It's unconstitutional. Sure, you may say, this blog would constitute a private organization, and as such abilities such as "voting" are entirely at organization's behest, but really- this transcends such legalities, because it's so important. Sure, Obama supporters apparently "broke" the rules, but those rules were unfair to begin with, and even when we agreed to them, when the situation changed, we all know we no longer have to agree with them or abide by them.

Don't disenfranchise us, Jerome, or we may not show up in November to click on links and drive site traffic for you to remain profitable with. I'm not bandying that about as a threat, mind you- we'll all have very valid reasons for not showing up come November. In no way is this an episode of "stamp feet, take ball, go home"- this is serious. And you should take it seriously.

Thank you.

With the Democratic primary starting to wind down to it's conclusion, and the electoral climate we're currently occupying, it should be no surprise to any of us that the Republicans are, collectively, buying large quantities of Depends, and desperately searching for a way to ensure we lose the Presidency in November.

Unfortunately, they have an easy way to attempt that- divide our party. And it's never been easier for them than it is right now, with tempers flaring and heated exchanges all over the blogosphere, and somewhat (but far less) in real life.

Fresh off the wire from the New York Times, let's take a look at what the Republicans are facing.

WASHINGTON -- Senator John McCain's presidential campaign is in a troubled stretch, hindered by resignations of staff members, a lagging effort to build a national campaign organization and questions over whether he has taken full advantage of Democratic turmoil to present a case for his candidacy, Republicans say.