The Obamafication of Community Moderation, Part One

Note to Dharmaniacs: This is obviously directed towards the Daily Kos community, but the theories and principles apply everywhere and to all walks of life.

The Obama Code is both moral and linguistic at once.  The President is using his enormous skills as a communicator to express a moral system.

For supporters of the President, it is crucial to understand the Code in order to talk overtly about the old values our new president is communicating. It is necessary because tens of millions of Americans-both conservatives and progressives-don’t yet perceive the vital sea change that Obama is bringing about.

The Obama Code by George Lakoff

I think it is safe to say that everyone here admires or at least respects Barack Obama. Among the many reasons there are to do so, none stands out as much as the central one. He is effective. His approach, tactics and methods, above all considerations of style or personal charm…..work.

And a bigger part of that than can be measured in the fact that the Code that Lakoff talks about …works. It is a form of “walking your talk.” It is communicating who you are and what you stand for not just in what you say, but in how you say it as well.

Barack Obama, as a candidate and as president, has won just about every political battle he has been in. He has won them not just because he is right on nearly every issue, but because of the way he expresses this …rightness. Who he is and what he stands for is inherent and apparent every time he speaks. He literally embodies the principles he stands for. And, I reiterate, it works.

We should emulate him.

Not just politically, but with our interactions on this political blog as well.

Daily Kos, I think it is fair to say, was founded in opposition to Bush. Bush too, lol, embodied what he stood for. Arrogant, dismissive, intolerant, insulting and just plain mean. All aggression and opposition all the time. There is an old saying that the worst part of fighting totalitarians is that you have to sink to their level to defeat them. We did. But not just against them, against ourselves as well, here on this site.

To fight “Bush,” to oppose him, we were forced to sink to his level. The whole zeitgeist of the site was based on the animosity and memes established in the mindset that USED to be needed to fight Bush. We rightly railed against Dem politicians being too spineless, too nice, for bringing a spork to a gunfight. We The Kossaks then (rightly) embodied that dynamic as example and model of how we felt Bush needed to be opposed. All aggression and opposition all the time. Ok that is a gross overstatement, (pooties!) but it sums up the attitude we were forced to adopt. That is changing now, so the memes and methods and attitudes here, especially towards each other, can and doneed to change too.

We need to Obamafy!

And in fact we already are. Community Moderation has to my eye at least, become slowly (in blog years) less aggressive, and less mean. Has started to embody and express who we are and most importantly, who we want to be. But of course we can still do better.

It is necessary because tens of millions of Americans-both conservatives and progressives-don’t yet perceive the vital sea change that Obama is bringing about.

For Obama to fully succeed he, as he has said over and over, needs us. For Obama’s new paradigm of politics to succeed, WE have to adopt it, and nowhere is that more important….more effective….than in the way we relate to each other. The way we embody the values we espouse.

That does NOT mean, by the way, being soft. Obama is not soft. When he sees something wrong, he calls it out. If someone is wrong, he says they are wrong. Without insulting them. If he see someone needs to be “slapped down” (Hello Rush!) he slaps them down. While not dehumanizing them. He slaps them down in accordance with and within the moral “Code” that he embodies.

That “Code” is critical.

For the last decade, Republican hypocrisy, cheating, and corruption has destroyed our moral code. We see it in every aspect of American life. From the obscene immoral greed on Wall St. to the obscene immorality of illegal invasion and torture. We see it in the demonization of everyone, gays, minorities and especially Muslims. Everywhere, every aspect of American life has been corrupted and reduced to the blatant selfishness of us vs. them. With the none to subtle sub-text of destroying every one of them. Not defeating ‘them politically or even culturally….but destroying them.

We see it in the violent hatred for Obama himself, in the threats on his life. Yet he does not even flinch in the face of all of that, he presses forward, walking his talk. How can we do any less when the only “threat” that we face is merely the words of some “troll” or “asshole” on a screen?

Obama understands, as Lakoff points out that this “meta” battle to restore and refresh and reset America’s moral Code is the most important battle there we face. For ALL Progressive political goals ….are also moral goals. I cannot state that too strongly. Every thing we as Progressives believe and fight for has a moral root.

Not a religious root or a politically ideological root. A moral root. Every. Single. One. ( I look forward to any challenges to that in the comments!) To repeat….NOT a religious Code, a moral one. Think about the difference please, before you comment on that!

Thus establishing a new morality is the key to all political victories. And HERE I must stress the contrasts between the INCREDIBLY HYPOCRITICAL Republican moral code that they violated at EVERY possible opportunity. I could fill tomes with examples, but you all know them. Let’s just go with the example of the “Family Values” of Diaper Dave Vitter. Ok I will throw in Terry Schiavo as well.

The point being that they have never walked their talk. And in very large part, that hypocrisy and the results that it brought is why they are currently swirling down the toilet bowl of history.

Gingrich/Palin 2012!

We then must learn….and practice…this lesson. We must, as does Obama, embody the moral code we wish to see. To quote another Progressive, Be the Change.

And that starts HERE.

In the way we relate to each other. In the way we do Community Moderation, especially. We need to walk the talk too. Yes We Can challenge each other and correct each other in new ways. Following Obama’s example in the way we relate to each other….AND to “trolls.”

I am not going to give examples or link to transgressors or try to tell you how to do anything. I am by no means saying I am perfect or some kind of role model. All I am asking is that we each look within and see where we can each change. Consciously.

It is already happening. We just need to be mindful of the Obama Code as we confront the disagreements and provocations that we encounter as we pursue our passion for change.The national discourse will not change overnight, and neither will we. This, like all things worth doing, will take time and effort on all of our parts and we WILL at times fail. We need to be Progresive and tolerant of those of our sisters and brother Kossaks who fail in this way as well.

Be firm in your convictions, state your case with confidence, do not be shy in confronting what needs to be confronted. But it is no longer necessary to dehumanize those who merely oppose or disagree with us.

Or Troll Rate them willy-nilly, just because you can! Cut that shit out, asshole! 🙂