The reason I voted no is that during this past year when I have had discussions with conservatives online it has ended up becoming a nasty shouting match. I would prefer this to be a safe space with minded people.

2 hours ago, Marguerite said:

I would prefer this to be a safe space with like-minded people.

i hear you M. On one hand we deserve a get-a-way from all the contentiousness. On the other, we need to interact. Things are never going to change unless we find a way to get through to the other side and penetrate their bubbles of misinformation.

another issue, is that i anticipate members might come and go here if it just seems like we're all just preaching to the choir. Perhaps, not, however. Because, unlike the Right, the Left do not so readily fall in line. We have our own minds.

We can see how it plays out.

Thanks for your feedback. Both points you mentioned have a lot of validity to them. I guess I’ve just had some bad experiences lately interacting wirh the Right and am a little tender.

Hi Marguerite, welcome to NBP. I have had some bad interactions with the right as well. I do think within the next few weeks the tides will hopefully begin to turn. I don’t think the Lyin King realizes or perhaps he really doesn’t care that he is hurting his base as much as he is hurting us. If we can interact with right, speaking civilly on both sides maybe we can enlighten them to the truth. At this point, we need all the votes we can get for the midterms.

I feel like it would be good to have a place that exemplifies the "Paradox of Tolerance". We accept everybody who accepts everybody.

I want a site where I can escape my MAGA rural life for a little while each day.

On 11/1/2025 at 10:31 PM, Lindy said:

Hi Marguerite, welcome to NBP. I have had some bad interactions with the right as well. I do think within the next few weeks the tides will hopefully begin to turn. I don’t think the Lyin King realizes or perhaps he really doesn’t care that he is hurting his base as much as he is hurting us. If we can interact with right, speaking civilly on both sides maybe we can enlighten them to the truth. At this point, we need all the votes we can get for the midterms.

That's pragmatic and offers space to get things done. If there are right wing trolls here (or any kind of troll) on the forum, it's the job of moderation to weed them out for 'disturbance of the peace.' Isn't a huge part of our agenda opening minds and appealing to the good side of people? I know for me at least, rage never got me anywhere and the real work begins when I can belly breathe again.

They get feed 24/7 right wing propaganda coming in nBP is not gonna change it.

Need to have a news feed out there to change their perspective.

I voted because as a new member, I'm hoping this can add something good to think about and know there is a place I can to either read about or connect with someone (or a group) of like minded people that are sane enough to know right from wrong and not have a close mind to change.

Hi, new to the site. The main reason that I’m here is to interact with like minded people and escape the constant name calling and petty arguments. I’m afraid that opening up to members from the right would devolve into a bunch of trolling. Maybe in “regular” times there could be real discussion but the hard core MAGA folks don’t seem to have much capacity for critical thinking. My humble opinion, I hope I’m wrong.

I honestly don't think conservatives should be invited to this site. Why have a "blue" site if we are inviting the opposition? We've seen their hate and ugliness and ignorance over and over. If another site wants to create a Left Right & Center mix (yes, I stole that from NPR--I only quote from the best!) then so be it. But please, not here. Thank you for listening!

I agree with Connie and Tumbleweed, these are not normal times and I really don't see any cooperation and compromise as possible or coming with MAGA. You simply can't do that with fascists or a cult, not until they have been deprogrammed or their cult has died out. The Nazis were not going to back down, they could only be defeated militarily, same with the South during the Civil War, after which they never really gave up their racist cause...

No.

That's pragmatic and offers space to get things done. If there are right wing trolls here (or any kind of troll) on the forum, it's the job of moderation to weed them out for 'disturbance of the peace.' Isn't a huge part of our agenda opening minds and appealing to the good side of people? I know for me at least, rage never got me anywhere and the real work begins when I can belly breathe again.

We can't change without exchange. I think time is ripe for us. Gotta get them to feel like, "You know, 🍆>🐱 FOX and THE LYIN' KING. It's all lies. I'm more comfortable here. I can relax here. But hey, what do I know? Just an opinion. You can't deprogram without engagement.

I respect your view, but still disagree. I'm not interested in being involved in anyone's deprogramming, just not patient and tolerant enough to do it. Call me insensitive, if you like, for that stance.. Also, since V3 is the admin. and only person here that would be doing the moderation of the site, I wonder if he is willing and wanting to do all that extra work, that would undoubtedly come with letting right wingers in here. But it's his site, so in the end, it's really all up to him...

I joined this site to communicate with other liberals. If conservatives are on this site, then I will leave. I'm not here for "healthy debate/exchange" with the other side. Anyone who voted for THE LYIN' KING should be ashamed of themselves. Why on earth would I want to read their reasoning behind the most dangerous presidency in history?

I honestly think that most of us here, including me, agree with you, scary.... I will not date anyone that voted for THE LYIN' KING, no matter when they did it or for whatever reasons, because I obviously wouldn't be compatible or have enough shared values with them. As for friendships with anyone who ever voted for THE LYIN' KING or supported him, I've only had a couple of those, and they didn't last very long, after THE LYIN' KING was in power either time, because the amount of conflict between us over it was simply too great.. Like you, I'm just not interested in engaging with them, at least not until after they have at least woken up from the con, admitted they were wrong about THE LYIN' KING, left MAGA, and apologized for their sins, so to speak. Then and only then, are they and I ready to talk respectfully and engage with any trust towards them.. It's like anyone who's been a member of the Klan or any other white supremacist or Nazi group in modern times, I will not accept them until they have left the group and repented for their involvement in said group...

It is my considered opinion that we should allow them in on a short leash. The moment they show their true colors then we all get to tell them to eat sh!t and die before banning them. I believe in group scream therapy. That is what we are here for on a certain level. So, yeah the entertainment value is the only reason to admit any of those pig f*ckers.

You said it, brother! And the idea of group scream therapy really appeals to me right now, lol.... Maybe we, you and me, need to start a subforum or subgroup on here for that? And props to you for using the term pig🍆>🐱er, as that's one that my late wife introduced me to, never heard it from anyone, except her, and now you...

I get DvoraksKeyboard's P.O.V. But then, I live in a predominantly blue state stained by unsightly red blotches ("Calabama" is real, y'all!). To the nBP libs residing in red states, I feel your pain.

Unless conservatives and liberals agree to be mutually respectful and "play nice" on nBP, any "common ground" established between "Us" and "Them" would be as solid as quicksand, IMO. To wit, the effort would be futile and pointless.

On 11/30/2025 at 5:20 PM, BobDylan said:

I honestly think that most of us here, including me, agree with you, scary.... I will not date anyone that voted for THE LYIN' KING, no matter when they did it or for whatever reasons, because I obviously wouldn't be compatible or have enough shared values with them. As for friendships with anyone who ever voted for THE LYIN' KING or supported him, I've only had a couple of those, and they didn't last very long, after THE LYIN' KING was in power either time, because the amount of conflict between us over it was simply too great.. Like you, I'm just not interested in engaging with them, at least not until after they have at least woken up from the con, admitted they were wrong about THE LYIN' KING, left MAGA, and apologized for their sins, so to speak. Then and only then, are they and I ready to talk respectfully and engage with any trust towards them.. It's like anyone who's been a member of the Klan or any other white supremacist or Nazi group in modern times, I will not accept them until they have left the group and repented for their involvement in said group...

My thoughts exactly. I voted no. Even following BobDylan's example, how would you expect to invite ex-MAGA and not MAGA? As soon as MAGA hardcores find out that is happening on a blue site I expect to find some putting on sheep's clothing to get in and start hunting for cucks. There are sooooooo many places to engage the right in the current political climate so IMHO adding one more place won't even move the needle. Nothing is stopping anyone from engaging the right in so many venues of life should they choose to do so. Their vitreol is so pervasive, loud and focussed in the general media it's shutting down other points of view from being taken seriously. Please go there if you think you can make a difference. If they are invited here, I too will leave.

16 minutes ago, Rob said:

". . . As soon as MAGA hardcores find out that is happening on a blue site I expect to find some putting on sheep's clothing to get in and start hunting for cucks . . . If they are invited here, I too will leave."

No worries, Rob.

According to your profile, you joined newBluePlanet last December. If you've been regularly visiting nBP, you know that not only have almost z-e-r-o conservative-MAGA-Republicans* participated in nBP forums . . .

Damned few liberal-Progressive-Democrats participate either!

Thank you for your lending your voice and making some noise 'round this mausoleum!

Actually macpsysto I have not been regularly visiting here, however that may change. I'm not a regular on any social media, but do inhabit my local Nextdoor village private Progressives group. Because of a "feature" in that site's algorithm someone's reply to a post automatically included others from outside the group to participate inside the group. Apparently if someone's text includes the name of a legitimate business that Nextdoor recognized, a link to that business is automatically created and anyone else who at some point linked the business in the past is notified of the business "mention" and becomes automatically added to the private group. Trolling began from that point. I believe it's actually a Nextdoor bug, not a feature intended to add to private groups. I started thinking about finding another online place to host that progressive group and remembered this site.

My read on this poll was centered on "invite". My take being that a concerted effort could be made, but has not happened. My no vote was in the popular "Normally yes, but..." catagory, however I really should have voted the first option of invitation only. I have noticed that the roster here isn't large and perhaps I read too much into that and assumed some effort was being contemplated to increase participation. Namely invite the right.

I like the way you think here on this, Rob, and even more how well you said it.. I have zero desire to engage with right wingers or MAGA on this site... I used to spar with them on reddit, until I got banned from there, and that was enough to last me a lifetime...

The reason I voted "Ordinarily yes, but..." is because I too believe in general there needs to be dialoug with people having opposing ideas where it can happen and inclusivity is a hallmark of liberal thinking. In this case these are genral concepts being applied to a specific instance. To me at least, I find it less than desirable to dialoug with the internet at every social app to which I may subscribe. More sheltered places for progressive minded people are not so easy to find these days.

For V.3. Perhaps a way to address growing this site's participation is to create a sister site for "anyone can join" and firewall it off from this "progressives only" site (don't advertise about here on the "anyone" site). Certain topics that are felt to benefit from participation of members from both sites can be advertised on the progressive only site in a specific page with links to the other site's topic. Progressives get to have dual citizenship if they want it, but it doesn't automatically bring the other site's members here. See if any progressives bite. If you try making it all work in one place you'll get FB-lite.