Derek Draper is an arrogant sod

Just what we need; another corrupt carpet-bagger stinking up the joint and positioning himself as a pioneer of e-democracy.

Hi Andreas.I'm sure many people like the idea of LabourList, but there's a whopping great chasm between that idea and the reality of what Mr Draper has delivered.Little-to-no research has gone into it. In fact, it appears to be something I've been warning folks about for quite some time; the spread of unprincipled tactics that begin with outsiders like Draper watching Dale and Staines and thinking; "Ah, that's how it's done."Thus the appalling level of comment censorship hidden behind a pile of deleted 'abuse', coupled with the same author dealing with any objections to that… with genuine abuse of his own! Classic Dale and Staines. Ditto for the spouting of meaningless numbers, like the whole country is sitting up and taking notice.'Feud' is not a word I would use. 'Mission' is more like it.If your interest is in a grassroots channel, you and others needs to know that Draper is not a safe pair of hands for this project or anything like it.Take for example his appalling attitude to other people's creative work (which also matches that of Staines especially). If he succeeds to any extent, his channel will be a decisive one for many new political creatives on the left, and their material will therefore be shared on his terms (which appear to be very much like those of legendary carpet-bagger Eric 'eBaum' Bauman).Take as another example his use of Schillings – Schillings! – without the first clue about what this might mean to other bloggers. I seriously suspect that he chose them on the basis that his wife has hired them in the past. I very much doubt that he has looked into the background at all, which is why he couldn't respond intelligently to my initial comment and instead filed it under 'trash'.As for what might fix things, Draper's dug himself one hell of a hole. He's already proved his insincerity, and any belated answer to my comment or apology for his behaviour at this stage is unlikely to be convincing… especially as he appears to have subjected me to this treatment without having the first clue about my past work.(I don't want to know that a man will apologise because his rudeness/actions might cost him something. I would rather believe that he would apologise because it's the right thing to do. Otherwise, it's just me and maybe a few others that he won't treat like dirt, and I can't see myself being very happy about that.)Maybe he can start by going away and doing some real research… but he'll still have issues with arrogance and corruption.And this only addresses his problem. The problem with the current Labour grassroots gap online is (*gasp*) a grassroots one.Take me for example; I refuse to do any work for this government or the Labour Party while Jack Straw is in the cabinet. This stance relates mainly to a small and insignificant piffle about the use of torture in the 'war on terror' (a term that David Miliband has developed a rather sudden distaste for, days away from an admin change in Washington).Labour cannot expect to engage with the wider leftish online grassroots movement (that predates the current Tory batch by years) without addressing subjects like torture and Iraq.(And even now might be too late, as they will be seen to be too weak to challenge that dimwit Bush and his neocon chums.)There will still be distaste for some policies and tactics, but at least Labour won't be facing widespread abandonment and open hostility from former/potential members and voters.They will, I expect, turn around to find a massive grassroots movement that's been ready to go for quite some time.And they won't have to rely on people with extraordinarily elastic principles to conjure one.

Oh come on, Andreas… I have better things to do than respond to this claptrap….Just kidding.:o)Re: "whoever was moderating the comments was being a bit free and easy with the trash function"I was led to believe by Derek that this was his action and his decision all the way. I take your point about his having a bad day with Tory trolls*, but the "boring repetitive stuff" he refers to in this thread was me pressing the point and giving him one chance after another to address the comment:http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/jan/14/l...There is no question that he personally was dodging the issue. Repeatedly. He still refuses to address it, and has so far avoided another issue that I have raised today.I even waited until the next day and then made it ab-so-lute-ly clear how this one guest saw the situation and asked him to confirm if he was happy with matters as they stood:-Me: "So that's it, then? My comment is worthless because you say so,even though you can't say how, and what I think about that is of little tono consequence to you? Is that seriously how you want to leave this?"DD: "Yep"-Good luck with the history and etiquette lesson… but don't be too disappointed if he still lets you down afterwards.Cheers(*It was amusing watching Staines' resident thugs demanding of Draper a freer environment for author/host criticism than Staines would ever allow. Draper, of course, knows little about the history there, so probably failed to make/use that point. Instead he did what Staines has been doing for years; he hid the censorship behind the deleted abuse or justified trashing valid points/questions by grouping them with the abuse.)