DV is like a big city, Vancouver for example. If we only saw the Downtown East side, we'd conclude that Vancouver is a cesspool of depravity, drugs, violence, etc.
Or if all we saw was Shaughnessy, we'd think Van was nothing more than a sedate little tea party. Even with all the cheap shots, low blows, handlejacking, porn, racism & whatnot, there's something about the place that's totally cool - I think it's the undercurrent of wild and crazy humor.
There's some serious debates that sometines remind me of heavyweight boxing matches: I'm often impressed when I see a good slugfest (and I'm not talkin' about a garden party for molluscs), people nailing each other with hit after hit - and sometimes acknowledging that they've learned something from their opponent, conceding a point or two, and coming back to scrap another day.
Mind you, I miss some of the earlier style of debate & humor, which often seems to have given way to something like slapstick with violence.
But I don't think DV is through evolving. There's some lovely (and smart and funny) people there.
I'll say it again - you've got to have both sites.
