Characteristics Of Conservative Trolls On Liberal Blogs

[Stephist]

What are some of the typical characteristics of conservative posters and trolls on liberal blogs that you read?

I am not talking about bad spelling and grammar because I myself stink at both of these and I am not a Conservative.

The three characteristics Of conservative trolls that I see the most that drive me nuts are...

1. The conservative who shows up insult everybody and then when they get insulted back they say something like I thought "liberals were suppose to be tolerant." or "typical lib! You can't argue a point with resulting to name calling." This type of conservative troll will end up spinning the conversation on the thread to the point to where he or she becomes the victim "I just came here to discuss the issues and I was attacked."

2. The conservative who gets his/her ass kicked in an argument and then changes subject. This is the troll who knows he/she is losing the argument so for no apparent reason says "Oh yeah Bill Clinton" or "Oh yeah Hillary Clinton" or my personal favorite "Oh yeah Chappaquiddick" meanwhile the thread was on a subject that had nothing to with any of this.

3. The conservative troll who continues to argue with a news "Item" from some place like Newsmax 3 months after it's been debunked. You know the ones who post the link then say " I know you Libs won't comment on this." Then when you post an article that debunks their Newsmax BS they comeback with "Oh that's from the NY Times a lying Lib rag."

what are some other annoying tricks that conservative trolls play on liberal blogs?

[Skittles]

"our party"

almost a certain giveaway

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. My favorite is, "you people"

When you get them confused that one often slips out.

[Skittles]

19. and since they are already confused, it's just a matter of degree

huh? :o

[ChairmanAgnostic]

60. Hey, I use "our party"

when I complain about the spinelessness of Dems in office, allowing Alito to be confirmed, or voting for the patriot act.

[Freddie Stubbs]

91. Someone hit the alert button!

;)

[Skittles]

1. dupe

argh

[WildEyedLiberal]

2. Most trolls aren't obvious like that

I see number 3 a lot minus the obvious freeperisms like "libs." It'll be some "innocent" post like "Hey, did you guys hear that some vets accused Kerry of lying about his war record?" or "Hey, did you hear that Clark committed war crimes?" or "I saw an article connecting Cindy Sheehan with Satan. Is this true?"

The worst kind of troll is the kind that poses as a far leftist. They attack the Democratic party as relentlessly as any freeper, but they accumulate thousands of posts here because they are attacking from the "left." Those kind are far more dangerous than some moran who comes in here spouting RW swill and gets deleted in about 15 minutes.

[rpannier]

3. You mean the post about Cindy Sheehan

having Lucifers love child ISN'T true?????

Sorry couldn't resist. Been a long, boring day at work.

[XemaSab]

5. Cheers.

:toast:

[uncle ray]

22. often using a Che avatar.

runner up troll avatar would be the pot leaf.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

100. Alex/Droog used to be a big one too.

[iconoclastNYC]

74. Do you mean people who attack the DLC?

Yeah they must all be Freepers. :eyes:

[WildEyedLiberal]

78. Did I say that?

No.

Your defensiveness to my post is more suspicious than anything, though. Just FYI. It's odd that I mentioned nothing one way or another about the DLC and you assumed I was referring to people who don't like the DLC.

[iconoclastNYC]

85. Well one could read between the lines.

"The worst kind of troll is the kind that poses as a far leftist. They attack the Democratic party as relentlessly as any freeper, but they accumulate thousands of posts here because they are attacking from the "left." Those kind are far more dangerous than some moran who comes in here spouting RW swill and gets deleted in about 15 minutes."

Most of the DLC apologists fail to understand that the DLC is not the Democratic party and make out criticism of the DLC to be an act approaching heresy.

But I guess you are saying don't think that way, which is cool.

[Individualist]

79. Yeah, damn those leftists

and their ideals. :sarcasm:

[Name removed]

80. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Individualist]

81. I'M A LEFTIST AND PROUD OF IT

If you have a problem with that, it's your problem.

[Name removed]

82. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Individualist]

83. Rabid insistence?

My, aren't we being cute today!

[Elidor]

84. The irony is killing me

:rofl:

[confludemocrat]

87. Having "Liberal" in their screen name is

sorta like the "clear skies initiative" is to clear skies. Used as cover to attack from the right in the guise of being any kind of liberal or leftist. Their degree of viciousness in attacking anyone to their left is akin to a freeper. And they turn any kind of OP like this into targeting anyone to their left which is a ton of people.

what deserves criticism is not be criticized with such people.
Know who I might be talking about?

[sabbat hunter]

94. sad part is

when you go out to the far left, many times it meets up with the far right wing opinions.

[XemaSab]

4. I see people both on conservative and liberal blogs

who are SO over the top that they have to be trolls.

They're the people who call for a moratorium on burning of fossil fuels, the destruction of the Christian religion, free heroin for everyone, and the nomination of Jerry Brown to the Supreme Court all in the same breath. They spew Liberal platitudes with the faith of the True Believer, but there's no depth or nuance to anything they say. There's a rabid "either you're with us or you're against us" gleam in their eyes, and they're out with a vengeance.

I see people on FReep a lot too who are calling for the execution of all Muslims and Hispanics, the illegalization of evolution, and the God given right to own a rocket launcher and I have to wonder....

[regnaD kciN]

6. It seems to me...

I see people on FReep a lot too who are calling for the execution of all Muslims and Hispanics, the illegalization of evolution, and the God given right to own a rocket launcher and I have to wonder....

...that they've done a pretty good job of "illegalizing" evolution through their own breeding habits.

:spank:

[eugene5debs]

7. troll begone

I'm not so sure those are trolls.

People are for and against a lot of stuff, like from an a la carte menu.

They are usually more interesting than someone who toes the ols party line, whichever party it may be.

[XemaSab]

8. I'm talking about people who ALWAYS

toe the farthest line they can find.

You're right, most people are nuanced, especially liberals. Occasionally I see someone with a cardboard-cutout vision of the far left who is totally adamant that there is ONLY ONE WAY, and that's what rings my alarm bell.

[WildEyedLiberal]

10. Me too!

There're a few posters here who are so adamantly leftier-than-thou, and who do NOTHING but bitch endlessly about how every single Democrat sucks - I'm pretty convinced. Whether they're actual Green party/far left trolls trying to siphon loyalty from the Democratic party, or Repuke freepers posing as far leftists trying to sow division, I don't know - or care, really. Either way they're disruptive trollish assholes who do nothing here but start flamewars.

[skyblue]

97. Thank You!

:woohoo: Absolutely, exactly my sentiments.

[orleans]

23. ...sorry. can't help myself. it's "tows" as in towing a boat. n/t

[Art_from_Ark]

32. Actually, it is "toe" the line

[orleans]

62. damn! where the hell did i grow up?

oh, i know. right here--in the heart of republican county!

my bad!

[Wheezy]

67. not long ago

Senator Byrd used 'tow the line' in one of his speeches on his website. There was a thread here about it. The sad thing is, I wasn't confused before then about which toe/tow to use...and now I have to think about it. Hee. :think:

[SmokingJacket]

57. Here's a neat explanation about that...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line

[quiet.american]

69. Thanks for the link! I always wondered about that! n/t

[Judi Lynn]

9. How about the right-wingnut troll who pretends to be a Democrat

but attempts to move the entire party waaaay to the right, and implies your views are wildly "leftist" to the point he/she sees you as a "communist," or at the very least a "socialist," and most certainly not a Democrat, like him/her.

The old "we Democrats" act really wears thin, coming from people who wildly, and angrily defend the nastiest Republican actions.

[flowomo]

12. oops, sorry, wrong spot....

[Coexist]

56. or immediatley inject someone like Chomsky into the fight

whether or not Chomsky has anything to do with the thread.

[InvisibleTouch]

63. I know someone like that.

Claims to be a Democrat, but does nothing but suck up to Dubya and kiss ass so hard his lips must hurt. Why in the worlds does he even call himself a Democrat, I have to wonder? I've lost any respect I ever had for this guy - which is a good thing, ultimately, because his opinions once carried some weight with me. Now I question his judgment on everything.

[flowomo]

13. I have never understood the concern over "trolls"

a comment is just a comment... no matter who the source is. The reaction to the comment is completely in the hands of the respondents. You want to start an unproductive fight over the comment, then that's your problem, not the maker of the original comment. I've seen horrible exchanges sparked on DU by longtime, reliable DU members. So trolls do no more damage than the rest of us. It's always in our hands whether and how to respond to anything posted here.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

14. Anyone who has under 5000 posts.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[autorank]

15. So, call me! Crazy, but what's the :sarcasm: about? n/t

:hi:

[XemaSab]

17. And quite a few over 10,000

:sarcasm::sarcasm:

[Random_Australian]

18. Hmmmm I used "our"

in an earlier post but it's a Bazzaland/Yanksville thing.

But I've an idea: I've been working on a theory that predicts, among other things, that RW people, (extremes excepted) will miss the point, eg. say "war removed fascism" without realising that that does not make the war good. If you still haven't got me: RW people will not consider WHY things are good/bad and that's what will make them both inflexible and strange sounding. Would you tell me where I can find fair dinkum freeper messages to test that pls?

[XemaSab]

20. If I understand you

you want to know where to go to find some freeper messages?

Um, have you tried www.freerepublic.com ?

[orleans]

25. uh-oh. someone put up a "naughty" link. time to lock the thread.

naughty link, naughty link, naughty link!

(smile)

[HeeBGBz]

104. Projection

Whatever horrible action they are currently using, they will accuse liberals of doing.

Whatever they accuse you of is what they are already doing.

Did that make any sense?

[Crazy Guggenheim]

30. Welcome to DU. Try it in a Yahoo Group.

[RagingInMiami]

16. Calling liberals racist because they stand up for blacks

"what, they can't speak for themselves and you have to speak for them? how racist."

Insisting that the WMD's were moved to Syria before we invaded Iraq. Wouldn't Saddam have used them against us, especially considering he was such a "madman"?

[AbbyR]

68. I had an absolutely violently left-wing person tell me

that the WMD were moved to Syria. I refused to argue, but I would like to know where that idea came from.

And by the way, I have far fewer that 1,000 posts. Does that make me a troll?

[TheBaldyMan]

21. you forgot selective deafness

when a RW nut totally ignores everything that you say because they don't have an answer and then drags up some unrelated stuff they they think supports their argument.

I just got off the phone from a former left-winger now right-winger, boy am I tired, 5 hours of banging my head against a brick wall. Totally contradictory statements presented as proof. The flimsiest of evidence supporting their standpoint outweighing a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Hearsay given the status of forensic proof. Eyewitness statements rejected because the source was obviously biased.

Arguing with right-wingers is exhausting.

[orleans]

26. five hours? i'm exhausted talking to a regular person/friend

for three hours--and you're talking to a right winger for 5 hours?


damn! you must be exhausted.

[TheBaldyMan]

28. he's a very old friend from way back

we were at school together. I keep thinking I can pull him back from the dark-side. I have other right wing friends but he used to be an extreme left-winger, that's what really hurts.

[orleans]

31. what turned him?

he made some money or started his own business & thinks he has to look out for number 1?

he is now a dad and thinks repukes are the party of family values & he has to prove to everyone what a family kinda guy he is?

he's pants-wetting scared & is under the false impression the repukies will protect him?

he became a god-fearing born again?

he is a self-loathing homosexual?

he is a "reformed" drunk/addict just like bushy so he can relate to the dimwit?

those are all my guesses. am i right about one of them?

[TheBaldyMan]

35. The main suspects:

He had to start paying a tax (UK Poll Tax) that he hates in order to qualify to buy his home.
He's white and working class
He stopped reading newspapers and now gets his info from RW websites.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

36. My thinking on all that is to give up on them.

:popcorn:

[TheBaldyMan]

38. but CrazyG if it was you would you want DUers to give up on you

chances are you'ld be kidnapped and deprogrammed ... has that happened already ? or was that aliens ?

[Crazy Guggenheim]

39. ???????

:popcorn: :popcorn:

[TheBaldyMan]

40. I mean if you turned into a RW nut

instead of just a nut.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

45. ......

www.thebaldyman.com :popcorn: :popcorn:

[converted_democrat]

52. You really know someone who went left to right?? I've never met a person

that did that.. I just find it interesting.. I know lots of people who went right to left, but I've never met anyone who went left to right.. (Well, except for that one nut in Georgia that challenged Chris Matthews to a dual, but I never "met" him so it doesn't really count..)

[TheBaldyMan]

54. extreme left communist to extreme right neo-nazi

if you grew up in a white working class community you maybe understand that there isn't a lot of difference between them - poor, ignored & angry. There isn't a hell of big difference between them and extreme groups anywhere. Poverty breeds extreme-ism.

The neo-nazis have been putting a lot of footwork in recent years in poor working class areas in Britain. The usual cant - immigrants queue jumping for housing, healthcare and social security.

[Longhorn]

65. There's a commercial for some investment company --

It features a woman in different scenes while the narrator lists all of the labels the woman has had in her lifetime, including both Democrat and Republican. It seems (to me) that they imply that she was a Democrat first, in her younger, immature, idealistic youth, and then a Republican when she was older and wiser.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it but, like you, the only movement I've seen from Democrats to Republicans is by candidates in states like mine (Texas) who decided it was politically expedient. Those people either have no real political views or were DINOs in the first place.

By the way, I went from right to left, but I don't think my views as a child, under the influence of Republican parents, should count! :) I became a Democrat as soon as I started thinking for myself!

[converted_democrat]

72. That's exactly what happened to me..

"By the way, I went from right to left, but I don't think my views as a child, under the influence of Republican parents, should count! I became a Democrat as soon as I started thinking for myself!"

That's how it happened to me too.. When I left home I started changing, but I didn't change my registration until about a year ago.. I wasn't into politics at all for a while, and during those years I still considered myself a conservative.. When I actually started paying attention to politics I realized I was being lied (I started looking up my own info instead of letting them spoon feed me.) to by the talking heads on the right, and that they did not at all have my interest at heart.. The rest is history..

[hfojvt]

108. both myself and my parents

went separately from Republican to Democrat during the Reagan years. I was in my 20s, finally hitting the "real world"

[confludemocrat]

86. Ever heard of David Horowitz? or Norman Podhoretz or John Dos Passos?

just to name a few

[converted_democrat]

88. Nope, nope, and nope...n/t

[NMDemDist2]

103. call them on it, here's a handy guide to logical fallacies

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/

Examples of Fallacies

1. Inductive Argument

Premise 1: Most American cats are domestic house cats.
Premise 2: Bill is an American cat.
Conclusion: Bill is domestic house cat.

2. Factual Error

Columbus is the capital of the United States.

3. Deductive Fallacy

Premise 1: If Portland is the capital of Maine, then it is in Maine.
Premise 2: Portland is in Maine.
Conclusion: Portland is the capital of Maine.
(Portland is in Maine, but Augusta is the capital. Portland is the largest city in Maine, though.)

4. Inductive Fallacy

Premise 1: Having just arrived in Ohio, I saw a white squirrel.
Conclusion: All Ohio Squirrels are white.
(While there are many, many squirrels in Ohio, the white ones are very rare).

[TheBaldyMan]

105. thanks for the link

now if I can find a rebuttal for "La, la, la, I'm not listening, lalalalala..." I might get somewhere.

[snowbear]

24. I've seen some that are so lame...

..that they boast at FREAK Republic about the thread they created at DU, and they'll actually provide a link.

When they do that, you just hit the 'alert' and they are taken care of.



There are a LOT of embedded freepers here. But I know of several VERY embedded lefties who are doing some GREAT work right there in JimRob's land of loonies that they have absolutely no clue about.

We're not just talking about regular memberships.. ..Ok, I've said too much - but they are doing some GREAT work there!

One day, the nasty, filthy, cockroach infested freepnoids will regret the day they ever signed up at that place!

Oh, the things they don't know !!!

[Stephist]

27. I have no problems with what Cons post in Freeper land...

because that is the blind leading the blind and they are entitled to their own public toilets. But what gets to me is when they go to a liberal blog and still behave as if it is Freeperville. When I am in my own house I do and say as I please when I am a guest in someone else's house I follow their rules and I don't make a habit of showing up uninvited to someone's house whom I don't know or don't like and then proceed to question their civility when they ask me to leave.

[Hissyspit]

29. That's a very good assessment of the types. n/t

[WernhamHogg]

33. They use the talking points

They use the talking points that they learn from Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, etc. I don't listen to any of those assholes, but after a major event, I can always tell what they told their listeners to "think" regarding that event. Then they go and spread their talking points on liberal blogs and act like the talking point was actually a thought that emerged from their tiny minds rather than having heard it on the radio or the tee-vee.

[file83]

59. I agree - the ones that come spewing out talking points.

They have no thoughts that are original or their own.

For instance, after the Cheney hunting accident - This freeper posted "I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney than driving with Ted Kennedy."

When I first saw this I thought - well that seems like an original thought. But then I went to a few repug blogs and saw that comment EVERYWHERE!

Losers.

[XemaSab]

75. It's true

and my response is "okay, I'll trade ya Chappaquiddick for that time Laura killed that dude, so that will make us even. So, how about Cheney shooting that guy in the face?"

[stanwyck]

61. you're right. And their Achilles heel

is, they don't read. So, you can come back very easily with inoformation they don't know. They know about 1/4 of what the average liberal knows. Bury a freeper with knowledge. They can't respond. And Rush and Hannity carefully edit their "news" so freepers are always behind. I am amazed every day at what freepers don't know. They are very ignorant of national and world news.
It's because they turn to Faux and the radio hate-talkers. And they get a third grade education while we're in graduate school.

[0rganism]

34. The best ones, you'll never know what they are until it's way too late

I credit Bev Harris with running one of the better scams I've seen around here. But there have been others, including some who infiltrated far enough to become moderators. Yowza. When they're that good at trolling, is it even trolling anymore?

[snowbear]

43. Yep, that's what I'm saying... WE have mods over THERE!!

I'm telling you -- they are clueless.

[SmokingJacket]

58. Yes, we do.

Wink wink.

[ThomCat]

71. Why bother.

I can't imagine wanting to immerse myself in that much shit...

What do they get out of spending so much time faking their views that they can actually become moderators?

[RagingInMiami]

37. "I thought this was the 'big tent' party"

[snowbear]

42. Miami..

It IS a big tent. But Freepers are immoral bastards and whiney-ass bitches who try to spew their filthy racist hatred in an attempt to disrupt or sway opinion.

There has to be a line drawn somewhere!! If you've ever visited their disgusting site, you'd know why they completely SUCK.

[RagingInMiami]

49. My statement was in quotes

Meaning that is what the freeper trolls always say when they come on here with their rubbish.

[dorkulon]

41. "I'm an Independent."

This has to be the most annoying thing. I think they pick it up from O'Reilly.

[snowbear]

46. Evidently Sean Hannity spouted off on his show today that...

...he was "NOT A REPUBLICAN" !!!

I didn't watch it -- I don't do Faux, but it's all over the blogs, and sites. I saw it posted on Big Eddie's website after he said it.

Wonder what got into the guy?

[dorkulon]

48. Exactly,

I mean, the guy's got his tongue lodged in Bush's crack all day long, but now he doesn't want to carry his baggage. Or maybe he's just following the polls?

[quiet.american]

70. Yep! n/t

[bullwinkle428]

76. CLASSIC!! YOu just can't imagine how many of the Kool-Aid drinking,

Dubya-toe-sucking wingnuts are proud to declare their "independence" at the same time they're defending *'s indefensible positions on any number of issues...

[Bluebear]

44. "I hate Bush as much as anybody BUT.....

[snowbear]

47. But.... But what?

Spit it out!

~~~~~

[Robeson]

50. That one is a classic. That's when the BS detector sounds off a....

...loud warning!

[Dr Ron]

107. That's because they have no principles

They have deteriorated to the point there they no longer even support traditional conservative goals. The current Bush Worshippers define everything in terms of supporting or opposing Bush. If Bush does something they will come up with reasons to support it. They then mistakingly believe we opposee positions merely because they are supported by Bush, having lost all understanding of standing up for principles.

[zbdent]

51. Uses "you liberals" to insult and attack

and then says "oh, there you go attacking me personally . . ." when someone tells him or her that he or she is totally full of shit . . .

[mmonk]

53. HUGH!!! I'm series. Glad spelling isn't involved.

Just kidding.;-)

[wryter2000]

55. A couple

1) the flaming bag of poo. The conservative who drops in a huge pile of turds just to get everyone talking to him/her and diverting the discussion.

2) the conservative who argues that if you're truly tolerant, you have to tolerate his/her intolerance.

3) a variation on 2 above -- the conservative who insists that his/her point of view is valid and should be considered even if it's totally unsubstantiated by facts. This is the entire basis behind many anti-evolution arguments, but it shows up in other arguments.

Followed by 4) When you blast him/her with facts, he/she accuses you of name-calling. At that point, another liberal who cares about people's feelings will often come to his/her aid and insist that the discussion must remain civil. Often that person hasn't gone back to look at the argument (which by now is so long no one has time to read it all) but just takes the conservative's word for it that the rational person has attacked him/her.

I've been on a company bulletin board with conservatives for years, and I've seen all of these many, many times.

[warrens]

64. They're not conservatives

They're wingnuts. I may disagree with conservatives, but they rarely use those tactics. Heck, being a deficit hawk, I even agree with some conservative thought.

Bushbots, wingnuts, racist FRetards are an entirely different story.

[Norquist Nemesis]

66. Using the term "Democrat" Party

While I've seen it from a few liberals/Democrats (a very few), it's almost universal with Cons.

[ThomCat]

73. #@$#%! That pisses me off.

I had a co-worker who insisted on refering to us as the "Democrat party" and refuse to accept that this was disrespectful.

She absolutely refused to accept that people have a right to name themselves. You can't refer to any group by a name they don't like.

I only ever hear wingnuts refer to the Democrat party and it always pisses me off.

[Norquist Nemesis]

77. Next time she does it, tell her the "Democrat" Party only exists

in her head!

[hfojvt]

109. except that I was just reading my niece's

ten year old civics book. And it called us the Democrat Party.

[PatrioticLeftie]

89. Sometimes it's very subtle

You have to really analyze the language if you suspect a lurker. Take note of how they address people, parties, governments, and other entities.

[dogday]

90. They use the word Liberal more than I do

and I am one. They never say Democrats to describe us, they always say Liberals... :spank:

[bunkerbuster1]

92. They remind us that they "won"

All of our anger is about "losing" (or, as RWers are wont to spell it, "loosing.")

[BlueIris]

93. ACK. We have a NEST of them on my blog right now.

Their many features include:

a) Treating a mainstream news account or description of a vile situation that is the result Bush incompetence or criminality as the "official" and "correct" version of events upon which to base their "arguments"

b) Often telling critics of even those most extreme fascist neo-conservative fuck-ups (South Dakota) that we're being "unfair" to the Right
1) Using the ol' "well, those of a Christian/conservative/homophobic mindset/value system" simply "don't see it that/your way," as the justification for what the neo-cons are doing
2) Their justifications of their positions in these "debates" with liberal bloggers will inevitably involve the phrase "I guess we don't see eye-to-eye," even when their eyes are comfortably lingering on the acceptability of misogyny, bigotry, war, hatred and oppression

c) In general, even when not using RW talking points, their perspectives are based on the idea that neo-conservatism, conservatism and in some ways, Bush, are fundamentally defensible, moral and correct and everything that questions those philosophies should be subject to scrutiny, criticism and attack

d) BIG fans of conservative and quasi-moderate "Democrats"

e) Even bigger fans of Republicans they can paint as "not supportive of Bush"

f) "I'm a Libertarian"

I'm just a guest author on my blog, so I can't do anything about the troublemakers, and the site owners won't delete any of the comments from readers who are CLEARLY, CLEARLY not Democrats, Progressives, or even anti-Republicans in any sense of those terms. Dumb fucks.

[Jackpine Radical]

95. This kinda post makes us look bad.

I need some Democrat thinking to help me debunk the penetrating and insightful arguments on this neoNazi site: (link to some Aryan Nation crap follows)

[BlueIris]

96. Ooooh. Good ones.

And again: ACK.

[Coastie for Truth]

98. Conservative Trolls AND "ONE TRICK PONY" TROLLS

"If you don't agree with my narrow interpretation (and spin) on each and every issue that I am an obsessive-compulsive "one trick pony" about - then you are a PNACer - freeper - unAmerican - Neocon - Racist"

[Blue_Tires]

99. they overuse that popcorn smiley?

LOL (just kidding, unless of course you DO play for the other team, and in that case, fuck off!))

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

101. On this board: more likely to pretend to be from a foreign country,

especially Canada, U.K. a little less popular. I think they feel it somehow lends more credibility to their RW rant.

[Sparkly]

102. I like the ones who say "WE" and post ridiculous things as bait...

Two main kinds:

"Oh no! We're doomed! Bush is doing SO great! We better hope everything goes terrible in Iraq or we'll never win an election again!!!" (They seem to be hoping for: "Oh my God, I'm so depressed! I hope hundreds more soldiers die soon!")

"I think we should give free stuff to everybody. And we should shut down churches, they're bad." you get the idea. (They seem to be hoping for: "Oh absolutely! The government exists to supply lazy people with free stuff, we hate churches, we hate the military and we can't STAND mom and apple pie!")

[Dr Ron]

106. Post ridiculous things and then others quote as evidence

What is particularly amusing is when the obvious trolls are quoted on other conservtive sites as evidence of off the wall positions held by liberals. It goes along with the general tendency of conservatives to attack liberals not on our true disagreements (as they cannot win there) but based upon liberal positions they have invented.

Alas conservativism as an intelletual movement has declined so far that there are sites which are incapable of showing any independent thought. All they can handle is to quote (or more frequently misquote) liberals and make poorly reasoned snide remarks. This type is easily taken in by the trolls posing as liberals.

[hfojvt]

110. "You may not know it, but this man's a spy..."

Isn't it logical for a troll to be concerned (or rather, to publicly announce such a concern) about spotting trolls? I would expect pointing fingers and encouraging an atmosphere of suspicion to be very disruptive and counter-productive to an organisation. Also, if I can be the first person to accuse another of being a "narc", or to announce that we have to be on our guard about narcs, that probably takes the heat off of me.