Demoralizing nonwingers on other boards

[cactusrose]

I've posted in some detail on the Media forum about how the moderators on AARP are biased in favor of far-right posters and let them get away with blatant violations of TOS while arbitrarily zapping posts of non-wingers. When non-wingers post, one never knows if the post is going to be zapped or not. It's very demoralizing.

I've also posted on that thread about concerns that I and others have that this is a part of a much wider campaign by the far-right to control what is said and read in a lot of cyberspace. A single company that provides the moderation services for a number of boards - especially a number of large boards like AARP and AOL - is in a position to dictate what gets posted and read in a lot of cyberspace.

This is an update of the situation. I felt it's more appropriate to general discussion than the media thread where it's being discussed who is behind this.

The situation has eased a little since so many non-wingers have been raising heck about it. (Are we allowed to say hell on here? Only wingers are allowed to say that on AARP. Non-wingers get our posts zapped entirely for typing "hell" or even "he!!" or any other variation.) The moderators are still zapping posts of non-wingers who don't violate TOS, but not as frequently as before. However, as a long-time poster on that board, I can tell you that the administration easing up a little in the face of multiple complaints is a temporary thing, and as soon as non-wingers ease up, the moderators will be back to zapping a lot of posts.

Wingers still are getting away with violating TOS though the moderators are censoring a few of their very worst posts because of the pressure of the non-wingers. Though they still aren't enforcing TOS on them.

Being kicked off the board for the slightest thing or just because some winger moderator feels like it is still hanging over the heads of the non-winger posters. But we continue to fight back. We know our chances are better if we continue to fight than if we do nothing. The administration kicking off 3 non-wingers as an example to keep the others in line backfired.

As I said, the moderation is still uneven and unfair overall. Our best chance is when a lot of us band together on particular threads about the unfair moderation and keep making waves. But the wingers are very much aware that they are privileged on the AARP board. I want to share what one winger bragged on one of those threads:

http://community.aarp.org/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=rp-issues&msg=32023.141

"We dont get booted from this board. Your buds do."

This particular winger poster - who goes by the handle of oklawildcat and claims to have made a fortune wildcatting oil - is one of the worst offenders. Even though multiple non-wingers have complained multiple times about him, the most the administration ever does is to censor a few of his posts when they get too outrageously bad and there are too many complaints. People who complain are told he's been warned, but that they should not engage him.

http://community.aarp.org/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=rp-issues&msg=32023.181


"off topic for just a minute....I wonder how the moderators came up with the idea of making the attacked responsible for the behavior of the attacker....interesting concept...I've also received correspondence telling me that they've been "repeatedly warned" (which apparently simply rolls off their back like water) but that I need to step away from the issue so they will in turn stop being/doing whatever.....seems sort of warped to me....maybe the inmates really ARE running the asylum.

"now, on point, from pp3:"

""are you really as dum as a box of rocks""

Abusers and their enablers always are claiming that it's the fault of the people being attacked that they're abused.

Sometimes when they moderators are forced to censor the post of a winger, they will retaliate by censoring a post of the non-winger who complained or any non-winger. They don't always do this (some of the moderators are less bad than the others), but often they do.

[sui generis]

1. well then they get what they deserve

it's darwin in action. If old geezers don't believe that they need social security, medicare, affordable senior housing and senior care or affordable medicine, then that's the way that game will end for them. If they consistently vote republican and right wing on irrelevant social issues such as gay marriage and ignore the real issues that impact their lives, then we can't do anything about it. Age and treachery overcomes youth and beauty every time, especially if there's a lot of age and treachery.

[Kingshakabobo]

2. I love that saying.

"Age and treachery overcomes youth and beauty every time"

I saw it on an older guys T-shirt in a gay bar........That was 10 years ago. Now I'm the older guy. I need to get me one of those T-shirts.

[cactusrose]

8. They aren't getting the reaction that they expected

Instead of people slinking meekly away, they're standing up to the wingers and their moderators.

I feel like I could write a book on abuse, manipulation, and brainwashing tactics and ploys of the far-right. I think one reason so much of what they and their moderators do blows up in their faces is that several posters are pointing out the tactics. For example, one abuse and manipulation ploy is to make an example out of a few to strike fear into others and keep them in line. So the moderators tried that by banning 3 posters. Instead of the other non-wingers falling meekly into line, they raised a public stink. The unfair bannings sparked 4 different threads, and I believe all of them went to over a hundred posts. BTW, the reason the moderators gave for banning one poster was that she had criticized the moderators. But instead of that silencing the other non-wingers, they criticized the moderators even more than before. It blew up in the moderators' faces. They got the opposite reaction than the one they wanted and had expected.

[cactusrose]

3. You really need to check out the AARP board

You would discover that the majority of posters on there are non-wingers, cannot stand Bush, consider the Republicans hopelessly corrupt, are in favor of gay marriage and gay rights, think more should be done for the disadvantaged in the US, spoke out against invading Iraq before the invasion, think the troops should be brought home, are disgusted by the way the Bush administration treats active duty and their dependents and vets, rake chickenhawks over the coals, call the Bush Medicare plan the "Medifraud" plan, speak out against off-shoring of jobs, and are very against the privatization of Social Security.

This is why the far-right has made the AARP board a target. Not because a majority go along with Bush and the Republicans, but because a majority don't.

[sui generis]

4. sorry I was being hyperbolic

I know that just from common sense. But when the administrators of the board shape the conversation with overt bias it changes the conversation for some people who don't readily think for themselves, or who align themselves with "the majority".

The far right has made the AARP in general a target because it is an incredibly powerful lobby when it puts its mind to it. If you can manipulate that lobby through traditional conservative tactics of fear and ridicule you hold the reins on a huge voting bloc.

I think a lot of elderly who really are politically involved know better and think for themselves, but it is that spongy "middle" who will either just leave in disgust and not vote at all or go with the flow, in the absence of an effective contra opinion.

[cactusrose]

5. This is so true

Especially the part about the board administrator setting the tone. The AARP moderators never have been all together fair and unbiased - sometimes worse, sometimes better than at other times - but it's gotten a lot worse in the last few months as Bush sinks lower and lower in the polls.

So far the fear and ridicule and other tactics are backfiring big time on that board. The non-winger seniors and younger non-wingers have not been reacting like many people do when subjected to them. Perhaps part of the reason for this is that a number of us have been doing posts on abuse, manipulation, and brainwashing tactics. When people learn to recognize the tactics, they develop immunity to them and are more likely to react in a way which the abuser/ exploiter doesn't like and didn't anticipate.

I looked up two threads I thought you might find particularly interesting:

http://community.aarp.org/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=rp-issues&msg=28536.1&maxT=9

THE REPUBLICAN CULTURE OF CORRUPTION....

This one has gone to over a thousand posts in spite of and in part because of attempts by wingers to disrupt it and blame Clinton. Plus, the thread's originator, Old Fart, has made keeping track of Republican corruption a special project. BTW, Google for "Republican Corruption". You get quite a few hits.

The second thread is for anyone who is fed-up with sanctimonious wingers telling us how moral and ethical they are (when they're not) and how immoral and unethical the rest of us are (when we're not):

http://community.aarp.org/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=rp-issues&msg=23243.1&maxT=7

Republican Hypocrisy And Perversion

This one also has gone to over a thousand posts. As the thread's originator puts it: "So many GOP hypocrites and perverts, so little time."

[Sadie5]

6. I have quit posting over there

I just go to read what is going on. There are a few 40 yo who admit they are not connected with AARP in any way who throw out their garbage.

[cactusrose]

7. The moderators let them get away with it.

The far-righters have brought in 30-somethings, 20-somethings, and even teens. Many of these people make no secret of their ages, and the administrator says all ages are OK. Since they've gone on record quite a few times saying that, I want to invite nonwingers in their teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, and on up onto that board.

Please don't let the wingers run you off from posting on that board. That's exactly what they want to do to all nonwingers on that board.

[BubbaCitizen]

9. AARP Boards

This was posted by someone on the AARP Boards today...Oklawildcat is a poster that is actually allowed to run wild on that forum attacking anyone that posts anything that sounds liberal or against the present administration. He also indulges in name calling of those in the above category.

Please explain why Oklawildcat can make 22 posts on a thread, "A Guide to Proper Posting", without being edited, and even boasting that "we don't get kicked off, you do", but yet certain people are edited and sent warning letters that they will be removed almost immediately.

We believe that there are many users/posters on the board that would be interested to know the special relationship some apparently have with the mangement repeatedly posting garbage, while others are targeted immediately.

What is the criteria for removing one from these boards? Apparently if one belongs to a certain category of posters they are immune from removal, but those from another category are removed almost immediately.

We thought the purpose of these boards were for the enjoyment of all AARP members and seniors instead of being a private domain.

Again, it's believed that there are a good many that would like a public reply to these questions."

http://community.aarp.org/rp-issues/messages?msg=31584.166

The board is supposed to be for seniors to provide them a place to discuss issues, but as indicated above it has been hijacked by those who interrupt.

Several days ago, the server there went down, and by the time it came back up, most everyone was afraid they had been removed. The administrator and their moderators there are apparently ruling by fear, having established a private fiefdom, copying the Roverian tactics of the administration.

[wildeyed]

10. Welcome to DU!

:toast: