The left in America has a problem. The mainstream media (MSM) has lost its monopoly on news and information for the American people. And now, firms are “hiring small armies of social-media mercenaries to do battle for Democrats.”
Does this mean more paid gun rights foes and self-defense hating trolls commenting at TTAG as we near the election? Count on it.
The Washington Post reports (archive link here):
A new Democratic-aligned political action committee advised by retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is planning to deploy technology originally developed to counter Islamic State propaganda in service of a domestic political goal – to combat online efforts to promote President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The group, Defeat Disinfo, will use artificial intelligence and network analysis to map discussion of the president’s claims on social media. It will seek to intervene by identifying the most popular counter-narratives and boosting them through a network of more than 3.4 million influencers across the country – in some cases paying users with large followings to take sides against the president.
Why would those paid trolls and sock puppets come to TTAG? Because Joe Biden has a lot more problems than credible rape allegations, an endless parade of inappropriate touching incidents, and political corruption scandals involving both him and his son.
Uncle Joe also has pledged to not only ban America’s favorite rifle, the AR-15, but also to appoint Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke to confiscate them. After all, Old Joe is under the impression these scary guns have killed 150 million Americans since 2007.
Over at Legal Insurrection, they covered Democrats’ past failed efforts at astroturfing to counter actual people and legitimate grassroots activism.
From “Democrats To Deploy Paid Trolls and Sock Puppets“:
The rapid national growth and incredible political strength of the Tea Party movement shook the left to its tyrannical core. They did everything they could to stop it, from smears and lies, to demonization and ridicule, even then-president Obama got in on the smear action. But nothing seemed to work.
Nothing worked, that is, until the Obama administration pulled out all the stops and deployed a variety of alphabet agencies to actively target the “taxed enough already” movement. Arguably the most effective of these efforts to quash the truly grassroots movement was the deliberate targeting of Tea Party groups by the IRS, an action admitted to and apologized for, though no one, including Obama, was seriously held to account.
Since then, the left has tried everything it can think of to create its own version of the Tea Party. Unfortunately for them, everything they can think of is rather limited. Indeed, it’s limited to pathetic, desperate astroturfed attempts to buy “grassroots” support. From the “coffee party” to the “women’s march,” the left keeps trying and failing to buy an effective grassroots movement.
You’d think the continual failure of each such astroturfed leftist “movement” would sink in at some point, that they would clue in to the fact that repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting different results is insane.
We’ve seen plenty of compensated “astroturfing” among Big Gun Control. Such as David Hogg and his Run For Your Lives organization, covered here at TTAG:
The Big Dollar, Dark Money Contributions That Fund March For Our Lives
March For Our Lives holds itself up as a grassroots gun control org, much like Moms Demand Action. And just like the Moms, the (supposedly) student-led March For Our Lives organization gets their funding not from the little people, but from a group of big dollar donors.
While the NRA and other gun rights orgs raise tens of millions each year primarily from everyday Americans, the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex lacks that kind of grassroots support.
Instead of donations from everyday Americans, civilian disarmament operations rely on dark money from the well-healed to keep the lights on…
Now we learn that 99.5% all of the nearly $18 million raised in the first year by this new “student-led” group did not come from the $25 donations sent in by everyday Americans who just wanted to keep their children safe.
Instead, almost almost $17 million of the total came from exactly 36 donations of between $100,000 to $3.5 million.
And before him, there was the fable of “just-a-housewife” Shannon Watts supposedly ironing her husband’s shirts when she decided to spin up Moms Demand Action.
From the Denver Post:
How a Colorado mother became the National Rifle Association’s worst nightmare
Shannon Watts folded laundry as news of the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that killed 20 children and six adults flashed across her television screen in 2012, rattling something inside the mother of five that couldn’t be stifled. That newfound, burning activism would soon position the Colorado woman to identify herself as the National Rifle Association’s worst nightmare.
The only thing missing from the first line of that fake news report: “Once upon a time….”
Anyone can quickly find Shannon Watts’ actual background as a corporate communications professional and political operative. Under her maiden name, Shannon Troughton, she served as president and owner of VoxPop Public Relations, a boutique liberal PR firm.
And before that? We’ll let her explain from her press release via PR Newswire:
According to PR Week, “Shannon Troughton recently left a position at the helm of a 30-person corporate communications team at WellPoint, one of the largest health insurers in the US, to start her own healthcare firm, VoxPop Public Relations. She started the firm because she saw a need for boutique agencies that can provide the same service at a lower cost during the recession. At WellPoint, she launched a number of key efforts, such as its Zagats partnership, which allows users to rate their doctors, and the establishment of personalized health records for WellPoint members.”
Troughton has worked in public relations for nearly 20 years, specializing in media relations, product promotion, government affairs, and issues and crisis management.
At WellPoint, Troughton led a team of 40 public relations professionals responsible for implementing communications programs for the 14 states in which the company operates, as well as the company’s business units.
Previously, Ms. Troughton served as director of Global Communications for GE Healthcare, a $15 billion medical diagnostics and device business within General Electric.
Troughton also served as director of Public and Corporate Affairs for Monsanto Company in St. Louis..
Troughton began her career as a communications staffer for the administration of the late Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan in Jefferson City and is a graduate of the University of Missouri.
Just your average mom on tennis shoes, right?
And now, the Los Angeles Times (while hiding behind ad blocker blockers) dote upon the latest great idea from Democrats…their plan to use paid trolls and sock puppets to spread disinformation.
As conservative conspiracy theories and deepfake videos race through the internet, defying the fact-checkers and bruising political candidates, Curtis Hougland is trying to fight back by borrowing from the playbook of his adversaries.
Hougland, a technologist and online-extremism expert, is hiring small armies of social-media mercenaries to do battle for Democrats.
These are not troops predisposed to political warfare. They are typically not aligned with the progressive candidate or cause that Hougland’s firm, Main Street One, is representing. But they hold a weapon that’s lacking among internet activists in the echo chambers of the left: large and devoted followings of persuadable voters.
“We are making a bet that human networks can out-compete the bots and trolls and sock puppets,” said Hougland…
Interestingly, all the way back in 2016, the same LA Times had a similar story about this new “frontier” in shaping public perceptions:
Hillary Clinton’s well-heeled backers have opened a new frontier in digital campaigning, one that seems to have been inspired by some of the Internet’s worst instincts. Correct the Record, a super PAC coordinating with Clinton’s campaign, is spending some $1 million to find and confront social media users who post unflattering messages about the Democratic front-runner.
So the Democrat operatives with bylines at the LA Times are re-branding Hillary’s failed “Correct the Record” collection of paid trolls as the new Defeat Disinfo campaign.
Keep all of this in mind as America re-opens for business and Defeat Disinfo’s operatives try to gaslight Americans on Biden’s past public proclamations supporting gun control and confiscations. They plan to be very active as the election nears. Even right here in comments at The Truth About Guns.
While we do not want to deal with constant trolling, there is a need to realize that people can be very concerned with, and in favour of, the rights of gun owners while having differing views on how a society can best allocate scarce resources.
While not compromising on our rights as gun owners, we need to maintain a big tent.
Pleased to meet you, Hasaf. I noticed that you spelled “favour” with the non-American format. From where are you commenting?
I am in the US. However, I have spent a lot of years working outside of The States. Most of that time I worked for UK companies.
I now work as a teacher and I continue using UK spellings, in large part just to mess with my students.
I actually post here quite a bit.
Yes, but I’ve never replied to you directly before, so it’s by definition an introduction.
One of my high school English Literature teachers was born & raised here in the States, but taught the British format simply because she preferred it as being “more properly cultured” She accepted assignments written in either (e.g., favor vs. favour), but we all were convinced that the suckups among us were getting their grades goosed a bit higher by using her version.
But the snooty effeminate accent is so dang annoying (and loved by progs).
There’s also a small group on here from Her Majesty’s former colonies.
Whether words are spelt with o or ou depends on typing and auto-correct.
Phonics best describes correct spelling and pronunciation of our “American” language.
We don’t speak the kings/Queens language here, we kicked their oppressive asses out of here in 1783. Stick your pinky up your nose, tea drinking fag…….
I did say former colonies as we gained independence in 1901, well mostly. One state came late to the party in 1902.
Former, huh? Who is on your money, Southern? 😋
And there are some Americans here who have spent part of their lives living outside of the USA, and WE GET IRRITATED when you assume that only lefties ever lived outside of the USA, because we tend to be pretty conservative overall, regardless of what the popular opinion is.
Victoria pretty much wishes it was still a colony! Ok technically an unfair statement because VIC is more than just Melbourne and Geelong….
Well, Victoria has become another colony, but this time to China as they joined the China belt and road initiative. And without permission from the federal government.
The state premier has bent the knee.
What Hasaf says is true. There are different opinions about how, as he puts it, we should allocate (re-allocate?) scarce resources (re-distribution of wealth, maybe?). However bottom line, if you vote left, you vote against guns. That obstacle is insurmountable. So if guns rights are important to you, understand that voting Democrat is a vote against gun rights, period, end of story.
I’m not a one-issue voter. I am open-minded and don’t care much how people live their lives. I believe in justice and liberty for all, and American Exceptionalism and the freedom of the Pursuit of Happiness. However, most of what I support (gun rights, personal freedoms, support for the military, reigning in entitlements, lower taxes, personal responsibility, less regulation, etc.) is typically championed by the right, or should be, and much of what I disdain (big government/bureaucracy, political correctness, identity politics, open borders, heavy-handed regulation, socialist policies, nanny state, etc.) is championed by the left. I think it takes a certain kind of arrogant asshole to be a politician in the first place, of whatever stripe, and Trump certainly has those qualities. Still, I believe he’s the right guy at the right time.
Joe Biden is no Hillary; he’s too stupid to be Hillary. Overall, this election is easy: R down the line.
“However bottom line, if you vote left, you vote against guns. . .” Indeed, and given the dominance of progressivism over more conventional liberalism, if you vote left you are also voting fascist. In the 20’s and 30’s progressive intellectuals and politicians happily embraced Italian fascism (just as Margaret Sanger’s eugenics was appropriated by the Nazis in their destruction of Jews). Fascism, although never ever actually referred to as such, has always been a core belief of progressive ideology—that’s where the progressive idea of the “administrative state” comes from. The administrative state is simply another name for a fascist state.
Ironically one of them is the author of this article. One of them claims to be a lawyer but at least admits to being Russian. One is a confused guy in California allegedly and another is a crossdresser who is self hating from KY.
All kinds of nuts on this forum.
Someone sure sounds ‘triggered’…
Suck on it, jerk-off… 🙂
Would you believe, there is actually a town named Jelly, KY?
You may know their sister city in Austria. Yes there is a Fu..ing , Austria. It is on google maps.
We have a Jerkwater in PA.
And “Intercourse”
We have lots of jerkwaters in California.
Eric Swalwell 2020.
The big joke is that you go through Blue Balls and Intercourse to reach Paradise in PA.
I thought our national language was both English and Spanish.
Then there’s the little man in Canton shaking his fist at the sky.
What do you mean “coming” those assholes have BEEN here…. They’ll just be getting paid more to be more prolific and to rat out anyone in disagreement with their agenda… As far as Biden appointing Beto, Do you think a guy who believes he’s running against himself can remember something he said to Nobody Beto months ago?
Wait, we can get paid? How do you sign up?
If it’s anything like the non-student volunteers Reddit with a focus on anti gun/socialism/Democrat advocacy
Beat me to it, so a minor to moderate increase in lefty trolls who might get paid a pittance to make our current volunteer trolls jealous.
Imagine being so pathetic that you constantly troll without even getting paid.
I could see the entertainment angle if they are clever enough to actually pull it off. But yeah some of them all you can feel is pity for their efforts.
I troll for the center, so 2 paychecks!
Biden’s the guy who told a hardhat that he is “full of shit” because the hardhat had read Biden’s campaign pages, and Biden hadn’t. Biden doesn’t even know what platform he’s running on.
I think both sides of the political spectrum can come together and agree that boomers have ruined everything.
Okay zoomer.
Offendial: They are actually offended by their own behavior but, their life is so dark and shallow. They can only get enjoyment from trying to make people feel as empty as they are. It comes from living in Mommy’s basement and sponging off her Social Security.
Ick. You said “Mommy” and “sponge” in the same sentence.
Actually the Communist Party (Democrat Party) has pretty much destroyed this country. When Russia said back in the late Fifties earli Sixties they would take over the US without firing a shot they knew what they were doing and they took over the Democrat party to do so.
They took over the democrat party long before the 1960s.
The communist party USA closed their operation in the 1940s saying: “There is no need for the communist party, democrats have adopted our platform” ( Paraphrased )
Can’t be here yet. The trolls that I have read here have been amateurish and were soundly crushed by the usual band of commenters.
The guy in your profile pic is pointing the gun the wrong way
No, the other guy has a sharp tongue. He is going to remedy that.
We should all keep in mind there are probably provocateurs in any organization and some will act as avid supporters while trying to undermine the organization.
More? If it wasn’t for paid trolls pushing an agenda we’d never have a thread more than 50 comments long here. The msm, nothing but paid trolls, helped get Trump elected for his first term and are doing it again. And they’re too damn dumb to realize it.
People like miner49er and all his incarnations are a god send to the gun owning community.
Haha, you beat me to it. Scrolled down here to the comments to say pretty much the same thing.
Ban the trolls? Heck no! They’re half the fun here. The newbie trolls are obvious and get trounced pretty quickly. The more seasoned ones are allowed to stir up the pot and get the juices flowing…for a while. True POTG know the bovine excrement when we smell it, and nothing any troll says will change our position(s) on matters.
Now, that’s different than the genuine disagreements TTAG users have. Varying opinions and robust conversations are what hone one’s debating skills. Ban the arguments, and you remove the ability to improve the skills.
But please…don’t feed the trolls… 🙂
Speaking of, what has happened to James Campbell?
Genuine disagreements that none of us can win like the caliber wars.😊
Thank you for your kind words.
I am indeed gratified that some would think my humble posts were worthy of compensation.
I should say, I don’t believe my personality has differentiated to the extent that I am capable of evidencing different entities.
Regarding the assertion of posting under multiple accounts, to paraphrase a great American;
I regret that I have but one account to post from for my country.
From which to post… There. Fixed that for ya. Your preposition was dangling.
Thank you! I was in a hurry, and disregarded the angle of the dangle.
I must admit, it is reassuring that someone of your grammatical expertise is on the forum.
Perhaps you’d be kind enough to address some of the other posters’ grammatical errors, L I am sure they would find it most edifying.
Coming to TTAG — are you guys serious? Every troll here is a Democrat scvmbag (excuse my triple redundancy).
As for Stanley McChrystal, he may be America’s biggest traitor since Benedict Arnold. Well, okay, he might have some competition from that sleazy lowlife John Brennan.
If you’re starting a list make sure you get Hilldabeast, John Kerry and Obama up there close to the top…. Ohh and Clapper do NOT forget Clapper… And the whole upper echelon of Obamas FBI starting of course with Comey… And the Obama DOJ…
Brennan, Clapper, and Comey: the three stooges of the apocalypse.
Yeah, them….
McChrystal was a successful in Iraq but disaster in Afghanistan. He blamed the President (Obama) for his own failure to lead and was rightfully fired along with Flynn.
Since his firing, he has sold his services like a whore to the world. His Defeat Disinfo is Information Warfare which he knows it is illegal for him to do. Prosecute him, McRaven, Wesley Clark, and every former SOF type who uses their formerly classified skills to make a buck when they retire!
“. . . and was rightfully fired ***along with Flynn*** ??? Guilt-by-association? In a single sentence you try to associate a progressive hack who was fired for incompetence with the name and reputation of an honorable man, a genuine patriot who was deliberately targeted and brutally treated by Deep State fascists? Sorry to tell you but this kind of crude trolling might work on Facebook or Twitter but it won’t work here.
The problem, you see, is that your guilt-by-association analogy only really works when your readers lack the historical/political understanding that allows better informed people to easily refute your claim. I know this kinda sucks, but more of us here than not know that McChrystal and Flynn are not in any way related.
Flynn was fired because he refused to spread the Obama bullshit about ISIS on the run….
Be careful what you say about Flynn. He’s in a perfect position to be the next Executive Vice President of the NRA.😊
Flynn was fired by Obama just like McCrystal.
In Afghanistan, Flynn was McChrystal’s right hand man in Afghanistan.
Like McChrystal, Flynn tried to sell his lobbying efforts and connections after he retired.
Unlike McChrystal, Flynn ended up on the Republican side of politics and lied to investigators.
If Flynn was investigated for this stuff, shouldn’t McChrystal be investigated also?
Bring on all the unAmerican Marxist Effers as even though they are wrong they have the right to be wrong.
“…Democratic-aligned political action committee advised by retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal,…”
Very disappointing (as reflected by Ralph above).
I thought they have been doing this since the 1970s. Nothing new really. Disinformation and the elimination of all firearms has always been there goal since the 1930s. We just do not have an avenue or media outlet to post the facts about firearms. We have seen new laws introduced at the state and in the US House of Representatives by Democrats in the verbal and scripted design to eliminate all firearms at a slow pace. Demographics is control at the state level by Democratic control state houses that redesign pro-2A districts at the state and federal levels to alter voting over the last 50 years to only Democratic control enclaves. If, we can not win states and control how voting districts at drawn every 10 years it will be a losing cause for us over the next 100 years.
Their goal*
There are more sinister and effective tools in the communist movement… Social Media.
Since a high percentage of youth use social media they are targets for left wing influence.
Google, facebook, twitter and who knows what else have algorithms to categorize political views. They use that information to slant results of searches, suppress what they don’t want seen and to advance the narrative.
These tools are also used to turn out the vote of their preferred voters and they work. The 2018 House of Representatives flip was influenced by turning out the young dedicated socialists and discouraging conservatives. I’m sure they have improved these tools since then.
Then, there is voter fraud, illegal voters and “found” votes after the polls close, all to the benefit of the left.
Every conservative in the nation needs to turn out to vote in November.
Be Prepared !
If the left is so organized and in control of the voting system how did Trump get elected? Honest question.
Because Trump is actually smarter than all of the Leftists combined together.
He has the one thing that all elitists lack; street smarts.
To people that actually have street smarts, Trump’s a piker.
People on the left have called me a russian bot quite a few times and people on the right have called me a troll when I disagree with them. I’ve been called a troll here a few times. Also a commie for some reason.
I’m a minarchist Constitutionalist. I want the smallest government possible. I simply disagree with the lesser of 2 evils argument.
Anyway. My point being. If someone is a troll do not respond to them. Because if they are a troll they have no intent in any form of discussion and are just looking for a reaction. How ever I often see people call someone a troll so they don’t feel like they have to refute. I don’t even mean TTAG. I see that all over.
It’s like the Russian bot thing sometimes. I’ve never responded to vlad because he is an actual troll. Idk about miner49. You would be surprised how many leftist gun owners actually exist.
Some are fun to wind up. I had pleasant thoughts of Vlad’s head exploding over his monitor.
lol Indeed. Some like to try to troll the trolls.
It’s one of my favorite pastimes, Damn I really miss the daily go with Vlad….
Vlad’s still here. Vlad is Crisco, too. Look for identifying words and phrases, like “hill jack.” That’s one of her favorites. I think she got mistreated by a country boy when she was younger.
Don’t feed the trolls,it just encourages them.
“You would be surprised how many leftist gun owners actually exist.”
Lots more than most realize.
The only problem is, they continue to vote Leftist…
Yep. Sadly true.
When you control the media and have the likes of Bloomverg, Soros, Gates and Buffett buying elections the world over what’s the point of drive-by posting tired shit like “it says well regulated hurr durr” in online comments?
Drive new gun owners away from the discussion. Otherwise wasting time and money.
McChrystal….what an absolute Shitbag. Along with the “deep statists” it is amazing how much the need for power leads these idiots to ruin the US. As long as they think they will be in charge. The MSM are in with them. They are just useful idiots. Ask the ones who helped Stalin, Mao, Hitler gain power. Somewhere along the line they know more than the tyrants want others to know and are eliminated. If nothing history repeats.
They are losing the narrative. New gun owners because they tried power grabs because of a Chinese bug. They are “terrorizing” Church goes, business owners…etc..
I finally got a haircut Saturday. Gotta wear a mask inside, but standing outside waiting I was not, it was 69 and sunny in Cincinnati. Shooting the poop with a former Marine. 2 older ladies sitting, all the sidewalk chairs were 6-7 feet apart. The first 3 people went in I was 4th. Another lady with a mask walked up as the girl took her info, this “KAREN” pointed at me and said “He’s not wearing a mask.” I said, “I am outside, I will breathe air thank you.” The 2 old ladies looked at me then her and took theirs off also. She gasped and left hers on. She is a sheep. I guess I could have made her head pop, letting her know I was armed also. HEHEHE
That totally happened
I bet everyone clapped
Great idea but, judging by the treatment trolls have gotten in this forum, few of us will fall for this B.S. The few that do will be tipped off by our responses.
Just pinned my retired “yard flag” to my office wall. Old Glory may be tired but, she ain’t dead yet. Couldn’t bring myself to “properly dispose” of her. Replaced her in front of the house with the nicest flag I could afford.
Gotta run …have some “scary rifles” to clean and big mags to load for the range tomorrow.
It won’t be easy to change our minds.
My serious concern: at some point in the not-too-distant future, we won’t be able to trust pretty much any information that we receive from any source. The Internet and technology will make it very easy to create tens of thousands of various narratives, each with prolific and widespread “sources” and ultimately promoting the same objective (from different angles and perspectives), that are effectively impossible to disprove in a timely manner.
The only question in my mind is when that will happen: I can picture as soon as five years from now and probably no later than 20 years from now. God help us when that era arrives.
Building upon my comment above, even if someone is able to somehow build a website that provides absolutely rock-solid, verifiable, credible information, it is only a matter of time before the power brokers start hijacking those sites — either directly (hacking their sites and falsifying their otherwise credible content) or indirectly (“hacking” Registrars and DNS servers to direct people to counterfeit versions of credible sites).
Important note: power brokers don’t have to use brute force to hack Registrars and DNS servers when they can simply bribe/coerce the owners/admins.
“someone is able to somehow build a website that provides absolutely rock-solid, verifiable, credible information”
See: julian assange
When? Dude, like… 10 years ago.
It was never hard. 85%, or more, of Amerivans can’t research things on their own for shit. “dAfuQ aRe CiTatIoNz?!”
It’s not like either side of any argument is immune on the net. Just go scroll through the comments on Fox, Breitbart or Quora then skip over to some Lefty sites. HFS, half these people are literally retarded and another quarter ain’t real bright. They’re not bots either. No one bothers to create bots with that poor of grammar, spelling and punctuation and I’ve never seen a non-sequitur generator that rivals that shit. No one with the skill to make such a bit can make themselves think that way.
It would be like trying to write a possum-bot for TTAG. Actually, a possum-bot would be orders of magnitude easier because you’d just be trying to think like a drunk marsupial rather than a full blown special ed adult.
Most people are intellectually lazy, one of the reason the MSM (and some politicians) can get away with the amount of daily garbage they throw at us. If the majority of the audience verified the facts and questioned what was being presented, rather than conveniently looking for what they want to hear, the “news” would actually be news and not mere opinions presented as facts.
You ain’t kidden’.
I’ve been spending a few hours a day carefully following all things Chicom Virus on the web since the end of February.
I don’t think any news source has put all of the pieces together that I can deduce from the hundreds of sources I have looked at. It’s really scary how far off the general perception of actual events is.
Most of the news from the NSM is nothing but a distraction but it’s sad that the MSM actually believe themselves.
Once upon a time, a photograph was “worth a thousand words,” and indisputable evidence of what it purported to show. Now, it is so easy for people with the right tools and skills to manipulate a photograph that truth is now “in the eye of the beholder,” i.e., do you believe what you see, or are you now skeptical of anything and everything?
Once upon a time I could answer the phone. Now I have to look at the caller ID to see if I recognize the number because most calls are spam.
We live in a world of the deep fake. It is a wonder that anyone takes anything at face value any more.
Many years ago, I demonstrated the “clone tool” in several photo editors to both computer and camera groups.
I then told them that they can’t trust photos again, knowing just how easy it was (way back then) to remove/replace elements in a photo.
“Deep fakes” have been around a lot longer than the MSM would like you to believe.
Worse than that:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews/2020/05/25/deepfakes-are-going-to-wreak-havoc-on-society-we-are-not-prepared/#580e87974940
“…at some point in the not-too-distant future, we won’t be able to trust pretty much any information that we receive from any source.”
Well, there’s the problem right there. If everyone would simply listen to me, all your issues and conundrums would be solved. FIFY
Orwell called it the “Ministry of Truth” wonder what name politi-speak will come up with in that not too far distant future?…
Verified user?
Bob’s Yer Uncle…
Is “The Truth about Boomer’s” a PAID troll?!? They need a refund😃
I am the troll from CA. I have posted under various names.
I am not a Biden supporter. I am very right wing, and I troll because I am disgusted with allowing the left to set the moral premises. I started after the articles by Kat Ainsworth promoting murdering your husband.
Basically- the boomers on this board don’t know how to react when someone more right wing than them criticizes them. No one pays me.
Huh? If you cannot provide links to said articles, I strongly encourage you to promptly visit your nearest mental health professional — and schedule an MRI of your head.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/scared-wife-fatally-shoots-husband-after-years-of-alleged-abuse/#comments
Please stop calling me names.
Troll from CA,
Please point to the location in my comment where I called you a name.
Troll from CA,
I read the linked article and I do not see any evidence where the author was advocating for women to murder their husbands.
Schedule that visit with your nearest mental health professional and a PET scan of your head.
“Please point to the location in my comment where I called you a name.”
Perhaps he was trolling?
“Please stop calling me names,” he says, right after “I am the troll from California.”
No such luck. You get one or the other, not both.
I wasted time going through your linked article.
I saw no evidence of Kat advocating killing husbands.
Could you please either retract your claim, or provide a link that actually has something to do with said claim?
I should think a CAT or PET scan would be rather more appropriate
in this situation.
So you confuse murdering a spouse without context of self defense?
Seek professional help.
And that one post really sent him on a hate filled quest against the author and this site. My guess is he’s an abusive husband that saw himself in the dead mans shoes.
Very perceptive, you could be right.
Trolls are good. I came for a gun review, stayed for the comments. Let them come and their nonsense be refuted.
I have learned from comments of others as we have a lot of valuable resources in the lawyers, constitutional scholars, police, government officials, military, and experienced firearm owners here.
Agreed often there are bits of knowledge that while relatively entry level for a given profession that are never encountered outside of it that are unexpectedly relevant. And then there is dysteptic gunsmith who has probably saved me days worth of research by posting odd bits of info.
Same (gun review), several years ago. Lots of good info here, and lots of top-shelf flaming, as well.
McChrystal has made a major blunder here. The social media campaigns in Iraq and Afghanstan were done through anonymous proxies that could not be traced to their source. McChrystal has told everybody to watch out for DNC trolls.
When engaging with these trolls just remind them about the Democrats’ impeachment follies designed to protect the Biden family’s corruption. Adam Schiff admitted on a David Axelrod podcast that Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian business activities were “problematic” and that Ambassador Yovanovich perjured herself when she knew nothing about Bursma. Recently released DoS E-mail reveal she met with company officials. Maybe things would handled differently if the Democrats didn’t attempt another Coup. Oh, yeah Biden and most of the rest of the Democrat Party is in the PRC’s pocket.
Trololololol.
Now you know why the Founders despised big government. You cannot have rights and freedom when there is that much money and power sloshing around and being handed over to whoever can manipulate the most voters. It will be used against the “other side” whoever that is. Then when “they” take power using whatever means they can, they will use it against you. The money and power will never be used to increase liberty or personal freedom.
Take away the money and power. It is your money, your power. Regain freedom.
Oh, how I miss the early days of the World Wide Web. Back before the money grubbers figured out how to put a price tag on every bit of data. Back then it was like going to the library, searching the card catalog for a book and/or maybe having to pull up a microfilm. Everything was accessible to anyone at no cost but your time and effort. Now, if you want the truth about a subject you only have free access to 2nd or 3rd hand filtered (what they want you to believe) data, or you PAY for access to (maybe) the facts. History is slowly being rewritten by the people with money. The truth is still out there, only now it is in the hands of a succession of gatekeepers collecting tolls on the road to the truth.
You can always buy… books. Actual books. And then, in a giant conspiracy type of way… read them.
Such a novel, pardon the pun, concept.
People see my library with 12′ floor to ceiling wrap around bookcases completely full, plus two other rooms with small built-ins also full, plus a bunch of freestanding bookcases… full. And they think I’m crazy as fuck.
People 14 to 70 have asked me “Why not just use the computer? Ever heard of Wikipedia?”. I lol.
“Such a novel, pardon the pun, concept.”
Oh, that was good Strych9! Pat yourself on the back and reward yourself with your favorite beverage! (Seriously, no snark. That was a really clever and really good pun!)
It really wasn’t intentional. Freudian perhaps but not intentional.
dream room right there. Almost makes me want to attempt woodwork.
The kids now take reading a half dozen books per day as normal, so we’re doing something right.
Read a lot. Lots of free in between time from guard duty at times in the Army. Always loved the feel of a book. Like you got them all over bookcases 30 gal tubs full. I have over the years responded when some one says have you read all these books, instead of saying yes I say no I am collecting the ones I want so when I retire I can read them. 🙂
If I had the space and the $, I’d have a library like that, too. In the meantime, take me to your book room. I want to live in it.
The modern book burners use something called “revision”. Wikipedia is full of revisions, i.e. evidence of previously-burned books. The Wikipedia entry on “Green House Gasses” used to list water vapor as the most potent, since it’s the most prevalent.
The really cool thing about ink-on-cellulose is that you actually have to burn all copies of the cellulose. That’s a very difficult thing to do.
Exactly.
If anyone remembers, Amazon was caught removing lines of text they deemed offensive from major works stored on customers’ Kindles. Amazon clandestinely and remotely swapped out the old versions with the modified ones. A keen-eyed reader just happened to notice because she had left off the night before on a page that contained a change. The scandal went public.
I own no e-readers. All print books. All old school. My entire library.
Haz:
It’s gone further than that. A lot of newer editions of old books have been sanitized. The Brothers Grimm for example.
Little Red Riding Hood too. The version they taught my youngest cousin, which is now available at most libraries I’ve been to, involved no one getting eaten and the woodsman doesn’t kill the wolf. Instead he talks the wolf into leaving grandma and lil’ Red alone. Dafuq is that?
And that’s just the start of it.
“Amazon clandestinely and remotely swapped out the old versions with the modified ones.”
I must admit, I am keenly interested in this assertion. Could you please provide a link or source for this, I am unfamiliar with these claims.
Thank you!
@Miner,
Interesting. This happened several years ago and was reported in the news cycle, but now that I’ve attempted to search for it today, no results come up at all. Regardless of browser or variations of search terms.
As if…(gasp!)…Bezos had his team scrub the scandal from the Interwebz to remove the wart on the company’s reputation.
Hazy, I don’t doubt you saw the story reporting this sort of activity.
I would ask what news source or outlet reported this story?
Well Jeff Bezos does have some billionaire horsepower, but I think it would be virtually impossible to completely quash a story like this unless it was intentional disinformation or an innocuous story misrepresented and blown up to incite unrest.
Sure, there are revised fairytales that do de-emphasize the violence and killing in the original versions, but these are clearly labeled non-violent revisions and I’ve seen no evidence that they were ever surreptitiously switched out on unsuspecting e-book customers.
With no source or citations whatsoever, I’m sorry to say I must call BS on this one.
I’ve got a really great library, too, it’s just that the county owns and maintains it. But I can get any book I want there, and if they don’t have it, all I have to do is put in a request and they’ll get it for me — from anywhere in the country. It’s a fantastic deal. I read a book a week, sometimes two. Never had to buy or store a single one of them.
I bet they let you check out all the old 1st editions too.
Darn that socialist library!
Giving poor folks access to the Internet and making available first and second edition books, it’s just people wanting free stuff from the government!
Well, all you Commies, listen up!
Donald Trump is on to your intellectual socialist library scam! Trump is going to put a stop to all of those socialist librarys in every community across America:
“Every year since his start as President, Trump has attempted to eliminate funding to libraries, and 2021’s budget proposal tries once more. The 2021 budget proposes to eliminate the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which funds research, offers policy development, and provides grants for museums and libraries, among other roles.
Additionally, the 2021 budget calls for elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). All three have been subject to elimination in the administration’s prior budget proposals.”
Bring on the Trolls. Nothing has changed. There is simply to much accurate and available information for a psychological operations. Bring it on. This fact checker is ready!
(Smile)
stretch your pinkies, pop popcorn, fight repetitive motion syndrome and crazy at the same time, it’s an election year!
But will the Democrat’s fifty-cent army get a $15/hr living wage?
In five weeks, on July 1, they will here in Los Angeles. Even in the face of this COVID debacle and economic mushroom cloud, there has been no announcement of delaying the upcoming minimum wage increase. Forward, Leftists! The cliff edge awaits!!
Of course they’re going to spread disinformation. What else do they have? They can’t even come up with a good reason to vote for Joe other than he isn’t Trump! They had limited success with the Russia hoax. That was nothing but DNC seeded disinformation. They know the media and their army of brain dead zombies will stick by them no matter what.
“We are making a bet that human networks can out-compete the bots and trolls and sock puppets we used last time we tried this,” said Hougland…
Finished it for you.
John Boch = controlled opposition to gun control. He is what he accuses others of being. As long as the gun grabber has an (R) after it’s name he licks it up and makes excuses.
I’ve been following TTAG awhile now, always enjoyed the articles and commentary. But lately the comment section is a riot. Always been interesting, now with a twist of lime.
This re-election is going to be so much fun. (I am being sarcastic here). All the leftist troglodytes are coming out of their basements to play and for once they will get paid. No matter, most people here and elsewhere have pretty much made up their minds and they are unlikely to being dissuaded. In terms of gun rights, and support for the president, I know who my enemy is. The irony here is that I don’t personally like Trump, but he does have that ability to trigger the left and anything that Trump does to upset them and deny the democrats any advancement of their agenda, can only benefit me and my vision of America. And as jingoistic as that may sound, … Well I frankly don’t give a crap to explain my vision of America other than to say if you leave me alone then I will leave you alone. Suffice to say, it is not the vision of the left of having this country become europe.
John Boch this is very good writing you’re doing this article being an example. And you seem to be covering what other contributors either ignore or over look or dare not write about. Censorship, however, much of it at all, here and most any where on the internet – why bother?
Let the locals sort things out with the new comers and those that clearly have a political agenda in an election year. But the truth is most of their beliefs don’t stand up to scrutiny which is why they want to control speech.
If, when, Trump wins again they’ll disappear and drop their talking points, but no question the libs are pulling out all the stops to try to win in 2020. If their push for mail in ballots succeeds they could pull it off with illegal alien voters and the dead and other unknowns voting; it’s probably their best chance and they know it. That and getting a high percentage of the black vote like Obama did twice; that’s why they’re playing up these white cop or good’ol boy things happening with black criminals.
Then too they have that big clown Michael Moore as one of their leaders that spouts many of their talking points. Moore proves that you can be as ugly as sin and still be a success.
https://a57.foxnews.com/media2.foxnews.com/BrightCove/694940094001/2019/10/02/931/524/694940094001_6091371596001_6091376974001-vs.jpg?ve=1&tl=1
In any case I’ve been around TTAG for a long time reading thousands of comments over time. I know all too well that it’s a tough crowd here.
“I have learned from comments of others as we have a lot of valuable resources in the lawyers, constitutional scholars, police, government officials, military, and experienced firearm owners here,” as somebody just commented. And I read ALL of the comments after every article I read.
Just let it go on the way it is here. There’s no reason to censor content or try to protect anybody that gets offended. That even includes commenters like pwserge that definitely got the best of many of the liberals at TTAG recently. pwserge of all what he is or isn’t, he ain’t stupid. To get the good at times you have to also accept, and read, what’s bad or offensive. Bring on the election year liberal pajama boy paid commenters. And if you read this serge hope you come on back to TTAG soon.
Perhaps you’re just giving it a rest for a bit.
Death’s dark shadow is always close; Nemesis of mankind; Midnight cloak, curved blade of steel, Tormented souls to bind.
^^loves pwrserge^^
Cheery little fella, that Grim dude is.
First they’establish credibility by talking all about guns only to get around to their goal of bashing the POTUS all with hopes of landing some fence sitters. Make no mistake about it, they’re carrying water for the democRat Party and their Gun Control Agenda.
TRUMP/PENCE 2020.
The best is the former leg-ranger infantry officer turned software developer at cloud flare who developed alcoholism.
He was literally posting from a homeless camp on 6th street in San Francisco.
He was more right-wing that most people here have encountered. He was alt-right/fascist. His best line was when he compared TTAG’s ethics to LaVey Satanism.
I think they crossed the line when they posted his LinkedIn in the comment section here. There was only one former Infantry officer who got a masters at VA Tech and worked at Cloudflare in SF.
Some classic gold how he pointed out:
0 miles of wall built.
Divorce is wrong.
Open carriers should meet height/weight standards.
The real identity of PG dos.
That certain TTAG writers take money from foreign governments.
Open carriers deserve to not be attacked by people who “jog” with hammers.
KAinsWoorth does not jog.
But the absolute king of trolls was the first post in the Memorial Day thread. He said his dad died on the USS Liberty. That was trolling-par-excellence. Yeah- he’s an asshole. But he trolled.
If you guys don’t like trolls- stop feeding them. Don’t respond to them.
***
Actually the best was when he pretended to be a board certified endocrinologist, and was giving out medical advice. Maybe that was the winner?
***
Hail vic’try homeless guy. I hope you get your life together.
Attacking Ronald Reagan for being a bad father was 100% the best.
Or maybe calling Jacinda in NZ (JOG). Jacinda Occupational Government.
Ah thanks:
-thank you
-I’m doing better. I’m in a 12 step program and I am working with the VA.
-I troll because I believe that the right wing needs representation in the gun community.
-I gave up trolling for most of the Coronavirus crisis
-in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Interesting that you drop ‘right wing’ into almost every post that appears to be counter right wing (that being left wing). I don’t think right wing means what you think it does. Maybe you turned left when you meant right and you are now high centered on a Jersey barrier. My theory is that left vs right is not a line but a circle. If you turn too far in either direction you have reached the same extreme points and can’t find your way back to a point of reason. But challenge the labels and the ideas.
You can buy AI but you cannot buy intelligence. The buffoons and bots will be easily identifiable, some will even entertain us. These useful idiots are part of the internet too, there is nothing we can do about that. I am just glad Soros’ Dollars will allow them to buy more facemasks and TP.
@I Haz A Question > ^^loves pwrserge^^ … >>> ???
They write that you’re the gay boy here, or one of them, so it may be natural for you to think in those terms. It’s more the thing to observe pwserge take so much abuse and it have little to no effect, and then he pushes back quite effectively most of the time. Or he did until perhaps he was, temporarily, canned – due to the whining babies and wimps bawling to the powers that be at TTAG. Perhaps he will, eventually, return in some other form. I would bet on it happening. Not that I would get a woody for him like you probably do in the many brief bromances you probably participate in, around the corner or on the down low. There’s usually something redeeming in even what might be thought of as the worst of us, and if he was a marine I respect that fact regardless. Like many here I have read hundreds of his comments over time, but even with that it’s not to say that I really know him at all. Some of us want to abuse you; some of us want to be abused. Some women, I know you have no clue since you’re into other guys and you may have a purdy mouth as they at times mention in the prisons down South, you treat them horribly and that’s actually what they want and, in some strange way, need. If on the outside looking in at such a thing it can be like watching a train wreck so it’s interesting that way.
Some of them want to get used by you Some of them want to abuse you Some of them want to be abused Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? Travel the world and the seven seas Everybody’s looking for something Some of them want to use you Some of them want to get used by you
Who am I to disagree? Everybody’s looking for something. I don’t take sides here usually and don’t care enough for it to matter. Just along for the ride the cheits and the giggles. And it’s some pretty funny cheit recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg
When plague assailed this world as now
Grim Reaper played his part,
Vile harvest of despairing souls
Piled high upon his cart.
Lol, the only time I recall ever seeing the word “gay” on TTAG is right here in your comment above. So if “they” write that I’m somehow gay, they must be the voices in your own head.
Grim Reaper:
My old eyes glazed over trying to read the above. Look up the meaning of the words, “concise” and “concision.” PLEASE!
Trolling is okay, but I fish mostly for catfish.
Not to worry. Look for posts referring to assault weapons, arsenals and semi autos as autos. Also belligerent posts attacking you and your right to exist without a state appointed handler.
Personally I don’t expect them to change my position. Let the fun begin.
Can’t be any worse than any of the average “morons, psychopaths and mental defectives” that practice their inability to comprehend or read articles before opining in their semiliterate style that in the analog world would be in crayon.
McChrystal is using information warfare methods. He belongs in jail for this next to his Afghan war buddy Flynn for conducting IW against a domestic population.
They’re already here…
The Administrators here have the privilege and prerogative to allow as many or as few public comments as they want. My recommendation would be to ban those few such as Vlad and Miner49 who argue in bad faith, are disingenuous, and seek to disrupt.
The Commentators here are overwhelmingly thoughtful and well informed if boisterous at times and HONEST differences of opinion and debate has left me better informed and helped me and the Debaters refine our arguments.
“ban those few such as Vlad and Miner49 who argue in bad faith, are disingenuous, and seek to disrupt.”
Please, share with us the specifics of what you mean when you say ‘arguing in bad faith, disingenuous and seeking to disrupt’.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/bernie-sanders-gun-buybacks-unconstitutional-are-essentially-confiscation/
November 11, 2019 at 20:59
You’ve been lied to by fox, ttag, and the nra. The democrats are actually more pro gun then the republicans. You backwards conservative hillbillies need to learn your place and start voting democrat. The only thing democrats want it conmen sense gun laws and conmen sense gun taxes and registration. Then we will have more gun rights. The evil capitalist republicans want to take your guns by allowing unfettered access’s to them in schools.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/decision-decisions-its-not-easy-being-a-liberal-gun-owner-in-an-election-year/
“February 29, 2020 at 10:53
You know, liberals don’t actually supports the so-called open borders.
Liberals and most Democrats support continuing the laws we have in place while also offering sanctuary to refugees like Melania and her parents as well as brown and black people.
I know of no Democrats who are advocating we abolish all border control statutes, we just don’t think a wall is the best way to protect America from illegal immigration.”
Thanks for replying!
Your first quote is a fake, that’s nothing I’ve ever posted.
The second one I believe is authentic, and I still stand behind those words.
I can tell you, the vast majority of Democrats I know are not for open borders. And, you need to familiarize yourself with the Republicans calls for amnesty for the illegal aliens already within the United States, you might start with George bush.
I must say, if you think a citizen posting their observations and opinions is somehow ‘seeking to disrupt‘ you clearly do not understand the nature of free speech.
Interestingly enough, in Russian, when you talk about doing something crooked and illegal, you say I’m doing it ‘”na levo”, which means I’m doing it on the left.
When you consider how the libtards act, they REALLY are on the left “na levo”. These Russians are pretty smart….. 🙂
Comments are closed.