further course correction @ me 136, I wrote:

I cite this as evidence in support of above comments to the effect of “Don’t feed the trolls”

I didn’t, and this is to demonstrate that this is as good as it can possibly get. My bad. apologies to all.

(Meant to say) -”I didn’t take the advice- “Don’t feed the trolls” and did (go ahead and feed the trolls).

I must confess, I am a recovering, binge, sometimes ‘feed the troll’ sort of person. Gotta steer clear of my anger issues.

Once I noted his handle I just ignored him, but so may others could not resist the bait.

I am against moderation and having a different opinion can get you called a troll at other forums. That has happened to me on Free Republic so I do not like moderators because they get power hungry.

So listen folks we can handle trolls by ignoring them If the troll still want to argue let them.

Isn’t that what Joe Biden was projecting onto the Kurds and Co. in Iraq? Really?

I can see where such stuff could be attempted here, but unless I am totally off, the majority of even our leftier brethren would oppose it. A foreign invasion could only work if there were a secure base of support and supply. While I can see Honduras value as such, Texas stands in the way.

I also have a new love of Texas womens, and I don’t pity the fool major who now knows the eyes of texas are upon him.

Some of the other bloggers on PJM put comments in moderation and it doesn’t have any effect on the troll presence. To all appearances they get approved no less than any other commenters. In that case it’s hard to see what’s being gained by holding up comments. Also it removes the possibility of timely conversation within the group, which happens to be one of things I enjoy most about BC, whether or not I’m taking an active part. The hold-up time varies and that’s a problem all by itself. One time I posted something on Prof. Hanson’s blog and it didn’t get out of moderation until the following day, along with dozens of other comments that were evidently held up at the same time. And the guy who’d been trolling the thread (his schtick repeated ad nauseum was that VDH was a racist) was right up there with the rest of us.

@164 cfbleachers

That’s a good breakdown – pioneering troll taxonomy! PJM has a dedicated cadre of McTrolls, that’s for sure. Part of the concern driving this thread is the possibility of Trollholes United, if you like, and what to do about it.

LotM, Geeze Louise

I love Rudy and still think he’d be a great candidate for POTUS, with or without the Republican party. Frankly the GOP’s management of the last presidential campaign makes me wonder whose side they’re on anyway. He’s got national presence, the common touch, executive experience with a thick skin to match, he’s patriotic and articulate, and there’s no question where he stands as far as terrorism and the war are concerned. I don’t think his pro-choice views would be as big a liability as some think, especially if he took the position of leaving all such “social” issues up to the states. I like Sarah Palin but she’s more valuable as a fundraiser and stalking horse IMO. Though a Rudy/Sarah ticket might be just the thing (or Rudy with Gen. Petreaus)

BTW I have a question for the Subscription Manager – if I click the little box next to the thread name to stop the e-mails after each new comment, will that unsubscribe me from the thread? (meaning they’ll just start up again next time I comment) I don’t mind them, just curious how this thing works

And I have one more comment because I think it’s important.

Prominent in the failure topology of 2008 was the absence of self-regulation – markets, financial services, mortgage lending, securitization, risk management, corporate governance, political oversight, regulatory agencies, credit card abuse. The groups who lost the most – and it’s not over – were the ones who were saving and exercising spending restraint, which was quite a few of us actually – $14T of us.

The first line of defense is always personal responsibility. Your rewards will vary depending on what your neighbor is doing.

The DJIA jumped back over 10,000 based on a +9% or so increase in productivity, which means labor is lean and mean, the same group that took it on the chin – and elsewhere – in 2008.

End today’s Populist Bulletin Teaching Moment #910.

The current crop of elites are doing a high wire act without benefit of the net of a public mandate.

@161 & @162: Sudden Poverty Syndrome and Sudden Palin Syndrome. Been there. Done that. And never even ran for office. More seriously, the general caliber of elected parties needs elevating. It’s ironic – maybe not the word, but strange – that I sort of like most of what’s left of the Republican massacre in Congress. Having said that, I loathed and despised the Republican leader(less)ship under Bush. What contempt I have left is reserved for the current crop of Democrats.

Since I am holding my own personal “beauty contest,” I adore Rudy Guiliani (fully prepared to vote for him any time any place – one of those wonderful people that you don’t have to cringe every time he opens his mouth to speak). I think a Palin run would be suicidal. Neutral on Petraeus because we could elect God, Mother Teresa, and your mother all rolled into one perfect candidate and s/he would still fail with this Congress.

As adults we have children. When you have incompletely developed minds around you, you will sometimes see a mess. IT HAPPENS. In an internet (incoherent) environment the possibility of physical interdiction of said IDM is not possible. So you are limited to using control of yourself and words to effect said IDM. Now if you ignore IDM what is the possible response from it?

It can continue to fling feces or it will get bored and go away. If you engage it? It will continue to fling feces or it will shift. Think of what the lady that taught Helen Keller. Also understand that as was said before those that come here to get off the fence will see reasoned argument from the adults and feces from the IDM and make their decision to join us.

A side note. My youngest son was a Troll until his father caught him at it and was in physical distance of said IDM! Any way he told me during our conversation about behavior that it was SOP for trolls to assume more than one identity inside a thread. Just so they could keep the troll going. He would argue with himself to draw others in and get them riled up. It was to him all about getting some old goat’s blood pressure up.

100. Raoul Ortega: Very good idea! But I think it would require full time Moderators and as such would bring BC into the pay to play mode of operation.

Just a personal note to Boyd. We are adults here. Why would you use “One persistant commenter”. Be adult. Call them out. USE NAMES.

I comment elsewhere on PJM and sometimes a regular here will wander and comment on my post or engage with me. When I comment here, I usually don’t get a ton of response, it’s a one-off comment and I’m gone…back to lurking and enjoying the wit and wisdom of the regulars.

I DID comment on the Armies of the Right thread (at # 60)…, saw how the thread got hijacked and parachuted out.

It is in my nature to follow one of my law professor’s bits of sage advice, “don’t try to fill empty vessels”…but, I must admit on rare occasions (once every 6 months or so), I am moved to respond to a troll…but not here. The Belmont Club is a place I reserve for higher reading…it somehow offends me more here…to watch a thread devolve into a fraternity food fight. This lovely place…is better than that. It’s why I don’t comment that much myself here. I enjoy leaving this place the way I find it most days.

Onto my larger point, then back to putting my feet up and enjoying Wretchard’s home from my lurking perch, I promise.

This thread gives me the opportunity to voice something that I have been considering for a while now. It is the very nature of trolls, trolling, trollism.

It seems to me that there ought to be a more defined catalogue of behaviors and terms for the behaviors and I will offer mine for amendment, upgrade and expansion.

1)The McTroll–This is a semi-regular contributor who wakes up each morning and goes to a site basically repeating the talking points of the “opposing worldview”. “Call Center Trollism”…it really doesn’t matter what the topic is, you are going to raise an issue and they are going to flip to Page 314 of the pre-written playbook and answer you with “the message” corresponding to the topic. Thimble deep and incapable of original thought, bland, repetitive, but no matter where a topic goes…you are going to get the same thing…every time.

2)The Trollop–VERY rare. Someone who comes on to a thread as the “loyal opposition”. Very experienced and possibly better at the particular activity of that day…you don’t want to like the engagement, but you do in spite of yourself. You might even learn a thing or two. They never insult you or point out your shortcomings. And you come away feeling satisfied, somehow.

3)Trollhole–Wakes up in the morning looking to suck the positive energy out of any passing matter within its range. Usually started off as a dying red giant and now wants to make reason and rationale disappear. Disruption of a thread’s orbit as witnessed in the original thread talked about here is the rasion d’etre of its existence. Ad hominem attacks, “you people”, insults, snark in every sentence…the visceral “resistance” is fight or flight at its core. (“Don’t feed the trolls”…”surround and kill ‘em”)

The response to each, I think, would be different…and the alerts and alarms would be as well. Perhaps there are more…or better descriptions. But I believe recognizing the differences could be important.

For example: suppose 4 like minded people on a university campus sit in a dorm room for 2 hours, all signed into laptops, and they hammer a set of blogs, all with the same posting name. They can collectively make every other comment be from their little borg collective.

So even if NO ONE responds, they can cause irritation just by making every other comment from them.

The only solution is moderation. Moderated blogs tell you when you post that your post is being held for moderation review. It doesn’t automatically appear. That stops this troll tactic dead in the water. They don’t hit sites with this feature.

1) Effective activity takes money, such as for travel etc.
2) Conservatives do not trust or support the unemployed. It feels like having a prostitute offer you counsel on
    Virtue.
3) Networking to get a job and to advance a cause conflict and more so for Conservatives than the Left.

If I had the money I would love to run for office. The fact is that most Republicans around here get 20-30% of the vote. To do it as a vanity project is wasteful. Most candidates are either very young resume builders or retirees with an axe to grind. They put their names out and pray but do not commit the time energy and resources needed to seriously compete. To run for City Council would mean starting now and devoting two years to getting to know every constituent, community group, church, synagogue or temple, with at best one chance in 3 of success if the resources expended are vast. To run for Congress would be even harder and more expensive, easily in the millions, with less probability of victory. And that is despite the fact that large numbers of individuals are repelled by the cynical fraud of the left and would love to hear an appeal to the image of America that they or their parents came to NY believing in.