I agree completely. People are losing it big time, and it needs to come to a screeching halt!!

That being said, with all the gun violence out there, I'm kinda glad I can hide out and post in the relative safety of my own home. Geez Louise.

Is the conservative movement really fractured?

Could the rabid right wing of the Republicans be attacking McCain to set him up to get the Independent vote? McCain's not a liberal by any means, but by scripting that entertainer, Rush Limbaugh, to hate hate McCain because he's so liberal could be seen as a ruse.

Remember, Karl Rove is not dead yet.

I don't like Hillary but when I write ro speak about her I keep the glove on in case she get nominated.

She gets some real misogynist assholes... Only an idiot goes to a party, curses out the host, then expects to stay. That would be like me calling JA a cock, which I would never do.

Digby is right.Who could argue with that?

this is what happens when the neocon bloggers find a website that is effectively combating their propaganda...they infiltrate it, take over discussions and use foul language in attempts to get it censored or shutdown.

It also means we are getting to them, and you should be proud of that accomplishment, these pseudo-patriots are as complicit in bushs crimes as this administration.

Watch them scurry like rats as the criminal indictments unfold.

my best advice is take it to their strongest circles, and dismantle them from the inside with the disinfectant of TRUTH!!!

it works, I know, i've been there, done that.

Keep up the great work and as always, we'll do our best to keep the discussions civil and polite, though at times we certainly are tempted to go beyond, but we are better than them, remember that.

Digby and anyone else who receives such filth, just delete it, don't give it a second glance.
Only juvenile, twisted little minds post such things - sometimes even attached to age-appropriate bodies, but as often as not attached to decades-old adolescents. They are easy and stupid to post, and not worth the time to discuss. Just delete and pass on without comment. Eventually they get bored and go harass someone else.
You have my sympathy for any pain they have caused you, but of course their sick posts are simply reflections of the sad souls of their authors and have nothing to do with their targets at all.

i'm not sure what you can do! its just so easy to be an asshole, especially when you are anonymous. they'll ruin it for everyone..... i'm not sure what i would do if i was blogger, but if i wanted comments i think its just to be expected that there will be mud slinging, i'm not sure if i would care or not. but if i did, i would totally shut down the comments, cause i own the damn thing!

Heavy are the heads that wear the crowns. I think trolls are just the burden that come with lots of traffic. Sadly No has Gary Ruppert for cripes sakes. I'd gladly ban a few O'Reilly boosters in exchange for some of the hits this site gets ;)

But really, calling the person who runs the site a "cunt" should naturally lead to a ban. What always baffles me is when a few bad apples cause a good blogger (or an awful one) to get rid of comments altogether.

But then again, I guess the cool kids all sit at that table for a reason. ._.

Joe Klein's conscience @ 17:

John:
Thank you. Why someone would attack Digby, I do not know(besides their being Rush-bots). Regardless, it is no excuse. If those being crude and rude are Dems, they need to chill the heck out. The job, whether it is Obama or Hillary, is for us as a party to beat the crap out of McCain and the Rethugs this fall. If you are angry, make it useful. Canvas or work for a local candidate. Send a Rethuglican packing this November(any and all of them).

"Nothing is so good that somebody, somewhere, will not hate it."

-- Pohl's Law

mudshark @ 20:

ever been to a repug site?
That was an eye opening experience.These folks here are pretty civil.There,get ready.Because they will tear into you with sooo many insults.It'll make yer head spin.
I've never experienced anything like it,certainly not in public.There's something about the anonymity that allows some peoples worst side to emerge.But they would never do it in person.

if you stick it out long enough, you can convert the mislead bush backers...it takes time, patience and vigilence, and a deep appreciation of all the mass media available over the web, without which, we would not have the tools to counter all their lies, hate and b.s. Many eventually see the light, and that is how elections are won, one person at a time...

I suspect Digby is dealing with predictable trolling tactics attempting to render Liberal and left wing blogs unusable and using the old government tried and tested Triple D method: Distract, Divide and Discredit.

Our country has lost it's freaking mind with hate.

The liberals hate the Clintons, the cons hate McInsane.

The me generation is whacked out on prescription drugs.

Ron @ 28:

mark @ 4:

Is the conservative movement really fractured?

Could the rabid right wing of the Republicans be attacking McCain to set him up to get the Independent vote? McCain's not a liberal by any means, but by scripting that entertainer, Rush Limbaugh, to hate hate McCain because he's so liberal could be seen as a ruse.

Remember, Karl Rove is not dead yet.

I posted this yeaterday and some got mad at me because I put it on every thread. Obviously they don't know that all of us don't spend all of our time here. But my thoughts are much to your thinking.
Look at what the real message is. 2 weeks ago, Rush and Ann started saying that McCain is too liberal. Now a bunch of others are jumping on ship. The real message is that they think McCain will take away independant voters away from the democrats. They are trying to soften his image. Today, Romney got his message to drop out from the right wing establishment. He’s only following orders. I know that you are very smart and will spread this message. Don’t believe anything the right wing establishment says. They are the party of misinformation. Now organizers are telling the sheeple not to boo McCain. The talking points went out early today.

off-topic

Proud2bHumble @ 24:

mudshark @ 20:

ever been to a repug site?
That was an eye opening experience.These folks here are pretty civil.There,get ready.Because they will tear into you with sooo many insults.It'll make yer head spin.
I've never experienced anything like it,certainly not in public.There's something about the anonymity that allows some peoples worst side to emerge.But they would never do it in person.

Hi MS! Sounds like fun. Do they let commie pinko lefty libs reply in kind? Could be cathartic for me. Links?

Try checking out freerepublic.com. That has to be one of the biggest examples of vicious, vile posting. Just go there and look at a couple of random stories and the comments. Of course right now they're trashing each other over McCain now that Mittens is gone. They're big on ad hominem attacks and fond of blaming the victim.

Of course they'll ban you if you actually make a comment that leans even slightly to the left. They had mass bannings over Rudy and Ron Paul so you can imagine what an evil Democrat would do to them.

FreedomOfInformationAct @ 29:

Ron @ 28:

mark @ 4:

Is the conservative movement really fractured?

Could the rabid right wing of the Republicans be attacking McCain to set him up to get the Independent vote? McCain's not a liberal by any means, but by scripting that entertainer, Rush Limbaugh, to hate hate McCain because he's so liberal could be seen as a ruse.

Remember, Karl Rove is not dead yet.

I posted this yeaterday and some got mad at me because I put it on every thread. Obviously they don't know that all of us don't spend all of our time here. But my thoughts are much to your thinking.
Look at what the real message is. 2 weeks ago, Rush and Ann started saying that McCain is too liberal. Now a bunch of others are jumping on ship. The real message is that they think McCain will take away independant voters away from the democrats. They are trying to soften his image. Today, Romney got his message to drop out from the right wing establishment. He’s only following orders. I know that you are very smart and will spread this message. Don’t believe anything the right wing establishment says. They are the party of misinformation. Now organizers are telling the sheeple not to boo McCain. The talking points went out early today.

off-topic

besides, mcpain is their guy, he's bush's clone, war mongering with no other redeeming values
http://thinkprogress.org/

i for one "and i am unanimous in this", lol
appreciate all those who are far more able to articulate their opinions
and observations, many of which help me express what i can not do myself.
but i try my best and sometimes i simply with bitter candor
say for myself and those too polite or manner, that which should be
said but is not publicly accepted.

to those of you i offend, i offer an apology, but do expect me to express
my outrage and disappointment with the current state of our country's
shame and embarrassment of bushco and the reichwingnutneocon bastards
who stolen our civll liberties and constitutional rights. the illegal re-writing
of our laws and usurping of power into one branch of govt is unforgivable.

well said (or written)

Unfortunately, it's not just trolls who are downright rude - too many people on this site jump right in and tear away at each other. People being at each other's throats is not an enjoyable thing to read. It seems that everyone wants to be 'right'.... and right means slagging off at others. I, for one, am over it. A little bit of civility goes a long way to people being able to have an exchange of ideas (gosh! that'd be novel!!)

Stasis theory in action...or the theory of political rhetoric is something I am a rookie at. It was not too long ago in my endeavors to form an opinion and make a statement to make a trail to the truth. Yet some how it might turn to an inevitable hat eating situation for me. I have no axe to grind but do recognize the pitiful state of affairs our country is in and sometimes feel like saddling up to ride like Paul Revere, warning those out there, politically cockeyed people are around the corner, Ann Culter, with a legion of new college educated sophisticates are coming, look out.

So, for what ever it is worth I’d like to cross file some worth while thought that even was referenced on the Daily Kos and other blogs. Having to do with Political logic and rhetoric theory, just do a Google on Stasis theory in action were one can see the obvious Journalistic violations that Mainstream Media is openly drilling the public with in an unfair advantage. Actually the more I study about it one could say Mainstream Media aggressively in deliberate actions that are criminal to abusive in it’s public mission to report, and help in over sight in the electromagnetic spectrum to the American electorate.

The more we all see this and point it out America will realize that our position in economics, in the war, in social stress is not only the politicians but due in large amount to our media. The only way to fix this mess is to help each other see the problem. And exclaim why Mainstream Media ignores the real issues that all of sudden, America, we all feel like we are steeped in corruption for one of the best educated societies in the world yet those in the know in those windowed television screen analysis guide us into confusion, doubt, and devisivness.

Stasis theory in action...
I've been writing recently (here and here) about how journalists could report propaganda, spin, and other rhetorical tactics as verifiable facts if they knew more about complex language use. I stand by this criticism, but there is a sense in which it is unfair. The fairness bias, one of the biases that structures journalistic practice, argues against reporters making such judgments.

Lynda from Australia @ 39:

Unfortunately, it's not just trolls who are downright rude - too many people on this site jump right in and tear away at each other. People being at each other's throats is not an enjoyable thing to read. It seems that everyone wants to be 'right'.... and right means slagging off at others. I, for one, am over it. A little bit of civility goes a long way to people being able to have an exchange of ideas (gosh! that'd be novel!!)

i was right there with you until the(gosh! that'd be novel!!), you had to go and
insult everyone. but thanks for the rest of your insight.

This is such a red herring. Why are we still so thin-skinned as to shut down all comments over the C word? And if unpoliced winger sites' comments contain more "hate" than liberal ones, that just plays into their narratives of victimization a la O'Reilly vs Kos!

Roark77 @ 43:

Proud2bHumble @ 38:

Might be fun to go in and play Phelps to their Huckabee...

It can be fun if you can use irony well. The freepers don't catch irony well and it's easy to get them to show just how extreme they'll go if prodded a bit.

Of course the lefty version of the freepers is quickly becoming DU. The DU'ers are quickly losing the whole idea of civility and the Obama v. Clinton arguments are pretty awful over there.

I quite enjoy ironyng. You could say I'm a compulsive flattener, which would flatter me to creases.

Thank you John and I will do my best to be kind.

Using misogynistic vulgarity intended to inflame sexist attitudes toward Sen. Clinton is beneath contempt.

As is trying to paint Obama as "the black candidate" so as to inflame racist attitudes toward him.

Anyone who does in either is engaging in the worst kind of vile political slander.

Digby should hire an assistant to take care of the nuts.

If she didn't allow derogatory names from the start it would help. For example, beatthebitch.

I don't blame her one bit (deleting comments.) Too bad we can't reach out and touch a troll.

This site handles trolls very well. Remember Ian?

repug trolls are coming out of the woodwork and they are pissed. And I'm elated.

Arizona @ 50:

As is trying to paint Obama as "the black candidate" so as to inflame racist attitudes toward him.
blockquote>

Not just the "black candidate" but the "black muslim candidate." Then they can get the evangelicals all riled up in addition to the racists.

dadams @ 42:

Lynda from Australia @ 39:

Unfortunately, it's not just trolls who are downright rude - too many people on this site jump right in and tear away at each other. People being at each other's throats is not an enjoyable thing to read. It seems that everyone wants to be 'right'.... and right means slagging off at others. I, for one, am over it. A little bit of civility goes a long way to people being able to have an exchange of ideas (gosh! that'd be novel!!)

i was right there with you until the(gosh! that'd be novel!!), you had to go and
insult everyone. but thanks for the rest of your insight.

You mistook me - I meant it would be nice to have a thread with exchanges of ideas without anyong slinging of at someone else (without being provoked to do so)... I thought that would be obvious, but obviously I wasn't as clear as I should have been. Apologies, I certainly would never mean everybody - I wouldn't frequent this site if it were so.

It's insane to me that so many people think that personal sites or even more successful "blogs" have some sort of duty to uphold "free speech" (not what I'd call it, but whatever) by allowing everyone to say whatever they want all of the time. This isn't a matter of hiding, it's a matter of being treated fairly. Calling people disgusting names has no value to anything whatsoever... even if it didn't bother her, it'd be deleted for sheer virtue of being entirely pointless to the discussion. I really just don't get how people can post these types of things.

I used to run a video game site, for a rather nice series. It did rather well (15,000 uniques a month I'd guess) considering it seemed like no one played it... but even there you'd not believe some of the antagonism you'd get from certain visitors and some of the nasty e-mails that would result. I can't even imagine some of the things political blog runners get that they can't even bring themselves to repost.

It's really insane. I guess anonymity is the ultimate safety device. If I disagree with something I at least try to explain myself. I can't even imagine resorting to some of these tactics... and based on things I've seen, this is nowhere as bad as it can get out there sadly.

tHeGaMeOfLiFe @ 55:

Albatross @ 16:

I still believe trolls are pubescent males, jacking off to comments and to the attention they received.

Easy with the visuals, gamer. The Foley trollies'll overload the server.

Here's a thought. Required email addresses are published in place of Name after sufficient warnings.

3 strikes and you are no long anonymous.

Mike @ 59:

You're asking the trolls to be kind?
Or are you trying to tar good Democrats by associating them with trolls? I tend to think it's the latter and I find it offensive. This is what the likes of Bill O'Reilly and Lanny Davis do. They pick out the comments of trolls and try to hold them up as representatives of a group of people they disagree with.

The thought did enter my head.

I'm a conservative and I have commented here a few times but stopped because I have them deleted without having said anything bad.

I hope I can say this as an outsider looking in, but I have never seen such a demise in the civil discourse as I have over this political race. It seems that the major MSM has decided Obama will be the candidate and have been promoting him at all costs over both Edwards, who was totally ignored and Clinton who gets nothing but negativity. The mantra of change, new hope, the second coming of MLK and JFK sounds so superficial when you look at how people are responding to this. Obama supporters will hear no comment contrary to their feeling of how he is the only one, almost Godlike, while the Clinton supporters don't get to hear fair coverage of their candidate from anywhere. I visit a lot of blogs like this one everyday and in reading the threads and comments the vitriol ranges from downright refusal to hear any questions regarding the Obama platform or past work or what he plans to do to, responding to questions with nothing but old news and rehashes of Bill Clinton down to Lewinsky and republican smears of rapist and murderer etc. I know that last statement is a broad generalization and not fitting to every Obama supporter, but it sounds exactly like listening to republicans trying to dismiss their wrong doings by not answering with anything other than trying to name a democrat that does it too. There are some days I want to leave the computer and go wash to get the slime off. Hillary supporters are dismissed as how dare they be on the wrong side while Obama supporters feel their candidate appears to be above all levels of scrutiny and how dare anyone not see the same things in him they do. The name calling flies in all directions and nobody is any farther ahead for it. Now all you Obama supporters can have a field day with my remarks but then I don't have a candidate in your race so I don't have to stand up for one or the other. I am only calling it by the feelings I get when I read all the comments day to day.

Thing Fish @ 62:

Here's a thought. Required email addresses are published in place of Name after sufficient warnings.

3 strikes and you are no long anonymous.

Now that's a good idea.

facta non verba @ 65:

thanks for your honesty. Obama is NOT a cult. If you choose to support someone else, you don't have to demean Obama's supporters. wasn't madison a royalist, white, male, slave owner? I'm sure he could not even conceive of anyone of african heritage being considered a viable candidate for President of the United States.

Obama is a LIEbercrat
sHillary is a LIEbercrat

Edwards was a DLC operative. His populism was at best suspect.

Kucinich is a true progressive and supported the Constitution.

Your choices are narrowing as time is running out.
It's too late to hate.
If you give in to your hate you'll do what got us into this mess in the first place.
You'll vote against your own better interests.

Terry Ann @ 66:

I'm a conservative and I have commented here a few times but stopped because I have them deleted without having said anything bad.

Actually there are 2 ways monitors deal with some postings. I'm thinking of the ones were a monitors leaves a comment behind. For example "[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]". But message numbers have changed lower, therefore deletion I'm not considering in my comment @ 67.

I prefer the former method eliding a discussion.

Also let's everyone count the (proposed) strikes.

CoIntelPro @ 73:

foreigner @ 68:

that's a total crock!

nice try though. I can tell it's a total crock because I can swap Obama and Hillary and the statement would be equally true.

May I take it that you are an Obama supporter?

not to whine...but I have been dealing with troll problems and if anyone wants to come over and just hang or talk and be nice and not call me less of a woman because I am not for Hill ( I also have been getting shunned and hassled because of that too)....I wouldn't mind the company...but yes the trolls are out in force just like they were in the 2006 Election cycle....and woman seem to be what they want to dine on....( doesn't help with Hill playing the O Poor ME I am A Girl card..)

This isn't about Hillary OR Obama.

This is what Josh Marshall called the "Bitch-slap theory of electoral politics."

The GOP slime machine bashes our side to make us look weak. And it works.

They never bash GOPers or their families the way they bash us.

This is OUR fight, and we need to fight it TOGETHER!

Let me put it in terms a redneck bigot would understand.

You and your wife are arguing at a bar. Some drunk calls your wife a slutty bitch.

How are you gonna react?

I'm just sayin'

Let me put it in terms a redneck bigot would understand.

You and your wife are arguing at a bar. Some drunk calls your wife a slutty bitch.

How are you gonna react?

How about you put it in terms the rest of us understand?

Let's put all this in perspective, though. The real shame is how very few dedicate any time all towards following politics in their own country. Unfortunately, far more guys may be found monitoring sports discussion sites than political ones. So the few crossovers who view both types are used to hyped up hyperbole and confrontational "hooray for us" lingo. Moreover, many of the sports sites depend on such trolls to create the artificial controversy necessary to prompt the advertising hit views from loyal reader and respondents. Thus, trolling provocateurs are seldom banned. So it shouldn't be so surprising to find exactly the same foul-mouthed wording here as posted against dear ol' alma mater. Remember that before the web and text messaging, people had ceased writing letters or anything whatsoever.

EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD READ THIS PIECE!!:
http://www.counterpunch.org/

Here Come the Brownshirts, Again
Does the Republican Party Have Aces Up Its Sleeves (for the 2008 elections)?
In a McCain Regime, Cheney will be back in office with another stint as Secretary of War. Norman "Bomb-bomb-bomb-Iran" Podhoretz will be Undersecretary for Nuclear War with General John "Nuke them" Shalikashvili as his deputy. Rudy Giuliani will be the Minister of Interior in charge of Halliburton's detention centers into which will be herded all critics of war and the police state. Billy kristol will be chief White House spokesliar.

The whole gang will be back--Wolfowitz, Perle, Wurmster, Feith, Libby, Bolton. America will have a second chance to bomb the world into submission.

With the majority of voters sick of war, sick of lies, sick of fraud from the Federal Reserve and Wall Street, and sick of stagnant and falling incomes, McCain is poised to capture 20 per cent of the vote--the Christian Zionists, the rapture evangelicals, and the diehard macho flag-waving thugs who believe America is done for unless "Islamofacists" are exterminated.

They can steal the election with the Diebold electronic voting machines and proprietary software that no one is allowed to check. There are now enough elections on record with significant divergences between exit polls and vote tallies that a stolen election can be explained away. The Democrats have been house trained to acquiesce to stolen elections. The voters, whose votes are stolen, dismiss the evidence as "conspiracy theories."

VIEW THIS ARTICLE!!!! PSSST! BECOME INFORMED AND T H I N K !!!!:
http://www.counterpunch.org/

please wake up america --

"I understand that the blogosphere is an intense place right now with an incredibly competitive Democratic primary and a Republican primary that has fractured the conservative movement."

Hmph, I would say that a "fractured" movement is a good thing, because diversity is waaaaaay better for advancing philosophical and ideological discourse than monotony....which is what Obama and Hillary offer.

Oh, and the "conservative movement" is actually what today's "progressives" are about anyway. They want to turn back the clock to higher taxes and bigger government, which is what we had in the last decade and, for that matter, in all of human history!

Freedom (meaning free market, small government) is the exception in human history. Human history is filled with poverty, disease, slavery, and horrible living conditions. It is free markets that are "progressive", because it is the exception, the "advancement" of culture.

What today's "progressives" want is actually conservatism. What today's conservatives want is actually progression. But you're right, today's conservative movement IS fractured. It is fractured because it has adopted today's progressive ideals like big government!

Does anyone think that maybe the powers that be on the Right know that the shit is going to hit the fan. So they really want a Dem in power when it does so they can blame SO CALLED Liberals. Just a thought.

I really try to keep my content in check...(and respect others)
Seems the trolls have a hard time doing just that, everywhere.

If you go thru a lot of the sites on the internet that say they are democratic and allow the hate and vile that is spewed at Hillary Clinton you would throw up if you had a weak stomach.

It is one thing to support your candidate but the bunch, at least those posting, that are obama supporters are vile and evil from what I see. Not all. But most.

And I have never seen a more concerted effort to trash, slam and bash a woman. I did not know that woman were hated so much by a certain group of men. Look at Ted Kennedys response when NOW berated him for letting them down. He said he want a man to lead.

WELL IT JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT IF A MAN CAN'T SUPPORT A WOMAN THEN HE IS MUCH OF A MAN TO BEGIN WITH.

It takes a man proud of his own manhood to support a woman and know that she is just as capable and intelligent and a leader as a man, especially one who has none of the qualifications to be the president. But who is being touted by a lot of men because they are a bunch of wimps and can't stand a woman in charge.

We have to look over the kids jumping and stomping and waving their arms for obama, they hook on to a new rock star every year. But this has turned in a cultish fevor and they really don't understand what they are doing. Hard to tell who they will back next year...

Another aspect of this campaign that really concerns me is the short term memory of so many people. George Bush came to the White House on his campaign to be the outsider and uniter! Like Obama, he never said how he would accomplish this. Seven years later, we are further apart than ever. Why isn't anyone asking him to explain to us exactly how he's going to do this?

I'm all for getting along but their are major issues that can't be diluted to appeal to everyone. There are issues that you have to stand for and there is no compromise.

facta non verba @ 65:

I have written several pieces for liberal progressive blogs and the ones where I point out flaws and inconsistencies of Obama (I support Edwards, still do, even though he has suspended his campaign), I get the most hateful comments. I am openly gay so much the comments attack my sexuality. Being called a cocksucker doesn't really offend me since it is true but a moron given that I have three advanced degrees I toss off as sheer stupidity. Then I am called a bigot even though I've stated that I would support the nominee of the Democratic Party.

Those attacks on female bloggers are beyond the pale. How can it be that people who support Obama ignore their own candidate's call for unity? On various blogs, TPM and Huffington Post being the worst offenders, the vilification of Mrs. Clinton is plainly and patently offensive. C&L has at least maintained a neutrality but both TPM and the HuffPost are unabashedly pro-Obama. Josh and Ariana have the right to do as they please but I had thought they were trying to be objective conduits for various schools of thought and opinion. The attack piece on John Edwards by Lawrence O'Donnell calling John Edwards a loser should not have ever been published. Then came more pieces by other authors attacking Edwards for everything under the sun. Pretty much caused me to start sending Hillary cheques.

(The emphasis in the paragraph above is mine.)

I believe Edwards was shut out by the media for the same reason - and in the same fashion - as Dennis Kucinich: the Big Giant Heads found their pro-peace, populist message entirely too threatening; they just didn't think John Edwards really meant it, at first. Once they realized he was serious, they closed him down as soon as they could.

But as for the HuffPo's attacks on Hillary Clinton, whatever gave anyone the idea the Huffingtons really meant any of the progressive things they've been saying lately? During the impeachment hearings against Bill Clinton, Arianna was one of the talking heads that called for him to plead guilty and step down, already - night, after night, after boring night. She and her husband go which ever way the political wind blows. They're not really progressives - they might pander to public opinion, but at heart they're just as greedy and elitist as the rest of the neo-cons, and they'd sell all of us out in a heartbeat.

If I don't write in Dennis Kucinich on the ballot this November, I think I'll vote for the Progressive Party candidate (if there is one), or perhaps the Green Party. My heart just isn't in this I'll-pretend-to-be-populist, just-until-I-get-elected, stuff.

I so agree. It is possible to criticize people without calling them names or making fun of how they look. Too many comments are filled with racism, sexism, and agism. Their children should always be off limits.

To JTM, above, some people use "repug" or "repub" because so many Republican spokespeople can't bring themselves to use "democrat" and "democratic" properly. Democrat is the noun as "he is a Democrat." Democratic is the adjective as, "the Democratic plan is better." Personally, until the Republicans can get their nouns and adjectives straightened out, I will use the term "Repub."

Digby needs to get a sitemonitor. There are over 50 million people who voted for Bush in 2004. That's a lot of trolls.

I know this election has people fired up but, being civil should be the way progressives and thinking people handle themselves. I've seen things on this site that, if you were on the street and said that, you would be on the way to the hospital. Trolls are easy enough, its hatered that comes from progressives and thoughtfull people thats hard to cope with.

Thanks, John...ad hominem attacks add nothing to the debate..."restraint of pen and tongue, 'ya know ?..."

So after all this, can't we agree that:

Dick Cheney is a C*nt
George Bush is a C*nt
Mike Mukasey is a serious C*nt
Condoleeza Rice is a B*tch
Etc, etc, etc...

And Digby is a sharp and erudite observer of politics.

I think it's appropriate to appreciate that *sometimes* nasty names just fit. They may be the only thing that comes to mind in the dumbfounded wave of disbelief and anger that becomes more and more constant as the republican "misbehaviour" is finally revealed despite their well rehearsed chorus of denial and dissembling.

Mildly related to the thread on F*ck posted by BlueGal recently, but not completely.

BadKitty @ 13:

Thanks, John. Some of the terms used to describe Senator Clinton are very offensive and reveal a deep hatred of all women. Thanks for recognizing that and pulling in the reins a bit.

I couldn't agree more. I rarely get too far down the comments thread before some angry, ignorant, bigoted commentor has veered off into an irrational, bile-spewing rant. Moderation isn't an easy task, and I thank JA for trying to keep the discourse civil without squelching passion.

Thing Fish @ 62:

Here's a thought. Required email addresses are published in place of Name after sufficient warnings.

3 strikes and you are no long anonymous.

Or publicly log client IP addresses with each and every post. That usually takes care of the trolls and sock puppets pretty quickly.

I forgot to add "hate-filled" to the list of conservative attributes.

peaceful easy feeling @ 112:

Thing Fish @ 62:

Here's a thought. Required email addresses are published in place of Name after sufficient warnings.

3 strikes and you are no long anonymous.

Or publicly log client IP addresses with each and every post. That usually takes care of the trolls and sock puppets pretty quickly.

DHCP makes that a bit problematic for accountability. A smart cow / troll would just reset their modem or router.

D.G. Bowman @ 118:

I forgot to add "hate-filled" to the list of conservative attributes.

Sad to say, by you are spot-on with your analysis.