Major freeper infestation this morning...

[zanne]

Not mentioning names, but watch for them.

[sasha031]

1. i think i saw one

my question is how can a freep have over 1000 post? unless they spend much time here stirring up trouble...

[ewagner]

3. Saw that yesterday

really caught me by surprise.

[Midlodemocrat]

4. Please hit alert if you think you see a disruptor.

That way the mods can assess the situation and take appropriate action if necessary.

Thanks.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

6. Sadly there's a lot of DUers like that (Freep over 1K). MOST of them

are rather more "subtle" than the one I think you are talking about. Too busy to do advanced search, but I suspect that one could not have gotten to 1K posting like they are now. Oh well, glad they gave some bux to DU anyway.

[loudsue]

8. Yep....lots of them run up posting numbers in the smaller forums,

and/or do the "kick" posts until their post numbers grow.

But once they start discussing a topic in real time, they're pretty obvious.

I wish they'd just stay the hell away!

:kick:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

75. kicked

:kick:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

83. I'm not sure "irony" is the right word...

:rofl:

[YOY]

7. Probably go to some forgotten posts and put stuff down SPAM style

either that or they spend much time posting little "I agree" answers. Curious...I wonder if Skinner could check it out. I'm sure they have a pattern...

[jonnyblitz]

10. you could spend days padding your post count on foolish

lounge threads without ever having to make a political comment.

[Telly Savalas]

62. Or even more easily spend days padding a post count on foolish

GD threads without ever having to make a lucid political comment.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

64. If you want to see more than one freeper

Open up ANY site I've posted on the topic the last few day but very few post there because they want my topics to slip quietly into the darkness of cyber space... One board on here is an obvious promotion of a TV or radio Nazi no one had heard of till it got posted here at DU... Now the Nazi can say the left wing hates him and build right wing viewership... some fools on the left watch him too judging from the posts at DU, which puzzles. I can't stand to hear or see racist nazis... they make me wanna puke literally.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

18. Easy

All they have to do is go on various threads, give a quick reply like "Yes! n/t" or "Done". Or they answer a lot of nonpolitical threads in the Lounge.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

29. KICK

:kick:

[JanMichael]

35. I've been alerting on one that does that repeatedly on my threads.

Usually posting a subject line only question that makes about zero sense.

Sort of like "What about skin care bananas" on a thread about industrial layoffs.

However with those alerts I see that they've had no effect.

PS~ I should add that I've searched this posters name and it does the same on other threads in several different forums.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

58. i see that here too

Jan... I'm kind of new here but some days it seems like freepers are running the site, there's so many in here

[YOY]

72. Then again some of us do like to be silly on occasion

I've had people jump down my throat for making silly or lighthearted comments here.

[Buns_of_Fire]

89. ...and some of us are just snarky smartasses (raises hand, timidly)

It's not that I don't aspire to be as deep and erudite as some posters (they know who they are), but by the time I've fleshed out my deep and erudite comment, it's already been made five times. So, I've resigned myself to usually be one of the designated tomato-catchers with a slow PC with a slower connection.

Every board needs some smartasses. Please don't hate me because I'm beautiful. :cry:

[Lefty48197]

33. It's very common for freeps to get lots of posts in the gun dungeon

For some reason, the administrators continue to allow right wingers to post in the gun dungeon.

[NoFederales]

52. What the hell is the gun dungeon?

NoFederales

[TheBaldyMan]

60. the special interest forum devoted to firearms

also known as the gungeon

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=118

i think it's a bit creepy myself, I'm not a fan of guns.

[Lefty48197]

63. I don't really mind guns myself

but those lizards that live in the gun dungeon? They bother me tremendously.

[benEzra]

82. Lizards, eh?

:)

Well, I don't "live" there, so you must not be talking about me... :)

college-educated, guitar-playing, goatee-wearing, literature geek, runner, and dad to special needs kid that I am...

owning guns, and advocating for the right to do so, does not a freeper make...

[Lefty48197]

86. Certainly you're right

but those that come into a Democratic website, pretending to be Democrats, when nothing could in fact be further from the truth, that doth a lizard make.

[benEzra]

93. True. (n/t)

[jmowreader]

94. They do it through the Lounge

They go to the Lounge and run up several thousand posts on miscellaneous topics. That post count doesn't break out Lounge posts from GD/LBN posts, so a freeper with 2000 posts about Rachael Ray and 1500 about cats has the same "1000+" post count bona fides as someone like WilliamPitt or SoCalDem.

[Christa]

2. well well well

:evilgrin: I hope they enjoy what they read :evilgrin:

[TheBaldyMan]

5. do you Sean Waaaaahnity ?

he has 1000+ posts - gasp

[QC]

9. I think I know the one you're talking about.

When someone appears out of nowhere sounding eerily like what freepers think liberals sound like, then I get suspicious.

[cali]

11. Åll liberals don't sound alike.

There's a reason that there's a rule against calling people out as freepers. Too often someone who isn't in accord with majority thinking on an emotional issue, is the subject of ad hominem attacks. Frequently this involves the accusation that said person is a freeper. I've experienced it. It doesn't particularly trouble me. I know who I am and what I believe. Nevertheless, the suspicion that someone who thinks differently is thus a freeper, is disturbing. And think about the premise of a freeper making more than 1000 posts; that seems like going to an awful lot of trouble for a not readily discernible goal.

[QC]

13. What I'm talking about is when people sound like parodies of liberals.

That's a very different thing than simply being independent, which we need more of here.

Do you remember seventhson? He was the conspiracy theorist who declared, among other memorable things, that Wesley Clark had caused Haitian men to grow "full female breasts." He had thousands of posts and many defenders, but something always seemed very fishy about him to me, because, as I said, he sounded more like a parody of a conspiracy theorist than an actual conspiracy theorist.

Sure enough, he outed himself as a freeper.

[im10ashus]

32. That must have been before my time.

I don't remember that. If I suspect someone, and they are usually newer members, I try to gently prod them with a stick. Ask them questions, in a gentle way, about their base beliefs. They usually crack under the pressure of having to answer more profound questions. Then I hit alert and let the mods take over.

[cali]

34. Ack, I do remember SS

I never bought into his idiocy but I do remember he had plenty of defenders. Quel idiot.

[jonnyblitz]

45. he was obsessed with skull and bones. nt

[jonnyblitz]

41. he has shown up on other forums and claims his account

was hacked here and that it wasn't really him that outed himself as a freeper. apparently he is believed at these other places. who knows. :shrug:

[Cassandra]

47. I've experienced some who took a very extreme position...

and tried to get me to agree with it, so they could take the"evidence" of extremism back to their buddies. Really childish behavior.

[baby_mouse]

61. Classic freep logic!

The thing is, he probably really believed that you really DID believe the extremism.

It really doesn't matter what you say to these people. They have their heads stuck the delivery slot of a narcotic vending machine and keep pressing the buttons.

[Adelante]

50. There were a few outing themselves or being outed

Right after November '04. Once they left here other boards took them in.

Haitian Man Tits -- who can forget? :D

[YOY]

73. There are a couple of folks that I have never seen before that

post on pro-Choice lists claiming that this is "all men's fault and that there is no such thing as a pro-choice male...invest in vibrators etc..."

I know there are some psychotic man-haters out there, but some of this is just so striotypical of what they would think that we would say...is it not?

[Mr Rabble]

14. I agree with you here.

Who the hell has the time to troll and build up 1000+ posts?

Further, why the hell would they bother? I have never tried to register an alias on a wing-nut site just to troll- or to debate.

I think DU just has people from all over the spectrum.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. Many. Just like many DUers have had long time accounts on FR etc.

Different people enjoy different things.

[zanne]

15. But they do exist...

And while I support the rule against calling someone out as a freeper, it can also help to enable them. They know the rules, too, and they take advantage of that one big time.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

24. That is very true

one thing that I feel differentiates DUers from freepers is the diversity of opinion. Usually, there is a certain amount of respect for varying opinions, but I've been in some pretty hot discussions myself! That's where the ALERT button comes in handy.

Like you, I wonder why in the world someone waste their time posting at a website they dispise so that they could "disrupt"? The return isn't that great-usually a few angry replies. Personally, I wish that when a troll is suspected NO one replied but instead alerted the mods. That way, if the person is indeed a troll, they aren't getting any satisfaction.

[Strelnikov_]

30. "An Awful Lot Of Trouble For A Not Readily Discernible Goal"

No one ever accused them of being the sharpest knives in the drawer.

There are a number I suspect, based on their consistent dichotomy with positions favored by most progressives. So be it. I have no problem debating an issue, or ignoring obvious trolling. The moderated nature of this board minimizes the ad-hominem attack prevalent on other boards.

If they hang around long enough, they will learn something.

[Lefty48197]

36. These people have dedicated their lives to spreading the right wing lies

they'll spend months in this forum if they're allowed.

[Coastie for Truth]

43. It happens all the time on one forum I frequent

where emotions turn into charges of racism and alerts and deletions and tombstones.

[freeplessinseattle]

19. yes, you nailed it! gives me a good laugh sometimes n/t

[Mutley]

12. I think many here are too ready to call someone a freeper

because they don't share the popular opinion of DU on an issue.

[Surya Gayatri]

17. You're probably right, mutley

but when they start throwing around incendiary rhetoric like "rabid leftists", "frenetic masses on DU", ya' just haf' ta' wonder, ya' know?

SG :eyes:

[Mutley]

20. In that case, sure you have to wonder.

But I have not seen the person the OP is talking about, so I don't know if anything like that was actually said.

:eyes: yourself

[Surya Gayatri]

39. Just saw that kind of talk

on a thread over at GD-Alito. Supposedly from somebody just sooo concerned that we see the error of our ways. We could start winning elections again if we'd only listen to him/her.

LOL, the eyes were to express my own scepticism--nothing to do w/ you! SG

[The Stranger]

22. No, it is pretty clear who they are and that they are here.

Some of them have completely objectified a person in a press photo by insinuating that this innocent person is somehow involved with terrorism.

This is Right Wing fear/smear shit and everyone knows it.

This is bigoted in the worst way and will not be condoned.

Not on way -- not no how.

[Mutley]

28. Some are obvious, yes.

But I've seen many legitimate DUers called freepers for nothing more than having an unpopular opinion.

[CJCRANE]

68. ...or misread sarcasm...

There's a lot of subtle humor on DU that can be easily misread by the less cynical amongst us.

[carolinalady]

23. Agree-

shit! one word answer-what does this mean???
I guess I am not very good at reading into these posts and figuring out who is a freeper and who is not unless they are totally rude and obvious. Centrist Dems are not often treated very kindly here nor are Hillary supporters (I definitely fall into that category). Having said that, I think people come to this site for different reasons-for me it was the big lie about Iraq and my fervor for John Kerry to get elected and boot the SOB out of office before they institute a draft which could take my boys. I am not a huge activist like others here, but I do try and respect their opinions. I don't like how our party is being run, I think we are behind the eight ball on message delivery, but anytime I try to express that opinion, I get blasted.

[KharmaTrain]

21. Check How Long Their Name Has Been Registered

It's not difficult for someone with nothing better to do to whip up to 1000 posts here, so I will check how long they've been a member and go from there. If they have 1500 posts and they've only been registered since Dec. 15, it makes one go hmmmmmmm.

I welcome the Freepers and other wingnuts here...it's the first time these bastards have had a good doseage of the truth and reality in a long time. Ain't that a bitch!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

25. CHECK THIS!

THIS THREAD DOES NOTHING BUT GIVE A REICH-WING MEDIA FOOL MUCH NEEDED PUBLICITY FROM THE PLACE THAT WILL HELP HIS SHOW THE MOST... WHY SO MANY VOTES ON SUCH A MUNDANE THREAD??? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2398440&mesg_id=2398440

[KharmaTrain]

31. Hannity Gets Publicity Here?

Material maybe...and then GOOD! What's wrong with right wingers coming here and seeing some truth? Seeing the many threads that point out chapter and verse their manchild's many failures and how they're getting screwed. Sure, they can laugh or try to raise shit, but it's like pissing in the wind...they're sure not going to change my opinions of them or the world or shut DU down. If anything, it'll make it bigger and stronger.

I saw that Hannity post last night...read it and moved on. I didn't think it was a troll or anything more than another person doing what this place is known for...pitching a bitch or starting a discussion. I don't see how that is such a bad thing. Don't expect more here, you'll always be disappointed.

Regarding Hannity...I hope that asshat lives on this board and reads this material every day... All these trolls drive up the hit count that Skinner can use to get better advertising rates and help make DU bigger.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

85. Maye West said it best

This early and important movie-star said, "I don't care what the news says about me, as long as they spell my name right." Negative comments are as useful as supportive statements and they often use the Maye West example in intro media courses in college... In the type of politically polarized atmosphere we have in modern America, negative attitudes in print ANYWHERE become even more useful.

[progressivebydesign]

49. You're being sarcastic.. right??? I voted for that thread.

It did not glamorize hannity or give him any type of good publicity. I thought it was a beautiful, heartfelt, thread.. and I think that type of conversion is valuable. I hope you were being sarcastic, because there is nothing wrong with that post. It was perfect.

[mtnsnake]

96. I voted for it, too, & think the OP in it is important enough to print

off and shove down the throats of a couple acquaintances of mine who listen to Hannity's disgusting show....just to open their eyes to the truth, hopefully. If I could've voted twice for that post, I would have.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

27. And who knows, Karma Train?

Maybe, just maybe, one of the trolls will actually read the posts and start seeing the light. If we were able to get just one troll to see the error of his ways and to become a liberal activist, it almost makes the inconvenience of dealing with trolls worthwhile.

[KharmaTrain]

38. Miracles Can Happen...LOL

I've seen several very loyal DU members start out as "lurkers" or even "trolls". They came here out of curiosity in the first place and sometimes that can reach someone in strange ways.

While it hasn't happened in a long time, I've debated some trolls on here...started an email or PM discussion with them and have had some fun and amusement that way. I think the skins here get too thin and the paranoia runs a little deeper than it should. It's time many here realize the truth really does set you free. By fearing and living in constant suspicion, one has sucummed to the very disease Freepers and wingnuts have.

As my mother used to say "be bigger"...

[Surya Gayatri]

44. Your mom was one savvy lady, Kharma,

and I agree that we mustn't be too thin-skinned or prickly. If, by hanging around here, even a few trolls get a blast of "real-think", then we've moved forward by at least that much. SG

[im10ashus]

26. There was a thread the other day.

I will see if I can find it but with advanced search down, I am not sure. But they had a link to Freak Repugnants site that talked about "the top 10 dumbest DU threads" and someone said that on that list is a known lurker. I wish I knew who it was because I usually can spot them but the people on that list were not someone I would normally suspect. Bastards.

[Catrina]

42. That was probably a lie, just to make all DUers suspicious of each

other. I ignore anything freepers say along those lines. They really do think they are some kind of crack undercover secret agents sitting behind their computers ~

And so what if one of those people is a freeper? As others have said, these people are totally buried in indoctrination, from Fox to Hannity, to their daily emailed RNC talking points to Rush!! Try immersing yourself like that just for one day, and you won't have a clue what's really going on in the world. It will be their first experience with the facts which they will reject the way a vampire reacts to a cross at first.

They are obviously good subjects for indoctrination, so if they spend a lot of time, it can help to deprogram them, over time.

[im10ashus]

46. I have tried to sit through a Faux News program a long time ago.

Back during the 2000 election when Falafel Boy was starting his crap, and I just couldn't do it. I don't like wanting to throw things at my television. Let them lurk if they have no better way of spending their time. They may learn something.

[yellowdogmi]

37. I think that some here might

be to quick to throw that label around. My opinions may seem unenlightened to some here. Does that make me a freeper? I can only grow in knowledge by expressing my opinions and having honest interaction. There are times I don't exactly understand the nuances of some of the posts. When I agree with someone I readily chime in. When I do not understand something I will ask questions. I am new here and enjoy the community. The way people have pulled together in the last few days to fight Alito has given me an incredible amount of hope. While there may be disruptors, I think the rule is a good one. It is to me like our presumption of innocence. There have been moments that I have tried to advance what I thought was a logical premise only to be snarked at. My skin is thick enough to take it, but would rather have someone explain what was faulty in my logic. From a relatively new citizen of this community it is kind of hard to find your place and build the confidence to share your views. On the other hand if you catch 'em red handed out em.

[Coastie for Truth]

40. On one forum that I frequent

(with a high ratio of disruptor tombstones to posts) there is evidence of the old Poli Sci 201 observation - that at the extremes of the bell curve the left and the right are indistinguishable, and a lot of commonality of positions of the extreme right and the most left 1%.

[progressivebydesign]

48. I always HATE to see these threads.

you sound like a bunch of paranoid ladies in a coffee klatch. Who really gives a fuck if someone is a "freeper" as you call it? really. How does that affect you personally? Check my profile.. I've been here since.. practically the beginning, earlier as Caliphoto, and now at my name during name-change amnesty. I have almost 10k posts. And.. I disagree often with what people have written here, and I say so. Does that make me a freeper? I have never voted Republican or anything but democratic in my life. I've volunteered countless hours to democratic candidates.. and yet.. I disagree with some people here on various topics. And... (ominous music here)... I've answered threads OFTEN with just a quick headline and n/t! OMG!!! The horror!!!! :evilfrown:

I notice that those wanting to participate in these freeper posses usually have been here less than a year, themselves. The freepers rarely harm anyone (except for one or two that really hurt a lot of people, but they were long term posters and no one suspected them at the time). The SPORT of unmasking suspected freepers or abusing newbies is as vile as the shit the republicans do that everyone whines about here.

[Canuckistanian]

53. Tell me what you think of this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2404684

This is a long time poster who just went into a meltdown.
Can you figure out what's happening here?

[progressivebydesign]

65. Umm. I think she's reacting the the US military kidnapping mothers.

I mean.. that's what that appears to be. It's probably one of those, 'I'm typing before I'm thinking cuz I'm so pissed" things. Seems to me that there is no freeper thing there, if that's what you meant. I'm not sure what you meant, seriously. I think that is a raw post from a mother who breastfeeds and just couldn't handle news that we are kidnapping breastfeeding mothers in Iraq. yes?

[High Plains]

71. Umm. I bet he was referring to the person arguing with her

and defending the hostage-taking.

[applegrove]

78. That was me. Knee jerking. Cause I want the war to end. And I don't

have sympathy for the insurgents. I read Assasin's Gate. And the insurgents are killing civilians. Much more often than the the US. And if you read assasin's gate, at every turn Rummy or Bremmer or someone undid some progress. And Rummy said at the start - "oh it will be ten years". I think the neocons are using the insurgents. Just like they are using the xtians.

I had a meltdown. And then felt I owed it to talk to everyone I had angered and explain myself. And didn't take the time to stop and breath deep.

Not a freeper. Just angry that the war going on and on - in a slow burn with never the right amount of anything - is part of the plan. And 100,000 are dying a year. And I've come to the conclusion that that is the plan. To keep the war(s) going long enough that they can start sattelite wars. And that Americans will become apathetic. And somehow learn to love war.

And I see the army trying to do its job. Trying to make deals with insurgents to stop the mayhem that results in the small neck of the woods that the insurgents control. And I think the army on the whole are honest and trying to do their best. They want peace. And their leaders are purposely not giving it to them. So I spat all over some young mother who was relating to a mother across the world. Not a proud moment.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

79. "Making deals" with insurgents by kidnapping their wives?

Whatever it takes, I guess... :eyes:

[applegrove]

80. Ending the war. So Rummy doesn't get the ten years of war he wants.

How many Iraqis will be dead then? We could go on. We don't agree. I want it to stop.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

81. Ending the war... by kidnapping wives. You are basically saying

"end justifies the means".

[Canuckistanian]

84. I was referring to the response of applegrove

And applegrove's repeated assertion that it was partially the mother's fault for marrying a "terrorist murderer"

[applegrove]

87. That as the wife of an insurgent leader - she had issues more serious

going on in her life than having her nursing relationship abruptly ended and spending two days in lock up. Not saying her rights were not abused.

[Mutley]

54. Hear hear!

:applause:

[NoFederales]

56. "The SPORT of

unmasking suspected freepers or abusing newbies is as vile as the shit the republicans do that everyone whines about here."

This has disturbed me at other sites, not only at DU. Even rants can be conducted with civility and decorum. The personal attacks are shameful, but that IGNORE feature does work if driven to use it.

NoFederales

[Finder]

66. I agree and I am afraid it is human nature...

as I see it happen often. I have been at DU for years and have noticed the cliques come and go but thank goodness it always settles down. The MODs are well aware of the tactic.

[dannofoot]

74. Thanks, PDB...

...I made the supreme mistake, some months ago, of making my first OP about Cindy Sheehan. I quickly learned that knee-jerk, visceral reactions aren't confined to the right-wing.

Since that time, I've noted dozens of posts that basically stated the same thing as my post. Yet those posters weren't called out as freepers, trolls, disrptors, liars, etc., as I was. Perhaps I was prescient in my post. But I'm sure that many on DU put me on ignore that evening.

I certainly don't lose sleep over this, of course. I don't respond to many posts in LBN or GD or even in the lounge because: 1) Someone else, or a large number of people, have already stated my position; 2) I don't feel I know enough about the subject to offer anything of relevance; or 3) I don't feel like getting flamed.

DU vigilantes are as bad, IMHO, as vigilantes anywhere else. It's a "conform or die" mindset (die, figuratively, of course, as in being Tombstoned).

DU is a part of my online life, but not a part of my off-line line lfe. Some people get really wrapped up in American Idol, and some really get wrapped up in what people express on DU. Little difference, I believe.

[footinmouth]

88. Stuff like this makes me afraid to post much

I've been a member for over a year and don't even have 300 posts. What does that post count say about me? I guess I should have spent more time posting in the lounge, rather than reading some of the more important stuff I see here.

I don't mind the freepers. I like to see where the other side is coming from. I've been tempted to throw in my 2 cents over there, but nobody seems to be listening to anything that deviates from the Republican talking points. The only common ground I've ever seen between the 2 groups is that Pat Robertson is an asshole.

[Adelante]

51. It's hard to tell

With everybody calling everybody else freepers around here, it seems, more than ever before.

[0007]

55. They out in full form!

[Vickers]

57. What is the purpose of this thread? Hit the "alert" button.

I have alerted on about 30 obvious freepers over the last 2 years, and EVERY SINGLE TIME they have been tombstoned, often within ten minutes, with the longest lasting about 4 hours.

Using the tools you have is much more successful than this.

FTR, I have been accused of being a freeper, both on the board (which I then alerted) and in PMs (to which I replied "hey, fuck you!" and then put them on ignore).

No biggie.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

59. Some you can tell just by their screennames.

Please stop kicking this thread with dumb replies.
It is just ridicilush! In fact, it is beyond ridicolosh!

[American liberal]

67. can someone please explain to me why this blog shows up on threads?

I saw it for the first time the other day and was troubled to see some of my own words used...

http://dummiefunnies.blogspot.com/

[A-Schwarzenegger]

69. And look! It even showed up in your post!

That's weird.

[uppityperson]

70. snort

ha

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

76. Funny how that happens. Things that make you go "hmmmm"

[American liberal]

90. I resent your implications

I posted the link because I was trying to get more info. about the obnoxious web site. I can see this site hasn't changed too much since the last time I took a break from you people. Get a life...

[A-Schwarzenegger]

92. You resent your own implications?

Far out.

[mydreamcametrue]

77. The Nazis Are Coming

[Bridget Burke]

97. Don't worry.

They never stay very long.

[tlsmith1963]

91. Were Hannity & Limbaugh Here Again?

Quick, get the Raid!

Well, you *did* say "infestation".:evilgrin:

Tammy

[ellie]

95. I'm surprised they

can even read, let alone write. We all know they can't spell.