Are we really that hated out there??

[Politics_Guy25]

This is going to sound naieve and I'm not sure how to put it so I'll just say what I'm feeling: I just went over to Boston.com (it's in the heart of liberalism for heavens sake) to confirm that the MA law allowing a temporary replacement to Senator Kennedy had indeed passed the senate as expected (it has fortunately!) Anyway, EVERY SINGLE ONE of the comments but for a few on there are calling us communists, calling us politburo-types, calling us hacks, saying that we're hypocrites, etc, etc. The vile goes on and on. To be honest, this shocked me a lot. It's MA for heavens' sake!! What's up with the right-wing majority of comments even in a MA website? Did you-know-who (his name starts with a D) link to Boston.com? I can understand the hatred if that's what happened. If not though, I don't get it!

Is the Boston Globe a right-wing rag? I know nothing about it but if it is, I can understand the hateful comments better as well but what about all the others?

And it's the same thing on Tapper's blog, on Politico.com, on CNN.com's political ticker, on abcnews.com stories, on cbsnews.com, etc. So far, the only website that I've visited where the comments are in line with the major news organization political opinion polls is NPR. All the other websites comments sections are filled with the most vile hatred for us. Calling President Obama unspeakable names, etc. MSN.com is another site that is somewhat more balanced. Is it just that the right wing has a troll brigade finding every message board or story comment board that they can find to try to make themselves look more popular?

It'd just be nice to find a comments section SOMEWHERE other than on websites partisan to democrats that is readable. Are democratic voters just too busy trying to make ends meet and put food on the table that they don't have time to comment? Is it the silent majority?

This has bothered me for a long time. It's not a big deal but we're outnumbered like 4 or 5-1 on almost every major news site comment section. What do you think accounts for this? If I wasn't aware of people out there trying to make it appear as if President Obama is unpopular when they are actually in the minority, I'd take the comments on these websites as evidence of unbridled rage against us.

[tekisui]

1. Reich-Wingers hire blogger-guns.

They pay 'professional bloggers' to spam local and national boards with repuke tripe.

[YOY]

15. +1

I've heard storied here in DC of companies actually who pay guys to sit and write this shit.

[annabanana]

23. +2

[Lilyeye]

34. I really hope this has a major part to do with it.

Because I was bothered by the overwhelming hate I see in my local paper's online comment section. I do not read comment sections anymore because it always turns into a bash President Obama, democrats and minorities fest.

[SoCalDem]

37. and people who hate something or have a complaint, are a LOT more eager to respond.

A long time ago, I made it a personal policy to write a letter..a real letter to commend people in everyday life who have rendered good service to me. Everyone is ready to write a snotty letter, complaining about how a salesclerk/waitress/hairdresser/etc treated them, but most people do not take the time to commend someone for good service.

A person did that for me once, when I was new at a job, and it gave me such a lift, I never forgot it, and have paid-it-forward ever since.

I know how great it feels to have your boss call you into their office, and have them show you that letter that says what a good job you did :)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

2. I know I am. But it's my fault

for being so awesome. :evilgrin:

It's just a few really loud assholes like the ones at the Teabagging events.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. That kind of crap is the same thing as "Astroturf" or the other loud screaming that these morans do.

Absolutley no representation of the true feelings of the majority.
The actual views of the majority scare the crap out of these guys.

[Politics_Guy25]

4. Thought so!-It's pathetic really!

The RNC hires people and PAYS THEM to spam internet sites?? That's ridiculous. Do they really think they gain votes that way. God they're nuts.

[Ivan the So-So]

27. What amazes me.....

...is that any of these mental midgets know how to go online!

[BrklynLiberal]

29. lol

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. And probably 80% of the "locals" screaming on that site are the same 80%

of the "locals" who post in response to the articles in the LA Times, and the 80% of the "locals" who post in response to the Birmingham News and the 80% at small-city-Minnesota and the 80% at City News in Maine and so on and so on and so on... and the same 80% who show up pretending to be "locals" at town hall meetings....

which is to say, they're all being posted by the same group of rightwing-financed shitheads getting paid, and the rightwing shitheads led to those places by freerepublic and Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.

[rvablue]

7. +1 No doubt.

[rvablue]

6. Your logic doesn't employ reality. President Obama handily won the election last year.

So, no, we're not in the minority and we are not outnumbered.

The GOP is aging, and rapidly at that.

And it's not "unbridled rage." Go back and read up on the very well-funded smear campaigns against Clinton in the 1990s and you might start getting a clue about where are all of these vitriolic "commentors" are springing from.

And lastly, have you ever met a person who changed their minds on a subject due to reader comments? I haven't.

[TheKentuckian]

36. This point gets overstated, in my opinion. He got like 53%. 56 tops with some fudging

That leaves plenty of room for dangerous crazies.

Our majority isn't overwhelming by any means.

[Forkboy]

8. It's just Curt Shilling with multiple user names.

[Politics_Guy25]

9. LOL

And I can't count how many times I've read comment sections on websites and after I finished hurling had to rush over to Gallup or pollster.com to check the latest opinion polls that have us at around 55% to stop from hyperventilating. Just frustrating.

And yeah message boards that are truly frequented by just locals are a lot more in line with the national numbers.

[Forkboy]

11. I'm pretty sure if an article declaring an end to cancer was posted...

...it would get about the same amount of negative comments. :)

[WinkyDink]

10. We won.

[Faygo Kid]

12. See the article on the Eliminationists posted on the right side of the front page here?

Pretty much nails it. Just listen to talk radio for 5 minutes. They are killers, and they have a president in mind as their target.

[Arkana]

13. They're not the majority. They just scream louder than the actual majority.

[kjackson227]

30. And they say the squeaky wheel gets the oil... Hope this won't be the case in this scenario.

[Arkana]

32. No, because in this case the wheel isn't just squeaky.

The tire has shredded and we're riding on the damn rim.

[Jennicut]

14. Its the same way here in CT. Listen to local talk radio or go on CT websites and its all right wing

bs.
But what else do these losers have to do but be paid to hit websites.

MSNBC is one of the few where there are lots of moderates or liberals on it.
Politico is run by a RWer so naturally more RWers flock to it.
One of worst? Youtube. Yup. Its horrible the amount of RW trash on there. Or Ron Paul lovers.

[tularetom]

16. Nah we all have jobs or lives

On the other hand they have nothing better to do.

[Generator]

17. Yes well it's the same with any subject

Ever been a part of a "moms" blog community?

You are hitler if you don't do whatever the other side thinks you MUST DO as a mother. It's the web. Anyone can say anything and that ability to be nasty and assume the worst and shout vile is just something the web brings out. That's all I know. I actually came to DU after being in a "mom" community. The mothers were FAR worse than the worst day on DU. Amazing, not? You would think there would be some compassion. And I'm not even talking about big issues like abortion or circumcision, just something like, heh, I preferred to a have a c-section and yes,I let my kid watch teevee. Well you deserve to have your kid taken away. It's insane. And that was with monitoring of the site and people "knowing" you. Open comments, forget it!

So I was relieved to come here let me tell you. And what I learned in talking to anyone that was right wing-I delved into the politics section-was that no matter how many facts you throw-it's pointless. It's ALL emotion. It has nothing to do with facts or making sense. The more facts the more silence.

PS About those blog comment sites-haven't been to them. Been to Huffington or Salon-but I consider CNN and the networks so biased-I don't waste my time. And it's so easy to call names. That takes no thought whatsoever. And it's even easier when they have someone giving them the names to call people. So boring. I mean do they not realize calling someone a Communist is a joke? They are living cliches. Which I know WE must respect because sometimes they have weaspons.

[santamargarita]

18. Hate radio and Fucked-up-Fox teach this 24/7

:argh:

[karynnj]

19. Every article gets those obnoxious RWers there

I assume that some RW equivalent to DU must post every Boston Globe article on politics immediately so they can all spam it. It clearly doesn't reflect the state that routinely gave Kennedy and Kerry 65% plus of the vote in most of their elections. I've posted there on occasion just to try to be one voice balancing it.

The Boston Herald is the RW rag - and its comments are worse. The BG is now owned by the NYT.

[butterfly77]

20. Republicons have all of the money..

and Dems have lost jobs so they don't have internet service..

[Clio the Leo]

21. A feral cat always hisses the most when its back is against the wall. NT

[Davis_X_Machina]

22. Hating on the Globe...

...in certain circles -- Southie, e.g. -- is as old as Judge W. Arthur Garrity's consent decree, and completely atypical of the state.

Commenters at the Globe don't read the Globe, they just post there -- they read the Herald.

You'll see the same phenomenon at, say, thinkprogress.org.

[Doctor_J]

24. Sooner or later we will start hitting back for real

hate radio hosts will start disappearing, people who show up to terrorize peaceful citizens at town hall meetings will leave feet first, and parks full of psychotic anti-American Limbeciles will serve as targets. I don't believe that we will continue to tolerate threats, terrorism, and assaults forever.

[Neecy]

25. I think they target liberal cities

On sfgate.com, the site for the San Francisco Chronicle, the comments are always bristling with garbage from teabaggers...teabuggers...whatever they call themselves.

The rabid right thinks it's cute to invade the newspaper sites from liberal cities to spread their bile. I guess you have time to do that when you live in your mama's basement.

[Enthusiast]

26. Christian universities

assign students to do this.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

28. .

+

[ET Racer]

31. Hate to post and run but

How would this case be different from calls among us to start DU'ing a poll or go off defending someone's POV?
(I mean, other than it's DU doing it instead of some right wing hack? LOL)
My point being comments/polls/editorials are seldom a true voice of any community. When you add
in the internets empowering of the mob mentality you get what you see all over these days.

[Lilyeye]

33. I know what you mean.

I live in Maryland and The Sun paper website is full of racist, sexist, rabid right-wing bullshit. Its horrible. I've also noticed that whenever I read online articles, the comments sections are a cesspool of right wing garbage. The article could be about growing fruit and someone could still find someway to bash President Obama and the democrats. I don't even bother to read comment sections of articles dealing with minorities. I read an article about a homeless black girl who got into Harvard and the stuff I saw on there made me sick. The internet always had its crazy people, but the comment sections have gotten really really bad in the last couple of years.

[DatManFromNawlins]

35. Drudge Report and its associated sites

And they aren't trying to make themselves seem more popular. They're simply being more argumentative.

The internet was invented for angry shut-ins to vent their rage about the opportunities they've squandered.