GOP aide gets caught posting on liberal websites......................PRETENDING TO BE A PROGRESSIVE

[uponit7771]

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/GOP_aide_busted_for_fake_blog_0925.html

The unnamed aide to Bass — who, like many others in his party, faces a tough re-election fight — was routinely trolling liberal New Hampshire political blogs calling himself “IndyNH” and more commonly IndieNH...pretending to be a progressive.

Yeah, some of the factless post claiming what Obama did or didn't do could be orchestrated from the right...

Yeap...

[babylonsister]

1. Busted! And I'm sure this is the only one.

:sarcasm:

[uponit7771]

3. Yeap, there's no way the GOP would attack Obama at the net roots....nah...not them

[johnaries]

10. Thank God they caught the "only one". And I never heard of

"netvocates", but I'm sure they wouldn't so such a thing either.

[Fire1sKid]

48. Looks like they caught the only brave soul willing

to commit such a crime.:sarcasm:

[TheEuclideanOne]

83. I see a reference to this blogger from 08

I believe that this reference him as being busted a while back. Am I reading it wrong?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5476619

[glitch]

102. And if he were posting as a DLCer would he have to pretend?

:sarcasm:

[Larry Ogg]

2. But we here at DU can breathe confident

that no such individuals knowingly post on this web site…

The key word is KNOWINGLY :rofl:

[goclark]

6. We

KNOWingly
understand what is happening.

[windbreeze]

37. Gee...it seems to me, that just last week, I had a discussion

with someone here on DU, about this exact thing...lol now...wb

[Hydra]

4. Ya, we don't have ANY of THOSE here!

The sad ones are the ones who do what the staffers are doing for FREE.

[CreekDog]

5. Wonder who he is here

:rofl:

[IndianaGreen]

7. We know that the DLC's Progressive Policy Institute is NOT progressive

but is a neoliberal think tank (in case you don't know this, there is nothing liberal about being neoliberal). There is nothing progressive about the DLC, yet many people think that they are progressive, ignoring the sort of policies the DLC advocates.

Back on point:

The crime here, and it was a crime, is that Rep. Charles Bass (R-NH)'s staffer was using government computers for personal business. Government computers can only be used for legitimate law enforcement and government business. Posting personal messages on an internet board, whether using a subterfuge or one's real name, is against the law. At a minimum, the staffer responsible must fired. The lingering question is to what extent did Rep. Bass was aware that this sort of activity was taking place in his office.

[uponit7771]

8. I wouldnt be surprised if Bass knew what was going on...

[kestrel91316]

11. Knew, hell. Bass probably REQUIRED it of him as part of his job.

[HillWilliam]

82. IOKIYAR

The offender will apologize to his wife and his constituents ("...if any were offended..."), profess a love of jeebus, and carry on as if...

Oh wait, that's repub elected officials. Staffers OTOH are released to accept lucrative offers in the private sector as rewards for not getting the boss busted for directing the dirty work to be done.

Sorry I got confused there for a sec...

[PufPuf23]

122. Spot on. DLC is not Progressive and is esssentially Neocon in

war, class issues, and economic policy and just a Machivellian in politics as well.

Far too many at DU do not understand this.

[Odin2005]

9. BUSTED, suckah!

[FrenchieCat]

12. I know some of them come here....but I have most of them on ignore.

Call it a 7th sense, aka, common sense.

[WileEcoyote]

47. Why?

Putting someone on "ignore" is what the wingers do. At the neutral forum I belong to only the Repukes put people on ignore. They have to do this because truth screws with their false world view.

And it is a chicken yellow thing to do. I always keep everyone open. If I get hate mail? I fry them.

So let the GOP'ers put the whole world on ignore. It's how they govern.

[FrenchieCat]

111. I get a lot of satisfaction on not hearing folks

who spew bullshit.
Keeps my temperament at an even keel.
After a few years here, I understand that everyone has an opinion,
but that doesn't mean I have to hear everyone of them.

Of course, that's just me.

[PufPuf23]

123. I have never put a poster on ignore anywhere. nt

[NJmaverick]

13. Could this happen on DU?

No doubt the GOP would love to have people posting hard to convince liberals to turn on the Dems and President Obama

[suzie]

44. On another site where I post, one of the long-time "defenders of Bush and everything Republican"

posters admitted to spending a lot of his time on DU.

Made me start looking at some of the shrillest voices here with Frenchie's "common sense".

[Bobbie Jo]

66. Could, and HAS.

Infested to the gills. :puke:

[TheEuclideanOne]

81. Usually they get stopped when they have to support their case with facts

Facts = The Arch Enemy of the Republican party

There are a bunch of pretty smart folks here, usually these discussion don't get too far.

[onehandle]

113. Dear Republican National Committee,

I can be bought.

Love, onehandle

[PufPuf23]

124. Without a doubt there are.

I would go so far to wager that there are Democratic fractions posting from job sites including .gov and .mil to denigrate other Democrats with the DLC types more active.

Maybe one should question posters that post 8-12 hours a day with black-white thinking.

[NJmaverick]

14. I have seen anti-GOP posts get unrecced so it seems plretty clear their

operations have expanded beyond NH

[Peacetrain]

15. Why am I not surprised at this?

[NJmaverick]

17. There is a deadly combination

the belief in their own correctness and infallibility combined with an "ends justifies the means" mentality. That means they will do whatever it takes, no matter how unethical or immoral to push for their cause.

[Peacetrain]

19. Yep..

[IndianaGreen]

22. Such as supporting a behind the doors deal with PhRMA

Two can play this McCarthyism game.

[KrR]

16. We have many of them here...

They bash Medicaid, defend Medicare Advantage, and want "Tort reform".

[butterfly77]

64. We also have them in the ..

House and Senate they are known as BLUEDOGS but,they really are RepubliCONS...

[Kdillard]

18. kick and rec for exposing the creep.

[SoxFan]

20. Old News

This happened three years and two elections ago. Bass lost his seat to Paul Hodes in 2006.

[Armstead]

21. BREAKING NEWS -- ALL PROGRESSIVES ON DU ARE RIGHT-WING PLANTS

Oh nooes....

[freddie mertz]

27. And that seems to be the excuse for trying to limi the unrec function now, too.

You can't make this stuff up.

[Daemonaquila]

31. Oh, that explains it!!!!!

:rofl:

[Forkboy]

50. If we go by OMC, SimplyB1980 and Last Naturalist then all centrists are.

:)

[tekisui]

70. Don't forget HamdenRice.

[Soylent Brice]

106. and also agreed

[Hassin Bin Sober]

97. When did SIMPLYB1980 get the axe? I'm batting a thousand on my ignore versus ban ratio.

:rofl:


I had Hamden, OMC and SIMPLYB1980.

[Forkboy]

100. Last week.

Funny stuff. :)

[Hassin Bin Sober]

103. Was there a good old fashioned grave dancing?

I feel like I need to .....ahh.... pay my respects ... only for closure of course. :rofl:

[Soylent Brice]

105. agreed

[spiritual_gunfighter]

78. I think it makes some of those people feel better if they think that is true n/t

[Bobbie Jo]

126. No, just SOME. nt

[treestar]

23. How very Republican of them

No surprise. It is just like the very "clever" things they normally do.

I know this mentality. They think it's so funny when they get the better of anyone.

[bvar22]

24. I agree.

Anyone posting on DU celebrating the current Health Care Plan and calling this give away to the Heath Insurance Cartel a "step in the right direction" has simply GOT to be a Republican.
There is NO other explanation.

[TwentyFive]

25. So if a Dem Congressman or President Obama posted here...they would be a repug?

I think it is the divide and conquer peeps that do the posting. ahem.

[bvar22]

32. "divide and conquer peeps that do the posting"

You mean like the OP?
.
.
.
ahem.

[sabrina 1]

88. That's a possiblility, but I think they are more likelyty

DLCers, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. Anyone who supports allowing Big Business to take over this government, who defends legislation that further enslaves the country to Big Corps, is definitely not a Democrat.

[freddie mertz]

26. You wish they were all freepers. But they are not. nt.

[femrap]

28. I'm sure The

Heritage Foundation has a whole staff devoted to this.

[Daemonaquila]

29. Aaaand this is a surprise WHY?

Raise your hand if you didn't think this was happening...
Raise your hand if you don't think that some folks on the left are trolling right-wing sites pretending to be teabaggers...
Uh-huh - the lack of shock in the room is breathtaking.

[crikkett]

30. That must be what's happening to this poor board.

It's really awful how irrational the discussion on DU has become. I was suspecting poisoning.

[LoZoccolo]

40. No kidding; DU jumped the shark last week with anti-Dem and anti-Obama OPs reaching the front page.

Policies against that sort of disruption have gone lax compared to the major cull that took place here before the 2002 election. The problem is, if Skinner started crushing these accounts now the blowback could hurt funding in the short term too much to continue. It's too bad because I think there's another base of users they could have that want a genuinely Democratic board, and would be willing to pay for it, but you'd have to grow it and/or convince the people who ran away from all the nonsense to come back.

[existentialist]

33. makes sense, except that

Bass is not currently a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. There aren't in present Republican House members from New England.

Bass is a former member of the House, and he is a candidate seeking to regain the seat he lost in 2006 in what is considered a competitive race. But he is not presently a member of Congress.


I looked a little closer. It makes sense now. This story is from 2006 when Bass was a member of Congress before he lost that year.

[windbreeze]

38. even if it's from 2006....

can we possibly doubt this is still happening today? I don't...although I do agree with another poster who said, more or less, everyone's doing it.....wb

[sakabatou]

34. BWAHAH!

[Andronex]

35. Lots of democrats here pretending...

to be progressives, so republicans will fit right in...

[Bjorn Against]

36. I have no doubt there are right-wing trolls posing as hardcore Obama supporters as well

Trolls use all kinds of different tactics, some of them pose as progressives to make progressives look bad others pose as overzealous Obama supporters to make Obama look bad. We can not pretend as if all the trolls are on one side of the debate, if their purpose is to divide then there is no better strategy for them than to have plants on both sides of the debate.

[LoZoccolo]

39. Except you have no evidence, we do. n/t

[Bjorn Against]

41. Is a shit statement

A prominent and long time troll who posed as a hardcore Obama supporter was banned from this site fairly recently, he was later seen bragging about his trolling on Free Republic.

[Forkboy]

51. OperationMindCrime, SimplyB1980 and Last Naturalist all posed as hardcore Obama supporters.

So your comment, like all your others, is a shit statement.

[LoZoccolo]

68. Getting tombstoned does not mean that you are a Republican.

Unless an official statement was made, we do not know why they were tombstoned, and even then that may be open to question.

[Forkboy]

73. Never said it did. You're proof.

[NJmaverick]

46. Supporting Obama would help the Dems so why do that?

your comments don't make any sense

[Forkboy]

52. Ask OMC, SimplyB1980 and Last Naturalist.

They all posed as hardcore Obama supporters and yet turned out to be trolls.

[NJmaverick]

54. They didn't play well with the anti-Dem crowd, nothing says they were right wingers

[Forkboy]

58. OMC is bragging about fooling us on another board.

A right wing board. You'll defend them even now, even after being banned as trolls, just because they agreed with you. Funny shit.

[NJmaverick]

59. link please

[Forkboy]

65. Not allowed to link to those sites on DU, as you know.

I'll retract it as I'm not allowed to link to anything, but all you have to do is search his name and a couple of RW sites to see that his exploits here on DU were well received by the crazies at DU's alter ego sites.

As for Simply and LN, just do a search of their posts here on DU. Simply was majorly pro-Obama in his schtick. They went after anyone who criticized Obama in the slightest bit. It makes sense that trolls will choose to play both sides against the other. Just come here and pretend to be either Uber Pro-Obama or Uber Anti-Obama and the other side will react. Mission Accomplished. Simply fit that description perfectly. He was a caricature of a real Obama supporter, which was the giveaway to me.

I'm not asking this to be snarky, but is DU your first internet experience as far as this stuff goes, because this tactic goes way back long before DU was around. If you were a USENET person you're well aware of this already. Trolls won't pick just one side when the opening is there for both sides to be manipulated, and the trolls did the same thing when Clinton was in office. Play one against the other, and to do that you can choose either side and just play it to the hilt. I would ask people here to be wary of anyone who seems to love/hate Obama beyond the norm.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

86. Check your Inbox. -nt

[NJmaverick]

98. Yes I see that, but it doesn't prove anything

[Name removed]

94. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LoZoccolo]

69. That means nothing; I could just as easily log on as you. n/t

[Forkboy]

74. Sounds like you have experience in such things.

Sorry you lost one of your favorite DUers when OMC got banned.

[LoZoccolo]

85. I thought OMC made consistent tactical blunders.

He pretty much consistently personally attacked people, whih was unnecessary and just left him open to being tombstoned. I was also a fan of MrBenchley (who wrote the Bob Boudelang column) and that was pretty much his downfall when he started getting angrier at people.

But I know you haven't forgotten that a few days ago I was the victim of a mild form of identity theft. It takes just about no effort to sign up somewhere with any name you want. I could have signed up a long time ago and taken it myself, but I didn't want CU to have my personal information.

So what you see here is possibly a campaign of trying to tombstone people who would try to enforce self-discipline on DU and prevent the community from walking off the precipice of becoming a left-wing counterpart to teabaggers, which may be a continuation of the campaign to form a progressive-teabagger alliance and also post anti-Obama and anti-Democratic Party propaganda.

[Name removed]

87. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LoZoccolo]

90. What's that supposed to prove?

It would be super-easy to eviscerate DU of it's usefulness if someone wanted to. Simply bash the Democratic Party and promote splinterism, disregard and dismiss the accomplishments of our elected leaders, spread the idea that the votes do no good anyways so you might as well waste them, brand all the people trying to stop what you're doing as the real disruptors, and push generally goofy ideas aggressively to push the more reasonable people away. Nowadays you can even troll without posting anything, by being a part of the unreccomend squad. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how to do it because we see that it's largely already been done, whether by the right or by the left.

[Forkboy]

93. You complaining about people causing splinterism is where you always lose me.

As you're one of the most effective posters on DU at doing it.

[LoZoccolo]

104. Let me know if I have this right.

Because I insist that voting for Democrats is almost always more effective at effecting any sort of progressive change, people will see that idea - expressed however appropriately or inappropriately - as a reason by itself to leave the Democratic Party. Am I getting this right? If I am wrong, please explain where I'm going wrong, or feel free to explain just how the whole thing works. I don't think my posts have any effect on loyal Democrats whether they think I'm acting like a jerk or not.

[Forkboy]

107. When you deliberately piss on people you know are Dems you're not working for progressive change.

And you've done it over and over and over through the years here. You're playing innocent and trying to hide behind this "all I'm doing is trying to get people to vote Dem", completely glossing over your own actions on DU. Whether people leave or not is unknown, but either way your tactics go counter to the very goal you claim to be seeking. The fact that you have this monstrous disconnect between what you say you want and how you go about it is the trouble.

I don't think my posts have any effect on loyal Democrats whether they think I'm acting like a jerk or not.

Do you really want to take that chance? I saw a lot of people just like you in the 90's, then Nader came along and the people like you who pissed on the Left were the first ones to complain about them leaving the Party. If you want a repeat of history you're doing a damn good job of getting it. If Nader bothers you as much as you act like he does then you'll rethink your approach. If you're really not the splinterist I see then prove me wrong, because for years you've been proving me right. If you want people to stay in the party don't shit on them, and if you do shit on them don't be surprised when they move on to greener pastures. If someone whacks you upside the head I'm betting you're not as likely to stick by that person, are you? Of course you wouldn't (one would hope). If you can't see how your approach totally undermines your stated goals then you need more advice than I can offer.

[LoZoccolo]

109. I don't have much time as I'm nearing the end of my trip, but I'll say this.

The people I oppose most strongly already know that they engage in hyperbole and posturing, and I generally aim to either attack part of the foundations of it (such as my attacks on Kucinich - if people are going to tarnish other Dems in comparison to him, I aim to disillusion them to stop the attacks as they carry an implicit assumption that Kucinich could deliver on his promises) or remove the reward for posturing.

[Forkboy]

110. You do what you claim to not like in others, you just justify differently.

[LoZoccolo]

116. Feel free to point it out if and when I do it; this discussion is too abstract.

I think there's a distinction between what my opponents do and what I do that may be clarified with a concrete example.

[Bjorn Against]

53. Posting shrill and uninformed posts "in support of Obama" does nothing to help the Dems

I think Obama himself would probably tell a lot of people on this site that their "support" of him is not doing him any favors and only serves to turn people off.

[NJmaverick]

55. Are you the judge of "shrill and uninformed"? If so, what are you qualifictions

[Bjorn Against]

56. I am only the judge of my own opinion, but I do know there are others who share my opinion

I never claimed to speak for everyone, but I know I am not the only one who has been turned off by some of the things you post.

[NJmaverick]

57. Now I see, it's a gang mentality you are pushing

not that you are right or wrong (after all there a plenty of tea baggers, but that doesn't make them right) you are all about- numbers=right.

I will have to strongly disagree with your assertion.

[Bjorn Against]

60. I never said anything about numbers or a gang mentality

Saying that there are a number of people who think similar to the way I do is not saying that we have a "gang mentality". For all your lectures about intellectual honesty it seems you sure like to read a lot of things into my words that I never said.

[NJmaverick]

61. Ahh mentioning that you have others thinking like you do, to bolster your point

is the very definition of gang mentality. Observing the underlying concepts behind a statement is intellectually honest.

For example if one says "hard as a rock"

it implies that one believes rocks are hard.


Even if the person doesn't actually say the words, "rocks are hard", the assumption is there.

[Bjorn Against]

95. Others do think similar to how I do, just as some people unfortunately think similar to you

Suggesting that I am not completely alone in my way of thinking is hardly promoting gang mentality and it is intellectually dishonest to "observe underlying concepts" behind my statements that are not there.

[ClassWarrior]

92. To divide us. You should know that.

You're so good at it.

NGU.

[azmouse]

42. Yep. They're here defending Norquist.

No real Democrat would EVER defend anything that nasty POS does... ever!

[polmaven]

45. You hit that one

right on the nose. I have been absolutely astonished to see so many here actually DEFENDING Ms. Hamsher teaming up with the likes of Grover Norquist about anything at all!!!

[depakid]

77. I'll bite on that myopic bit of nonsense

Norquist has- as many have to admit, been very successful over the years, as have Republican in general (particularly in comparison to hapless Dems, who either cynically sell out or can't get their policy choices through).

Once people accept that reality- it makes good sense to both study, emulate and adapt some of his methods- and also to make common cause on certain narrow issues.

The difference between this view- and the cult of party and personality that leads so many tin eared sycophants to blindly follow and fail (or worse, succeed in enacting unpopular, counterproductive measures) is that it's goal directed behavior designed to marshal the most resources and influence in getting specific things done that the so called "centrists" would otherwise block.

[polmaven]

80. Myopic bit of nonsense????

Grover Norquist is not...I repeat ...not...just another successful Republican strategist. I have, and will continue to give credit where credit is due. With Norquist, however, it is not due. He is probably the most dishonest, low down pieces of racist, homophobic pieces of scum out there.

He cheated, lied and stole his way to the Republican victories. Do you honestly think that Democrats, or those who call themselves liberals or progressives should "emulate and adapt" those types of methods? I, for one, do not. I do not want to see the Democratic Party become anything near what he is.

[azmouse]

84. Apparently the poster you replied to DOES want

the Democrats to become the pieces of shit that the Republicans are.

Makes you wonder what the motivation of that poster is, doesn't it? ...especially with all his name calling of anyone who supports this President?

[pundaint]

43. One would hope that the ideas posted would stand or fall on their own merit

and serious people would check out assertions of fact a little before just accepting them. Sometimes truth can be found in our response to misinformation as well as in ideological purity. I'm my own judge, y'all go ahead and make what cases you will.

[winyanstaz]

101. Good post..that needed to be pointed out.

Also, sometimes well meaning posters can link to a site that has ties that some du'rs dont like...and can get flamed for that too.
Sometimes I post links just because I agree with that particular article..and not the whole site.
I have now learned the hard way that posting something or a link that the pc taliban dont like or being too tired to include a link right off the bat.......can get one flamed and sometimes stalked and harrassed.

[matt819]

49. Calm down, folks - this was three years ago

Charlie Bass is no longer in office, replaced by Paul Hodes. I don't doubt that republicans do what is described in the article - after all, they are certainly not enacting an legislation and so have time on their hands - but this story is old news, at least with respect to Bass.

[Festivito]

62. “appropriately disciplined” Saturday off without pay and a dinner for two.

I could guess what “appropriately disciplined” means.

More important that he/she remain anonymous, for the continued sake of corrupt politicians.

[butterfly77]

63. Nothing new..

they do it all the time here..

[freddie mertz]

67. Checked the link, and this was in 2006.

What makes this story relevant to current context totally escapes me.

[natrat]

71. surprise surprise, more dlc scum here than normal people

[Unvanguard]

72. Just because it undoubtedly happens sometimes

does not mean that it is reasonable to suspect it as the typical explanation.

[Turbineguy]

75. Dog Bites Man.

It's a small step from the Florida Recount Riot to this.

[RedCloud]

76. That's it! Off with his/her head!

[theFrankFactor]

79. For the Record

Now do we get to call anyone who has a spine a Republican mole or is it the other way 'round?

[varelse]

89. Calling out other posters or accusing them of being "moles" or paid operatives

is still against DU's official rules of conduct.

[ClassWarrior]

91. From three years ago!?? Believe me, I know damn well there are plenty of trolls here, but...

...the least you could do is be honest in your OP that this isn't a current story, and that you're simply trying to make a point.

NGU.

[davidwparker]

96. If thought that after reading some posts here. Not that they are (R) aides,

but some (D) staffer who is trying to force debate in one direction or the other.

And then there are those in the dungeon who must get paid by the word. :hi:

[BrklynLiberal]

99. "appropriately disciplined" probably means a promotion and a raise to them.

[progressoid]

108. It's a good thing our side never does that.

:eyes:

[onehandle]

112. The GOP employed 'Greens' to troll forums in 2000. Encouraged real Greens to stick with Nader.

It worked.

[vaberella]

114. How many like him are on DU...I wonder....?! nt

[mystieus]

115. They're here.. claiming to be progressives against Healthcare. They are trying to start in-fighting

[ClassWarrior]

117. They're here... some claiming to be on one side... some claiming to be on the other. That much...

...is obvious to any reasonable observer. After all, how better to start in-fighting?

NGU.

[Pisces]

118. The trolls like to stir up touble, beware the trollbait posts.

[rucky]

119. Does NH stand for Norquist-Hamsher?

:evilgrin:

[RepublicanElephant]

120. "surprise, surprise, surprise!!!"

not really.

if they can get media whores on tv, the radio, and newspapers, why not the internet?

[Politics_Guy25]

121. I am CONVINCED that DU is infiltrated badly

by Rethuglican/freeper/insane trolls. It is obvious to all. Also, we have Naderites here as well trying to siphon votes away from the Dems to their pointless pathetic little party. The mods sit back and do nothing while letting this board tear the Dem president and party apart.

[uponit7771]

125. Yeap, I was even challenged on Obama's "Chicago Politics" style as if every politico out there doesn

...doesn't now that's a winger TP

[spoony]

127. Aw that's cute, I've never seen a pitchfork-and-torch mob

in the forming stages up close.

[Sultana]

128. DU has a bunch of pesky pretenders

just sayin'.....