Right-wing political trolls on Facebook
Addicting Info: When Republican Trolls Attack
By Stephen Foster. Jr.
Ever been attacked by a Republican troll on Facebook? I’ve been posting and commenting on political pages on Facebook since March 2010, and one thing that has been a constant is the hate, the lies, the personal attacks, and the threats that come from the mouths of these horrible people we refer to as “trolls”. And I refuse to take it anymore and I refuse to let them get away with it. Many of my friends have been personally targeted and threatened. I’ve always done my best to stand against them and use facts and irrefutable sources to counter them. But the problem I have encountered is that these nut jobs don’t care what you have to say. To them, I am just another liberal that needs to be shot dead. So, I want to introduce you all to the trolls I deal with everyday and perhaps many of you have dealt with people like them.
I have a friend named Scott. We agree on just about everything about politics and we even administer a Facebook political page together. We comment on each other’s posts and we defend each other from the Republican trolls who dare call themselves true Americans. But one thing I never expected was for a troll to slander my friend in a public forum, or threaten his children, which is exactly what this particular troll did. This troll, named Catherine T. called my friend a pedophile and plastered photos of his children all over the internet just so she could scare him and perhaps ruin his livelihood and get him fired from his job. She has also attempted to contact the workplaces of several of my other friends in a bid to get them all fired from their jobs. Know what her job is? A legal secretary. So this legal secretary has committed libel, slander, endangering a child, harassment, and several other violations of law, all in the effort of destroying a liberal. Somehow, she has managed to remain on Facebook even though her posts and comments violate the rules. I imagine many of you have been put in the exact same situation. I know I have. This same troll even insulted and threatened my innocent wife who had nothing to do with the debate other than the fact that she is in my profile picture. She has also contacted the family members of some of my friends to frighten them and threaten them. Its a frightening situation that no one in either party should have to deal with. Her opinions are vile and her mind is narrow. And she refuses to stop hurling insults and threats at liberals and their families. People like this belong in a prison far away from political debate. She has also demonstrated that she is a racist. Many of her posts refer to President Obama as a “monkey” and worse. This troll and many like her have embarrassed themselves in the eyes of the human race. Is it too much to ask that they discuss their views with civility? Do they really have to stoop so low and threaten a person’s children or spouse? Is it so important that they destroy liberals that they try to make them lose their jobs just because they disagree with their viewpoints? To me, that’s an attempt to curtail Freedom of Speech. Not only are trolls abusing the first amendment, but they try to silence others by threatening their families. Its sick, despicable, and would be considered stalking and harassment in a court of law.
Then there’s this troll named Wade K. Wade is just as horrible a human being as Catherine is, and he’s a hypocrite who constantly calls liberals “un-American” and “anti-Constitution”. And then there’s my favorite old standbys “communist” and “traitor”. Most of the trolls I have come across, even Catherine, use these words often. Wade also throws the N word around like its a perfectly acceptable label for African Americans. He once dressed up as a KKK member for his profile picture. If I had a nickel for every time I was called a n*****lover I would be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Its extremely appalling to hear what these people say about President Obama and entire ethnic groups in general and I do my best to stand up to them but it is nearly impossible to do so when all they do is hurl insults and threats. Then there’s a troll named Jeff U. Jeff is not only a racist like Wade, he’s also a blazing hypocrite. For a man who defends Wall Street and the housing bubble, he sure forgets the fact that he was found guilty by the SEC for cooking the books at Rent Way, and has been fined several times for violating real estate rules as a realtor. This guy was a small part of the reason why America had a recession. According to him and his arrogance, he “got caught and made a bundle.” You want a person to yell at, yell at Jeff The Hypocrite. Its all a matter of public record. Trolls need to stop writing racist comments and posts. It proves our point when we refer to their party as racist. Also, it might be good advice to not defend greedy Wall Street when your name is plastered on a public court case that names you as a perpetrator.
You know those jackasses that type in all caps? They don’t seem to believe that you can read what they say so they feel like they HAVE TO TALK LIKE THIS. AND INSULT YOU AND THREATEN YOU TOO. Don’t you just find that annoying? I do. Many trolls have done that to me. Instead of putting on their adult pants, they scream like bratty children having a temper tantrum. Sometimes I hate being the only adult in the room. To all trolls: typing in all caps is considered screaming and is very rude. SO STOP DOING IT! We can understand what you are saying just fine. No need to blind us with huge letters. We are glad that you have learned your capital letters, now please learn the lower case ones.
Then there are the trolls that pose with guns in their profile pictures. I generally do not have an issue with this, but it does make the threat of violence against your loved ones more clear when you see a troll who has taken their love of guns a stride further than most normal people. Republican trolls have used guns in their pictures increasingly since the shooting in Arizona. Its like they are threatening all liberals by saying, “It happened to Giffords, you could be next if you don’t agree with us.” Most times, its with an AK47 and you know what I think when I see that? Aren’t those the weapons preferred by terrorists and communists? Doesn’t THAT make you laugh? These trolls accuse liberals of being communists and terrorists but they are the ones holding AK47s in their profile picture. To me, the true Americans are the ones holding M-16s and instead of threatening Americans, they go out there to those battlefields across the sea and they defend ALL Americans against the real communists and terrorists and they die on those battlefields because of AK47s. So next time you think about using that photo of yourself and your AK47 for your profile, think about those brave Americans that face death at the hands of those very weapons on a daily basis. The AK47 is the weapon of the enemy and true anti-Americans.
Ever been called a “baby killer”? I have. One troll, Danie M, that teams with Catherine all the time has made it her personal mission to brand all liberals as baby haters. She also refers to African Americans as “ghetto dwellers” with the support of all her fellow trolls of course. The many posts I have written defending a woman’s right to choose has drawn a lot of attention from the trolls and to them, my defense of women means that I must hate babies. I have nothing against babies. I just believe that forcing women to carry babies is wrong. And that forcing them to do so amounts to slavery which, if I recollect, was abolished in this country. The hypocrisy that these trolls fail to recognize is that while they call me a baby killer, they are calling for the repeal of SCHIP, the destruction of public education, and the end of food stamps which if successful would hurt millions of children around the country. And the fact that some of these trolls threaten to hurt the children of liberals on Facebook, doesn’t exactly make them look good either. The fact is, if these people cared about individual liberties like they claim to, they would be FOR a woman’s right to choose.
But it’s not enough for these trolls to just say their peace and leave. They have to follow us around, cyberstalking us until we are forced to block them and even then they find a way to continue trolling. Many of these trolls simply create multiple profiles so they can keep harassing people and threatening them or they go after them by terrorizing family members. It’s pretty sick. For example, there are about half a dozen Asvab Waiver profiles and this person is clearly a racist that hates President Obama. He photoshops pictures of Obama and dresses him up in African attire or as a pimp. And he has the audacity to accuse me of being a racist when I stand against his blatant racism. I have blocked this profile on multiple occasions but like a bad penny, he keeps coming back. You would think Facebook would block a person like that permanently but like drunks at the wheel, they apparently have no control. Many other trolls do this of course. They create a fake profile and then proceed to threaten liberals like me and accuse us of being “pedophiles”, or “baby killers”, or “Stalinist anti-American traitors” all without ever showing their real faces. Trolls go even farther by impersonating others. One friend of mine has literally had his identity hijacked by a troll. This troll uses my friends profile picture and info and then parades around spouting racist rants as a way to destroy his reputation. We all agree this is sick, right? In my opinion, these people are cowards. I have never once had to hide my face to stand up to them and fight for my beliefs. But all the trolls I mention above, hide their faces. Its time trolls came out of the shadows and put their real faces out there so that everyone can see them for the sorry excuses for human beings that they are.
Another thing that trolls love to accuse liberals of being is “lazy”. According to these conservative trolls and the ones I’ve already mentioned, ALL liberals are unemployed, on welfare and are completely lazy. These people are pathological liars. Liberals are some of the hardest working people I know. I live in a conservative state. Most of the liberals I know work damn hard for every cent they make. They went to school, studied hard and put that knowledge to use starting businesses. Most of the conservatives that I know on the other hand, are the ones living on welfare. I know many that cheat the system to get everything for free. Many of them have overdrawn their credit cards that they somehow are able to get and what cash they have they spend on guns. And then they complain about how Democrats are lazy even while they sit on their asses sucking the taxpayer dry so they can save their hard cash for ammunition. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the very definition of hypocrisy. The trolls even attack unions and organized labor, calling them “communist organizations full of lazy people”. I always dare them to say that to steel worker’s face and see what happens. For some reason they have a deep hatred for the backbone of American labor. Without unions, Americans may not have manufacturing sectors at all right now. Unions are the last line of defense keeping what’s left of the American manufacturing sector from being shipped to China. These trolls do not care though. All they know is what right wing radio tells them. The poor fools are supporting America’s own demise and they are simply too stupid to understand it. They are blinded by their hatred.
I understand that there are liberals that do the same thing, but from what I’ve seen and read, the Republican trolls are far worse. When liberals stand up for themselves and their beliefs in a civil manner we get labeled as anti-American traitors who harass and stalk people, but when Republicans spew racist rhetoric, threaten our families, accuse us of being “baby killers” and “pedophiles”, use fake profiles, and use gun imagery to intimidate us, they call it freedom of speech. I call it disgraceful. These people are also the biggest bunch of hypocrites I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. Even with proven facts, a conservative troll will accuse you of lying and then follow it up by accusing you of being an enemy of the state followed by threats on your life or the lives of your family. I once used the Wall Street Journal as a source and even though it is a conservative publication, because I used it, it suddenly became a communist source. You know who the real enemies of the state are? They are the ignorant, hypocritical, racist, gun toting cowards that shield their hate speech under the guise of freedom of speech. They are the name calling, bigoted, woman hating frauds that shouldn’t have the right to refer to themselves as Americans. Because real Americans do not threaten the families of other Americans. Real Americans do not question the patriotism of other Americans. Real Americans do not claim to defend the Constitution while abusing it and twisting it at the same time. Real Americans reject racism, prejudice, and bigotry, and fight for equality and freedom. Real Americans do not claim to be Christians and then spread hate and lies. Real Americans support their Commander in Chief no matter what color he is. There is a special place in hell for these pests we call trolls. Sure, we could just ignore them or block them, but I believe we should stand up to these fraudulent cowards and tell them to go to hell and burn there. They deserve nothing less.
The lusers described in this article are as nasty as the worst kooks I've ever run into on Usenet. Trust me, I've seen some real nasty real-lifing fuckheads there, and they weren't even politically motivated.