Sunday, October 15, 2006

Daily Kos Stuff

If you’ve read enough science fiction, you’ve no doubt read about a warlike alien race or two that nearly decimates humanity at first contact, only to be pushed back at the last stand and subsequently defeated by those ingenious monkeys (read: humans). Well, I think in this case, we’re the humans and Kossacks are the alien race bent on assimilating the known universe.

It’s worth appreciating that our little foray into the Kos’ psyche probably doesn’t even warrant a footnote in their virtual war annals. Truth of the matter is we’re just the latest in a long series of rational and not so rational interlocutors who’ve taken an interest in poking this very peculiar animal with a stick. What history I know of involves Kos’ evil twin RedState, the equally silly Pirate Armada lead by our very own Bluto, and finally a refreshingly rational dissection, the likes of which I’m sure has been done ad nauseum.

So, really, we’re not making news here. That said, I find the only worthwhile exercise left is that of not underestimating Marcos. Why would he allow his minions to behave so badly? He’s certainly not powerless, and I doubt very much he suffers the same complex that blinds his little army of Napoleons to their true motivations for occupying their days finding ways to spending their TR stipend.

My answer: Marcos knows he’s just not that interesting. If he were, well, he wouldn’t need an anthill attacking every strange and curious visitor who dares test the waters. What’s worth more to Marcos, a loyal lockstep reader, or a pissed off visitor who, once silenced on Daily Kos, takes their complaints and posts them elsewhere? Clearly the latter. Clearly, we’re doing Marcos a huge favor by dissecting his little fiefdom. We’re spreading his legend. Because Marcos knows better than anyone that he too often fails to generate interest on his own, and although it’s second best, his success owes more than he’ll ever admit to the bad publicity of the likes we’re giving him right now.

That said, you do have to wonder who does Marcos respect more? His loyal followers whom he’s bought by giving them the power to disappear those they disagree with, or those who find his trusted user bribe not only valueless, but insulting? Something tells me Marcos’ TU’s would be devastated to learn what he really thinks about them.

It’s brilliant really. Just as there are dumb people in the real world who will gladly surrender themselves to an institution that tells them they’re special, there are dumb people on the internet ready and willing to wall themselves in the second they find a place that will cater to their delicate and feeble egos. It’s plain to see. They’ll not leave the security of Daily Kos, and to be honest, god help Marcos if they ever did. Because there is such a thing as bad publicity, and you’ll recognize it if Marcos’ army of halfwits ever makes the mistake of venturing outside fortress dKos en masse.

5 comments:

TenaciousK said...

Nicely said!

As sort of an aside, snippets of kossack paranoia (and yes, they would make terrible emissaries). Note, towards the bottom, where there is threatened retribution for uprating one of my responses:

[new] hipparchia = sockpuppet of a banned user, (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne
DawnCoyote--a member of the BotF/switters gang. Please rate her comments accordingly.
Kos has been notified, though I don't know whether he's seen the e-mail yet.
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by Rita in DC on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 05:38:05 PM MST

How sure am I? (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne, TruthOfAngels
member of the BotF/switters gang = 100 percent sure
sockpuppet of banned user DawnCoyote = 75 percent sure (I requested that Kos check.)
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by Rita in DC on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 05:49:32 PM MST

[new] Oy. (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne
I just found counterevidence to my "DawnCoyote" conclusion. I may have to send a correction to Kos.
However, I'm still 100 percent sure that hipparchia is a member of the BotF/switters gang.
Click to contribute to the netroots candidates at ActBlue!
by Rita in DC on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 06:01:51 PM MST

[new] here's your (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Rita in DC, Ahianne
proof

"Love your satire, Swit. (0 / 0)
Mark Foley - that poor bastard. Of course, we all know that Alcohol was to blame. That, and all the hot young pageboy buns twitching around DC. A man gets a kinda' loaded, loses his inhibitions, and makes a little misstep of two...
Sheesh! Imagine what would happen if we expected our politicians to be responsible for what they do!
For some reason, the thought of a republican congressman corrupting the innocence of young people doesn't seem incongruent at all. Does it?
I wonder what would happen if everyone in congress were in a 12-step program. The deficit of personal responsibility seems overwhelming - sort of like the budgetary one.
Sometimes you've just gotta' laugh. Either that, or cry.
I like your way better.
TK/FB
PS. - do you think the locals realize how much more effectively a sarcastic humor piece skewers the opposition than the most impassioned, sincere diatribe? This is why we love Stewart, Colbert and Maher, and people snooze when Gore speaks for too long. It's a divine mission; Jake and Elwood would be proud."

hiya! (0 / 0)
yep, it's me.
by hipparchia on Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 04:24:59 PM PDT
[ Parent | Reply to This ]

Hiya back at ya! (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:threadkiller
Well, it's been a week, but I still can't top post here. Damn. I wrote one for this place, but have to settle for putting it up on Wag and my blog.
Oh well.
Nice to see ya', Hipparchia!
"Paradise is exactly like where you are right now, only much, much better." Laurie Anderson
by tenaciousk on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 03:02:21 AM PDT
© 2006 "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream will never die." -Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, 12 August 1980
by Turkana on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 10:35:24 PM MST

[new] Thanks. But as for the specific identity, (0+ / 0-)
What I'd just found out was that H and DC are in completely different geographical areas. (I don't want to say any more than that in a comment.)

H is some other female member of the gang.

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by Rita in DC on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 03:13:22 PM MST

[new] Those two have also been obseved conversing, (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Turkana
and it wasn't in a context where one of them would be talking to herself for effect.
: )
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by Rita in DC on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 03:19:02 PM MST

[new] obseved --> observed (n/t) (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Turkana
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by Rita in DC on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 03:20:11 PM MST

[new] not sure (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Rita in DC
about dc, but h definitely seems to be s- or, so the above comment would suggest.
© 2006 "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream will never die." -Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, 12 August 1980
by Turkana on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 03:23:22 PM MST

[new] That's not my impression so far, but (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Turkana
I've been looking at so much bullhockey of theirs, both here and at "their" various websites, that I'm getting confused.
My overall impression was that s. himself/herself has not returned.
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by Rita in DC on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 03:29:24 PM MST

[new] i was hoping the admins (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Rita in DC
would have banned the whole group, by now; but even the unrelated, and much tr'd, m19r seems to keep popping back in. not sure how the auto-bans work.
© 2006 "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream will never die." -Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, 12 August 1980
by Turkana on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 03:32:59 PM MST

[new] Kos knows about some, and others keep popping up. (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Turkana
Since they first appeared, a whole bunch of user names of theirs have been manually banned--like, 10 at once! But more user names have appeared.
m19r isn't one of them, I don't think. If she posts often enough, autoban has got to get her.
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by Rita in DC on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 03:41:17 PM MST

[new] she's definitely not one of them (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Rita in DC
and i've only followed her while following these clowns- but the people onto her have her constantly in the hc's. as for the botf gang, they need to be banned at the ip level. persistent get-a-lifers.
© 2006 "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream will never die." -Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, 12 August 1980
by Turkana on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 03:45:06 PM MST

[new] Saw the original (3+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Rita in DC, RunawayRose, TruthOfAngels
.."welcome to kos" from another of the gang, so I'll give the second donut to tip this comment into Troll Alley.
Who you gonna call?
by Ahianne on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 07:32:13 PM MST

[new] Oh crikey (3+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Rita in DC, RunawayRose, Ahianne
Not that lot again.
-8.38, -7.38 'I can't wait to eat that monkey!' - Abraham Simpson
by TruthOfAngels on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 07:54:47 PM MST

[new] If anyone has more donuts and (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne
wants to spend them for this purpose, see her other recent unhidden comments (so far).
I also gave two of them (so far) a donut.
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by Rita in DC on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 08:01:55 PM MST

More Fun

weet Christ, here's another one. (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
trashablanca, means are the ends
TUs, keep an eye on this one. That username stands for "Best of the Fray Editor," the Fray being the Slate swamp from whence these creatures came.
"I will make a bargain with the Republicans. If they will stop telling lies about Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them." -- Adlai Stevenson
by sbdenmon on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 11:57:20 AM MST

There are more (3+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne, sbdenmon, trashablanca
crawling around at the bottom of switters' diary. Like flies on a pile of shit.
This one needs squashing.
Here's what looks like yet another switters clone, coming late to the switters after party.
Imagine what these individuals might do if any of them had a real life, and the maturity to understand it.
"...." -- Harpo Marx
by BobzCat on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 12:37:43 PM MST

Very apt analogy. (3+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne, trashablanca, BobzCat
I tossed a donut in the direction of the first link; the 2nd is too old to rate. Thanks for the heads-up.
"I will make a bargain with the Republicans. If they will stop telling lies about Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them." -- Adlai Stevenson
by sbdenmon on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 12:46:44 PM MST

I think the second one is okay (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne, BobzCat
She's been here since May and has no hidden comments. I'd think that she would have joined in the pro-switters "fun" by now (beyond saying hello). She posts fairly "serious" movie reviews all over the internets.
She does post on the infamous blogs in question, and she knows the switters gang, but IMO, she doesn't seem to be trolling herself.
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by Rita in DC on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 07:28:19 PM MST

The handle she uses at some other blogs (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne, BobzCat
can be seen in her Profile.
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by Rita in DC on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 07:46:35 PM MST

Newsflash: (4+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne, sbdenmon, trashablanca, means are the ends
switters has morphed into hipparchia.
Whaddaya know! Another blatant rule violation.
Keeping felons well-read since 2001
-6.13, -7.90 (now that I know what these numbers mean)
by TheBookPolice on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 02:11:23 PM MST

Re your newsflash (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Ahianne, hipparchia
Hipparchia is definitely a member of the switters gang and has posted evidence of being in on the "fun." I'd thought that she was a specific banned user (not switters), but a few minutes ago I discovered evidence of being wrong. (I may write to Kos and offer a shame-faced retraction of my specific theory about her, which I'd reported to him.)
Are you saying that she's specifically a sockpuppet of switters, not just one of the gang? If so, how do you know?
I've started to downrate hipparchia's comments.
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by Rita in DC on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 07:34:59 PM MST

At this point (3+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
LeftHandedMan, Bouwerie Boy, means are the ends
unless they can provide conclusive proof that they were legally incapacitated at the time they rated it, I'd say the two people who uprated this comment should also be strongly warned, if not banned outright. Along with this latest switters sockpuppet.
Michael
Musing's musings
by musing85 on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 08:45:57 PM MST

I'd take a look at who you're threatening (0 / 0)
Whether you agree with his reasoning or not, I'm not sure a movement to ban pinche tejano is going to gain much momentum.
-4.75, -5.08 Be yourself. Imitation is suicide. -Andre Gide
by ripzaw on Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 10:07:47 PM MST

And do I care? (0 / 0)
This is hardly the first time PT has uprated trolls and, frankly, I'm getting tired of having to waste zeroes that are needed elsewhere because PT has a quixotic streak.
Michael
Musing's musings
by musing85 on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 10:03:37 AM MST

Fair 'nuff (0 / 0)
You throw your trolls where you think they belong, and I'll do the same with mine. Apparently we're both "trusted" enough to make our own decisions. What I don't think is productive is calling for the banning of members in good stead for the crime of disagreement with your definition of trollworthiness. That's all.
-4.75, -5.08 Be yourself. Imitation is suicide. -Andre Gide
by ripzaw on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 03:05:34 PM MST

There's the flaw in your argument (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
ripzaw, Ahianne
I'm not calling for a banning based on a disagreement about what constitutes troll-worthiness. I'm calling for a banning based on a continuing pattern of behavior, namely, uprating troll posts. In and of itself, that could perhaps be excused. But PT's pattern is egregious, and getting more so. And when it spreads to include the uprating of multiple switters sockpuppets, when those sockpuppets are actively engaged in subverting this site for their own childish purposes (which is immediately apparent to anyone who's bothered to read even as few as half a dozen of the most recently banned comments), that's when I think it rises to the level of being ban-worthy.
We can argue over whether a particular expression, in a particular context, merits a bagel, without serious damage to this site's integrity or reputation. But we cannot afford to ignore obvious, concerted efforts to subvert from within. PT appears to be doing just that. And for that, I think PT should be strongly cautioned at least, and banned if the admins think the problem is sufficiently grave.
Michael
Musing's musings
by musing85 on Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 05:05:25 PM MST

Well, unfortunately, I agree with him (0 / 0)
It appears to me that the disagreement is that he's troll-rating posts instead of people, uprating posts which have been disappeared due to poster rather than content. If you have a reason to beleive he's a sockpuppet or otherwise acting illegitimately, that's one thing. If you're just upset he's getting in the way of autobanning certain people you beleive should be autobanned - well, I'm confident you'll be after me shortly, and while I can't speak for PT's motivations, I can say with pretty good certainty that I'm not your enemy.
-4.75, -5.08 Be yourself. Imitation is suicide. -Andre Gide
by ripzaw on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 12:05:19 AM MST

No, that's not the disagreement (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
ripzaw
The disagreement is that he's uprating known sockpuppets. Sockpuppetry is an instantly bannable offense--and the fact that PT has been uprating people he knows (or should have known, since it was easily detectable by merely visiting Hidden Comments and reading a few) are sockpuppets. And that's just not kosher.
Michael
Musing's musings
by musing85 on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 02:05:02 PM MST
[ Parent ]

JohnMcG said...

One more commment -- when I've read parallel stories of RedState and dailykos's incursions againts free speech, I must admit that I always find the RedState stories more egregious -- threatening real world consequences, demanding defense of a plagiarizer, etc.

Maybe these parallel stories are an attempt at even-handedness, but if I were dailyKos, I would hate to be mentioned in the same brath as something like what I've read of RedState.

Bluto said...

Aha! So this is Ender's Game. Great idea, hope it grows, good luck. I'll put you on my blogroll.

I hope you meant that the Pirate Armada was silly in a good way, after all, it has a serious purpose - encouraging open debate. Unfortunately, the Kossacks are beyond such trivialities; in fact, I think you have them pegged pretty well.

I've moved on to try to engage with more reasonable people. Why, just last week, Keith Olbermann called me the Worst Person in the World.

Anonymous said...

"Because there is such a thing as bad publicity, and you’ll recognize it if Marcos’ army of halfwits ever makes the mistake of venturing outside fortress dKos en masse."

Why would Kossacks venture anywhere en masse? We're not elementary-school children; we don't need to hold hands when we venture outside.

Speaking of bad publicity, Ender, if you look at "Our Kos Diaries" on your BotF blog, you'll see that almost all of those diaries are currently tagged "Troll diary" or "Troll diary, authorship issues." You spent months posting diaries that were written by nonmembers of dKos, the better to pimp the Fraydycats' writing--tacky, tacky!

If you children would like to post your work on dKos, by all means, join dKos--but only if you haven't been banned, under any screenname. Further, each child may have only one screenname.

So! The Daily Kos, Wikipedia--what big, strange website will the class visit next?

Michael Daunt said...

"Why would Kossacks venture anywhere en masse?"

Ummm...??? To win elections?

Just a thought.