What it is, ain't exactly clear ....
Short Form: I've been noting an odd pattern on DKos these last few days, one that gives me a whiff of PsyOps. I want to bring it up, either as a warning, or to be told I need to cash a reality check, as the case may be.
What I am noticing is a common pattern among several recent arrivals at DKos. Recent arrivals in themselves are no surprise - this place is getting a
lot of notice these days. And it has always been a place of, shall we say, vigorous debate.
These particular newcomers are certainly not trolls in the ordinary sense. They make coherent and even in a way cogent arguments, which trolls more or less by definition do not. All the same, they share a pattern that has triggered my high-gain bullshit detector:
Their actual political views seem vague. A couple of days ago, one lit fiercely into Edwards for fomenting "class warfare." It led to quite an interesting thread. But when I asked her, quite non-snarkily, what principles drew her toward the Dems, I never got an answer.
Whatever their underlying views, their arguments here on DKos are mainly and specifically "anti-ABB." They may claim to be Dean supporters, but don't say positive things about Dean - just negative things about the others, especially (though not only) Kerry. One of these posters constantly repeats GO NADER! or variations thereof.
They showed up more or less at the same time - at a moment, as it happens, when Deanites (a majority around here) are shocked, dismayed, pissed off, and generally down in the dumps about the Democratic Party and its prospects this fall and beyond. Dare I say, when they are somewhat vulnerable.
Maybe I'm too much of a Nick Machiavelli fan for my own good, but it all smells to me like an organized effort to sow discord, and foment a split among progressives.
I will leave it to your own informed imagination to speculate as to who would:
- Benefit from such a split, and
- Have the organizational resources to mount a concerted effort of this sort.
Do the initials KR have a certain resonance in this context? Or am I just veering into tinfoil hat territory?
-- Rick Robinson