Reply #56: Not necessarily

[brentspeak]

Anyone who posts here for the sake of disruption does succeed in bringing down the quality of debate. It doesn't matter if that person is a "mole" from FR or CU, an anarchist, non-Democrat from the Communist or Green parties, or just a career troll looking to satisfy his/her trolling addiction; it's never a positive to have to deal with disruption.

Of course, there's plenty of people here, who, however "real" they may be, and while not "moles", are disruptive by their very nature: left-wingers who are not Democrats, Dem staffers trying to propagate dirt about their bosses' Dem primary rivals, mentally-unbalanced MIHOP conspiracy nuts -- or just people who don't know how to conduct civil discussions.

As for the mole thing: It's always disturbing to learn that someone who you may bantered with on these boards was here for the sake of subterfuge, but it really should come as no surprise, especially given a) today's partisan political environment; and b) the nature of the Internet itself. Heck, there's an entire website that was created for the very purpose of damaging this website. And a good chunk of the "moles" emanating from that site are simply GOP employees or staffers in some capacity (in addition to your garden-variety, non-professional freeper type). Probably at least 50% of the "DU whack-job" posts that they ridicule as examples of "moonbats" are actually their own creations. (Hint: If someone posts stereotypical over-the-top left-wing claptrap here on DU ("we need to understand the terrorists' feelings!") AND includes the word "Dem" or "Democrat" in his/her username -- you're not wrong to suspect a phony.