I just read a diary by drache entitled Reflections on Patience that was quickly attacked by some very negative posters. I value patience, it has been very valuable to me in my 62 years, and I thought drache's thoughts were very good, and quite appropriate. The immediacy of the attack by "negatives" didn't surprise me, I see it in virtually every diary I open here. You would have to read the diary and the responses to get a real feeling for the violence of the attack. Are these "negatives" infiltrators?
"Infiltrators" is a term I associate with someone who surreptitiously enters a group, gains some friendships and trust by posting highly complementary diaries or comments, and then later uses their friendship and trust to try to disrupt or influence the group's mission. Our stated mission here is to try to elect more, and better, democrats. Simple enough. But how, exactly, does doing what amounts to a hit-piece on our Democratic President serve that purpose? Complain about the Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats who have been blocking legislation, but to attack a Democratic President who has accomplished many significant strides as being ineffectual, corrupt and weak? Whose purpose does that serve?
Which gets us to the "infiltrators" part. If I were a republican or anti- democratic party activist and wanted to "screw up" the Democrats, I would invade their web pages; the Republicans already own the media. I would do it with obvious trolls, who quickly get hide-rated to oblivion, but also with cunning infiltrators, who protest their innocence, who declare their liberal and progressive histories and writings, and then, once they have gained the trust of the group, try to disrupt the flow of the narrative, who try to influence the feelings of the group about their leaders in a negative way.
How easy would it be to take over Dkos? I think it would be pretty easy. Find forty or fifty like minded folk whose phone or e-mail you have, let them know when you'll post, and bingo, rec list with a hundred comments. And what would be the result of an organized attack on this site by Republican spooks? Doubts among the faithful, negative feelings among the undecided, and high-fives among those who don't want "more and better" democrats elected. If you get four or five of the six or seven diaries on the rec list essentially negative toward Democrats (which I've seen here), all the better. If you're a Republican.
If you don't think the republicans are smart enough to figure that out and do it, you live in a fool's paradise. They are here, they are smart, and they hate Democrats. Recall Nixon's group of bad guys, he had to resign as a result. Recall Reagan's group, who are accused of having caused the delay of the release of the Iranian hostages just to win an election, which they did. Recall the "Wall Street Riots" (is that correct?) (maybe it was "brooks brothers protest" or something) of the G W Bush selection. Republicans aren't stupid, and they work hard for they want. They also have a lot of money to throw around to helpers. Just consider the number of think-tanks and right-wing organizations that pay the people who spread their message that the Democrats suck and will destroy this country. Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing radio hosts, the Fox News group, and many more own the media, why would you think they don't do that here. They certainly have the money, and are willing to spend it on just this sort of behavior.
This is just a post to caution you not to believe everything you read here. Opinion pieces, as we posters write, are opinions. And not everyone here is a Democrat. My own personal view is that President Obama is not perfect, certainly, but I do think he is doing the best he can in a very difficult situation, and has done an great job thus far (I left off "excellent" because of the AfPak mess, but then I don't know what pressures he faced). As a group who wish to elect "more and better Democrats," we don't serve our purpose by posting highly negative diaries or comments directed at our Democratic leaders.