Whatever happened to ending the political madness?

I still see trolling posts, now, moreso from conservatives against Obama. I hear trolling everywhere, from the users, and, just, all over this site.

What happened to modding these troll posts?

Just ignore the trolls, they feed off of people's irritation.

They do annoy the crap out of me too, though.

So true. After the announcement of his win, I now see a lot of threads just a bunch of what if's and no basis of these claims. He's not even in the White House yet, let's give it some time and see what he actually does.

I also would like to point out that most of the criticism comes from conservatives.

They don't think that he's going to follow through on his promises, but, Obama is fairly liberal, and, I assume he will follow a liberal agenda with his policies. So, I see no reason to not think he won't follow through on these promises.

FLAGGED. There were so many attacks in such a biased view. I admit my support for Obama, but I wish I was part of the day when Barry Goldwater lead the republicans. Since that time is long past and Clinton is the only democrat I have to go on in recent history (If Republicans can forget Ford we can forget Carter :lol. I digress, this is now our President and we must rally around him, we must give him our support when we agree and express our opinion when we disagree. That IS the American way, this guy hasn't even been sworn in yet and they already got the machine going high rev as if they can forget what Bush has done and go back to the Clinton years. Do they forget bush has grown our Governments budget by a 1/3rd?! Do they forget how the constitution has been shredded. Guess what I believe Obama will restore the constitution, because he was after all a Constitutional Law professor.

It's all just part of the joys of being President (or President Elect) on ATS. It's a conspiracy site, folks. People around these parts tend to hold those in high places under much scrutiny. It's nothing new.

The (almost) humorous aspect is that many of the same ones doing it are the one's who've been complaining for the last 8 years about the scrutiny and insults Bush has endured. For 8 long years we've heard how childish, unfair, and un-American it all was to not unconditionally support the President; and how much "above it all" many conservatives see themselves as being; however, as soon as the tables turn they don't waste a minute making all those years of complaints completely hypocritical; choosing not to rise above it, and opting for some sort of partisan revenge instead. Now it's the left's turn to complain and defend, and rest assured that as soon as the right eventually wins back the White House the cycle will only rinse and repeat. Thus are the joys of our two-party political system in the U.S. of A..

[edit on 11/6/08 by redmage]

Don't start with this "coming from Conservatives" crap.

Please, that's just as much trolling as the threads your complaining about.

I've seen just as many threads still attacking Sarah Palin after the election as I have Obama.

And in any case, you need to quite confusing Republicans with Conservatives. They are not the same.

You won't hear any belly-aching from me. Obama won fair and square and like I posted in another thread now he must deliver. I didn't support him, but now that he is our president-elect I am hopeful and that he will be the right man at the right time to lead this country.

I'm weary of all the negative talk. The election is over and we must come together to move our country forward. I'm ready and willing to support Obama now that the people have spoken.

I think the ignorance on this board during the past few days has been shocking. I said it before, I keep thinking I've logged on to GLP.

Clearly I supported Obama during the election, but as a professional doubter I will certainly question all authority. But let's give him a chance before we start ripping him up.

I think what we are seeing is just whine made from sour grapes.

I think the political threads are just attracting more and more trolls in general...we're probably seeing more Republican-leaning trolls as they're the party-in-exile of the moment, so to speak.

It's more disturbing to me to watch which threads are getting starred and flagged: too often they're emotionally-charged posts (often political) and based more on creating 'what-if' narratives than denying ignorance. Arguments based on evidence are occurring less often than narratives claiming to be truthful. It's not a good trend, but hopefully once the election passions wear off, the environment on the boards will recover.

Its quite amusing to watch all of the people who have feverishly and gleefully attacked George Bush on a daily basis and frothed at the mouth over his every action...are now complaining that people are attacking Barack Obama.

The american way is NOT to be so blind and biased towards your own political ideologies that you cannot take criticism when your candidate wins.

[edit on 6-11-2008 by LowLevelMason]

I agree chissler. Rise above... The only way this trolling will subside is if it is not "fed" by the opposing argument.

Frank, if I see the avatar of someone I know has a rep for trolling, I just skip right on by the post.

Kudos to nyk537, Seeker Mom and others who are taking the high road on this. I really mean it! Thanks for taking the attitude that I'm frankly not sure I would be able to take, had the shoe been on the other foot.

The Golden Rule

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
What happened to modding these troll posts?

We do our best, but it's up to each member to decide what to post, not us.

Some forms of "troll posts" violate the AboveTopSecret.com Terms And Conditions Of Use. When you see one, by all means let us know by hitting the ALERT button and explaining to us how the post breaks the rules.

However, please note that many so-called "troll posts" reported to us don't violate the T&C at all. They merely express opinions that others may find objectionable. Everyone is free to respond to them (politely), but no one has any business removing them simply because they're unpopular.

In large online discussion communities like ATS, mods actually have very little to do with the quality of what is posted. We contribute only a tiny fraction of what readers see, and our role is to enforce the rules, not dictate what people should say or think.

By far the most powerful influence on post quality is the quality of what others post.

So please: Post Unto Others As You Would Have Them Post Unto You.





For more on the limitations of moderators, please see: Mods Not Gods