Posted on 04/04/2010 11:08:56 PM PDT by machogirl
Remember Ellie Light?
The Obama Blog Squad has been active on a number of high profile conservative webpages in the last month. The Muffled Oar broke the story in October of Administration-wide coordination between agency public affairs offices and left wing bloggers to attack news stories critical of Obama, post anonymous comments and seed the Internet with unofficial official Obama spin. As part of this effort, the Justice Department Office of Public Affairs works closely with left wing bloggers to distribute administration spin. The OPA unit is headed by a former John Edwards campaign staffer who conducted this type of operation for his now-disgraced Presidential campaign.
Recently, a so-called reporter for a left wing blog that covers the Justice Department was caught participating on conservative blogs as a member of the blog squad working with the Justice Department Office of Public Affairs. Administrators of conservative blogs have been alerted of suspected blog squad trolls and are monitoring their posting activity. The anonymous troll blogger in his real life job has done interviews with senior Justice Department officials and political appointees, and regularly parrots the Obama Administration line in his stories. You can see the work of some of these secret blog squad activities, where blog squaders serve as an partisan advocate for General Holder after they put on their Internet disguise. Note carefully the very informed pro-DOJ positions the anonymous troll blogger posts, defending Holder and the administration by attacking critics. Occasionally this blog squadder will post something critical of Obama or Holder, but it is always an aside, part of the disguise, while he plays the role of anonymous critic. Without these asides, he would be booted from the Free Republic as a left wing troll.
Here is the most important part of this story: this anonymous blogger is getting information directly from Tracy Russo or the others at the DOJ office of public affairs. This is the undeniable fact, and the most disgusting one. The blog squadder cites detailed and informed rebuttals about Justice policy provided by Justice officials. Whether these details were acquired from their pseudo-legitimate role as a pseudo-reporter, or their illegitimate role in the blog squad is unknown. Various conservative blogs have begun to harvest Internet addressees of these trolls and are patching together together the pattern.
The anonymous blog squader "Conscience of a Conservative," knows who he is. Stranger still, many people think he is a legitimate news reporter covering the Department of Justice for a media outlet. How many more reporters have this cozy and cooperative relationship with the Office of Public Affairs? Perhaps he will own up to his anonymous trolling before he is outed and brings great shame to his purportedly objective publication that employs him. We doubt it.
My first thought was this poster exsisted to point out the error of our posts. (we are always wrong, never right)
What “Obama DoJ viewpoints” am I “well-versed in,” exactly?
Sticking to the facts in my criticism of Obama does not make me pro-Obama.
To the extent I have criticized other posters, it has been because I think we ought to stick to the facts in our criticisms of Obama & the other ‘rats, and because we ought to be damn sure we’re accurate. With the MSM, “academia,” and all 3 branches of the Federal Government stacked against us, it does us no good to be careless. It makes it easier for them to paint us as kooks. Just look at the coverage of the TEA parties - there can be thousands and thousands of decent, hard-working Americans expressing their opposition to the most dramatic increase in government power in (at least) 75 years, but if you turn on the evening news, what do you see? You see the 5 or 10 idiots who showed up with “birther” signs, or signs that can be spun as “racist.”
We have the facts on our side. We don’t need to embellish them.
bump
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Making a mental note of another one to avoid....
I’ll give you this: You’ve got spunk.
Thank you!
~~~~~~~~~~
List of the alleged troll’s posts:
~~~~
And here’s an example:
Thread title: Michelle Obama contradicts Obama nativity story
World Net Daily ^ | 10/28/2009 | Aaron Klein
Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:27:26 AM by Mozilla
Go to post #10:
****
To: Mozilla
I wouldn’t read too much into this. From the context, it is clear that Michelle 0bama was talking about the circumstances in which Ann Dunham raised 0bama - she was very young and (for the most part) very single when 0bama was growing up.
10 posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:46:02 AM by Conscience of a Conservative
http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-news/2372796/posts
***
Check the first list above to get the style. We know they’re here .. and we HAVE known for a couple of years that the trolls are here daily, actively dissembling and posting cleverly calculated fluff, false and/or misleading info, smoke, and distortions to distract, divert and muddy the dirty waters even more of The Mirage as much as possible.
Some are newbies and some are sleepers ... signed up
sometimes years ago, and called into action by their handlers.
Some post under a name 12-13 hours a day, suggesting shifts.
Many get zotted, and more arrive.
It’s another form of psych ops.
One thing’s pretty much for sure:
the more they’re here and other conservative sites on their mission, the more frightened they must to be of the truth.
Imagine: our United States Department of Justice!! Our very own government!
That ought to tell you the depths of their skullduggery and subversion.
Imagine what the truth must be worth.
Thank you!
Hey Holder, I hope you’re reading this. SUCK IT!
For the record:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obama Blog Squad Still Active - DOJ Public Affairs Provides Aid to Anonymous Postings
Monday, April 05, 2010 7:29:17 AM · 35 of 46
Conscience of a Conservative to All
For the record, I am not a DOJ troll. I haven’t the foggiest idea who Tracy Russo is, I don’t work for the DOJ, (and, frankly, would NEVER work for this administration’s DOJ), and I am not a news reporter (for what it’s worth, I am a lawyer in private practice in New York).
Looking back, it looks like I disagreed with MuffledOar’s interpretation of a specific provision in ObamaCare, in a thread a couple of weeks ago. I was immediately caled a troll in that thread (by the person who posted the thread), so I can only imagine that MuffledOar assumed I was some sort of troll based on that thread, and simply made the rest up.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2486791/posts?page=35#35
Yep. There are a few of those around here. In fact, out of my pings this morning, most of them are the "no, no, you're wrong....here's what's right" variety. LOL
This display of insecurity by some of these people makes me wonder if this is why we're in such a mess now. *Sigh*
However, I agree with you; in the case of CC, it's more likely a troll trying to be clever.
Like the story that broke about his eligbilty issues Saturday. Where are the memos he bribed the press to bury it?!
BLOGGERS PROPANDISTS
As Attorney General Eric Holder hunkers down to avoid questions about his decision to try the Christmas Day bomber in federal criminal court and to have the bomber’s Miranda Rights protected, more information emerges on the Obama Administration’s decision to house propagandist “new media specialists” in most major Cabinet-level Offices of Public Affairs.
These bloggers, paid with taxpayer funds, routinely pass along “Administration approved” talking points to bloggers and online journalists, monitor conservative or “adversarial” websites, and post comments in support of the Administration on a number of those sites.
In the case of Justice, that “blogger,” as reported by the Muffled Oar blog is Tracy Russo, a former Democrat National Committee staffer, with ties to Sen. John Edwards’ campaigns.
But similar jobs also exist at the Department of Treasury, the Department of State and the Department of Education.
According to a reporter, who has covered the Department of Justice for a major financial wire service during the current administration, a number of daily newspaper reporters were aware of the work Russo was undertaking at DOJ, and yet withheld reporting the situation, “because those reporters were being given access and information from OPA that helped them with their daily news filings.”
Meanwhile, according to a career employee in the Department of Justice, both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees sent formal letters of inquiry to the Department of Justice regarding its “blogging” policies, but DOJ officials have yet to even acknowledge the letters.
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/01/25/obamas-foursome
~ ~ ~
The Plum LineGreg Sargent’s blog
Department Of Justice Hires Blog Outreach Person
###
Here’s an interesting sign of the times:
Obama’s Department of Justice has hired someone to do new media outreach for the whole department — the first time Justice has created such a role.
A source confirms that Justice has tapped Tracy Russo, who did blog outreach for John Edwards’ presidential campaign, as the agency’s chief new media outreach expert. The hire reflects a recognition that some of the most important coverage of stories involving the Justice Department is taking place on the blogs.
One of the biggest stories involving Justice in very recent years — the U.S. Attorney purge scandal — was broken by my alma mater, Talking Points Memo, and unfolded there and subsequently on other blogs.
The blogs have helped drive other Justice stories this year, such as the release of the torture memos and the debates over how to dial back Bush-era executive power.
It’s also worth keeping an eye on the broader trend: More and more government agencies, as opposed to political campaigns, are hiring blog outreach people to engage and manage coverage in the blogosphere, which is playing an increasingly influential role in policy fights, not just political ones.
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/torture/department-of-justice-hires-blog-outreach-person/
~ ~ ~
Tracy Russo Bio
I notice this person frequently likes to tell us how we should think. There is an instructor's tone to a lot of the posts. A lot of "We shouldn't" amd "Let's not..."
My jury is still out.
Oh that ... probably Sympathetic Overlord Absorption Syndrome ... LOL.
Hope you’re well .... staying ‘home’ for awhile?
The Viking Kitties are usually pretty good at spotting trolls and sending them to their zot.
We need to ensure of the threat before jumping to judgement. Some folks are more conservative on issues than others; some may have a few pet issues where they start to relax on (not necasarily a leftist bent).
We have enough conspiracies that float around and need to be filtered out. The last thing we need is for infiltrators manipulating us to eat our own.
I will note that CoC did show up to this thread in his defense, whereas IMO a true troll would cut their loss and move onto another screen name.
Be that as it may, I'm not a VK; but there are few "questionable" posts in his history.
Actually, I'm in pre-deployment mode and will be headed to CRC at the end of the month and then back to "Disneyland..." early next month.
I hould have pinged you when I was talking about you. The post in question should be just above this one.
trolls must have some html command they use to age their ID accounts.
Well funny YOU should mention that. LOL.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.