Is Free Republic under Digital-Astroturfing Attack?

June 14, 2015 | Isara

[Isara]

We heard the news about Hillary's fake Twitter and Facebook followers and her operatives pretending to be her regular supporters. Is it possible that it also is happening right here on Free Republic Web site?

Free Republic is a premier Conservative site. Most of us know who, among the presidential candidates, is the most Conservative. Our candidate happens to be effective in his campaigning also. Our enemies know that and fear him the most. Naturally, Free Republic is turning into a battleground.

We don't know who they are: other Republican campaign operatives, GOPe, Hillary's camp, Democratic operatives, union thugs, Castro brothers, ISIS, LGBT, ACLU, etc. But they all share one common goal - to take Ted Cruz out. Since trust is Ted Cruz's strong point, they are trying to erode our trust of him.

You may notice that they came in the threads about Ted Cruz in teams, 2 or more at the same time. No matter how much we gave them the facts, these same people went to the next thread and repeated the same misinformation over and over again. This is why I think we are under attack.

Their strategies are:

• misinformation – lying about it if necessary
• muddling the issues leading to confusion and distrust
• disparaging comments by pretending to be disgruntled supporters
• posting old articles to open up the opportunity for his/her team to join the attack

I've detected that some patterns of their posting were shared among these operatives. Is it possible that there are a few of them pretending to be a lot more, just like Hillary's Twitter and Facebook followers?

[lexington minuteman 1775]

My tinfoil hat is itching...and Debka says attacks are a state of mind...So I am 10-4 here
Over an out Roger
Freegards
LEX

[Isara]

Thank you, The Ghost of FReepers Past!

That's what I've been doing, posting facts to counteract emotion or lies.

[EternalVigilance]

Perhaps you’re the “Digital-Astroturfer.”

I’ve been here fifteen years and don’t recall ever having seen your screen name before Cruz decided to give Obamatrade a boost.

[HoosierDammit]

Member since 08, lurker under another name since 02. I don’t care for Sen. Cruz as a leader, and feel many of the issues cited by your “targets” here are quite legitimate. I also feel the Cruz-Aid swilled around here is pretty potent. I will vote for him in the general, but that’s about it at this point.

What do you plan to do about it?

[deport]

You been around since 2002 and haven’t seen this happen before in earlier campaigns?
If it gets too bad or disruptive Mr. Robinson will take care of the problem. One approach
is not to get into pissing matches with those you are accusing. Why not post a
list of names for all to see instead of a few links.

[cripplecreek]

Keyword search “randpaul”

[Isara]

A technique used among the “Government School Defenders” is to notify each other and “swarm” a thread. Some, I believe, are the same person with multiple screen names.

Like flash mob!

[Lazamataz]

Your premise is flawed.

There are several forms of trolls on FR.

1. There are trolls who simply like the fight. One such troll: His name was Robert Paulsen. He was here in the early days of FR. He would take the most outrageous positions, strictly for the fight. What made him GOOD, was that he actually put up pretty cogent arguments. One of my favorites of his was that all fleeing felons in cars should be shot at with .50 caliber machine guns. That thread was a hoot. I figured him out by his name. One of the characters in Fight Club was named Robert Paulsen. I suddenly, in a flash, put it all together. I freepmailed him, and he responded "SHHHH! You'll kill my fun. :) "
2. There are liberal trolls who come on simply to deface the forum. They are usually zotted after minutes.
3. There are progressive establishment Republican sleeper trolls. They usually only activate close to an election. They tend not to get zotted, but if they are identified, their impact is minimized.
4. There are others who I cannot quite call trolls, but who's agenda and presence can annoy conservative or liberty-minded long term posters. They tend to be of several flavors: Libertarians, Authoritarians, Pro-pot people, and a few others I cannot think of at the moment.

While Free Republic is important, we should not overstate its impact. With the advent of Disqus, whereinwhich you can comment directly on the article, and other conservative blogs such as Red State, we simply aren't on the enemy radar as much as we used to be.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

It’s humblegunner and Lazamatz! I’,m positive! 8^)

[ricmc2175]

And here I stupidly thought that stood for Freedom. My bad, I should have known that Freedom has been irretrievably lost.

[Hostage]

It’s not even a question.

What are we going to do about it?

We are going to go the distance and WIN!

[MarchonDC09122009]

CCGuy has got it right with the points he presented.
Isara and others, please do not misconstrue harsh criticism of Cruz as an effort to eliminate him from the running.
Speaking for myself, and possibly others, conservatives expect the most constitutionally minded candidate’s actions to be congruent, and not be in conflict with stated principles.
He ought to be the one yelling that TPA / TPP needs more open examination and discussion as to the impact to US job losses and trade disparities affecting our economy, consumer safety, and national interests.
I want someone in office our citizens, allies, and I can completely trust.

[upchuck]

I echo what you wrote.

There is no perfect candidate. However, as of now, and subject to change, Ted Cruz most closely parallels my personal thoughts.

FReepers can bad mouth Cruz as much as they want. A few disgruntled FReepers are not going to change my mind on something this important.

[humblegunner]

Some, I believe, are the same person with multiple screen names.

Name some names, unless you're scared.

Why you scared? Name some names.

[deport]

I’ve been here fifteen years and don’t recall ever having seen your screen name before Cruz decided to give Obamatrade a boost.

*************

Probably because its got just over 100 post since April 1, 2015. The next post
was Oct. 3, 2011 and the next before that was November 13, 2008.

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=3300178%2C43

[Drango]

I get it. You are for Ted Cruz.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Because I don’t remember right now. I don’t keep a running list. I probably should.

[humblegunner]

It’s humblegunner and Lazamatz!

Not me but probably Laz.

[plain talk]

Not sure what you are talking about. Cruz has received criticism lately for his stands on the fast track trade deal — rightly so. No one even Cruz is immune from criticism if they take a stupid position like Cruz did. But that is just one issue and Cruz is a solid conservative. Is that what you mean?

I don’t think liberals are too worried about Cruz. It is not like he is the front runner.

[LegendHasIt]

I was a huge Cruz fanboi; He was the only potential candidate that I really liked, the only one I sent money to...

Until His Wife’s Masters at Goldman-Sachs convinced him that his bread would be better buttered by them than by us mere peasants.

Now I despair not only by being stabbed in the back by the only one I had much hope for, but by the blind faith that so many at FR put into him (and Paul Ryan)