Yeah. That was one of the weird things.
The real Protagoras was, perhaps, the original troll, although the forum was somewhat different back in ancient Greece.
Our own shadow of Protagoras is merely exercizing the same sort of rhetoric used by the early Sophists. Protagoras was the founder of Sophistry, a school of philosophy which held that all things are relative, and that there is no real truth...only argument.
Modern Sophists can often be found, taking whatever side of an argument appears weakest in a discussion, attempting to encourage the discussion. It's a pretty common technique here on Free Republic, although most of the Freeper Sophists don't identify themselves as clearly as Protagoras does.
He particularly enjoys engaging me in discussions, because I'll play. You can find numerous banterings between he and I in threads on Free Republic. I suppose it amuses him a great deal. I, on the other hand, do have a solid and stable position from which I argue. You will not find me taking a side merely to continue the debate.
For Sophists, the argument is all. The truth is not an issue. Everything is relative.