National Review Online - Under Attack

Vanity | 1/9/2016 | Self

[Steve_Seattle]

I just came from the National Review Online website, and it seems to be under an unprecedented attack from trolls, who are flooding threads with obscene, hostile, and extreme content. The trolling comments are so pervasive that they would overwhelm the efforts of moderators to control them. This seems organized, and it is extremely disturbing even if you think NRO represents "pantywaist" conservatism. FR could be the next target for this sort of attack. The comments are so bizarre and often self-contradictory that they have - dare I say? - a demonic tone.

[GOPJ]

...some of the threads had more than a thousand comments.

What's your best guess... who do you think might be behind this? Does it feel like a machine attack?

[GOPJ]

...some of the threads had more than a thousand comments.

What's your best guess... who do you think might be behind this? Does it feel like a machine attack?

[FourPeas]

Cloud Flare also blocks IPs.

[TChad]

That does look like a CloudFlare captcha. Thanks.

[Steve_Seattle]

"What's your best guess... who do you think might be behind this? Does it feel like a machine attack?"

Many of the comments are direct replies to people like me, who objected to their comments, so I don't think the attack is entirely automated. But there are many comments which use obscene graphics (e.g., penis shaped images), Hitler images, and so forth, which were no doubt prepared in advance. There is obviously some planning involved.

[FourPeas]

No prob

[House Atreides]

I’ve never heard Trump vow support for the site you mentioned.
******************************************************

LOL, true dat. By disavow, I meant in the sense of “repudiate” or “reject their support.

[piasa]

Someone must have mentioned how they would reelect Cheney if they could so we could waterboard terrorists again... that would cause libs to go completely unhinged.

[CA Conservative]

Cloud Flare also blocks IPs.

Yes, but it blocks IPs that are continually hammering the web site. Cloud flare does not look at the content, so it could not block based on offensive comments.

[Steve_Seattle]

Taken as a whole, the comments are incoherent - many are anti-Semitic, yet many others claim to come from Jews who show contempt for “the goy.” Others are pro and anti Trump, many are hostile to NRO per se, some are faux-Muslim, some are anti-American, and some are specifically pro-left. This is why I called it “demonic” (to someone’s scorn) at the outset, because it is utterly deceptive and chaotic.

[Jane Long]

Then cut that crap out.

Don’t make it sound like Trump ever supported them. Call on EVERYONE to disavow them.

[MinuteGal]

You have my support. Thanks for the alert.

(No good deed goes unpunished...)

Leni

[AnnGora]

The Drudge interview on Jones was one of the best I have ever heard. Truly, Matt Drudge is a genius and a real voice for our generation.

[Georgia Girl 2]

National Review deserves what it gets. I do not feel their pain. They get a little demonic themselves from time to time. :-)

[Georgia Girl 2]

NR turned left past conservative a long time ago.

[Steve_Seattle]

"National Review deserves what it gets. I do not feel their pain. They get a little demonic themselves from time to time. :-)"

No it doesn't; there is NO equivalency between NR and the people doing these attacks. These attacks are utterly obscene and foul and malicious, and if you defend them, you are not the conservative you think you are.

[Georgia Girl 2]

NR can take care of itself. There is no need to reincarnate Tammy Faye over it. :-)

[Forgotten Amendments]

This is when NR died:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/391772/unpatriotic-conservatives-david-frum

[Monterrosa-24]

Thank you for posting about this topic. You are right that FR could be the target of such attacks.

We’ve already had some paid trolls who were subtle enough to survive here for the probable terms of their contracts.

Many groups including those supported by Arab oil money could overwhelm this site for while but hopefully Jim and company have plans for dealing with that sort of attack involving manpower and not cyber worming.

[GOPJ]

"Demonic" - like anarchist? People filled with hate but free floating non-connected political views - views hard to pin down? Any unusual grammar... something that would make the comments feel foreign?