We've got many many wonderful posters from the left and the right.

We've got a few trolls, also from both the left and the right.

i for one, would like to apologize for any unnecessarily acid comments or replies i may have left here. personally, i like the mix of views, left and right; i was a reader here long before becoming a commenter.

i think, tho, that we will always see this kind of thing during electoral seasons: just as many sports fan come to cheer on their team, many folks who are typically uninterested in politics come out of the woodwork, and, unfortunately, very few of the part-timers have any real clue as to the “facts” they are “cheering”.

It wasn’t that many years ago that families would keep their “odd” members secluded in an attic.

Now, they get keyboards and write of trolls.

I guess I had blinders on, no I never paid attention to them before. Didn't know what the points were really for nor really care, I had 15+ score.

I'm with CStanley and others who dont grok the Disqus 'rating system,' which I think, not sure, appears that anyone from anywhere can load up negs or positives toward anyone just by hitting a button. I would say 'the ratings' hold as much importance as a slam book in high school, in other words, an outlet for some people's energy, rather than accurate portrayal. Personally,I find that aspect of Disqus un-useful. We had to change from our old comment system to a new one in order to carry the increasingly heavy load of comments each day. There are worse ones, and Disqus is one of the better ones for load and range of features for the commenter… you can, for instance, order the comments as you would like to read them.. oldest or youngest first, re-edit if you made an error or typo, etc.

The only time we discuss a comment/commenter amongst the editors is when a person consistently attacks others with threats of harm, or ad hominem attacks, or attempting often to hijack the thread into their personal screed-fest. Then we do discuss that. Often, the editor in chief sends an email to the person telling them to cease. In the very few cases I've seen over the 18 mos I've been at TMV, I've seen one person banned who insisted, despite repeated notice, to continue using vulgar language attacking other commenters relentlessly, using the forums to not comment on the articles, but about themselves.

Many days, several of us assistant editors 'cruise' the comments sections of our own articles, (and some days, the entire site) just to see that people are not trying to silence each other with personal attacks… or in other ways do more than discuss, debate, teach, opine

Though I feel qualms always about taking on an angry commenter who has gotten 'out there' and is violating the rules of the blogsite, I do, as many of you have seen, show up a little like a prairie dog, and ask commenters to return to the topic at hand, and /or to cease bashing people personally… to return, hopefully, to discussing the issues in the article. Then, like said prairie dog, I jump back into my burrow

Personally, I find that commenters who have gotten a little to a lot into slapping others around, will cease when asked in a civil tone.

As Shaun says, there are a jillion places online for people to unleash attacks rather than debate. I would agree that there are many sites that are pages and pages of comments by persons who seem to have agendas different than that at TMV

I dont know if it is germaine to say here that I find value in each of my co-bloggers here, and in the commenters as well. And I learn a great deal from our commenters also. Neoncon, for instance, knows huge amounts about internet dams and open roads, and has left long comments detailing his knowledge. I read to learn, more than I read to fight for a point of view, although I can see the art in that also. I read to find the places to perhaps say something useful in repsonse. I find that people read and comment for many complicated reasons, and this is just my two cents worth. My co-bloggers all have individual opinions and ideas about the blogosphere culture which we all write about from time to time

Mainly I wanted to clarify that here at TMV, we dont have some kind of hierarchy of 'bad commenters' versus 'good commenters.

We do notice that our commenters are articulate, passionate, all bringing different experiences to the discussions, often filled with humor (which I particularly appreciate, many of you make my day –and prob many others' too– with your funny or silly comments that are right on…lots of coffee-spewing some days. lol) as well as realtime insightful and critical info

So, that's just the lay of the land as I know it. TMV values its cobloggers and its commenters. And sometimes, it is true, that the lean is hard on negativity… I do know that because at TMV we all write without pay that an occasional atta boy or atta girl can mean a lot to us. That's not at all to say anyone here is a wuss. Most of us are hugely battle-scarred. But also take nourishment as we trudge forward, even hardtack, as a good thing

just my very two cents worth.

And if everyone would insist, I think we could have a “I'm the Real Troll” contest, but I'd rather just have a comraderie at TMV… every family has their strange wonderful and odd people; their smart, uncanny, factual, dreaming people. That's TMV also; writers and commenters, all.

dr.e
assistant editor, tmv columnist

To be honest, I'm slanted towards the left, so some offensive stuff very likely gets past me, but I don't like trolling on either side. It's actually very embarrassing when a troll shares my views.

That said, it doesn't look like honest facts and public opinions do not favor the Right right now. Don't blame me, Republican politicians betrayed you, not me. I didn't create unfortunate facts about the economy, torture, civil liberties, the constitution, etc. But if I decide to use them, even in defiance, we can't pretend that, say, Rev. Wright is a decent comeback. However, I defend anyone's right to post whatever they want, especially ones that make me look right-er, which is, like, all of them. ; )

**
“Chriswww mentioned earlier that he feels that people should just feel free to respond in kind, with passion and emotion. Well, I disagree; it's not that there's not a place for passionate opinion, but when it's devoid of any intellectual basis then it exacerbates the divisive political atmosphere. It's the phenomenon that we see all the time now (so much so that I think a lot of people aren't even aware when they're doing it)”~ CStanley
******

Yes and encouraging “emotions” (read: emotional flame wars) is an excellent distraction from real issues we should be calmly and strategically discussing.

I've noticed that Chriswww does like to divert..among other things..

Rico,
http://disqus.com/docs/help/#faq-11

+1 for your trouble.

So how can I fluff up my points? Might be kind of fun to be voted “Miss Congeniality of TMV.”