Leaked email from DNC confirms paid trolls

[Scuba]

From Jeremy Brinster of the DNC ...

https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/8351

Yes, Super PAC paying young voters to push back online on Sanders supporters

She’s forced to continue to appeal to young liberals as opposed to pivoting back to center

I'm sure none of them are here on DU, but be careful when reading/posting on other boards.

[MADem]

1. This sounds like reporting. Jeremy Brindle isn't saying "The DNC is doing this."

He's saying a SUPER PAC is (or was) doing it.

It's a distinction, and a difference.

[Scuba]

2. Yes, he's confirming that a super pac is paying trolls, not that it's being done by DNC or ...

... that there's coordination between the campaign and the pac.

One might easily infer that there's coordination, but he didn't write that in the email.

[MADem]

3. That would be wishful thinking, such an inference.

Because it's quite illegal to coordinate in that fashion.

Reporting something that is obvious though, there's no problem doing that.

[Scuba]

4. Yes, it would be a huge leap from "the DNC knows" to "the campaign is coordinating."

Huge leap. Huge.

[lewebley3]

78. Sanders lost fair and square: Sanders said so: enough we need to fight Trumps fascism!

[Chasstev365]

127. You're missing the whole point

I don't want this to happen to any candidate in the future!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

184. Perhaps some remarks here indicate "paid trolls" of the RNC; but I won't read this crap...

I am sure other members at Democratic Underground will make their own judgements. Did everyone read the news about Fox News proving - in court - that they were not a news media, after their fake CIA analyst scandal?

[Chasstev365]

185. I am not a GD GOP TROLL!

You have no right to make such personal attacks! I should report you!

[lewebley3]

186. You missing the point: Trump's fascism means the death of our fellow Americans:

Trump is Benito Mussolini we have seen this movie before: Americans
fought fascism in the 40's but we were late to the table. History need not
repeat it self: if we know our history: ( time to fight now!, for this
country, not just Hillary).
Putin owes money to Trump: they are in bed together because they like
each other. Putin owes money to Trump in his US properties.
:
This is a sick twisted alliance, just like Germany and Italy in the early 40's:

We are not just fighting for Dem's were are fight for this country and our
founding fathers gift of the peoples self governing;

What do you think when Trump says he is going to eliminate problems with
the wave of this hand on his 1st day: he cannot do that; but he could
eliminate people he thinks are a problem. (like people at the NY times or
the Washington post he kicked out of his rallies)

The KKK is saying the think there time is coming with Trump.

To arms as they say, to my fellow Americans we need to fight fascism again
just like the golden generation did of our grandfathers: It would be nice
gift from this generation to them: to see that we have learned and that
fascism will never rein in a America. May

[merrily]

13. It's not illegal to coordinate with all PACs.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-plans-to-coordinate-directly-with-super-pac/

[MADem]

16. It is if they're throwing money around and paying people to do stuff.

CTR wasn't paying people - from your link:

The FEC restricts paid internet political advertisements, making them subject to campaign spending limits and disclosure requirements. However, a 2006 FEC rule exempts "public communications" -- like unpaid posts on websites or blogs -- from such regulations. The rules were initially implemented as a safeguard against regulating the free speech of bloggers and other internet communications.

"The FEC rules specifically permit some activity - in particular, activity on an organization's website, in email, and on social media - to be legally coordinated with candidates and political parties," Correct the Record spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. "This exception has been relied upon countless times by organizations raising non-federal money. The only thing unique about Correct the Record is that it is making its contributors and expenditures public."

In the regulatory language, the FEC also refers to it as "uncompensated internet activity by individual" - that is, the Correct the Record individuals coordinating with the campaign would not be paid for the posts made on Clinton's behalf.

[merrily]

18. I didn't claim they were. I posted only to address your partially incorrect comment about illegality

[MADem]

21. smh. No one said you said that. The OP was about PAID, i.e. compensated, posters.

That is illegal, and not 'incorrect.'

Everyone knows about the CTR 'internet' exception. It's been discussed here often enough.

That said, this crappy, re-fight the primary thread is all about spreading FUD, depressing turnout for our nominee, and I find it tiresome.

[merrily]

27. Your Reply 21 seems to be saying paid posters are illegal. I am sure that is not what you meant.

"Everyone knows about the internet exception re: coordinating with PACs?" Really? I don't know how anyone makes a determination like that.

This was the entirety of my original reply to you:

13. It's not illegal to coordinate with all PACs.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-plans-to-coordinate-directly-with-super-pac/

Which I posted because your reply 3 had said about a campaign coordinating with PACs:

3. That would be wishful thinking, such an inference.

Because it's quite illegal to coordinate in that fashion.

Reporting something that is obvious though, there's no problem doing that.

That is nowhere near refighting the primary, but whatever.

[MADem]

42. No, it did not seem to be saying that.

"In that fashion" references compensated trollers.

[merrily]

44. The term "In that fashion" is in your Reply 3, not your Reply 21.

My reply 27 questioned what your Reply 21 is claiming is illegal.

Being a compensated poster is not illegal. Neither is compensating a poster. So I am not clear what your reply 27 means.

[MADem]

57. Yes, at the very outset of my conversation here. The idea is to follow the convo.

Now have a nice day. I've too much to do to play the nitpicking game.

[sufrommich]

5. He's not "confirming" anything,these look like notes taken while

watching panels,the next email under it is obviously notes taken while watching a GOP panel.These OPs are ratfucking,why it's tolerated here is beyond me.

[Scuba]

6. Right. The statement "Yes, Super PAC paying young voters to push back online" isn't confirming it.

[Octafish]

84. Arguing with the waves.

Like castles made of sand, slips into the sea. Eventually.

[yuiyoshida]

119. That's deep...

I like it

[panader0]

187. Castles made of Sand---Jimi Hendrix

[Scuba]

7. By the way, do you consider paying trolls to fall under "ratfucking"?

[sufrommich]

10. I consider grasping at straws to de legitimize Clinton's campaign after the primaries

are over and while she's the candidate running against Trump to be absolute ratfucking. Why do you think the Russian government waited until after the primaries to release them? Here's an idea,stop being their useful idiots,they're backing Trump in this race.

[Scuba]

22. How does this "de legitimize" (sic) Clinton's campaign?

Your insinuation that these were released by the "Russian government" is an ad hominem attack, and that discredits you.

I've seen no one dispute that the emails are real.

Finally, this isn't about Bernie or the primaries or Hillary. It's about campaign tactics and message board members.

[think]

24. Was the DNC neutral or not?

[Scuba]

28. There's plenty in the emails that suggests they were not.

[think]

31. Exactly. /nt

[BainsBane]

32. Clinton won the election by a wide margin

Get over it already.

[Scuba]

34. That's not the point, as you well know.

[BainsBane]

91. It has to do with the argument about paid trolls

and the clear assumption that you have that people have to be paid to support anyone but Bernie. Perhaps if Sanders supporters had bothered to work for their candidate rather than relying on a constant litany of conspiracy theories and persecution complexes, they might have actually gotten their voters to the polls.

It has to do with the ridiculous excuses being made for Sanders loss, blaming everyone but the campaign itself. No one wins without vigorous GOTV.

If we're going to talk about rules, how about the rule that says candidates for the party actually have to be members of that party? How about enforcing that one?


I'm beyond sick of this shit. We suffered through the longest, ugliest primary in the history of the party, and you want to extend it even further. This conversation reminds me exactly why I found the culture around his campaign so off putting.
Enough already.

[think]

95. Good luck all in ....

[BainsBane]

90. Please, explain to me how "Clinton was set up to win"

How this seemingly all-powerful DNC wielded more influence than the $100 million in ad revenues by the Sanders campaign, and how they manipulated voters across the country into voting for Clinton. Do tell. I can't wait to hear. and please, provide evidence for votes affected.

And tell me exactly how, absent some comments in memos, the 15 million Americans who voted for Clinton would have suddenly decided to vote for Sanders. And why is Bernie the victim here? How about O'Malley or the other Democratic candidates, like Rocky de la Fuente. How much attention did he get? Do we see his supports whining constantly about how the DNC made him lose?

[uponit7771]

148. yes...based off the facts

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

71. Bingo

Isn't the bigger story here that Russia is trying to meddle in the U.S. presidential election?

[think]

73. No. The story is the DNC violated it's own rules and interfered with the primary.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

76. So you're okay with foreign meddling?

I find a Trump presidency a scarey possibility. Sanders wasn't going to win the nomination. Move on.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

136. Deflection

[PatSeg]

94. Can't we have problems with

both foreign meddling and DNC bias? I haven't liked the way Wasserman Schultz has handled the primary and I am not surprised by what the emails revealed, but I don't think we can just sweep this under the rug and move on.

I will always vote Democratic and I will support Democratic candidates individually, but I will not support the DNC unless there are some major changes by the next midterm elections, something they seem to be very good at losing these days.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

138. Excellent response

Let me just say I'm skeptical of some of what has been published. DWS who's Jewish is somehow involved in an anti-Semitic smear of Bernie Sanders?

In addition besides the obvious timing of the data dump the fact that many people's personal information like their SSN is now part of what Wiki-Leaks has published online I find troubling.

If they were more selective on what they released I might more sympathetic to the POV expressed at the start of this thread.

[PatSeg]

143. This is all so disturbing

The idea that a foreign leader or government could be trying to throw our elections is very serious and makes Trump that much more of a dangerous threat.

Meanwhile, it is important that the DNC address this, because for some people it is not going away.

As a side note, I cannot believe the things people put in emails. They might consider using the phone a little more often.

[Scuba]

159. Are you OK with the DNC violating its own rules just when the Republicans have a scary candidate?

Or is it OK anytime?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

171. So I take you answer as a yes to being okay with foreign meddling

[Scuba]

172. It wasn't foreigner who made the DNC staffers violate their own rules.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

173. DWS has resigned

Move on

[Scuba]

174. That's a good start.

[synergie]

168. Given that the "foreign meddling" is against the Democratic candidate, some seem to be

very fine with it. Lots of fans of the propaganda agency behind that meddling. Some of its employees as well.

[creeksneakers2]

154. There is nothing in any of the E-mails

other than DNC staffers talking among themselves and behind Bernie's back. There are no actual actions taken that would affect the outcome of the election. The paid posters worked for Brock and they haven't been secret. They did not work for the DNC.

[yurbud]

102. a useful idiot is someone who thinks a country with a sixth our military budget that we have

surrounded with bases right up to their border is somehow a threat to us.

[okasha]

112. A useful idiot is someone who ignores

the ties between Trump and Putin and Trump's threat to abrogate our NATO obligations to the Baltic States.

[runaway hero]

125. Very Neoconservative.

[okasha]

126. And then calls keeping treaty obligations

"Neoconservative."

[runaway hero]

128. What is the point of the baltics in NATO?

The US actually promised Gorbachev they wouldn't join when the Soviet Union was ending.

[okasha]

130. From the Baltics' point of view

it's to protect them from reabsorption by Russia.

I guess the people of the Baltics didn't feel bound by a Republican American President's word, nor did NATO itself.

[runaway hero]

134. I guess Trump and Hillary can feel the same about NATO then.

I remember when your word meant everything, but between this convo and Cruz being a baby on Thurs I guess I was wrong.

[okasha]

135. You're morally outraged

by Cruz?

On Trump's behalf?



I think you're on the wrong board, fella.

[runaway hero]

144. I'm just saying

The baltics do nothing and Cruz didn't keep his word. I don't want to go to war because of Riga.

[okasha]

145. NATO is the best assurance

that there will be no war over Riga, or Vilna, or over the Balkans if the Baltics go under. I don't want any more Ukraines, or any slippage of MADD that would encourage Putin to go with a nuclear first strike in Europe.

I take Cruz's dishonesty for granted, just as I do Trump's. I also take for granted that if you step on a rattlesnake, you'll get bitten.

[BainsBane]

20. Another campaign paid $16 million

and hired people to post online, ie. work as trolls?

[bluedye33139]

39. Those were angels

And I don't believe that angelic creatures can be accused of wrongdoing

[think]

59. Bernie Sanders Campaign: We Don't Pay For Comments, Thank You

Bernie Sanders Campaign: We Don't Pay For Comments, Thank You

~Snip~

A Sanders campaign official told The Daily Beast that the money paid to Revolution Messaging was spent on “online ads, email fundraising, web development, graphic design, photography and videography.”

Unfounded rumors about Revolution Marketing’s role in the Sanders campaign found their way into The Washington Post on April 7th.

~Snip~

"Referencing Revolution Messaging, the company behind Sanders' digital fundraising, she added, 'Revolution media pays interns $15 an hour to troll people on the Internet. Hillary Clinton does not pay people to sit and troll the Internet. We are real people with real lives, full-time jobs, and we don't have time to sit there,’” the story originally said.

This claim about Revolution Messaging was untrue, and the Post later removed the quote and added a correction that reads, “Editor’s note: This story has been edited to remove an inaccurate reference to a vendor for the Sanders presidential campaign.”...


Read more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/23/bernie-sanders-campaign-we-don-t-pay-for-comments-thank-you.html

[BainsBane]

61. I also saw the job advertisement

in which the internet ad company hired people to post on behalf of his campaign. That was the company he paid $16 million to, so that claim in the article is false.

[think]

65. Please share the link to your claim. The Washington post retracted their claim because it was untrue

It's right in the article....

[BainsBane]

72. $16 million in internet messaging

and no one was paid to post online. What did they pay the company for then?
Add to that another $90 million to Old Towne Media for placement of TV and radio ads, yet grass roots organizing was woefully underfunded to the extent that campaign workers in NY were begging for assistance in registering voters and the CA state director quite because there was so little attention to voter turnout.

I'll post the job listing if I can find it.


One thing is certain. He lost by a sizable margin. It turns out relying on corporate media to organize a revolution just isn't a winning strategy. It turns out voters respond more favorably to personal contact in the days leading up to the election, which is why winning campaigns place so much emphasis on Get the Vote Out activities.

[think]

74. “online ads, email fundraising, web development, graphic design, photography and videography.”

straight from the article I posted.....

[George II]

120. One might "easily infer" if that's what one wanted the truth to be.

[George II]

166. We've known for months that there are paid trolls in this campaign.

[spooky3]

79. I read it as that this could happen in the future

The whole memo was oriented toward the path forward, the general.

[MADem]

87. It was (ostensibly) written back in April.

Most of the constructs are no longer operative.

We are IN the general now, we have our candidates, and we'll be hammer-and-tongs once our convention is over. The Busters will get their last kicks in, and then they'll go off and do their own thing. I suspect that, given Kaine is a devout Catholic and the only one on either ticket (Pence was one and LEFT the faith, oh the shame), that any Busters who leave the fold will be replaced by Republican Catholics who will hold their nose and vote their religion if not their party.

[Sancho]

8. It seems naive to be unaware of trolls...so what?

The trolls on DU have been obvious - and there likely were ones paid for by RWers to attack Hillary too!! Frankly, just about any campaign that did NOT have a media staff in today's world would be pretty dumb. PACs too. We can all agree that some of those people go too far, just like some staff in Bernie's campaign did, and they were fired for it.

If PACs were paying trolls, it would not be a surprise. MIRT banned an endless stream of trolls, and many just popped up again with different IDs. Some who appeared to be trolls were not banned and for whatever reason continued to post bash and trash OPs for the entire primary season until the nominee was settled. Even then, they often had posts hidden until they got time out.

There is nothing new or surprising in the DNC emails to me. Judging from the "internet polls" and contributions, whatever anti-Bernie trolls that PACs paid for was ineffective, especially with young people. They wasted their money.

If the DNC is successful at winning the White House, and putting the first woman President in office, then they did a great job!!

[Scuba]

9. So the ends justify the means. Got it.

[Sancho]

17. Who is justifying anything...

The DNC didn't do anything wrong if they knew that some PACs were paying trolls.

What law is broken by a PAC paying trolls?

The DNC has it's own rules. If members of the DNC break their own rules they can be replaced by the rules. So far, the DNC was successful with Obama and hopefully will be successful in 2016.

So what???

The DNC has done exactly what it is supposed to do if it gets a Democrat to win the White House. If you don't like success, that's too bad.

What "means" do you disagree with? Bernie, O'Malley, and others all got a shot. The email about PACs hiring trolls is not surprising, illegal, or even the work of the DNC.

If there were emails that PACs hired trolls to attack Hillary or O'Malley would you be outraged? Frankly, I'm sure that is exactly what happened. Likely every major PAC in the country (dozens of them?) hired folks to do some kind of internet subterfuge!! At this point, it's like those emails from a prince in Africa that has money for you...

If the DNC gets a Democrat in the White House, then they did their job. Successfully winning does not mean they did anything wrong!!

[Scuba]

25. How about the PAC? Were they wrong to pay trolls?

[Sancho]

115. What is worse....??

paying trolls...
robo calls....
false information flyers...
lying TV commercials...
all kinds of voting process tricks...

If you mean morally or ethically "wrong"; then every campaign since George Washington has some some followers who were "wrong". Paying trolls may be wrong, but in the scheme of things no more wrong than other disinformation.

Why single out PACs paying trolls? Just like you tear up and toss out that mailer from some GOP PAC that makes some crazy statement like, "Bernie is a communist spy"; you ignore or ban the trolls.

[creeksneakers2]

156. Not if what Brock says is true

Brock says the posters identify themselves as paid operators.

[Scuba]

158. No shit? I haven't seen that. Have you seen any posts anywhere that self-identify as such?

[creeksneakers2]

165. No

But I doubt they would waste time on sites I go to. The people there already have their minds made up. It would make more sense to work on social media trying to squelch false rumors are their origination.

[Exilednight]

64. Not all laws

Are ethical or moral.

I would also argue that just because it's legal doesn't mean that it's moral or ethical.

Either we're different from the RNC or we're not.

[Sancho]

116. The letters were about PACs, not the DNC...

Of course, what one person thinks is "moral or ethical" is not acceptable by others. That's pretty clear on DU.

[BainsBane]

23. Is that your explanation

for justifying the $16 million expenditure on the same thing?

[betsuni]

11. BE CAREFUL OF TEH PAID SHILLS !!!111!!!! (not this again)

[bluedye33139]

40. Ah, those were the days

In future years, I will pull out the words shill and corporatist and it will bring me back to 2016

[NurseJackie]

49. Good times, huh?

[Cali_Democrat]

151. Brock!

[rjsquirrel]

12. Every campaign does this

Bernie surely did it too. He just had a lot of volunteer unpaid trolls as well.

Yawn.

[merrily]

14. Link showing Bernie did it too, please.

[think]

19. Paid trolls are just like supporters posting

[randome]

26. Yes, how dare Superpac workers try to refute what someone else said!

Where's the decency?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)[/center][/font][hr]

[Scuba]

29. How about reporters? Should they be required to disclose that they're paid by a campaign?

Or does that just apply to on-line bloggers?

Where's your suggested line for full disclosure?

[randome]

46. It's the Internet. For all I know, many of us at DU are being paid by a campaign.

Whether someone is being paid or not, postings on social media or messaging boards depend on content. This isn't a blog, it's a random, totally open forum. I certainly don't care if someone is being paid or not, I just respond to the posting if I'm of a mind to do so.

And journalists are a different matter. Yes, they should always be required to disclose who is paying them, other than the corporation that sponsors them.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)[/center][/font][hr]

[synergie]

169. Ah, so you're upset that Chuck Todd failed to disclose that his wife was being paid by the Sanders

campaign right?

[Scuba]

170. Yes. He should have disclosed it.

[think]

30. Coordinated paid trolls don't have to tell the truth nor can their actions be claimed to represent

the campaign. It's complete bullshit. They can do whatever they want to disrupt discussions and utilize tactics that aren't favorable to an honest discussion.

When the GOP does this soon you'll be pissed as hell. Be careful what kind of actions you condone....

[randome]

43. So if they weren't getting paid, you'd have no problem with them, right?

What about coordination? Should the members of a political organization not act in an organized fashion? I don't see this as anything to be upset about.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)[/center][/font][hr]

[think]

45. Are you claiming the Sanders campaign had coordinated volunteer trolls?

[randome]

47. I'm sure they had someone 'monitoring' social media but that's just an assumption on my part.

I have no idea if they were paid or not but most campaign workers are paid, are they not? If a paid campaign worker posts on social media, is that a bad thing?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)[/center][/font][hr]

[okasha]

109. The GOP's been doing it all along

and likely will continue to do so.

[Scuba]

160. Is this the "they do it too" defense?

Lame.

[bettyellen]

177. Nope it's the everybody already knows it's done, it's legal

And anyone pretending to be shocked or upset is full of shit.

[Scuba]

178. Legal? Violating the rules defrauds the donors.

[bettyellen]

179. Ha, no. I've never seen Wikileaks put out such bullshit tweets - so deceptive and rat fucky....

Not shocked to see a few hear lapping up the RW bullshit.. Some things never change.


http://www.amalanetwork.com/2016/07/23/shills-and-scandals-the-misleading-dncleaks-tweet-by-tweet/

[merrily]

15. I recognize some of the comments made in that email from DU posts.

I love the neutrality, too. I especially loved the remark noting that Sanders isn't helping Hillary. Hello. He was running against her.

[Sunlei]

33. all the paid-media businesses can include social media posts. weird no RW are ever hacked/leaked

weird the Russian hackers only went for DNC and specifically republican trump files. weird these current 'leaked emails' the timing. weird

[Scuba]

35. Ad hominem.

[JoePhilly]

110. Its sickening that some of you ...

... want to thwart the will of the millions more of us who voted for Clinton.

I'm not in the politburo ... I'm a voter. And there were more Clinton voters than Sanders voters.

You lost. Get over it.

[Android3.14]

38. Of course there's none of those here. The very thought.

Ethical prostitutes and soulsick carpetbaggers.

[Southerncomfy]

41. Are you shitting me? One line is causing this? It's called advanced

Media mesaging. If you think that bernie didn't have peopke pushing back then your clueless

[NuclearDem]

48. ...

https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/expend.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00000528&type=I

Revolution Messaging $27,135,478

[think]

50. money paid to Revolution Messaging was spent on “online ads, email fundraising, web development,

Bernie Sanders Campaign: We Don't Pay For Comments, Thank You

~Snip~

A Sanders campaign official told The Daily Beast that the money paid to Revolution Messaging was spent on “online ads, email fundraising, web development, graphic design, photography and videography.”

Unfounded rumors about Revolution Marketing’s role in the Sanders campaign found their way into The Washington Post on April 7th.

~Snip~

"Referencing Revolution Messaging, the company behind Sanders' digital fundraising, she added, 'Revolution media pays interns $15 an hour to troll people on the Internet. Hillary Clinton does not pay people to sit and troll the Internet. We are real people with real lives, full-time jobs, and we don't have time to sit there,’” the story originally said.

This claim about Revolution Messaging was untrue, and the Post later removed the quote and added a correction that reads, “Editor’s note: This story has been edited to remove an inaccurate reference to a vendor for the Sanders presidential campaign.”...


Read more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/23/bernie-sanders-campaign-we-don-t-pay-for-comments-thank-you.html

[NuclearDem]

54. Uh huh.

Whatever you say.

[think]

55. Are you calling Sanders and his campaign staff liars? Really?

[NuclearDem]

62. I think it would've been stupid for them to say

"Yes, we pay a company to spam Reddit for us."

Both campaigns did it. To pretend that Sanders didn't is just hilarious.

[think]

67. If the Washington Post had a shred of evidence they wouldn't have retracted their story

Instead they did retract it because it was UNTRUE...

[Omaha Steve]

122. Tigereye Design $8,164,27 43 payments

Union designed, printed, MADE IN THE USA T shirts, bumper stickers, etc!

http://tigereyedesign.com/

[L. Coyote]

51. Who are all these Trump Twitter bots?

Who are all these Trump Twitter bots?

The troll armies are on the march, and they don't work for the Dems, they disrupt the Dems.

[think]

53. Yes. The GOP is scum and will use unscrupulous methods to try to win.

[Baitball Blogger]

52. "She’s forced to continue to appeal to young liberals as opposed to pivoting back to center"

Seriously? That was in an email?

[Scuba]

63. You noticed that too, eh?

[XemaSab]

89. Must have been painful for her

[TCJ70]

101. I bet being "forced" to be left was just exhausting...n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

105. You mean all those young white guys in Volvos? nt

[geek tragedy]

56. No, it does not confirm paid trolls.

Nowhere does it say people were paid to hide behind fake or anonymous identities.

Reading is fundamental.

[think]

58. "Yes, Super PAC paying young voters to push back online on Sanders supporters"

Well what was this all about then? Seriously.

Especially considering the super pac admitted it paid for posters already...

Citing “lessons learned from online engagement with ‘Bernie Bros,’” a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC is pledging to spend $1 million to “push back against” users on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Instagram.

Correct the Record’s “Barrier Breakers” project boasts in a press release that it has already “addressed more than 5,000 people that have personally attacked Hillary Clinton on Twitter.” The PAC released this on Thursday.

Read more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/21/hillary-pac-spends-1-million-to-correct-commenters-on-reddit-and-facebook.html?via=mobile&source=twitter

[geek tragedy]

60. it means they pushed back against Twitter trolls, you know the kind

that say stuff like "Hillary for Prison 2016" and 'Lock her up!"

[riversedge]

66. old 'news'

[think]

68. Perhaps you'd like to discuss the new news coming from the DNC email revelations?

[riversedge]

82. No, I am only interested in getting Hillary elected-not interested in hit-pieces on Democrats.

[Scuba]

161. So you're OK with the DNC violating its own rules as long as it's for Hillary?

[Evergreen Emerald]

69. I went to a local Clinton group meeting where Sanders supporters

showed up. They did not say who they supported, but they stayed a while and took notes, and left. A few weeks later, I saw them at a Sanders rally. They were trolls, sent to spy.

When I was at our caucus, many of the Sanders supporters who came, were actually libertarians who said they were never democrats, and would never support a democrat. They were infiltrating the democratic party.

Why not have someone push back on online supporters from the other side, that spew lies about a candidate?

[riversedge]

162. Good eye. And I agree, Dems need push back online.

[L. Coyote]

70. Ironic, pushing back at disruptor trolls becomes fodder for trolls.

Web brigades in Russian, known in English as troll armies, are being used by Trump.

from wiki:

In 2013, a Freedom House report stated that 22 of 60 countries examined have been using paid pro-government commentators to manipulate online discussions, and that Russia has been at the forefront of this practice for several years, along with China and Bahrain.[18][19] In the same year, Russian reporters investigated the St. Petersburg Internet Research Agency, which employs at least 400 people. They found that the agency covertly hired young people as "Internet operators" paid to write pro-Kremlin postings and comments, smearing opposition leader Alexei Navalny and U.S. politics and culture.[20][21]

“Each commenter was to write no less than 100 comments a day, while people in the other room were to write four postings a day, which then went to the other employees whose job was to post them on social networks as widely as possible.[20] ”

Some Russian opposition journalists state that such practices create a chilling effect on the few independent media outlets that remain in the country.[19]

Further investigations were performed by Novaya Gazeta and Institute of Modern Russia in 2014–15, inspired by the peak of activity of the pro-Russian brigades during the war in Donbass and assassination of Boris Nemtsov.[22][23][24][25] The effort of using "troll armies" to promote Putin's policies is a multimillion-dollar operation.[26] According to The Guardian investigation the flood of pro-Russian comments is part of a coordinated "informational-psychological war operation".[27] One Twitter bot network was documented to use more than 20,500 fake Twitter accounts to spam negative comments after the assassination of Boris Nemtsov and events related to the war in Donbass.[28][29]

DU admin has log files that can identify where posts come from and block the IP addresses. I use my own domain. You paste a 1x1 pixel white image in a post, no one can even see it is there. The file has a unique name, so you search the log file and read who downloaded the image. You can see the IP of every computer that read the post. I harvested George W. Bush's personal computer address this way by posting on his Facebook.

[fleabiscuit]

75. Leaked emails are a hoax. nt

[Scuba]

81. Could be. Pretty elaborate. Is the DNC denying the accuracy of the emails?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

163. Nope.

Which is an admission in a sense.

[PoutrageFatigue]

175. DWS resigned over a hoax?

Interesting.

[Renew Deal]

83. A whole website was started by some of them

[Scuba]

85. Snort!

[sheshe2]

140. Members list is interesting.

Snort!

[SticksnStones]

164. (might just be me but...

are the Bernie sig graphics getting bigger and bigger? What's up with that?)

[ismnotwasm]

88. What an absolutely fascinating POV.

[In_The_Wind]

97. ~

[img][/img]

[ismnotwasm]

98. I will proudly vote for Hillary in Washington state

[Mister Twilight]

93. Uh

Doesn't this post violate the terms of service I agreed to not 10 minutes ago? Specifically, the ones about not bashing Democrats and not re-fighting the primary?

[Scuba]

96. My post is about paid trolls. Those replying have taken it various directions.

[cherokeeprogressive]

106. Really? What echo chamber do you think you joined?

[Mister Twilight]

107. http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

Don't bash Democratic public figures
Do not post disrespectful nicknames, insults, or highly inflammatory attacks against any Democratic public figures. Do not post anything that could be construed as bashing, trashing, undermining, or depressing turnout for any Democratic general election candidate, and do not compare any Democratic general election candidate unfavorably to their general election opponent(s).

Don't keep fighting the last Democratic presidential primary
Regardless of whether you supported a winning candidate or a losing candidate, do not prolong the agony of the last Democratic presidential primary by continuing to pick fights, place blame, tear down former primary candidates, bait former supporters, or do anything else to pour salt on old wounds.

[cherokeeprogressive]

108. So... the leaked DNC emails are a figment of a Bernie Sanders supporter's imagination?

And talking about them is "bashing" or a continuation of a primary battle?

Man oh man; you're going to spend a lot of time being angry with DUers if you're that inflexible.

Have fun.

[Marr]

99. This is the sort of story that could lead to Clinton losing the election.

Her campaign is clearly focused on attracting Republicans who don't want to vote for Trump. They're assuming the left is in the bag. It might not be. And I don't think she's anywhere near as marketable to Republicans as her campaign seems to think.

[Scuba]

100. Not to be a concern troll, but it worries me. Democrats count on high turnout in Presidential ...

... election years to drive downstream wins. Last month I had two state-level candidates tell me they were concerned about turnout on our side.


On Thursday we took in free jazz at the library in Wisconsin Rapids. Over drinks later when the talk turned to politics, one of the women stated several people have told her they're not going to vote.






For what it's worth, I encouraged them all to vote for Hillary and Democrats down-ticket. Living in Wisconsin, I know what being under a government totally controlled by Republicans is like.

[Rex]

103. All I got to say is that the D.C. Insiders better know what they are doing.

They fuck this up and Trump wins, I will never forgive them for it.

[Blue_Tires]

104. Yeah, and I'm sure Assange is 100% on the level with this

Now let's see all the hacked e-mails from Trump and Sanders so we can air their dirty laundry...

If you don't think paid online commenters have been a thing since at least 2000 if not earlier, I don't know what else to say...

[beachbum bob]

111. time to give it up

sanders lost, we have our ticket....

[TipTok]

113. Folks will complain...

... complaints will be ignored or dismissed and the show will go on.

It basically comes down to "What are you going to do about it?"

[ericson00]

117. nobody was going to nominate a socialist!

get over it!

[George II]

118. Wikileaks? And who is the founder of wikileaks?

[zappaman]

121. Lol!

[Spazito]

123. I am SO glad the Primaries are over and...

the Democrats have a dynamite team Clinton/Kaine! It's time to focus on thumping trump, imo.

[treestar]

124. Second sentence should make them all happy

No one had to pay me and I could use the cash. Darn!

[Squinch]

129. These aren't even emails. This is some summary in one email about a panel of

unnamed people talking.

This is bullshit, Scuba, and I bet you know it is.

[sheshe2]

139. Of course they do.

[uponit7771]

149. +1

[Warren DeMontague]

131. We kept hearing how she wasnt being "allowed to pivot"

News flash: THIS MYTHICAL ALL POWERFUL CENTER DOES NOT EXIST.

[LongtimeAZDem]

132. Unless there's some evidence that those paid to post did anything unethical

then this is just confirmation of an effective internet campaign tactic.

[upaloopa]

133. This was a story from our primary battle days.

There was an effort to rebut anti Hillary posts online. So what's the big deal about that?
I got plenty of emails from the campaign to join in and I am not a troll.

[Cary]

137. Be careful?

Of what? Getting pixelled to death?

[BlueStateLib]

141. Apr 21, 2016 - ... spending $1 million to hire online trolls to "correct" Bernie Sanders supporters

David Brock's Super PAC

[sofa king]

142. People get PAID to do this shit?

Screw you guys, I'm gonna get rich being a troll!

[Marr]

146. This thread is hilarious.

The same people saying, 'hey, everyone does this' and 'duh, this is nothing new' were calling this a 'conspiracy theory' a few short months ago.

[uponit7771]

152. You mean repeat a winger meme about non emails from unconfirmed account?! REALLY?! The CT is

... the number of people who eat this shit with little to no discernment

[Marr]

167. First, catch your breath.

Second, you didn't address my point at all. People who used to say paid online trolls were a 'conspiracy theory' are now saying they're no big deal, everyone does it, etc.

[uponit7771]

150. +++++ ANOTHER BULLSHIT RATFUCKING MEME++++++ Clinton locked primary by May 5th...

... statistically and only FAUX news is keeping this shit up

[NobodyHere]

153. Does anyone know how I can get one of those jobs?

[kentauros]

157. 7. Freelance posters

[font size="4"]Finding a Work-at-Home Job: Most Are Scams, But These 7 Are for Real[/font]

[font size="1"]Date: September 1, 2012 | Publication: Bottom Line Personal | Source: Michael Haaren[/font]

A growing number of employers are willing to use home-based employees, assuming those employees have access to a phone, computer and high-speed Internet connection. That’s good news for people with disabilities or who are caring for children or an elderly relative or who live in an area where jobs are scarce. It’s also good news for people who could find work outside the home but prefer to spend more time with their families and less time sitting in traffic.

The bad news is that there are roughly 60 “work from home” job scams on the Internet for each legitimate opportunity, according to our research.

}~snip~{

7. Freelance posters are paid to post content to blogs. Topics vary widely, depending on the theme of the blog. Pay can range from a few dollars per post to $50 and beyond, and usually is made directly to the poster by the owner of the blog. Short posts on generic themes such as lifestyle and fashion generally pay less, while specialized posts requiring more research (on economic issues, for example) pay more. These are listed on such Web sites as Problogger.net (click on “Jobs”) and BloggingPro.com (click on “Job Board”)…Postloop (on Postloop.com, click “Join”)…and Wired Flame (on WiredFlame.com, select “Writers”) (no longer active.)

[bettyellen]

176. Nope/ they were notes from a FOX news TV show that claimed there were paid trolls.

I guess you didn't see the actual emails? Lol.
And bought the Wilileaks bullshit hook line and sinker.
You have been played


http://www.amalanetwork.com/2016/07/23/shills-and-scandals-the-misleading-dncleaks-tweet-by-tweet/

[Scuba]

181. Wrong.

[bettyellen]

183. The Wikileaks tweets do not support the emails within- we don't even know how many are

Faked but know there is more than one. Wikileaks lost their integrity. Anyone pushing their story is a rube.

[area51]

180. Kick n/t

[B Calm]

182. I thought there were a lot of vocal new posters during the primary, are they all gone

now?

[Blue_Tires]

188. So.... Can we revisit this?