# Trolling in the Pit **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 12, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441 "2023-08-12T05:51:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/1 "2023-08-12T05:51:59Z")
@Miller It’s painfully obvious that trolling is happening in the **Republican’s war on transgender people** thread, and has been for days now. > [@Republicans' war on transgender people: Omnibus thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609): > > Do we have an omnibus thread for Republicans’ war on transgender people yet? If not, let me start one with this. Apparently even full-grown adults can’t be trusted to make the decision to transition in Florida. At least, not if they’re poor. Is the reluctance to warn or, preferably, thread-ban the troll because you’ve been involved in the thread and are worried that you won’t come off as impartial? Get another, uninvolved mod from another forum to sign off on it then. Or do you think that the troll is not trolling? Because _come on_… I’ve been avoiding participating in that clusterfuck because obvious troll is obvious, but enough is enough, surely? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/2 "2023-08-12T05:59:59Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’ve been avoiding participating in that clusterfuck I have just stopped reading what was a valuable thread since it became the tiresome magellan show. I too would like the massive JAQ-ing hijack to end. If magellan wants their ignorance (or feigned ignorance) on trans issues fought, that is not the purpose of that thread. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/3 "2023-08-12T08:18:33Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Or do you think that the troll is not trolling? I don’t think that he’s trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/4 "2023-08-12T08:54:08Z")
Stuff like that used to be fun to play with back when it was just minority monkeyshines that we could laugh and scoff at. That time is past, they have way too much fucking power, and this just isn’t fun any more. Enabling evil is not a feature-it is a scorpion . ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/5 "2023-08-12T10:43:57Z")
Seems like trolling to me, just to provide one more data point—and as we can all agree, my opinion is perhaps the most important data point on the boards. But, seriously, it’s trolling. I wish everyone would just stop responding to him, but after 20 years on the SDMB, I don’t have much hope… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/6 "2023-08-12T10:57:12Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@MrDibble](#): > > > > Or do you think that the troll is not trolling? ⁢ > > I don’t think that he’s trolling. ⁢ Not only did he randomly bring up Hunter Biden’s laptop and COVID-19 falsehoods, but his most recent post that I saw was him saying that, when he comes back, he expects all of us to tell him he’s right. That doesn’t sound like someone legitimately arguing. It sounds like someone randomly bringing up unrelated right wing talking points to piss people off, and then joking about it. YWTF and DemonTree may have made bad arguments, but they at least they were related to trans issues. And they were clearly frustrated, not having fun. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/7 "2023-08-12T12:29:16Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t think that he’s trolling. I could not more strenuously disagree. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/8 "2023-08-12T12:48:27Z")
I’m pretty sure he’s trolling. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/9 "2023-08-12T14:43:48Z")
Thirded that magellan01 is trolling for lulz with his free hand. That thread was once quite useful and now destroyed. At best he’s spamming – 120 posts in that thread in six days is insane. Maybe put a pin in that thread, and reopen another “breaking news” version in MIPSIMS? I realize we all couldn’t express ourselves as dexterously in an actual breaking news thread, but that’d be kinda the point: hijacks would get moderated. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/10 "2023-08-12T14:51:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@Miller](#): > > > > > [@MrDibble](#): > > > > > > Or do you think that the troll is not trolling? ⁢ > > > > I don’t think that he’s trolling. ⁢ > > Not only did he randomly bring up Hunter Biden’s laptop and COVID-19 falsehoods, but his most recent post that I saw was him saying that, when he comes back, he expects all of us to tell him he’s right. I think he probably IS trolling, but this is weak justification. I can think of another conservative posted who shall not be named who also pops into thread after thread to say “you liberals claim to be so open minded but look how you lied about and suppressed Hunter Biden’s Laptop”. Actually, I can think of a second poster who also makes the same arguments but then claims we’re all part of a hive mind. And that’s off the top of my head, looking around it wouldn’t surprise me if most of the conservatives around here parrot that line on occassion. It’s part of the very textbook arguments: “Sure, this new Republican misdoing revelation is bad, but have you ever considered [Hunter Biden’s Laptop/Hillary’s Emails/Benghazi]?” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/11 "2023-08-12T15:07:30Z")
I’m hearing Adele sing the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/12 "2023-08-12T15:17:43Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I’m hearing Adele sing the thread title Funny, I was just now hearing it to a beat of a Baptist hymn called “Power in the Blood”. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/13 "2023-08-12T16:57:34Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t think that he’s trolling. I’ll repeat: _Come on!_ With extra “_Are you kidding me?_” on the side. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/14 "2023-08-12T18:05:38Z")
Is this because you think he’s being genuine? I think he might be being genuine (meaning he’s honestly representing his position), but I don’t think that rules out trolling - ISTM he’s not arguing on good faith, rather just trying to find some minutiae he can hang his hat on to, somehow, make progressives look bad, without actually engaging the issue, or the arguments of others. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/15 "2023-08-12T18:24:04Z")
Lots of trolls sincerely hold the beliefs they claim. Trolling is about posting style, not substance. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/16 "2023-08-12T18:41:06Z")
^^^ This. ^^^ I have no doubt he is a raging transphobe. I also have no doubt he is gleefully yanking the board’s collective chain. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/17 "2023-08-12T19:51:06Z")
The poster in question only recently came to my attention (as well as back to the board) in a different thread. IMHO they are intellectually extremely dishonest. I’ve avoided the cited thread because it always seemed to be troll bait for me, and that the circumstances coming up in the thread were adding to my already substantial blood pressure increases due to other un-democratic activity happening that I was already following. Does the poster in question rise to the board’s definition of a troll? I’m not sure, but in no way do I believe that they are debating/discussing honestly. And to repeat, it’s a pattern not linked to a single thread. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/18 "2023-08-12T20:09:42Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > The poster in question only recently came to my attention (as well as back to the board) in a different thread. They had disappeared for almost 4 years and came back inauspiciously thus far. He uses a method of debate that is generally frowned upon now in P&E and GD but was still pretty normal in 2019. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/19 "2023-08-12T20:52:14Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Thirded that magellan01 is trolling for lulz with his free hand. That thread was once quite useful and now destroyed. At best he’s spamming – 120 posts in that thread in six days is insane. Is that what happened? I was wondering why the post count got so high so fast. I had given up on reading that thread if it was moving so fast I couldn’t keep up. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441/20 "2023-08-12T20:59:21Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > He uses a method of debate that is generally frowned upon now in P&E and GD but was still pretty normal in 2019. It’s an older code, but it checks out? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolling-in-the-pit/988441.md?page=2)