Know Yourself, Know Your Enemy: The Paulbots And You
We’ve all seen them. We’ve all argued with them on Facebook, and in the dark, lonely comment sections of morning blogs where sanity takes a page from Little Red Riding Hood and cheerfully trots into the forest, never to be seen again. And somehow, because caffeine takes a few minutes to get into the bloodstream and up to the brain, we’re convinced, if only for a couple of minutes, that it’s actually worth it to debate these people. Somehow, every morning we’re temporarily convinced that a large portion of the American electorate actually bases their vote off of comments by readers supposedly fluent in English at the bottom of articles in the blogosphere.
And this is why we see no real harm in the legions of Paulbots that charge daily like a horde of angry libertarian lawn gnomes onto Facebook, Twitter, every blog ever conceived, and even Youtube. But they’re far from harmless, and debating them plays straight into their hands.
// ]]>
Let me explain. Ron Paul’s had a long life, most of it spent in isolation and social rejection. Before entering Congress, he was a medical doctor (hence the bots’ obsession with emphasizing DR DR DR DR DR PAUL) and his Wikipedia page lists “delivering more than 4,000 babies by 1976” as a major accomplishment. In Congress he sponsored a whole 464 bills!—one of which passed, which authorized the Federal government to give a parcel of land to the Galveston historical society in Texas. Paul has been called an advocate for the one percent, but his success rate has been less than that—one out of 464, or about 0.22%.
Up until recently, Paul has lived a quiet life as the world’s most rejected author and one of the only members of Congress that could pass for a muppet. So why the spontaneous support from anonymous web warriors? Because going viral is the easiest way to get attention.
Paulbots are especially vicious on Facebook, for example, because the Facebook system rewards their efforts. Ever wonder why your good friends’ posts show up more often than yours? It’s because of something called an affinity score, Facebook’s way of filtering information: only the most popular posts—the ones with the most likes and comments—actually show up on your feed for an extended period of time. The rest will get buried in obscurity much sooner rather than later. The same thing with blogs and forums; the more comments the more prominent the post. In other words, all a Paulbot has to do is start an argument and whatever article they want to promote is GUARANTEED to go viral.
The way to defeat a radical politician isn’t to argue with them (or their supporters); that just gives them strength. Paul can sit in his cave like a libertarian energy vampire and feed on a growing online reputation even he couldn’t have dreamed of. This is the only lifesource he has; his reputation won’t come from political achievements. In fact, according to the national safety council you have a better chance getting assaulted, shot, and dying from the bullet wound than Ron Paul does of passing another bill in Congress.
So screw the cyber warfare and have your coffee. It turns out the best way to deal with Ron Paul is to completely ignore his supporters. And if you must talk to them, please tell them their candidate needs a brow wax and a substantial nose job. For the people.
Related posts:
No, your argument about the Galveston land does NOT “stand to reason.
Ron Paul’s argument about the states has nothing to do with federal ownership of land. Indeed, you want to refer to the Constitution for evidence of federal rights?
Article 4, Section 3 of the Constitution says “The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States”
I know you support Ron Paul. But please don’t make bogus claims that are so easily disproven.
My standard response to pro RP postings is a simple no.
My reasoning is fairly simple and evidential. I look at Lake Michigan and see a living body of water, one that prior to the advent of the EPA was a dead body of water. I look at the results of deregulation on the various industries and see a return to the errors of the past. I look at my husband and see a man who worked hard all his life and is only able to be alive and live now because of agencies such as OSHA and the Workmen’s Compensation requirements. I see my grandchildren entering into an adulthood that offers them educational opportunities because of governmental programs. I breathe air that isn’t visible because of agencies which are insuring that it remains so.
RP speaks of states rights…yet his vision would return us to feudalism, city states on a larger scale, with laws that are contradictory to each other.
RP speaks of property rights, yet how much property insures those rights? He speaks of physical property, being able to do what you will on land owned by the individual…I currently live in a state that has very lax laws on codes for such things as septic systems etc…raw sewage draining into the ditches outside the city limits, raw sewage draining via those ditches into rivers and streams…neighbors using owned properties outside the city limits for the purpose of dumping materials which are not allowed in community owned facilities…materials which also pollute my own land.
RP speaks of a fictional Utopian society, based upon a fictional book, written by a person who later took advantage of the very programs that were belittled or eliminated in said book.
RP? No. Even though I am well aware that the position of President does not imply the level of power that would be needed to implement any of the RP policies, the answer is still no.
New American…come on. Sometime you’ve *got* to run a reality check on your own thinking. Common sense has *got* to kick in.
Pandora gave practical, real life examples of why s/he thinks putting environmental regulations in the hands of individual states is a bad idea. You apparently blame that situation on corporations and politicians.
OK. I’ll buy that.
Then why on earth do you support Ron Paul??? The solution he would offer Pandora? Sue the polluters for the pollution on *your* property. Excuse me? Do you know how much money, time and effort it takes to sue someone? And how about the fact that you have to do this *after* the fact. AFTER your property and air and water has already been polluted. Do you truly see no benefit to trying to control pollution *before* it occurs? Ron Paul apparently doesn’t.
Remember, this is the same Ron Paul who said “The people of Texas do not need federal regulators determining our air standards” as if air recognizes state lines.
Yes, I think we need some major housecleaning at the EPA and some major re-visioning as well. Let science have a front row seat again, not just policy-makers (it was under Bush that the big revamping of the EPA to a politically-based, lets-pressure-scientists official change occured). But I don’t think we abolish it and turn environmental protection and regulation over to the individual states. After all, things like air, water, and pollution don’t stop at some arbitrary political line, and it’s absurd to make policies that basically assume they do.
My own sister (a Paulbot) unfriended me on Facebook because I gave a negative opinion of him on her FB wall, even though I made certain to mention that it was “nothing personal” (against her). I guess politics is thicker than blood with some people.
well if this wasn’t being done in an atmosphere when so many young people are supporting Paul instead of Obama it would seem less sinister. This is the same as the post the other day excoriating wonkette for covering Paul fairly. It’s pretty stupid too because it will just make people more curious about him, because they’re being told they aren’t alllowed to listen to him.
progressives have some competition now, get used to it we aren’t going anywhere. you better step up your game.
The author has a valid point, whic was almost immediately proved. Seeing as ho NO Republican or pseudo-libertarian candidate has a plan to deal with the real issues – economy, population sprawl and corrupt influence in government – the best path is to ignore Paul, and especially ignore the Paulbots (it won’t help much; they generate their own responses to their rants, thus, as stated, guaranteeing that they go viral. Remember, they are looking to start flame wars.
But if you just continue to post the facts, and applaud their ignorance, they will eventually get tired of typing and go away to recharge their batteries, poor little Paulbots…
we arent afraid of Ron Paul. we just find his positions rediculous and have plenty of historical data to prove how they will fail. all you cultists have are delusions. sorry, its not worth listening to a bunch of childish individuals who convieniantly ignore history because it is irrelivant to the fantasy world they are peddling. as an Avid reader of Sci-Fi and fantasy novels, I know the difference between good fiction and reality. Ron Pauls postitions are usually Neither.
You guys are just making fun of his supports because you see your own image in them. Be the better man and be civil. They are human like you are. You all are pretty much at the same level.
Who the hell decided to use the droid character for a RonBot?
Boooooooooooooo