Trolls at the St. Louis American

The St. Louis American was invaded by trolls last week. It had nothing to do with Halloween; these trolls are commenters who visit blogsites with opposing viewpoints for the express purpose of stirring up trouble. After the American, one of the top African-American newspapers in the country, ran an article about Michelle Obama, the trolls swarmed into the comments section, spewing hatred and nonsense as if they were going to change the hearts and minds of that paper’s black readership.

One accused Obama of disenfranchising voters in the caucus votes and of staging the roll call votes at the convention. Another pretended Obama had plagiarized some remarks by Duvall Patrick. A third said: “I voted for Hillary in the primary and now I’m voting for McCain/Palin for democracy!” And a fourth added “No way, no how, NObama in November!” Another brought up Jeremiah Wright and called Obama a race divider, while someone else called his children elitist and rude.

Someone named Evie did yeoman’s duty defending the Democratic nominee and got a little help from a couple of other people. They handled the onslaught with aplomb–and facts.

But here’s what I’m wondering: what was the point of this little exercise? Hello-o. Did the trolls think they would make converts to McCain’s camp at the St. Louis American? C’mon already.

If that’s what you think, y’all got too much time on your hands, time that would have been better spent registering Republicans. But far be it from me to set you on the right path. I say, go for it if that’s what you think will win the election. Pester the folks at The American. Cause here’s the thing: granted, you can be a nuisance, but they can take care of themselves when you idiots wander in.

Photo courtesy of the St. Louis American