In light of Mooler's latest bust of the Russian troll ring, i'm wondering if it's even lawful for exGOP to be trolling, for political ends, a forum whose server is likely in the US, serving a culture around US markets.
And if found to be functioning as a professional operative, without disclosing his foreign connections, should his operations be limited by:
1.) restrictions on ability to start a thread?
2.) the same restrictions that encumber any advertiser?
3.) both above?
First consideration is, what would a pro operative look like, if there were such a thing?
Two, what would be the purpose of a pro operative in a forum like this?
To answer the first question, i would say a pro operative would look exactly like exGOP, whose very name invokes a political position. Just look at the shear volume of posts, and estimate how much time in a day is required to put that out, and you should be able to see this is a full time operation.
To the second question, i suggest the purpose is to bring information back to headquarters, in order to help further refine talking points, for the fourth estate, to help bring down the President of the United States.
That is, i don't think exGOP is ever going to change one mind here, except the lowest of the low info drive-by lurkers...not enough to sway an election. However, by sampling the brainpower of a very decent representation of the conservative mind-set, he could feasibly, by reporting back to headquarters, test the strength of various talking points to find out which ones, or which parts would most likely influence the nation at large.
As such, the elite thinking power here is being used/farmed for information that serves the interest of his headquarters. And for that, i suggest Baron deserves to be paid for exposure, to be fair to all advertisers.
Now, given the latest Mooler ruling, who should be required to report one's affiliations? Imo, i don't think any amateur weighing into politics on his own behalf should have to report. But i do think any professional, with the evidence to suggest it, should have to reveal to Baron his country of origin, or the country origin of his handlers, as well as the payers of his handlers.
So far, exGOP has kept it very quiet about his origins and allegiances. There are others here whom we know to be Canadians. But we can also gather that they are amateurs opining on their own behalf.
I think it's time to draw a line as a matter of fairness.
And if found to be functioning as a professional operative, without disclosing his foreign connections, should his operations be limited by:
1.) restrictions on ability to start a thread?
2.) the same restrictions that encumber any advertiser?
3.) both above?
First consideration is, what would a pro operative look like, if there were such a thing?
Two, what would be the purpose of a pro operative in a forum like this?
To answer the first question, i would say a pro operative would look exactly like exGOP, whose very name invokes a political position. Just look at the shear volume of posts, and estimate how much time in a day is required to put that out, and you should be able to see this is a full time operation.
To the second question, i suggest the purpose is to bring information back to headquarters, in order to help further refine talking points, for the fourth estate, to help bring down the President of the United States.
That is, i don't think exGOP is ever going to change one mind here, except the lowest of the low info drive-by lurkers...not enough to sway an election. However, by sampling the brainpower of a very decent representation of the conservative mind-set, he could feasibly, by reporting back to headquarters, test the strength of various talking points to find out which ones, or which parts would most likely influence the nation at large.
As such, the elite thinking power here is being used/farmed for information that serves the interest of his headquarters. And for that, i suggest Baron deserves to be paid for exposure, to be fair to all advertisers.
Now, given the latest Mooler ruling, who should be required to report one's affiliations? Imo, i don't think any amateur weighing into politics on his own behalf should have to report. But i do think any professional, with the evidence to suggest it, should have to reveal to Baron his country of origin, or the country origin of his handlers, as well as the payers of his handlers.
So far, exGOP has kept it very quiet about his origins and allegiances. There are others here whom we know to be Canadians. But we can also gather that they are amateurs opining on their own behalf.
I think it's time to draw a line as a matter of fairness.
