READ: An old adage to remember in the New Year, don’t feed the trolls. PDF, EPUB online free reviews.

This is an example of the sort of message I presume is churned out in troll farms in far flung exotic places in support of someone I refrain from mentioning on my blog because I find him…objectionable.

I disagree, our good leader tweets to communicate directly to his voters thereby eliminating the need for the super bias leftist press…happy new year…great Hollywood pictures! Thanks

Sent from my iPhon

Whether he’s considered a “leader” or something else is very much open to debate, and very much in the news lately.

The “news” is sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate. The nomenclature goes back to Europe in the 18th century, where the seats of power (Estates) were the nobility, the clergy, and the commoners. The Fourth Estate was the press. It held no power except the sharing of information — and in that capacity it served to illuminate, discourage, amuse, caution, support, cause controversy, reflect, define, and educate. In other words the free flow of information — itself — was considered a powerful force. Which is why, in that same century, the freedom of the press was secured in the United States Constitution.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Back to the little father of all trolls, the post that generated the clumsy remarks had nothing to do with partisan politics. The post cautioned against getting trapped in an isolating social media bubble and instead advised getting directly involved with other people, face to face.

When I get a comment like this, replete with awkward sentence construction and an attack on the First Amendment of the Constitution, I immediately look up the IP address. I found this address to be notorious — associated with a history of disinformation, spam, and bad-bot behavior.

Now I’d like to turn our attention back to this odd phrase, “super bias leftist press.” I think it would read better if it said, “supremely biased leftist press.” But then, English is my first language. And, “our good leader?” In this country we say, “our president.”

As for the bot’s appreciation of Old Hollywood, let’s leave it with this.

Be well, may the New Year bring you wonders, and do try to keep your temper under wraps a bit better than I do mine.