It Would Be Nice, But They’re Not All Trolls

I’m a stay at home mom. Let’s just say, I got time. I’m in the comments section of every single news outlet that I follow all day long. One thing we need to stop doing is referring to any conservative on a left-leaning page as a “troll.” Yes, what they’re doing is technically trolling, but they are NOT Russian bots, fake people, or trolls. They are real people. I know some personally.

The thing is, while it seems innocent enough, this is the worst possible time to jump on the troll bandwagon. As a life-long Democrat, I can admit that my people are lazy. We get complacent. We decided we don’t “have to” vote because one vote won’t matter.

By implying that these people are Russian bots who cannot vote, we are perpetuating the myth that *this* many Republicans won’t be out at the polls next week. Except they will, in droves. If there is one great thing you can say about Republicans, it’s that they hold their right to vote as closely to their hearts as they do their guns.

The connotation that these people aren’t real will absolutely encourage some Democrats to stay home on Election Day. And the reason makes us just as bad as the QAnon conspiracy theorists. Some of us simply cannot accept that people actually believe that George Soros is an evil Jewish Nazi (?) who pays all protestors (where’s my money at, George?). I have a hard time believing it, but I know real people (some of whom I am related to, unfortunately) who believe in this lunacy wholeheartedly.

To convince yourself otherwise is doing the party a major disservice by quieting these peoples’ voices (no matter how crazy it is). Citizens need to get shaken up, we need to fear for our future, we need to believe that these people are real, because they’re the ones we are going up against and surely we must outnumber them…right?