Still Misfitting

Ponsa ponsa time, in ancient internet days, there emerged from the pop-up riddled, blue screens of AOL and other sluggish dial-ups strange, misanthropic creatures that interrupted message boards with inane, provocative comments designed to disrupt the conversation. These creatures came to be known as “trolls.” We have all met more than our fair share of them throughout the years. Their agenda was relatively simple: attention-seeking, mischief, and using forums as a vehicle for misguided rage; however, mostly it was merely attention-seeking.

During the last (seemingly endless) political campaign, a new breed of devious and manipulative poster appeared in blog comment sections and forums who seemed, at first, to be sympathetic to the author’s opinion (or the thread subject), but expressed some concern that certain ideas or actions would be improper, illegal, counterproductive or irrelevant. These posters became known as “concern trolls.” A good example of a concern troll would be someone who came into this blog, told me they agreed that Sarah Palin was a malignant narcissist, but that I’d better be careful because she is threatening to sue bloggers and media types for defamation. (As if.) The concern trolls’ agenda is passive-aggressive: they couch their opposition in friendly, innocuous language, but their aim is to create doubt and confusion.

But the most insidious of internet scoundrels is the agent provocateur: a poster who may be paid (nice work if you can get it) to seek blog posts and articles on specific subjects, infiltrate the comment section, and post propaganda, disinformation, specious statistics, skewed polls, or junk science and argue for hours (sometimes days) with anyone foolish enough to engage them. Agents provocateur have a more specific agenda than garden-variety trolls or concern trolls; their aim is to change minds and influence opinions, particularly those of nameless, faceless lurkers who read the comment section but do not post.

How to spot an agent provocateur: they post the same talking points, links, or citations (from dubious sources) over and over, regardless of the facts that dispute their position. It’s as if they don’t even read what commentors write.  There is no reasoning with them. They’re not paid to reason, they’re paid to propogate lies. Their posts are often copied and pasted (or, as Samantha the Troll would say, “coped and pastied”) from other message boards and blogs; they use multiple handles (like good old-fashioned trolls), and their mission is to cast doubt upon a set of beliefs borne by research, common sense, and critical thinking. They are often poor writers and spellers, although because they’ve undoubtedly had their copy written for them, they’re better than the average troll.

The internet is still the wild, wild west, and with it comes the double-edged sword of free, anonymous, unlimited information; thus while it’s wise to take our mothers’ advice not to believe everything you read, be especially wary of posts that smell like fake concern, scan like propaganda or seem curiously non sequitur.

It’s been a long time since we heard from Dr. N Buster, but she would be remiss not to opine on the recent news of Republican starlet, soon-to-be-ex-governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin’s surprise resignation. Many questions have been raised attempting to interpret Palin’s actions recently, particularly her bizarre reaction to late-night comedy jokes and articles about her behavior during the presidential campaign. Dr. N Buster responds to some of the most compelling queries.

First of all, is Sarah Palin a malignant narcissist?

Palin certainly demonstrates many of the textbook characteristics of malignant narcissism: in particular, her belief that she (and her family and inner circle) are exempt from standards, rules or laws that apply to everyone else; in her myopic self-aggrandizement; in her startling hubris; in her willingness to exploit others (especially her children) for political gain; in her sense of entitlement; in her petulant response to criticism or ridicule; but most shockingly in her tendency to lie, obfuscate, deny, distract, blame others and play the victim.

How did she ever get elected governor in the first place?

Before we were introduced to Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate, few of us knew much about Alaska politics, or, for that matter, really cared. Now that we have been educated in the ways of the intrinsically corrupt and parochial politics of this remote hinterland (from where you can see Russia), we can appreciate how a “maverick” like Sarah could fool a lot of people some of the time. Like the more advanced and charismatic of her species, Sarah makes a good first impression. Unfortunately, the more you get to know her, or the more you observe her behavior as opposed to her words, the less appealing she becomes.

Why would she fly to Alaska from Texas while in labor with a fifth baby?

This is the $64,000 question no mainstream media journalist wants to explore. There are three possible explanations, none of which are flattering: 1) that she wasn’t really pregnant and was covering for her daughter, Bristol’s first pregnancy; 2) that she secretly hoped to miscarry or deliver a stillborn baby, thus avoiding the inconvenience and heartache of raising a child with Downs Syndrome; or 3) that the story is fiction. Any one of those explanations would befit a narcissist like Sarah.

Why did she resign if she has ambitions for future national political office?

Sarah, like all textbook narcissists, has self-sabotaged. She took what was a golden opportunity to advance her status as a presidential contender for 2012 and squandered it by reacting to petty criticism, exploiting her family, crying “sexism”, playing to the basest core of religious and racist voters, and committing ethical violations knowing her every move was broadcast on a national stage. This is similar to our friend, Scott Peterson’s incomprehensible behavior when he returned to the Berkeley marina over and over, knowing that he was being followed by police.

Instead of proving to detractors that she was an experienced and savvy leader, Sarah has only reinforced their worst opinions of her: that she is mentally unstable, unpredictable, reckless, shameless, and unforgivably obtuse.

What does the future hold in store for Sarah Palin?

She penned a lucrative book deal, she’ll no doubt be given a television platform (either on Fox or smaller conservative venues), and she’ll likely campaign and fund raise for other Republicans in the mid-term elections with a modicum of success. She will not, however, be a candidate for public office again. For this, we can exhale a huge sigh of relief.