A simple reply to a commentary on CNN.

John Avlon (click his name to read the link) made a commentary today. As per usual with CNN, whenever something deserves a reply, they don't open it up to comments from the public, and whenever it doesn't (or will stir controversy and hence ratings), they open it up but choose the most odd answers to post.

This commentary is about the extremist "wingnuts" that seem to have become common.

I'd like to say something in reply to what he said in the commentary.

As an immigrant, what I'm seeing in this country is extremely frightening. For years, a policy of fear and anger has been fed by the extremist factions so that its almost become the normal way of life.

Why? Because its being fed not only by politicians, but also by the media who feel it gives them good ratings and hence gives them money. And thats the whole problem with the country. Money is god here, even among those that claim to believe in a god themselves (call them hypocrites like they deserve).

On the internet there is a word for the people you see behaving like this... that word is "troll".

Now most people who have been on the internet for any length of time understand what the term means but for those that don't, I'll explain.

A troll is someone who "trolls for trouble, the way you troll through water in a boat". They are those people that you get the feeling are waiting underneath the bridge to pounce on you and make you miserable. A troll feeds on controversy and anger. They find it maliciously funny when you get upset by what they're saying.

There is only one way to deal with trolls.

Stop feeding them.

While Mr. Avlon says that exposing them to the light will destroy them, he's dead wrong. What needs to be done is for them to disappear back to the fringes they came from. Stop feeding them. The media needs to let them disappear, and stop covering every nasty thing they do. Even more, it needs to denounce this behavior loudly and thoroughly. Instead of devoting so much time to them, they need to start encouraging that we all work together to solve problems.

The media has intense power. They have more power than any person, any group of people, and any country in the world. They have the power to stir feelings and emotions. Now the question is, what emotions and feelings are they stirring. What they're doing right now is stirring all the negative ones just so they can make a buck.

It needs to stop. The media needs to start taking responsibility for their actions. It doesn't matter is you CAN do something as much as if you SHOULD. Is it right to stir hatred? No, of course not. We all know this, but for some reason the media thinks they're exempt, and the politicians encourage it by their own behavior.

Remember the old adage, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The media is becoming as corrupt as the government. There was a time when a good story meant only telling the truth, not spinning it to mean something it doesn't. No longer. Now a good story means pissing people off and stirring the pot.

The wingnuts have become more common because, like trolls that live under bridges, they are being fed and will only get bigger.

If it doesn't stop, we may see a civil war sometime in the future. It wouldn't be the first time. And the anger is slowly reaching the boiling point.