Continuing on this theme …

We can identify two general methods of online ratfucking: propaganda and sabotage. Propaganda is promoting anti-Republican bullshit to a general audience; the model would be Swift Boat Veterans for Truth; the methods would include mass emailing and posting to large, unmoderated general interest message boards. Sabotage is undermining and/or co-opting pro-Republican organizations or communities; the model would be Cointelpro; the methods are legion. Sabotage is the more interesting method, its techniques mirroring those of movement-building:

To Facilitate The Movement To Inhibit The Movement
Facilitate capacity for corporate action Inhibit capacity for corporate action
Make it possible for energies of movement to go toward pursuit of broader social change goals, as well as maintenance needs Direct energies of movement of defensive maintenance needs and away from pursuit of broader social goals
Create favorable public image; develop and support ideology Create unfavorable public image and counter-ideology
Give information to movement Gather information on movement
Facilitate supply of money and facilities Inhibit supply of money and facilities
Facilitate freedom of movement, expression, and action; offer legal immunity Inhibit freedom of movement, expression, and action; create myth and fact of surveillance and repression; apply legal sanctions
Build and sustain morale Damage morale
Recruit supporters Derecruitment
Build leaders Destroy or displace leaders
Encourage internal solidarity Encourage internal conflict
Encourage external coalitions with potential allies and neutral relations (or conflict only insofar as it is functional) with potential opponents Encourage external conflict with potential allies and opponents
Facilicate particular actions Inhibit or sabotage particular actions

A few operational pointers:

1. Proper hygiene is very important. Use clean email/blogger/newsgroup accounts and online identities. IP address masking or spoofing is probably overkill for most applications, but it’s simple enough. Also: there’s this thing called Google you might want to be aware of. Don’t post any details about ratfucking, because that shit will leave an world-readable, endlessly searchable, multiply-archived stain for a very, very long time. IM and email, plz.

2. He who lies best lies least. Changing your name constitutes adopting a fictional persona, and it’s probably best to leave it at that, without needless embellishments. Get to know your targets, how far you can push them and in what direction, and remember that an effective agent provocateur has a delicate touch and doesn’t draw attention. Don’t be the first to accuse others of having hidden agendas and you won’t be the next accused. You are entering a world where the paranoid style has always been en vogue.

3. Bring a friend. A) having someone to run plays with makes you that much more effective, and B) even thinking about doing this shit alone makes me feel like I’m losing my mind. Make a game out of it “I bet I can get them to swallow more shit than you (by some metric)” and joke about it later. What you are going is halfway between Donnie Brasco and an internet predator, and that’s a mighty creepy neighborhood. Don’t get lost.

4. Is your conscience bothering you? This is probably because you need to fortify your diet with Vitamin S:

It’s way cooler than huffing paint, and a little bit now could mean a lot less over the next 4 years. Bottoms up.