Trials and Tribulations

by digby

To those who are incessantly complaining about bloggers being “concern trolls” for responding to stories about various possible appointments, priorities or policies of the new administration, I can only assume that you aren’t aware of something called a “trial balloon” and its purpose.

Here’s the definition:

A trial balloon is information sent out in order to observe the reaction of an audience. It can be used by companies sending out press releases to judge reaction by customers, or it can be used by politicians who deliberately leak information on a policy change under consideration. In politics trial balloons often take the form of an intentional news leak to assess public opinion.

They actually want us to “concern troll” them so thy can gauge how the activist base, the mainstream media and the political establishment will react. It’s not an act of “disloyalty” or a sign of hysteria to respond to these things any more than it is an act of disloyalty to respond to a poll or write a letter to the editor. It’s the point.

Relax. This is a normal part of politics.

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