General Discussion

Honestly, trolls are the expectation on DU for me, so I tune in to the people setting the tone for the narrative, like media figures. "Loser" for instance, in reference to Snowden, comes from Piers Morgan on CNN, not an anonymous troll. The other thing I do is I look at larger trends: Did Julian Assange set himself up for the rape charges, in order to shift focus away from the leaks and toward a personal focus to make himself look good? Or would Assange have preferred the focus not be on him so much on remain on the leaks? The rape charges serve to move the conversation away from the government practices Assange uncovered, just as the attacks on Snowden move the conversation away from what he uncovered.

I guess you're right in some ways though: if the purpose of the personal attacks is to sow Orwellian fear in the population, (the answer to your questions about mass surveillance of the people is do not talk about mass surveillance of the people, comrade) than its pretty effective. I just don't see any one trying to seed a productive conversation about this.