Make no mistake: GOP is paying trolls to "blog attack"

This is unbelievable. We always knew that there were right-wing political hacks trolling the blogosphere, but this is a new low.

There's a company called Advantage Consultants that's offering up "professional blog warriors" to "flood the zone" with comments. In short, astro-turf trolls for the blogosphere.

Click to zoom on their ad at right, but here's the text:

Are you ready for a blog attack?

Get ahead of your opponent with Professional Blog Warriors.

Be prepared to "flood the zone" with comments from professionals who are ready to put your talking points on the blogosphere 24/7.

Whether it's defense or offense, Advantage Consultants has a dedicated team of experienced blog warriors ready to advance your candidate or campaign.

Why wait for the attack? Launch your attack with a battery of blog and forum comments aimed at all media and blog sites in your district.

Contact us today and let us show you the Advantage in professional blog warfare.

Wow. Unbelievable. "Flood the zone?" Yeah, it's all about quantity - forget quality.

Now don't get me wrong -- there's nothing wrong with being a paid blogger. There's plenty of organizations that have staff or consultants on retainer to write on their blogs - which inevitably means commenting on blogs.

But here's the key: Be open and honest about it. Unlike these guys, who promise "complete confidentiality", don't fake it, don't lie, and always disclose.

Incidentally, who are these people? Who is Advantage Consultants? Their president is Doug Guetzloe, a right-wing radio host and anti-tax activist in Florida.