»Monstering. Fine old journalistic art. Like kung fu. [...] It's the art of abusing people. Of ambushing them with questions, following them with questions, hounding them with questions, driving them to their fucking graves with questions. It's sort of like being a photographer, except we've never yet killed any royalty doing it. Yet. Good things come to those who wait.«
—Warren Ellis, via Spider Jerusalem
I am obliged for once to disagree with my learned colleague; sealioning is not trolling, at least not in any negative sense. Perform this experiment in your own home: read the comic. Mentally substitute »blacks«, »Jews«, »Communists«, »women« for the sea lion. Does it still look reasonable? It kind of doesn't, does it? The persistent querent actually seems to have sanity and justice on his side against an extremist maniac? In fact, even desiring the extinction of literal sea lions is pretty reprehensible when you think about it!
Of course the sea lion is a metaphor, but it's a metaphor for something just, unjustly derided. Indeed the label of »sealioning« is used exclusively by a kind of authoritarian, not to say incipient totalitarian, who wants to get rid of legitimate criticism of their own despicable values, especially when the objects of their hatred are the ones criticizing. But of course, even if these objects »learn« nothing — and really, why should they, what on Earth requires someone to learn about the reasons someone else wants him eradicated, for all love? — they are totally justified in driving their enemies into their fucking graves with questions.
After all, if it's war between you and me, well and good, but don't expect me not to fight.
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