Dear Ms. Stead:
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You are missing the point.  It isn`t just H. Clinton who gets this treatment.
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Any column that mentions Kathleen Wynne is showered in misogyny and homophobia within a very short period of time.
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Later, the balance evens out.  By then it is much too late - the prominent comments have taken their place, and nobody wades through 200 comments later to see a more balanced debate.
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The same thing happens with any column that mentions `climate change` or `Barack Obama`:  Instant blizzard of hate postings.

The patterns aren`t that hard to detect.
They aren`t genuine postings.  They are paid hate-seeding. 
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There are lots of ways to deal with it.  First, you might remove any comment that isn`t adult discussion by persons of goodwill, i.e., no trash talking.
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Another step would be to require paid trolls to indicate how much and by whom they are being paid.  Ban the ones that don`t comply.  It might take some effort at first, but after a bit it becomes easier.