The nominations for troll of the year are up at man of the west. The co winners will be named elsewhere, but I would give the 2016 lead pukeko to St Godfrey Elfwick of the Wrongskinned and the Supreme Dark Lord of the Vile Faceless Minions and leader of Rabid Puppies Vox Day.

First the list…

The 2016 Troll of the Year Nominations:

• Donald J. Trump: for his presidential campaign. Who can forget the masterful way the President-Elect played the media over and over again? And let’s face it… his comment about Mexican rapists was classic old-school trolling. Make a comment that superficially sounds awful but on close examination isn’t, then stand back and watch the explosion. Or in this case… ride it to the White House. Well played Sir.
• Godfrey Elfwick: for his epic trolling of the Guardian. We could just name these the Elfwicks and give them all to him. The man is like a troll savant. If we ever create a lifetime achievement award for trolling, it will really just be because we want to give it to him. This particularly incident was noteworthy even for him though. The real art is in the way the piece is written… it plays perfectly to the confirmation bias of the left… and yet has a trollish smell to it that cannot be missed by those of us on the right.
• Vox Day and the Rabid Puppies: for nominating Chuck Tingle and My Little Pony for Hugo Awards. Space Raptor Butt Invasion was nominated for the Hugo Awards. Imagine the pretentious self-important types that hand out super important awards having to release that title or announce it at their stuffed-shirt ceremony. Oh wait… we don’t have to imagine it. We got to watch it live. Thanks Vox.
• The Baltimore Lyin’ Murderers: for the “Cheating to Win” game. Its one thing to know the rules better than everyone else. Its another to use the rulebook as a blunt force weapon to bludgeon the league that uses it. Baltimore exploited a rule that does not add time back to the game clock after an offensive penalty. So they just told all their players to blatantly commit holding penalties while the QB ran around and let the clock run out. A million yellow flags hit the ground as soon as the play was over, but it didn’t matter. Game over. Baltimore wins. That’s some quality trolling. Also… Joe Flacco is not elite.
• Senator Ted Cruz: for his speech at the GOP National Convention. Some called it political suicide. Some shouted praises of principled conservatism. But everyone shouted… and that is the finest evidence of trolling there is. The Senator from Texas as been an under-appreciated troll expert for years. Let’s face it, the guy read Green Eggs and Ham on the Senate floor.
• Jill Stein: for raising money for recounts in states Donald Trump won. Campaign Finance Laws don’t apply to money being raised for recounts. Call it shameless self-promotion… or a exploiting liberal butthurt in a blatant money grab… either way it is clearly some quality trolling.

Now my reasoning. No politician can count as a Troll: they are a lower life form. Trump is now a politician. American Football is not global, so the Baltimore Ravens do not count.

That leaves two very effective stirrers. A virtual lead Pukeko to both.