Posted on 04/01/2005 4:26:00 PM PST by Poohbah
First, this is NOT an April Fool's joke.
I am leaving Free Republic.
Over the past two years, civility and thoughtful discourse has vanished from this site, replaced with demands for ideological conformity that are straight out of Stalinist Russia or China's Great Cultural Revolution, and unrelenting uncivility if said conformance is not forthcoming. This trend began with the California recall election, where certain posters were allowed to flame the living beejezus out of those who didn't wholeheartedly support Tom McClintock, or thought that he wasn't running a campaign capable of winning. It extended into the Keyes campaign last year, where any critique of Keyes' campaign strategy was shrilly flamed, despite the obviously flawed execution of his campaign.
(Aside: one person who flamed me during the Keyes mess later said that he hadn't intended to start a fight with his remarks that accused me of homosexuality, pedophilia, and other evils; I was instantly reminded of the time I had to bail one of my Marines out of the local lockup. "Honest, Sarge," this Marine told me, "I didn't mean to start a fight when I called that Army Ranger a faggot." My response was not [and still isn't] suitable for public consumption.)
Since then, the Terri Schiavo case has pushed FR over the edge. We had posts calling for people to ensure that "accidents" to befall Schiavo and Judge Greer. We had posts praying that Iran would soon develop nuclear weapons, so that they could destroy the United States. And until the FBI started making arrests, those posts were allowed to stay up, completely abnegating Free Republic's standards.
We had people on both sides of the issue point out that the Schindlers were associating with some people of extremely low character, and that our uncritical embrace of these parties would not rebound to our favor. Rather reasonable attitudes to take, actually; but the loudest of the loud were in no mood to think.
My personal favorite was the following exchange:
The issue is not legality, but public opinion. Which will not be helped in this case if the pro-Terry side becomes associated in the media with Christian Identity, white supremicists, neo-nazis, racists and/or anti-semites.
Diva Betsy Ross made a valiant attempt to...ahem...whitewash Christian Identity, but it didn't work.
To top things off, we had people embracing as some sort of conservative icon, to the extent of posting a fundraising link.
I always thought that conservatism valued thinking over feeling, careful contemplation of facts over wild-eyed repetition of every damn rumor to come down the pipe, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. For a while, Free Republic met those criteria in spades.
Those days are long gone, and I have serious doubt as to whether or not they're coming back.
I know that many of the usual suspects will cheer this on, as their longtime nemesis is leaving them the field.
Be careful what you wish for; you are in the process of getting it. You may succeed in driving the folks who disagree with you from the site; but you will end up being just another collection of shrill voices in Bedlam. When everything is an over-the-top scream, no one will be heard.
Farewell.
Yeah, quit while you're behind. I dare say my reading comprehension skills are a level or two above yours - judging by your posts anyway.
So the parents drew the lines, not Michael? Interesting perspective; obviously not one I share.
Sorry to see ya go Poohbah.
"Stand not upon the order of thy going but go at once."
Amen.
LOL what was most interesting about it was they went from saying "THAT would never happen here!" to "I'm thisclose to leaving because I believe in God and you atheists call me names waah.."
Excuse me. Why is it okay to say people are acting like Commies (who killed hundreds of millions) but it ends the debate to compare them to Nazis?
UH.. ok...
Reason has been replaced by lunacy..........intelligent posters replaced by pod people.
I understand the problem the mods must have been having, but the Nazi/ violence references have been so over the top, that I have wondered how many were in hiding on some threads. Rules have been broken all over the place.........and evil references and threats allowed to remain.
Poohbah...........if you leave the pod people and DU infiltrators will have won this fight.
Please reconsider. Maybe the REAL FR will will be back someday........
signed..... an active pro-life "Good German"
Oh, I know. The argument I provided the link for had to do with whether he said anything about "facts." I wasn't aware anyone said something about "ears."
Vaya Con Dios.
I would say the same thing to your face even though you claim to be a Navy Seal commando or something.
I am sure your ilk would threaten or commit violence or something.
So tough on the outside, such easily hurt feelings on the inside.
I suppose I could see how you came to that conclusion and in clarification it still will not change your mind but to set the record straight they all drew a line in the sand so to speak.
You are welcome to disagree.
FMC
Trickyricky...since 2/26/04
sinkspur...since 7/18/98.
lol.....
Just in case anyone asks you for that bit of trivia, it stands for "The Dreaded Eschoir".
A tactic used by many here is to twist the argument by invoking "bla, bla, bla, who disagrees with YOU...". The poster stating the obvious gets put into the position of either explaining that it has nothing to do with disagreement with him/her OR writing, in great detail, why the obvious is true. The poster ignoring the obvious takes this opportunity to peck, peck, peck and it all devolves into insults.
Coop, if you haven't seen the "howling crowd of hysteria" either you haven't been paying attention or you've been too busy screaming to notice.
>>(Plus it's just a computer monitor with some words on it anyway)<<
No kidding! I can't tell you how many people I have tangled with *heatedly* on issues, only to have them staunch friends and allies on other issues days later.
It's the free exchange of thoughts. It's very healthy IMHO.
Don't leave on account of heated exchanges, Poohbah!
Thanks for sticking around, Sinkspur.
Thank you oh so very much for your kind words of encouragement!
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