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.
Oh thank you for that! ( I was really kicking myself for not knowing the term)
Poo ya gotta stay:
Emotions are way to high about Terri's case not all people think rationaly when emotions run this high.
Besides we were warned by jimrob that the racists had their eyes on this site to try and change it or bring it down if you leave they are winning and we don't need that !
binging and purging is cyclical on FR. this is no different than anything else. there have always been nuts, there will always be nuts, steer clear of nuts and you have no problems here. whatever the next big news story is, they will all be back. Heck the banned and reviled FIGHT to get back on here, or come back using artifice.
LOL!
Yes, same has happened to most of us.
Funny, huh?
Oh my, thanks for the link. I think more will leave.
ROFL no opus is complete without a post like that!
Witness Protection Program For Freepers
That will be the day when liberals will corrupt Jim.
that is precisely the ticket.
Oh, and perhaps you didn't know but the owner of the site said it the other night. "Facts" don't matter.
From the beginning of that process, before Schwarzenegger even declared, I said that he would win, and with a higher percentage than Gray Davis had won the preceding regular election. And I stated in front of God and everybody my reasons for those conclusions.
I got some flack from people who wanted McClintock ti win. But I did NOT get anything properly called a flame. And I participated in all the threads on that subject from day one to day last. Your conclusions about that subject are just plain wrong.
I cannot express an opinion about the Terri Schiavo threads. Those very quickly became repetitious and non-informative and I stopped participating in them. But you may be exaggerating there, too.
I suggest you reconsider. If so, I'll be the first to forget that this thread existed.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "The Fatal Attraction of the Inside Straight"
At least I was closer to the correct coast! :-)
Any signs of spring by you yet? We have 87 in California today.
Anyway, best wishes your way and welcome home Poohbah anytime.
Two casualties today. Who's next?
Thanks. That's kinda funny. :)
So, are you a him or a her?
Sorry to see you want to leave FR...I agree, the mood on FR lately, was/is very mean spirited , and I sure did not appreciate being called some very nasty and vile names, when I had a difference of opinion with someone, who obviously did not like what I thought...I always tried to act civil and discuss things rationally, but all too often, that was not to be the way of it...its hard to discuss, when someone calls you a name, then runs off...so for a few days I just had to stay off of FR altogether...
After all, we all have real lives(or so I should hope), that we can enjoy, so enjoying my real life instead of being called names on FR, is what I opted for...taking a breather can be refreshing...
Hope you reconsider and return...
If not Aprils fools; ho hum.
MM....you should know better. She's got to be one of the meanest souls in all of Freeperdom....and NOT worth engaging. Thankfully, there are only a handful of her types here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.