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.
Coop, stop it you are making my sides hurt!!
Oh I disagree :)
Hey Poobah! Come back here. My education has only just begun and the braintrust of FR needs you! You make a difference. How are some of these blind noobs (like me) ever going to learn the difference between honest debate and party line talking points? Now i'll never graduate. Damn. :o(
I don't hate, Wheee....I said I dislike the 3-4 folks on FR who are vipers. These are the ones who go out of their way to pick fights....just for the sake of it. Sorry if you think I'm being mean for pointing out that we have a few here on FR. Some would say I'm just stating the obvious.
Thanks for this comment. I'm not sure that I agree completely, but I'd never thought of it. It gave me a nice chuckle.
Poohbah will continue to post under his other identities!
To be serious you did do some good posts regardless of your inane stand on pilots carrying guns!
***Subject: FW: Quanta's Pilot gripe sheet For the aviator
Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane but only a high school diploma to fix one. Reassurance for those of us who fly routinely in their jobs.
After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.
Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers. By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.
P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough. S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
P: Something loose in cockpit. S: Something tightened in cockpit.
P: Dead bugs on windshield. S: Live bugs on back-order.
P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent. & nbsp; S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear. S: Evidence removed.
P: DME volume unbelievably loud. S: DME volume set to more believable level.
P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. S: That's what they're for.
P: IFF inoperative. S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
P: Suspected crack in windshield. S: Suspect you're right.
P: Number 3 engine missing. S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.
P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!) S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.
P: Target radar hums. S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
P: Mouse in cockpit. S: Cat installed.
And the best one for last.................. P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer. S: Took hammer away from midget
I have never seen the anger that I saw on here this past week at Freepers that have been here for a long time if you dared question anything or make a statement that wasn't 100% pro-Terri. I saw people make posts about taking guns into Court and shooting judges. Wanting the President or Jeb to send in troops to have a shootout with the local police and then praising Keyes for saying have a shoot-out with the Sheriff went over the top for me.
When anyone pointed out the Schindler lawyers were bad and their pleadings left the Federal Court Judges no choice, they got mad. The worst was the threads on Jesse Jackson -- disgusting!
I thought Conservatives wanted Judges that ruled on the Law not activist judges but I was wrong about a lot of people on here. Then when they started saying that America was no good that just about did it for me but I have stayed for now.
Will not back down on what I believe and I believe that all of this on Terri has not been good for this forum. There is too much hate when someone tries to post facts if it doesn't suit their agenda. But yet we have a ton of vanities with half truths and lies which are allowed to stand.
I am proud of my Country and will remain proud -- anyone that puts down President Bush or Governor Bush because they didn't send in the troops to rescue Terri are not people I want to know. I believe in the Rule of Law and if the laws are bad work to change them don't take them into their hands. I am pro-life but I will not be taken in by Jesse Jackson grandstanding when he is pro-abortion and be trashed about it.
There is a lot of hurt by some longtime Freepers that this Forum was taken over by new posters that wanted anarchy and the laws to be trashed and old posters who some of us have had problems with since we first came on here. There was no sane discussion and still isn't. Thought we used to have a rule on vanities -- no longer -- if it is about Terri all vanities are allowed to stand no matter how wrong they are of if they came from new posters.
For now I will stay on the threads about the Pope where most Freepers are just talking back and forth and relating what we are seeing.
My two cents!
well, like...what about bags of rice.... ? ; )
Outted yerself as a Freeploader?
Get that right. You will be amazed at what JR lets us get away with. Never know til you try.
Nor "JUDAS" or "GOOD GERMAN" nor a whole host of other such canards.
That's quite a bizarre post.
That is great isn't it? I didn't make it tho so I can't take credit for it.
You're only vindicating him with that remark.
Yes, it's pointless. If I want to be yelled at, insulted or otherwise abused I have a whole rolodex filled with the names of family, friends and business associates I can call on.
Yeah, I hate aspersions and name-calling too. < /sarcasm>
Thanks for the ping.
It's been an exhausting week, hasn't it?
Get over yourself. Good God, what is it with those who just can't filter out the noise.........
Jesus, son, you've been here far too long to slink away. Such bulls**t.
Ok - that was funny!
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.