[Publius]

Jim,

Lacking an Internet place to go, I spent my FR downtime at Democratic Underground. That was an interesting experience. I noticed a few things in my stay there.

• It took me a while to figure out who “rimjob” was. I’m used to the technical term “analingus”, so it took me a bit to realize that “rimjob” was their term for JimRob.
• They characterize FReepers as “mouth breathers” and “knuckle draggers”. They’re good at name calling but have problems laying out the reason behind their name calling. The fact that FR was down was the source of a lot of schadenfreude, and it was unseemly.
• They’re ignorant of history. (There’s a bit too much of this at FR also.)
• They use too much profanity. Having been in the military, I can say that profanity has its place. Ask any Navy CPO, Army Top Kick or Marine Gunny, and you’ll understand. But their constant use deprives the Words of Curse of their impact. (A tip of the hat to “South Park” here.)
• They can’t engage in intellectual discussion without demonizing their opponent. (There’s a bit too much of this at FR also.) I have a friend, a classical cellist, who is an Old Bolshevik – for someone who isn’t even 45. But I relish my toe-to-toe nuclear intellectual combat with him. Debating an Old Bolshie requires having your facts straight. You can argue forever about the significance of an individual fact, but if you don’t have your facts straight, he’ll gut you like a mackerel – rhetorically speaking, of course. Debating an Old Red keeps my edge sharp and my mind nimble. DUmmies seem content with shouting slogans and can’t get to the intellectual heart of a matter. It’s a huge weakness.
• There are some areas of agreement. The article about a teenage girl who sued her parents who tried to force her to have an abortion produced general agreement between FReepers and DUmmies. The reasoning behind the agreement was different for each side, but both sides agreed on the basic issue.
• If there were a disaster of some kind, I would expect FReepers to lend a hand to those less fortunate. My impression of DUmmies is that they would wait for the government to arrive.

Having finished with DU, I’ve showered, disinfected, and I’ll check to make sure all my shots are current. But then there’s that painful urination...

[KC_Lion]

That's nohting Publius, did you know we have our own Stalker blog?

http://vikingkitties.blogspot.com/

[luvie]

You’re tough!

[don-o]

When I first found FR, I was attracted by the expectation that when one made a post, it would have coherent content. This was before we had moderators. There was good peer pressure to post well.

Chatty posting was derided. At some point, JR decided to allow the fluff. His house - his call.

But it is still possible to find threads where posters take some time and effort instead of regurgitating one liners. I commend your observation, lamenting the fact that you felt the need for a trip to the sewer.

[sopwith]

I mentioned of doing that on FR 2 yahoo groups and found out 2day I’m banned from FR 2

[Jim Robinson]

Thanks! DU is the real face of the left. And they’d gut as like fish for real if they could. Uncle Joe taught them well.

Thank God we’re armed to the teeth and we aim to keep it that way!!

The founders included the second amendment for a specific reason. And it’s not about shooting ducks or skeet.

[Rennes Templar]

“DUmmies seem content with shouting slogans and can’t get to the intellectual heart of a matter.”

This is the profile of the L.I.V. - low inforamtion voter, who we can thank for electing Owebama as POTUS twice.

[gunsequalfreedom]

Interesting post. I agree it seems every other word on DU is a cuss word.

[re_nortex]

They [DU participants] use too much profanity. Having been in the military, I can say that profanity has its place. Ask any Navy CPO, Army Top Kick or Marine Gunny, and you’ll understand. But their constant use deprives the Words of Curse of their impact.

That's very well said and I agree. One of the great things about Free Republic is its unabashed pro-God stance. In turn that leads to people being careful with their language here for the most part. There are those few occasions when it gets needlessly potty mouthed -- something best left to California's Jerry Brown or the vocabulary-challenged Joe Biden. Using God's name in vain is extremely rare here and that's a real credit for all the FR stands for.

I can't help recall the three films comprising the Godfather trilogy (ping to dfwgator on that). As far I remember, the f-word was used only one time in the nearly 600 minutes. It was when Senator Geary met with Michael Corleone at his Lake Tahoe compound. Because it was so rarely used (if at all elsewhere in the trilogy), it really did have the intended impact. That was, of course, similar to Rhett Butler's parting shot to Scarlett O'Hara in GWTW.