Posted on 02/11/2005 10:55:36 AM PST by Jim Robinson
The shot heard around the Internet has been fired on FreeRepublic.com The owner Jim Robinson and his moderators have launched a sniper style purge against members that disagree with the President’s ‘guest worker’ amnesty or support more control of illegal immigration. Free Republic is an amazing tool for those looking for a good debate and news from around the country.
The problem for the administration of the site is that their creation is allowing the participants to learn that the Bush immigration record and plans are shockingly out of line with the views of most conservatives. The management’s answer to this conflict between the majority of conservatives and the influence of the White House on their Web site has become electronic executions and censorship.
Members and readers of Free Republic would be surprised to know that many members of their community have fallen silent on the discussions about illegal immigration lately because free speech is an illusion on FR.com. They are silent because they have been banned from the Web site without warning, cause, or explanation in most cases. For weeks the moderators have been suspending and banning new members that chimed in quickly on the immigration debates.
Now this trend has broadened as the first groups of long-term users were suspended or banned this past week. Although Robinson and his staff removed many members of the Free Republic community in the first few days of the purge, those that religiously support President Bush’s immigration plan, open borders and approve of public benefits for illegal aliens remain on the forum. Those that were banned were the members that wanted more done to control illegal immigration and a strict observance to the President’s Oath of Office.
Excellent responses.
Dont mind of I cheerlead some?
Go right ahead :-)
I suppose we should take advantage of as much time as we can before the rabble returns...
Really, these are simple questions that have hard answers.
And as much as I would hope otherwise, I think the government has basically thrown in the towel.
Fearing losing the next election, or monumental civil unrest, they are paralyzed, and that means things are gonna continue the way they are.
They seriously need some folks who are willing to propose meaningful, actionable programs.
Otherwise I think it is only a matter of time before there really IS serious civil disturbance.
I have been to the Minuteman Project web site and they state they are "neutral" on weapons. The other group directly involved, Civil Homeland Defense is much more specific about carrying weapons. And do you think they will be able to control everyone of the hundreds, possibly thousands of people who show up, particularly Stormfront? As I said, these are not going to all be local people, defending their homes. I agree with Jim Robinson in post #1 and I don't think this is something we should be promoting here. But you are entitled to your own opinions.
Exactly!
Looking logically at the only evidence presented (the stormfront links), I still don't see how it has been proven to be related to anyone who was banned.
I suppose I just haven't chosen the right "pill"...
I just found out about FITZ's banned status this morning. He has never posted anything but the truth. This purge of long time posters here at FR is sickening.
If American citizens can't disagree with their President about his insane policies, what are we coming to? I vehemently disagree with the Clinton/Bush agenda of opening our doors to Mexico's poverty, ignorance and dependence, yet because I choose to state my beliefs I am branded a racist (and worse). This is not America anymore.
The letter H is the 8th letter of the alphabet. So when a lot of them are putting in 88, they actually mean HH (short for Heil Hitler).
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/09/06/germany.neonazi.ap/
During President Bush's first term, we were told to shut up because he was just playing it safe for his run for a second term. The 9/11 attackers violated our lax and ill-enforced immigration system and it was difficult for anyone to shut us up. Then came Bush's campaign and we had to shut up to make sure we didn't divide the vote to ensure his re-election. So, we quieted down even though Bush was still mentioning his amnesty plan from time to time. But, now the election is over and Bush is back in the White House. Within a week after his re-election he brought his amnesty plan back to the forefront. And we're still supposed to shut up about it! Why!? We don't even know who is running in 2008, but we're already walking on eggshells. There's always some excuse given to us to lay off the President when he's blowing it. I just don't get it.
Party over principle. I'll never go along with that, and that's the reason why I switched my registration to the Independent Party and voted accordingly this time.
I live in invaded southern California, unlike President Bush and his buddies, who don't seem to know or care what's really going on in the border states. We are paying a huge price for the sake of imported slave labor to accommodate the President's big campaign donors.
The BIG LIE that illegal aliens are "only taking jobs Americans won't take" is an insult to Americans in construction and many other industries who have seen their jobs disappear, going to illegals who work for peanuts and don't have medical bills to pay.
I feel this issue (illegal immigration) will be THE issue in 2006 and 2008, and voters will voice their disgust in the voting booths.
The upcoming FTAA will shock a lot of people out of their complacency.
I have had NO PROBLEM contesting Bush's views on immigration EVER on FR. And I see you have resorted to the same lame-assed attack on JimRob that he must be getting some kind of GOP graft. Have you idiots ever stopped to think that he eventually just gets sick of all your damn carping and says screw it! to the bunch doing all the carping? Grow up, make your point in a civil and intelligent manner, and quit whining if you don't think you are being treated fairly. Sooner or later, that balances out if you have backed up your views with solid research, logic and reasoning.
Spiff, you are worried about the wrong audience. There are a few folks on FR who will support Bush no matter what he does. And with the rest of the folks here, there is a tremendous variance in support for his various agendas and proposals. The point is, for all the complaints about being able to debate immigration on FR, the polls on FR clearly show a lack of support for Bush's guest worker proposal. And, lo and behold, there is little or no support for it in Congress. So the message is getting out via FR, despite some of the claims to the contrary.
I would suggest that you quit worrying so much about your tormentors here, and instead keep your eye on the real fight - where the laws are actually made - in Congress.
He's dead, dirt.
He asked for it, he got it.
But his banishment will be spun as yet another demonstration of JimRob's intolerance on this issue. They'll neglect to consider the asinine personal attack that accompanied the post. I know I sure wouldn't put up with that crap.
Banned. That didn't take long.
Yes, he did ask for it. No surprise he's gone - it just didn't take very long.
Coupling your request for banishment with a personal attack on the website's owner tends to expedite the process.
Yes, you're right. Looks like either Jim or the moderators were paying close attention.
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