Posted on 03/29/2005 8:58:34 AM PST by Long Cut
We, the Witness Protection Program For Freepers, aka the Wild Turkeys, aka the Coalition of the Sane, have through mutual discussion and rigourous thought, determined that:
1. The discussion threads regarding Terri Schiavo (hereafter referred to as "TS") have become too full of innuendo, rumormongering, hyperbole, hysteria, namecalling, paranoia, and general poor behavior to warrant participation.
2. Said threads have degenerated into "echo chambers", wherein the same, common thoughts are continually posted again and again, and the same old disreputable, unconfirmed and/or false urban myths are propagated.
3. Anyone who joins in said theads with alternative viewpoints to the most extreme posts are routinely driven away with slander, accusations, and vile namecalling.
4. No data or evidence contrary to the "prevailing opinions" are accepted, considered, or discussed; and in fact are rejected outright in most instances.
5. That the continued calls for armed insurrection, military or paramilitary involvement, impeachements of politicians and judges, and death threats are embarassing, stupid, shortsighted, doomed to failure, and contrary to most if not all conservative thought prior to this case, as well as damaging in the extreme to FR and the conservative movement as a whole.
6. That such emotional, hyperbolic, and propaganda-driven hysteria is in fact contrary to all conservatives USED to stand for.
7. That the holding up of swastika and other Nazi imagery towards the police and the Bushes, the use of children as political props, and the disruption of the peace at the Woodside Hospice can only reflect badly on conservatives in general, and should be discouraged.
8. That the pursuit of this issue to the exclusion of all others by the GOP has damaged, perhaps beyond repair, the pursuit of other important issues as well as the reputation of the GOP, FR, and conservatism.
The WPPFF is NOT of one mind as to the case of TS or its correct outcome. In fact, wide disagreement exists within our little group. However, we are united in our wish that reason and sanity be respected in the discussion, as well as the rights of all parties involved or participating. We wish to discuss this as adults and intellectuals, as conservatives and as FRiends, not as children screaming past each other on some playground of hysteria. We wish for facts and evidence to be provided, discussed reasonably, and considered fairly.
We reject all accusations of Naziism, "death cultism", or other slander as methods of debate. We reject the practice of "spamming" multiple threads, of posting unending vanities, and the posting of propaganda and calls for violence. We reject, in fact, all unseemly and childish behavior which has come to characterize this case on FR.
We DO invite others to come and reasonably discuss the issue. We have no problem with FReepers who wish to debate in a rational and fair manner, and with due respect for their fellow FReepers. We have NO problem with those whose views are formed by religion; however we reject "preaching" or "being beaten with a Bible" as legitemite debate tactics. Not all of us are Believers, and such tactics only cheapen the source.
If a FReeper finds this an acceptable meansd to discuss this and other issues, they are welcome to join in and participate. Those who find pleasure in attacks, flame-baiting, slander, stalking, and personal atacks will be ignored, and their egos will go unfed.
We assume this thread to be a zone of sanity in an overheated atmosphere. Thus, a general amnesty is in effect. If posters conduct themselves within the guidlines above, we will be happy to discuss and debate with you. If a poster wishes to apologize for past slips of the tongue, or for possible "over-the-top" statements to another, it will be graciously accepted, and your company welcome.
Please bring a sense of humor; we feel that too many have been taking themselves too seriously lately.
Let the discussion begin!
Signed,
The WPPFF, aka The Wild Turkeys, aka the Coalition of the Sane.
What I really hate wearing black sometimes, though. So difficult to keep clean...
Figures. "Thou shalt not question the mod." No matter how overbearing they are at the moment in question.
Scourages would be mild compared to some stuff I saw. Ugh.
Well, yeah. I get accused of a buttload of vile stuff, return the venom by calling them a Newbie, a I get told to "Knock it off". Of course I'm going to question that. I mean, duh!
But, if thats the way they want it, well, I'm free to leave anytime I want... It's still not out of the question either...
Now I feel "lucky," because I don't think your retort was particularly more defiant than mine.
An aside - a few days ago, I was considering a little test: to write the most inane, over-the-top hyperbole laden post I could come up with - just to see how quickly a large segment of the main forum would jump on the bandwagon. I even thought of coming up with some vile new accusation - unsourced, of course - just to see how quickly it would spread to other threads.
Unfortunately, I am simply not creative enough to come up with anything that even rivals some of the crazy stuff I've seen here. If I had been able to craft something like the "ham sandwich" post, I'm sure I would have judged it to be too obviously fake, and tried to tone it down a bit.
Shows what I know...
Good old Norfolk. I was in CSS-8, though.
There's something about a woman in jackboots, though...
All we can do here is try to make their jobs easier by NOT engaging in the flamewars. I don't want them to have ANY excuses to pull this thread or ban any of us over this.
Make no mistake, that's one of the goals of the trolls that show up here.
USS Batfish (SSN-681), USS Narwhal (SSN-671), USS Seahorse (SSN-669) and USS Atlanta (SSN-712). Oh, and I was MTS as well, at NAVSUBSCOL.
at least one anyways
Jackboots. Only.
hehe
Where was that? I went to IT school at King's Bay. Got to take a tour of the TENNESSEE down there. I was fascinated by that boat, even though the skipper had a few "digs" for us P-3 guys when he saw us.
I've done my tours at Brunswick NAS here in Maine (where I'm at now) and NAS Jacksonville at the RAG.
Okay, I guess this is inevitable... Will it be called "Schindler's List"?
Good monring y'all.
A warm, sunny, summer-like day here so
I "hope" I have the willpower to spend most of it outdoors.
Forget their lists!
Here's one which I hope will put smiles on your respective faces.
NAVSUBSCOL New London, CT.
We dig at P-3C crews because Orion is about the only ASW platform that scared the crap out of us.
nice. is that really your car?
LOL!!! That is very cute.
And I have to say...I only had a diet Dr. Pepper with my donut this morning because they were out of milk in the vending machine. ;-)
Oh, I'm sure they do, and this isn't to lump onto them by any stretch. But there are those among the mod ranks who are pretty quick on the trigger finger (and who even suspended me twice - once for posting a Palkot article, and then again after a sarcastic remark on my return).
Wow!
Thank you for your service to our country!
:-)
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