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.
LOL I know what you mean and it is impossiable to find a news story on FR these days.
He he. Usually its some huge dork who's opraing. But then there are the good guys that leave us. :e
I'm a little thick headed so just clarify for me. In the instance of what Leatherneck_MT said you understand his comment to be an exhortation and incitement to violence rather than a socio-political or philopshical statement on court decrees relating to the termination of an innocent human life.
And here! It was a sight to see!
They'd need 40,000 more to watch the Georgia Bulldogs play at any given homegame.
Even Vanderbilt. :o)
My word. I would certainly not like to live on a feeding tube.
Pull the plug. I guess if he got his way, my wish would not be carried out.
Yep. For all the DU bellyaching about "free speech" I'm hard pressed to find any other site freeer than FR. OR more oppressive than DU.
Hmm... If the DUmmies start offing each other, should we liberate them? ;)
You obviously didn't notice the lack of specified antecedent in RumRunner2's post. RumRunner2's post applied as equally to me as to you. I took that as agreeing with me.
I can tell by your posts you are an angry twinkie with maybe a 8th grade education and a very thin skin. But I urge you to stick with FreeRepublic; you may be able to hone your debating skills and not have to resort to prepubescent name calling [eg. Creep]
Although your significant other, PoohBah, took his handkerchief and ran, I think a stint at FR might toughen you up a little bit. Don't be such a Nancy Boy, engage in debate not name calling.
Somebody with a recent signup said today he'd been lurking at FR for SEVEN YEARS........do you believe that?
There is less than zero correlation between pre-war Nazi Germany and Hitler's rise to power, with most posters on FR's, replies and/or the way Jeb handled the Terri case. As a matter of fact, many of those who were screaming FOR Jeb to send in STORM TROOPERS TO SAVE TERRI were closer to Nazis, than the ones whom they were labeling such.
You may have an early sign-up date, but it would seem that you are in the dark about the net rule, that once someone likens another poster to Hitler, they've lost the debate and THAT is what I made reference. So now you know; "blanket statement" my Aunt Fanny !
I'm not hostile to conservatives. I'm hostile to idiots. -- Poohbah
In the words of Jimmy Buffett, "That's the plan, baby."
Nam Vet
Here's a knife. Cut me off a piece of irony, would ya?
Who let the Italians loose?
************************
Who brought back ?
Someone from Town Hall told me to come over here because they thought I would like it. I came over, read the postings, and I am still here. First thing I wanted to post here was Sen Inhofe's Theft of Nuclear Secrets but I didn't know how to post an article so someone posted it for me and then I learned how from that.
Really? When was that and HOW did I miss that thread?
So you and Geoff Fieger has something in common.....(ducking)
I still cannot believe I did that -- looking back it was funny but at the time I was really mad.
nice post
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