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.
That looks like a full time job, doesn't it?
Check this thread out:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1375930/posts
For those of you leaving, staying, watching the show.
Some of us see our beloved country coming apart at the seams and are at a lose how to stop it. Even some of our politicans appear to be a part of what is wrong in this country. It's just all hitting us at once, coming from every direction.
Now I understand the "pot calling the kettle black" comment. I have a real problem with you pro death people.
So did you bring the computer to the stove, or use a really long chain?
Not yet. I still have half a beer left.
Take some time off. I did and it helps you achieve some perspective. I noticed a lot of the keyboard commandos advocating violence were mostly n@@bes. .
The Florida fiasco -- I kept refreshing and refreshing trying to get the latest from the Freepers down in S. Florida.
My first post was an excerpt from "People of the Lie" by M Scott Peck..I loved that book and thought it applied to the Clinton administration..I got 3 responses
My computer crashed too but it was so funny that I kept trying again. He was really irritated by pings.
Simple. I lurked for many years before I decided to sign-up and post a bit. I've been visiting FR for a very long time. Even with all the problems, such as those being lamented in this thread, it's still the best and fastest place to get informed on the important issues of the day. And, since I started posting, I've met some wonderful people, some of whom have disagreed with me vehemently!
...and I would have phrased it -- I've already had half a glass of beer.
I don't think I could up with that many names -- it would take days.
I have a "modern relationship" I begged her to type for me
Many thanks! I am NOT very good at this stuff, I freely admit and need all the help I can get, re HTML stuff.
THIS,is a keeper,gotta let this sink in a.m. style,w/coffee
Bonus points if you can tell me what "TDE" means... the hint is that the E stands for Eschoir.
What is not lost on me is the damage done FR and the GOP by their being drawn into this lunacy. It is a madness beyond anything I have ever seen.
Yeah. AOL the ultimate '90s ponzi scheme.
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