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.
It works too!
LOL!! I had forgotten about that thread -- it was hysterical and he wanted to be taken seriously.
Almost 7 years on the board and they leave? Ya' gotta learn to ignore the airheads and wackos. They will be on every board.
When I get mad I just go and look for the kitties and science posts.
Hhould Jeb have gotten in there ?
Yep...that was a howler.
As was "How many freepers" and the one (what was it) "Boyfriend Hit By Fish"?
Oh...and the "Pool Poopy" and the "Topless Lawnmower".
You and me both -- that's where I take out my frustrations!
This is the one that put me OVER the edge:
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3767c25f2f0f.htm
I have only had one post pulled in 6 years at FR and that was in the Terri threads.
The Terri threads were the most intense I have ever seen, here or usenet. I went to usenet and posted here at FR, what the war looked like over there so all the opus people could see that this war was occuring EVERY WHERE, things were nastier over there too.
It's really simple. First, you'll need some duct tape, a five-gallon bucket and a dead cat...
I laughed and told my daughter about the long rant I recently wrote..then deleted before posting..It helped me to write it and that was enough!
I'll get you for that! LOL!
LOL! My side was hurting from laughing so hard and my kids thought I had totally cracked up.
How many Freepers does it take to change a lightbulb?
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a38e913210e1f.htm
I hope he's just resting, but "Grand Poohbah" has a certain ring to it.
After all....not even DonMorgan's opus went over a thousand posts!
Damn......just damn. This is a real shame, but having seen some of the extreme viciousness recently, I can understand your decision. Hope you come back some day.
Oh, Covenantor ... what a joy to see your handle appear.
I owe that voice to you and others I rarely, if ever, see here anymore.
Please know how grateful I am. Gosh, it's good to see you.
LOL!!! That was so funny -- we have had a lot of those over the years that crack me up and even funnier when the person posting wants to be taken seriously.
He tried so hard, but as soon as he hit post, the problems began. Right from the first reply, the meltdown ensues...
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