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.
The fact of the matter is a halfway talented hacker could trace anyone they wanted. It always amazes me the people who have keyboard courage and begin either making threats or insulting people thinking they have anonymity.
Me!
I'll freepmail it to you. It's one of my favorite words...used it as a handle years ago.
He tried so hard, but as soon as he hit post, the problems began. Right from the first reply, the meltdown ensues...
Okay, genious, but how do you spell "dumb"? Thus, if you are applying this to mentally incompetant incompetent individuals, that would imply "dumbies".
You, you ... you flibbertigibbet, you ...
This thread is beginning to remind me of visitation at the funeral home; toward the end it gets sort of like a cocktail party. :-)
Nam Vet
ROFL!!
Sounds like she got whacked with a smackeral !
That was funny !......:o)
Preview has been a wonderful addition -- saved me more than once from making a fool of myself! :)
...except without me getting caught in the cloakroom with the barmaid on top of the hostess' fur. (did I say that out loud?)
Just for the halibut.
Poohbah's thread turned into a cocktail party -- love it! Who would have thought it would have turned into a memory lane?
=== and your gay/anti-women men-hating rants come.
My what?
I'm sorry ... but I'm busy posting some fascinating information I've found to buttress my arguments that abortion ends up as a sex-selection device that slaughters far more women on sonogram sight than men.
It's on the awesome Material Girls thread. Are you familiar with Leslie Carbone? She's dynamite.
Forget "constitutional scholars" like Ann Coulter who manage to turn Terri's death into -- GUESS WHAT? -- yet another chance to shoot fish in a barrel by riffing on liberals.
Do you think she's signed some sort of gag-rule where she's no longer able to write a serious-minded article on the subject of constitutional rights, due process or federalism v. states-rights? I begin to wonder.
In any case, I'm delighted to find Carbone's got a TASTEFUL website of her own. Particularly after Fox News's utterly bizarre faux pas regarding the Pope's death, Carbone promises to be a refreshing change from the dog-collar blonds of Fox News, mini-skirted vamps posing on national monuments or coquettish "Glamour Shots" who think to impress us with their brain power even as they coyly glance backwards at us over bare shoulders.
We need someone who can carry Phyllis Schlafly's standard ... not just pay her lip service.
Women lost most, if not all, of their moral authority when they won the vote. It appears there still are a few Good Gals out there. Carbone is one.
I am sitting here laughing remembering it -- he was so irritated at everyone! Thanks for that link -- that was a keeper.
poo is probably hating it.
Yeah, me, Rush, Peggy Noonan, Laura, Delay, Frist. All us morons.
But when there is a conviction that MS tried to kill Terri initially
It's not a conviction I ever expressed or held. The petty cruelties are undeniable, however -- the unwillingness to give her communion, the unwillingness to allow an MRI, the removal of family members as she was dying.
The conflicts of interest are also undeniable. Michael was no longer her husband having started a family with another woman and Greer took campaign contributions from Felos. Dr. Ronald Cranford, the doctor whose testimony Greer, based his findings on is a right-to-die advocate with ties to the Hemlock Society
Greer got major facts wrong in discounting testimony as to Terri's wishes, and the federal courts ignored the will of Congress by going through a rubber-stamp review.
Why would anybody defend this?
LOL!That is a howler and I only read part of the comments..
I cannot find the "Have we become a nation of dumbies" thread. I had it bookmarked at one time.
Those old threads are cool.......lots of "did I say that" stuff .
Stay safe .....g'nite !
Either that or missing it.
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