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.
We usually have some which like to start recreational illegal drug posts in the name of the Constitution, past that, mostly calm here.
We have had a surprising number of under educated people on the Terri topic who thought she was on life sustaining equipment like a breathing machine.
I agree, it's been crazy and had Terri's parents removed her from the bad husband before she took ill, none of this would have ever happened IMO. They should have taken action earlier if Terri was in trouble.
I think her parents were guilty about doing nothing earlier when they could.
Just my opinion.
PS. born in Brooklyn myself.
Very true, which is why you shouldn't hang onto it like grim death if you figure out its no longer for you.
An opus from someone like Poohbah is necessary if only so the many people who've read his contributions don't wonder where he is. I appreciate the explanation from him.
I'm just your average FR schmuck, so I'd never think of an opus for myself. But after reading some of the things I've read here in the last couple of weeks, I'd be hesitant to tell people I respect that I frequent the site. And that's pretty sad, because I used to think the general standards here were higher than at, say, the place that shall not be named. Now, I'm not so sure.
Please don't. Debate cuts both ways. There's a reason FR doesn't ban a lot of ppl even if we think they deserve it at times. We are a million times better than other sites (including the one that must not be named) because we don't censor opinions willy nilly.
You'll be much happier at Boot Licking Statist.com
Yeah, a desperate demand for attention on a day when nobody wants to joust with them because we're distracted by Terri's death and the new deathwatch for the Papa. I think it's juvenile, inconsiderate, and downright hateful.
This has been a lousy Easter. I wish they'd just shut up already. But I can't resist a good opus. :)
Amen to that.
We eat our own every year or two; it was inevitable after the election, I think.
We have bigger fish to fry - the upcoming judicial battles will require serious FReeping. Hang around.
They don't make opera like they used to.....
As I've stated over and over again, the radical clerics, their religiously insane followers and the race-obsessed will eventually finish off the conservative movement. Too bad.
That was a good analogy to the terrible fights I've read here.
You made some very good points.
I find it disturbing sometimes how quick people are to condemn reasonable, intelligent people because they don't think exactly like them
I hope someone talks you out of your "opus" - FR needs posters like you.....
I agree that for a couple of weeks the Terri issue dominated the forum because of all the passion, but like Roe versus Wade, this was a biggie to observe and talk about IMO.
I hope he has a good life as well G.
You got that right.
I hope you had a hell of a piss Arnold. </Fast Times>
But truthfully I didn't realize that responding to a post could crush an ego so harshly and cause a grown man to throw a public temper tantrum.
I guess the lesson here is to be careful what you post because some Freeper could run an Opus about it, mis represent it and try to insinuate you are a racist all at the same time.
I don't understand why JR and the mods tolerated some of that stuff. Certainly they couldn't agree with it, could they? Some of those posters are certifiable.
LOL!! I think they are all in competition now, to see who can post the most desperate opus! Geez, get a life already!
OK, bye. And don't wuss out like Hildy.
So what would you suggest? JimRob and the mods can't possibly patrol every post. You and every other member of this forum has an abuse button available.
Hey, I know. JimRob can seriously crack down on letting people post their opinions! Yeah, that'll go over well, and nobody will be upset then. [gag]
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