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.
Or you could always pop over to DU,LP,or FU. :-(
Thanks for the ping. I read some of his posts that said he was going to do this. It's a shame.
Bump to an excellent post.
Oh come on give folks credit. It was getting heated our there on the threads as it pertained to Terri Schiavo. Not that it was not captivating all the news channels, every news sight did we have to have 24/7 on FR. I mean I had posted a few threads, we had a good discussion, I may have disagreed but it was fun.
A healthy debate is appreciated. I only gripe about the threads that were not Terri but of other subjects and folks come on the thread moving the discussion from a soldier to Terri. It is frustrating some of us added the little tagline as a gag, to lighten things up, I for one was respectful even to those that did not respect me.
Adios amigo.
I love a good fight. I love a great joke. I love FReeping for both.
I could also chew tin foil while shaving my head with a cheese grater for laughs...
A matter of perception. I think if it's something you are sick and tired of, you are more likely to think it's more pervasive.
Granted there were, and still are, lots of TS threads. 65% though? No.
As for the wind bags and gas bags,, we used to say in the army," It dont mean nothin, not a M***** F****** thing, screw 'em all."
Fare well, my freind.
Wow! I'm in awe. Really!
I thought everybody knew how poor I was...:-)
See what I mean about the handful? Thank God there are only a few of 'em.....
"Not that there's anything wrong with that." Seinfeld
Piglet is filing.
OH YEAH!! But it's the best contact sport I've ever had the pleasure of participating in. I've met lots of decent ppl and learned so much. And it's so gratifying to be fighting for such a great nation and be amongst ppl like Reagan, Dubya, Washington etc and the most important dude of all, the Lord himself.
Like someone said, "God may not be a Republican, but Satan sure as hell is a Democrat."
If it weren't for FR, I'd still be decieved by the lies of the socialists. I actually believd in global warming, diversity, and the U freekin N?!?!?!
*shudder*
When the helpless are being deprived of their lives, you're damned right resistance by force is acceptable.
World War II may not have been as horrible as it was nor as many Jews killed as there were had that been the case in Nazi Germany.
THAT is hilarious....and at the same time VERY true.
JimRob SAID that killing Terri was wrong, and no other facts mattered. (Paraphrased)
That is considerably different than the lie being spread.
Good grief, I'm outta here - later!
Some other time sweetheart.
No, they will come in handy when the Chinese finally invade...
*grin*
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