Poohbah's Opus

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, sayeth Qohotoleth... | 01 April 2005 | Poohbah

[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:

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To: Old Professer

Is being a christian identity sympathizer, a white supremicist, a neo-nazi, a racist or an anti-semite illegal activities in themselves?

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.

212 posted on 03/17/2005 11:05:13 AM PST by malakhi

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To: malakhi

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Terri's fight being associated with Christianity. That is unless someone is a radical leftist.

229 posted on 03/17/2005 12:02:29 PM PST by Diva Betsy Ross

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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.

[malakhi]

Is being a christian identity sympathizer, a white supremicist, a neo-nazi, a racist or an anti-semite illegal activities in themselves?

[Diva Betsy Ross]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Terri's fight being associated with Christianity. That is unless someone is a radical leftist.

[NeoCaveman]

They did, in fact, form cliques before they got expelled, and these clique members were either ejected, or self-ejected, en masse.

Pack behavior, it's both disgusting and fascinating to observe at the same time.

[B Knotts]

Well, it wasn't just the pro-Terri crowd that were posting vanities. It's been out of control on all sides lately.

[Liberator]

"I think his point is that you've out-insulted him without much of an intellectual argument that finally drove him to leave."

Yes, the patients in the asylum always see it that way.

Everybody else is out of step.

[Coop]

Darnit coop, now you're making my cheeks hurt!!

It's because I take myself and this forum way too seriously. I'm leaving!!

[St. Johann Tetzel]

In all fairness to the mods, they've been as likely to delete either type of post upon request.

In all sincerity, the moderators, all of them, really have been awesome during/concerning this Terri issue.

[DJ MacWoW]

Oh, and perhaps you didn't know but the owner of the site said it the other night. "Facts" don't matter.

That's not what he said and you know it.

It was wrong to kill her. No other "facts" matter.

46 posted on 03/31/2005 12:54:00 AM PST by Jim Robinson
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Jim Robinson

[little jeremiah]

I concur. And thank you, St. Johann, for the ping.

[Chieftain]

Ah, I forgot today was April Fools day! You got me!

[visualops]

Not at all. I participated in some, and fortunately did not see some of the insane posts and name-calling mentioned earlier on this thread- I would have found it just as reprehensible as the next person.

I probably spent far more time reading DUmmie FUnnies and zot threads....

[rwfromkansas]

If you could just shut it for a bit, that would be great.

[Lando Lincoln]

I wrote a very brief note to my friend Poohbah. Basically, I think many FReepers need something to hate. When they can focus on a Bill Clinton, Hillary, John Kerry, Janet Reno, everything is fine. If the likes of those people are not at the forefront, they turn their ire towards one another. Disagreement is fine. Personal attacks are not. And, much discourse has become personal.

Lando

[lilmsdangrus]

YES!! Excellent post of many you have made AlbionGirl! Keep 'em comin'!!

[Petronski]

...why didn't you complain at the time instead of taking a cheap shot on your way out?

THAT is gonna leave a mark.

[rwfromkansas]

I don't trust anybody appointed by Greer.

[Pukin Dog]

You know; I was just going to leave that quote hanging there, so Freepers could learn about "FS" all by themselves. I should have known you would stick up for me. Thanks.

[AlbionGirl]

That's why it got so ugly. Either you'll stand for life or you won't. Those of us who witness those who won't, take them at their word; it's called preparation, contingency plans. Fundamentals matter, and the fundamental right to life matters above all else.

Was listening to Fr. Corapi this afternoon at work, and he pretty much said the same thing. When the time comes, will you stand for life or won't you?

God Bless you. You're a tough, fair, devoted Catholic.

[lilmsdangrus]

SOB!! But.. but.. you can't! You didn't post yer o'piss!!!

[Tribune7]

and for this WPPFF

What is WPPFF?

[razorback-bert]

Sorry to see you leave, take your meds and come back.


I quit reading the Terri threads some time back, so I have missed the #$%&, on purpose.


I haven't always agreed with you, but found myself with you over 90% of the time.


I will miss your posts.

[k2blader]

Yep, notice the word "facts" is in quotes. If folks with any decency (morality) in them think this out a bit, they'll get it.

Thank God for people like Jim.