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.
I question the timing of this. I think it's some sort of conspiracy April Fools thingy.
Everyone's favorite pet. LOL
More mocking of the Founder? That's smart.
You're right. Of course that's what annoys the Rockefellah republicans.
I agree completely, but the problem in the Terri Schindler S. case was that the decisions were being made by the wrong people. If Michael Schiavo wanted to make decisions for Terri as if she were his wife, then he should have acted as her husband. If he considered her to be dead and himself free to begin a relationship with another woman, then he shouldn't have been making Terri's decisions.
Obviously not.
It largely is.
But who can forget this gem by Sink the "Sane"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1375809/posts?q=1&&page=351#388
You're part of the problem, dirtbag.
You and your knuckle-dragging cohorts are not going to dominate this forum.
Nobody supported starving anybody; it's just that you, and others with shoe-sized IQs, have such a limited mental capacity to make distinctions and to support the rule of law, that you had to characterize those who didn't roll in the dirt as "murderers."
Relish your sanctimony. It's all you've got.
Courage, friend.
Just ignore the trolls. The turn of events is such that everyone feels guilt. Some respond like men, others respond like they know how.
You're misquoting him purposely, I think.
Interesting but I sincerely doubt if any true FR person posted that tripe. It sounds like seminar traffic to me.
You've pretty much lost the argument when you make up a whopper like that. It's always interesting to watch that progression. Good try though.
Absolutely.
snip
As a conservative site, Free Republic is pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, pro-Constitution, pro-Bill of Rights, pro-gun, pro-limited government, pro-private property rights, pro-limited taxes, pro-capitalism, pro-national defense, pro-freedom, and-pro America. We oppose all forms of liberalism, socialism, fascism, pacifism, totalitarianism, anarchism, government enforced atheism, abortionism, feminism, homosexualism, racism, wacko environmentalism, judicial activism, etc.
What are you? 10?
Hang in there Peach.
That's a darn good question. I mean, after all, no laws were broken, "due process" was followed and an innocent handicapped woman was starved to death. You'd think they'd be happy.
OK, thanks.
I just got fed up with it all the way around -- cheap shots galore. Too many threads made it get out of control IMHO.
Did have to laugh though at ones who were posting back and forth and when I looked at their sign-up dates they were brand new.
Kept waiting for Arator to come back with all the rest that was going on! :)
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