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.
"Mr. Holland, we are your Opus, we are you symphony..."
Hrrmmm... okay, can't really argue with that. *LOL*!
You are correct in perceiving that I believe his comments represent a threat of violence.
That's true -- some of the opus' have been really long and then shortly afterwards they would come back.
The only difference is back then there were fewer knives and backs...the bloodletting was the same...heheh.
Not me. Starving a disabled woman to death is wrong, no matter who wants to do it. IMO
Two in one day...Would the correct term be "Opi"?
I "demonized" one poster who deserved demonizing.
My experience in the religion forum has taught me that those who get banned are the ones who get themselves banned. There are many ways to get banned, and all of them require effort.
Mutual respect and discussion (contrasted with argument) are the way to go.
Pandora's box has been opened.
I agree with you on hchutch -- maybe he will come back!
Like I said, I disagree. But I don't think I'm "part of the problem." I think that the apparatus in place that deliberately starved another American citizen to death and the ones who have any question whether this is right or wrong are parts of the problem.
I can't BELIEVE what I am reading! if it is so AWFUL just close your eyes, walk away, click on another thread, heck go shopping online, grab a cup of coffee, read a book, pet your dog, whatever!
The hyperbole about this almost trumps the hyperbole about whichever issues are driving FReepers apart! Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
You spoke too soon:
BOB J weighs in - Elian was as bad for FR as Terri is now
Post Date: 2005-04-01 23:10:39 by TLBSHOW
"Huh? Was there a 75/25 split over whether he should be murdered? Did I miss that?"
It was closer to 60-40.
Yeah, well at least SOME people get to write Opuses (or opera as I have learned tonight)
I try to tell myself it would have been opened eventually.. Just didn't think it'd be so soon..
Good night.
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