The Tone and Tenor of Free Republic (vanity)

Original Content | 12/30/2024 | By Laz A. Mataz

[Lazamataz]

I've noticed, as of late, the quality of the arguments on Free Republic have declined. This is especially true as regards the H1B argument.

I have no intention of rehashing this argument, nor the points therein. I am speaking only to the tone and tenor of our forum participants.

Musk did us no favors by being so confrontational about this issue, and may have inadvertently sparked the furor. I fault him for that. I see he's trying to cool this down now, and that is to his credit.

However, it is my belief that the Deep State saw an opening and drove a wedge into it, to separate people on different sides of the argument, who normally would be backing Trump.

As I wrote elsewhere:

It's kinda amazing that the Deep State can ring a bell and we salivate like a Pavlovian dog.

You think we'd know better by now.

That point aside, repeatedly, I'm seeing a lot of posters lately are being rather personal as opposed to arguing the merits of their case. That behavior sheds a lot more heat than light.

It’s as if attorneys were to argue in court:

Atty 1: “Where’d you get your law degree, you fat loser? A crackerjack box? Your client is GUILTY and you are a blind FREAK if you can’t see that!”

Atty 2: “Oh, talk about blind! I understand you are a faggot in your personal life, too! Do you molest boys, you creep? YOU should be the one on trial!”

Judge: “Gentlemen, can we return to the facts of th...”

Atty 1: “Oh just shut the eff up, judge, and play with yourself under your robe, like you always do.”

Atty 2: “Yeah, shut up, you twatwaffle! I never liked you, now I know why!”

In short, I hope that people can dial things down a notch and present their cases with a lot less invective.

I myself have been guilty over the years of being nothing less than an online terrorist, but I do now see the errors of that path, especially here, where we are all one big family.

This is an important issue and we need to discuss it. I suggest we at least wait until our President is inaugurated, or, if it is important to discuss now, that we do so with a lot less invective. We are not Democrat Underground.

[no-to-illegals]

H1Bs lead the charge on socialism, censorship, centralized authoritarian power and love of the deep state secret government.

I will concur ….. this has been my experience also.

[rlmorel]

"...Which (admittedly) can be difficult at times..."

Boy, isn't that the truth. I am a hothead to begin with, so it is a struggle. I always need to do better.

[Lazamataz]

You are very much appreciated, and you are, in fact, one of my favorite posters. You bring a great deal of research and facts to your posts, and I often learn a thing or two from you.

[no-to-illegals]

Wow Laz! You should take up writing (as you have ✔️).

[Political Junkie Too]

So you think your right to cuss overrides Jim Robinson's right to ask you not to?

-PJ

[wgmalabama]

I don’t contribute much here after being kicked out for being adamant against Mittens Romney and the taking a break. However, I do learn lots about some topics. There are posts, responses… that have gotten bad. The spam on Ukraine/Russia, pro vax mandates/science make me see the same parallels on the WOT, Iraq, Afghanistan, Clinton blue dress …. The constant closed threads where no one but cheerleaders are allowed to be part of, the spamming vanities, bloggers that have only post #1, religious threads that bash everyone, and finally the loss of some very good posters have taken its toll. If we could get rid of the infighting and get back to good analysis, breaking news, and truly insightful posts tying subjects together - it would be wonderful. Having said that, I’m not able to provide that level of contribution. I’m just not that smart or original. I do come here for most of my news but it’s getting harder. I do like the archeology threads and such. So it’s good and bad.

I do challenge everyone to be a family and focus on the good and ignore (or don’t post) the hate/ arguments that add no value.

Having said all that, I mostly just read. But I agree some stuff has gone downhill. I hope that with the new year we can all get back onboard and treat each other like brothers and sisters in Christ, God, conservatives.

Happy new year everyone. I will try to be more careful / helpful / productive in 2025.

Thx for the post and I agree with you. We can all do better.

[wildcard_redneck]

"So you think your right to cuss overrides Jim Robinson's right to ask you not to?"

Who is cussing? I'm using sarcasm which is a fine American tradition. Go to your safe space you delicate flower.

[JayGalt]

I don’t agree. Musk is all in for MAGA. He put millions’s of more dollars on the line campaigning for Trump than he could ever save with H1B visa employees. His suggestion for how to fix the H1B program ensures there would be no savings to employers.

Musk is unique. He is passionate and unconventional. He is on the spectrum. His response was a typical response for a person on the spectrum facing what they view as an attack. I think it was threatening because he hadn’t thought much about the issue since he usually rolls with the punches responding with humor. In his mind it was synonymous with the 0.1% of foreign talent. His companies hire many H1B visa people but I’m sure that isn’t an area he knews about.

After he had a chance to calm down he posted that the H1B visa was broken and should be revised so that the salary and the cost of hiring under that category should be high enough that it would be cheaper to hire American. I believe Musk’s involvement with the Trump campaign may have pushed Trump over the top. DOGE is very popular and Musks donations, rallies and the $1M he gave away to Trump voters dailly generated a lot of buzz as did his instant starlink support to flood victims.

Everyone is a package and Musk should be judged in total with some understanding of what it means to be on the spectrumm.

[wildcard_redneck]

"You are very much appreciated, and you are, in fact, one of my favorite posters. You bring a great deal of research and facts to your posts, and I often learn a thing or two from you."

Get a room you two. This is a perfect example of 'The love that dare not speak its name.'

[Dat]

I'll certainly admit to being uncivil on the Ukraine/ Russia threads. It might be a little hypocritical but I am going to say the following anyway.

FR isn't really a conservative website as much as it thinks it is. There is a difference between exchanging ideas freely and blanket free speech in the ACLU mode. There is a big difference between discussing whether pornography should be legal and posting it on the forum, for example. Discussing whether the H1-B program should be reduced or eliminated should not necessitate a descent into invective. The true cost of the incivility isn't hurt feelings, it is that after the point that it becomes personal, facts simply stop mattering and the truth simply stops mattering.

The real absurdity of this is that our opinions don't really matter in the end because they aren't our actions and they don't seem to be swing the balance either way because there are too few of us. We might get our way in the end, but it is because we are a drop in the same ocean as many others. Winning or losing an argument here isn't going to have world changing consequences. The only real service being here can do is give us a better view of the world or inspire us to take action in our own lives.

[AAABEST]

Yeah, it certainly needs reform. I remember when dudes were shooting themsevles after losing their jobs to the foreigners they actually trained to replace them.

That said, we don’t need to blow the forum (and entire GOP) up over H1b.

I’m just surprised and see other forces exploiting it.

[Chickensoup]

Yes Laz. Really good post

thanks

[cuz1961]

I just noticed that you seemed to reject the concept of increased civility on Free Republic

\/

thanks for the grace and imput laz.

ive never been civil to the likes of dugawayduke or RINOS

my ire was raised by miss butermilk suggesting i sounded like i was posting drunk and denigrating my writting style

just cuz she cant accept valid criticism of musk

condescending bible draped rinos are a pet peeve of mine.
( mike shiv johnson)

ill be civil till im attacked

then you've got me on your hands

.i have been known to be out of line here, and those times i publicly eat crow , admit my fault and apologize.

this is not one of those times.

im sick of the infiltrating amorals, posing as conservative, but when it gets real they show their intent.

- musk is right you racist retard -

this time its about hb1
ive always held that its indentured slavery that furthers all forms of slavery.... im glad some, bannon , beaty, kash brought that point up the last couple of days .

along comes miss biblebazzillion and defends musk, talking civility and sobriety ....
., after musk tells us

(cover your ears and eyes freepers)

#-#% u in your face .

and calls me a racist drunk.

we have a cold civil war/ socialist revolution on

no room for nice right now

cant give the left an inch relief...they take a mile and steal another

we must

fight
fight
fight

and that definatly applies to elon and the whole foreigner worker visa slave trade....that is not only hurtfull to americans 1st but also those who are being victimized by the faustian value of indentured servstude. their home countries also suffer for it.

hb1 are immoral to all

r/

[central_va]

I enjoyed reading your post for it’s comical value.

[cuz1961]

btw

other than that

i respect and even like the guy

and ill give him a pass as hes walked it back a bit

but its a hard no on hb1s and and its supporters. .

[Political Junkie Too]

Thanks for the kind words.

-PJ

[MinorityRepublican]

That point aside, repeatedly, I'm seeing a lot of posters lately are being rather personal as opposed to arguing the merits of their case. That behavior sheds a lot more heat than light

They're a bunch of crybabies.

[Political Junkie Too]

You said police the words of the "unwashed" in response to my post about reporting abuse on profanity, so yeah, you did.

Jim Robinson declared Free Republic a "safe space" from profanity. If you can't support that, then you can leave or be reported if you violate the terms of being here.

-PJ

[freeandfreezing]

Thanks for an insightful post - Both Elon and Vivek are extraordinarily intelligent and motivated people. Elon's contributions to the industry have earned him his position as the richest person in the world.

But like everyone they have limitations. Vivek should think more about what truly makes American culture successful. There is a reason that the USA has lead the world in innovation for many years.

[one guy in new jersey]

4Runner, please define the Constitutional term: “natural Born citizen of the United States”.

In doing so, see if you can do it without using the term “natural Born citizen of the United States” in the definition.

If you find you can’t do that, there might be something wrong with your line of reasoning!

Just for fun, here’s Mark Levin’s Ted Cruz-enabling definition of the term (which of course is WAY overinclusive): Anyone born anywhere in the known universe to any parents whatsoever OTHER than a person born overseas to two non-U.S. citizen parents.

Here is This Guy’s definition of the term: Anyone born in the United States to two U.S. citizen parents.

So what’s your definition?