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Not so ‘Free Republic’: The Shot Heard Around the Net
The Conservative Voice ^ | Feb 11, 2005 | by William Gheen, President, Americans for Legal Immigration PAC

Posted on 02/11/2005 10:55:36 AM PST by Jim Robinson

The shot heard around the Internet has been fired on FreeRepublic.com The owner Jim Robinson and his moderators have launched a sniper style purge against members that disagree with the President’s ‘guest worker’ amnesty or support more control of illegal immigration. Free Republic is an amazing tool for those looking for a good debate and news from around the country.

The problem for the administration of the site is that their creation is allowing the participants to learn that the Bush immigration record and plans are shockingly out of line with the views of most conservatives. The management’s answer to this conflict between the majority of conservatives and the influence of the White House on their Web site has become electronic executions and censorship.

Members and readers of Free Republic would be surprised to know that many members of their community have fallen silent on the discussions about illegal immigration lately because free speech is an illusion on FR.com. They are silent because they have been banned from the Web site without warning, cause, or explanation in most cases. For weeks the moderators have been suspending and banning new members that chimed in quickly on the immigration debates.

Now this trend has broadened as the first groups of long-term users were suspended or banned this past week. Although Robinson and his staff removed many members of the Free Republic community in the first few days of the purge, those that religiously support President Bush’s immigration plan, open borders and approve of public benefits for illegal aliens remain on the forum. Those that were banned were the members that wanted more done to control illegal immigration and a strict observance to the President’s Oath of Office.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: 1912election; aliens; alipac; amnesty; blc; callthewaaaambulance; crybaby; desperatedemocrats; dreamact; fr; freerepublic; howtogetbanned; illegals; immigration; immigrationplan; liars; lovejimfr; minuteman; minutemen; openborders; purge; respectjimshouse; tawbbos; whatahornetsnest; whiners; williamgheen
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To: asgardshill

I bet when you were a little kid you used to like to poke at hornet's nests with a stick.


821 posted on 02/11/2005 3:05:25 PM PST by spodefly (Yo, homey ... Is that my briefcase?)
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To: ElkGroveDan
If I recounted here, the emails I received, then Jim would have to ban me or at least delete my post. It was raw racism, from people who quoted and referred me to that site. As time went by the discussion deteriorated into attacks on Catholicism. My candidate was a conservative Republican running for governor of a large state.

Slow down there, Turbo. But you said that you got "disgusting hate-filled garbage" FROM American Patrol. Now you say you got racist stuff from people who simply quoted American Patrol. Now, which is it?

822 posted on 02/11/2005 3:05:38 PM PST by Spiff (Don't believe everything you think.)
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To: asgardshill
(for I am gone and will not stick around to accept the abuse that will surely come raining down on me for posting this from what has become the North Korea of the Internet)

Oh, please.. accept the abuse!
You obviously need the validation such abuse would provide.

You matter, man.

823 posted on 02/11/2005 3:05:47 PM PST by humblegunner (And who knows what else?)
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To: RushCrush; Mo1
Anyway the point was that NPR is supposed to be bias-free, yet we're paying for it.

So there is NO parallel whatsoever with FR and NPR.

Glad you finally made that clear.

824 posted on 02/11/2005 3:06:22 PM PST by ohioWfan (George W. Bush........AVENGER of the BONES!!)
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To: Jim Robinson

Jim, you're doing a fine job. I haven't noticed anyone that disagrees with the Presidents immigration stand being kicked off. Seems like the article is crap.


825 posted on 02/11/2005 3:06:55 PM PST by brooklin (What was that?)
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To: cake_crumb
We were talking on another thread the other day about trollish behavioral patterns the other day...

...Not all who claim to be conservatives really are. Some are just trollish infiltrators, drunk on their own cleverness.

I wish I'd seen that discussion. Lately, I've been thinking the same thing - I've been reading discussions that are so odd that I too began to conclude there were way too many "trollish infiltrators" posting in these these days.

826 posted on 02/11/2005 3:07:23 PM PST by delacoert (imperat animus corpori, et paretur statim: imperat animus sibi, et resistitur. -AUGUSTINI)
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To: Spiff
is shameful that Free Republic is starting to go PC after all of these years. But, hey, it's Jim's sandbox. He can do what he wants...

Message to those who think this is worth leaving FR over...

Don't let the IP hit you on the way out...

827 posted on 02/11/2005 3:08:31 PM PST by davidosborne (www.davidosborne.net)
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To: hubno; hchutch
I see open borders on hhe Canadian border and no uproar.

Gosh, I wonder why. (sarcastic smirk :o)

Just how many men & women would it take to close both borders?

What's with the "both" thing? You'd also have to close the beaches, too. (The Coast Guard can't handle the existing maritime immigrant smuggling as it is; closing the land frontiers would move that traffic to the sea.)

The United States has over 19,000 miles of frontier, much of which is thinly populated. Securing that much perimeter would take a significant chunk of the US citizenry.

828 posted on 02/11/2005 3:08:52 PM PST by Poohbah (God must love fools. He makes so many of them...)
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To: Bella_Bru
Once again, I was not posting on an illegal immigration thread, rather, I was addressing the issue at hand.

Kudos to you for discovering that LA is on the "Front Line". Having been born, raised, then raised my own family there, I am faintly familiar with the area.

Keep making excuses for the lad if you like, but I've found it less than productive to encourage those who refuse to get a grip.

829 posted on 02/11/2005 3:09:30 PM PST by 4woodenboats (I see Dead People - and they voted in Seattle!! Rossi 3peat in 2005!)
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To: William Gheen; Jim Robinson
The people who get banned are those who break the rules.

It has nothing to do with views on immigration, since the vast majority of us either vehemently disagree with the President's policy, or at very least are highly concerned with it.

Therefore your article is a lie, and you should admit it and apologize.

830 posted on 02/11/2005 3:09:39 PM PST by ohioWfan (George W. Bush........AVENGER of the BONES!!)
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To: secret garden

"But it's kind of like a tree falling in the forest. If no one bothers to listen to him anymore(except for Potato Head Russert), does it matter? He has zero credibility. How many people give a spotted owl's behind what al gore has to say? This weekend, we'll probably have the deaniac all over the talking head shows."

But 48% voted for him.

He needs to be finished off.



831 posted on 02/11/2005 3:10:24 PM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (The US Senate only has 99 legal Senators, and 1 illegal one. U.S. Constitution Amendment 14 Sec 3)
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To: Diva Betsy Ross

Ah........the biker bar........the place that requires disinfecting if you visit it.......


832 posted on 02/11/2005 3:10:37 PM PST by ohioWfan (George W. Bush........AVENGER of the BONES!!)
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To: spodefly

LOL!


833 posted on 02/11/2005 3:11:04 PM PST by Howlin (It's a great day to be an American -- and a Bush Republican!!!!)
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To: MeekOneGOP
William Gheen had his say, and now, thankfully...

He's been ZOTTED!


834 posted on 02/11/2005 3:11:13 PM PST by trisham
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To: bayourod
It has been repeated so many times that Hispanic immigrants are "diluting our culture", "abusing our welfare system", "destroying our neighborhoods", "having lots of babies", "drug dealers", "criminals", "lowering our education standards", "drive without insurance", "don't assimilate fast enough", etc...that some people simply don't realize how racist those statements are.

Those statements are not the least bit racist, even if they're completely false (though in many cases they're true).

835 posted on 02/11/2005 3:11:37 PM PST by inquest (FTAA delenda est)
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To: Right Winged American
The way things are going I expect a resurgence of the "America First" types.


No need to expect it, RWA. They're already here.


836 posted on 02/11/2005 3:11:39 PM PST by rdb3 (The wife asked how I slept last night. I said, "How do I know? I was asleep!")
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To: Jim Robinson

Thank you,Jim.
I have had the pleasure of the FR experience for quite some time now and love every minute of it. There's no other website in the cyberuniverse like it. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer but because many of the folks here are,i've learned a lot.I recommend this site to everyone who's tired of the status quo,and want refreshingly different dialogue with a splash of humor....
Yes, you might say FR is my daily tonic! :)


837 posted on 02/11/2005 3:11:44 PM PST by gimme1ibertee (Lefty liberals never met a brain cell they could recognize.)
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To: Petronski

I think the back row is the best place to observe, no one expects you to shine and you can observe and learn without being bothered.


838 posted on 02/11/2005 3:11:51 PM PST by ruoflaw
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To: asgardshill

LOL. Right.


839 posted on 02/11/2005 3:12:09 PM PST by Jim Robinson
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To: asgardshill
Hey it's his site,if you don't like it go some place else.
Oh,I see you are one from the other side and decided to leave on your own.Good riddance.
840 posted on 02/11/2005 3:12:45 PM PST by Mrs.Nooseman
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