Posted on 03/29/2005 8:58:34 AM PST by Long Cut
We, the Witness Protection Program For Freepers, aka the Wild Turkeys, aka the Coalition of the Sane, have through mutual discussion and rigourous thought, determined that:
1. The discussion threads regarding Terri Schiavo (hereafter referred to as "TS") have become too full of innuendo, rumormongering, hyperbole, hysteria, namecalling, paranoia, and general poor behavior to warrant participation.
2. Said threads have degenerated into "echo chambers", wherein the same, common thoughts are continually posted again and again, and the same old disreputable, unconfirmed and/or false urban myths are propagated.
3. Anyone who joins in said theads with alternative viewpoints to the most extreme posts are routinely driven away with slander, accusations, and vile namecalling.
4. No data or evidence contrary to the "prevailing opinions" are accepted, considered, or discussed; and in fact are rejected outright in most instances.
5. That the continued calls for armed insurrection, military or paramilitary involvement, impeachements of politicians and judges, and death threats are embarassing, stupid, shortsighted, doomed to failure, and contrary to most if not all conservative thought prior to this case, as well as damaging in the extreme to FR and the conservative movement as a whole.
6. That such emotional, hyperbolic, and propaganda-driven hysteria is in fact contrary to all conservatives USED to stand for.
7. That the holding up of swastika and other Nazi imagery towards the police and the Bushes, the use of children as political props, and the disruption of the peace at the Woodside Hospice can only reflect badly on conservatives in general, and should be discouraged.
8. That the pursuit of this issue to the exclusion of all others by the GOP has damaged, perhaps beyond repair, the pursuit of other important issues as well as the reputation of the GOP, FR, and conservatism.
The WPPFF is NOT of one mind as to the case of TS or its correct outcome. In fact, wide disagreement exists within our little group. However, we are united in our wish that reason and sanity be respected in the discussion, as well as the rights of all parties involved or participating. We wish to discuss this as adults and intellectuals, as conservatives and as FRiends, not as children screaming past each other on some playground of hysteria. We wish for facts and evidence to be provided, discussed reasonably, and considered fairly.
We reject all accusations of Naziism, "death cultism", or other slander as methods of debate. We reject the practice of "spamming" multiple threads, of posting unending vanities, and the posting of propaganda and calls for violence. We reject, in fact, all unseemly and childish behavior which has come to characterize this case on FR.
We DO invite others to come and reasonably discuss the issue. We have no problem with FReepers who wish to debate in a rational and fair manner, and with due respect for their fellow FReepers. We have NO problem with those whose views are formed by religion; however we reject "preaching" or "being beaten with a Bible" as legitemite debate tactics. Not all of us are Believers, and such tactics only cheapen the source.
If a FReeper finds this an acceptable meansd to discuss this and other issues, they are welcome to join in and participate. Those who find pleasure in attacks, flame-baiting, slander, stalking, and personal atacks will be ignored, and their egos will go unfed.
We assume this thread to be a zone of sanity in an overheated atmosphere. Thus, a general amnesty is in effect. If posters conduct themselves within the guidlines above, we will be happy to discuss and debate with you. If a poster wishes to apologize for past slips of the tongue, or for possible "over-the-top" statements to another, it will be graciously accepted, and your company welcome.
Please bring a sense of humor; we feel that too many have been taking themselves too seriously lately.
Let the discussion begin!
Signed,
The WPPFF, aka The Wild Turkeys, aka the Coalition of the Sane.
And in your context of your last paragraph it would explain why JimRob's quote that "..."facts" don't matter..." shocked the hell out of a lot of us.
A month ago I would have bet that Frist would pull off the 'nuclear option' and trounce the rats. After The TS circus I would take the opposite bet and give odds. GWB will never get the ten filibustered candidates now and the rats will be emboldened to use it even more.
...I'm just a moderate Republican afterall......
Well, perhaps not. Consider if you will the entire spectrum of Republican thought displayed as a bell curve.
In the middle are the moderates and to the far right where the curve approaches the x axis you can erect a vertical line. To the right of that line are the life zealots that represent a small majority of the total. but since Free Republic is populated by folks somewhere to the right of the middle of the bell curve and since the lz'ers represent a very small group at the right margin, you are to the right of the moderate zone but still within the conservative zone.
Facts do matter.
I've steered clear of commenting on that exchange, since my immediate reply to him and EV summed up my thoughts.
It's been disappointing to see the reaction, or lack thereof, though.
Yes. We handed it to them on a silver platter, and the libs will do everything they can to exploit it.
It would not surprise me at all to see a DNC commercial of Randal Terry's "we've been working to get conservative judges" comment.
Certainly more than posting Nazi images when one says something that others might disagreeable.
I've made them too, and at the time, I felt it must have been said in haste. I just wish it had been clarified, at least after so many followed with "amen!"
I'm with you - facts do matter - lies kill credibility - and if we carry the attitude that they don't, we can't complain when the libs call us hypocrites.
Sorry I didn't reply to your post sooner. I've been babysitting the grandson and thanks to about a foot of snow and high winds we lost power for awhile. April in NE Ohio. LOL! I've pretty much given up responding to most posters about Terri Schiavo. I guess I expect too much from people when there is so much emotion involved. But I'd like to ask each poster who has used the tems Nazi, death cultists, etc., do they go out and volunteer, do they join in marches, do they know that there are probably people in their own area that are in just as dire a need as Terri, do they know their own state's laws? Perhaps some do, and that is wonderful.
Perhaps some can't get out but they could use their keyboard to access information and find ways to help others. I think that would be a much better tribute to Terri than any thing else. I know that people request donations to charities etc. on behalf of the deceased. But perhaps working to change things or helping others would be a good choice too. Just my own opinion and certainly any one has the right to disagree. Well, got to go give my munchkin a bath. He decorated with chocolate pudding!
In the first, in the setting of someone grieving, I could easily see myself saying "facts don't matter". When you lose someone close to you, facts DON'T matter to you in the short run as you are consumed with emotions. I think his whole quote was "facts don't matter, Terri's dead". That could mean he considers it a moot point.
In the second, he is saying it is OK to suppress facts as an end to a means, or to support his position. This obviously is anathema to many of us on this thread, and hopefully to most FReepers. The recent deletion of the post about a bone scan interpretation that didn't support the "Michael abuse" position makes me wonder if this second definition isn't the more correct one. And if it is, I personally would see no point in staying at FR.
LOL One of the cutest things I remember from my lil guys was the time I walked into the kitchen to find him standing in the middle wearing a big tub of ice cream like a hat.
Dripping all down his face, body and onto the floor, he beamed up at me with,
"nook mommy! I mewlting!"
I believe your analysis is correct. Having been sent to the corner for the past few days - I was just sprung - for pointing out the hysteria on the Terri threads, and having been at FR for over six years, I'm terribly disappointed in recent developments.
You got jailed? I got warned to "knock it off" for asking questions, but not sent to the corner.
She hadn't died yet...
Started here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1374363/posts?page=37#37
They were discussing why the judges ruled the way they did in the 2002 trial. He was outraged at being told Cranford was selected by Greer and tipped the scales. So, I explained that it wasn't true (Bambakadis, a decent man, was Greer's choice), and how, due to the pathetic choice of the liar Hammesfahr especially, Greer and the other judges had no choice but to rule as they did.
After I posted that, another popped up attributing Hammesfahr's "no heart attack" and "neck injury" (attack theory) BS to Bambakadis. I posted the part of the transcript showing that was wrong.
I pinged him, because I thought it was important he know how much of this was going on, and how it would diminish our credibility overall, just as such nonsense diminished the credibility of her parents case with the judges.
At that moment, FR would lose any and all credibility as a political/activist site, and descend into the same mire that many other sites have.
I'm hanging out here on this thread only, and I'll probably avoid all but the inevitable ventures out for a while. That way, I'll see if the place gets cleaned up. If not, or if this thread gets pulled, I'm gone.
Poohbah's and Hutch's departures, though I expected them, were still depressing. Both were far more valuable here than even they themselves realized. It sickened me to read the posts by those who ridiculed them.
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