Posted on 10/10/2003 2:23:07 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
Edited on 10/10/2003 2:27:00 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Dear Free Republic Friends,
My old friend and brother-in-arms BADJOE has promised to warm the cockles of our hearts by publishing an expose (the truth about JimRob and Free Republic according to Joe) on the 18th of this month, which represents the one year anniversary of the date he last posted to FreeRepublic.com and started up with LibertyPost.org.
So, as I believe that only the truth can set you free, and based upon the stratergery of pre-emptive strike, I have a confession to make (before BADJOE makes it public):
I have poisoned the well.
By my sly innuendos behind the scenes.
By my intellectual ineptitude.
By not trusting those that brung me to the dance to bring me home.
By my biting every hand that fed me.
By my arrogance that causes me to think I did it all by myself.
By my stubborness not because of principle, but because of my lack of ability to see what is transpiring.
Evidenced by:
One would think that with half again as many Freepers. with a recovering economy, It would take a great deal less time to raise the necessary funds.
By this time in the June 2002 effort with a goal of $70,000 we had raised $73,000. Not because of who did the fundraising, but because the sense of purpose, of family, of comaraderie, was still present.
BADJOE rang the warning bell, but none heard.
Conclusion:
It is a sad day.
For what was once a great hope, a means of bringing together those who are willing to pay dearly in blood, sweat, and money to save this country, we all love, has been reduced to an asterisk.
So sayeth BADJOE as he promises to publish all this and much more on the 18th. He's been feverishly working on this "project" for one full year. In addition to the "truth about JimRob" BADJOE intends to further betray our trust placed in him by revealing the names of our moderators. And who knows what else?
I can hardly wait.
Is it the 18th yet? Tick, tock.
IMO, it is different.
There used to be in depth debate, give and take, even people playing the devils' advocate when you KNEW that it wasn't thier opinion.
There isn't as much debate, the majority of people left do not go as in depth into a topic as used to be.
That isn't neccessarily JimRob's or the moderator's fault.
There are still intelligent people here. It is still the best forum on the net for news and commentary.
That doesn't mean it is as good as it was.
Well yeah. I can remember the days back when FR's bandwidth and server were under tremendous strain from maybe 2500 replies per day. But now we're up over 25,000 per day and operating pretty smoothly. You gotta expect there'd be a little change in atmosphere with that kind of growth. Besides, Klintoon is gone (or at least he's sufficiently out of the way that he's not the focal point he used to be.)
A number of us have been on Free Republic for many years now, nearly six years for me. And in all those years weve seen a certain pattern emerge wherein posters who have been banned or are malcontent join together on other forums to complain. Weve called these anti-Freep websites.
These anti-Freeo sites are not ideologically different, like DemocratsUnderground.com but the posters there are angry and unable to let go. Among the notorious anti-Freepers were Eschoir, Z2 and Aligyrl-2. Currently the Bikers Bar at LibertyPost.org is an anti-Freep forum and IMHO, so is DesignedUniverse.com which is co-owned by ALS (banned) and gore3000 (active.)
A number of posters here have read the threads at DesignedUniverse and remarked about a hit list of Freepers who have been targeted by them to be banned. In the middle of discussing those threads on this forum, the threads on DesignedUniverse were hidden from public view. But topping the hit list were PatrickHenry and VadeRetro and the list itself had quite a few names, mostly evolutionists.
On top of that, there was a thread which criticized Jim Robinson and family and the Moderators; and (of course) there was a conspiracy theory about certain DU posts on FR being changed in the wee hours.
I have been singled out for particular, obsessive contempt on DU - apart from the hit list. The earliest cause goes back to the banning of ALS. Yes, I did complain about stalking.
Stalking to me entails carrying obsessive contempt from thread to thread, to Freep-mails, emails and off-site --- all of which ALS did with regard to me. I posted the emails so that people could judge for themselves whether there was actual obsessive contempt. Some posters were astonished at the hate.
But something more disturbing happened as the DU posters were in a vigorous defense of ALS in the Smokey Backroom. The DU website is primarily a fundamentalist Christian website, so I was attempting to connect with the malcontents in the Smokey Background using spiritual terminology.
Two of them were deeply offended by my instant recall of Scripture, which I attribute entirely to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, i.e. I do not have the Bible memorized. They implied that the Spirit within me is none other than Satan. Instantly the verses of Matthew 12:24 came to mind and I posted them. I dutifully post the Scriptures that I am compelled in the Spirit to post.
The outrage was unbelievable and not once did any consider that perhaps the Spirit was not pleased being called Satan. The reason for the outrage is that those verses say that calling the Holy Spirit Beezelbub is the unpardonable sin.
To a Calvinist, a believer cannot commit this sin and I suspect the outrage was because they either had to be correct that that Holy Spirit within me is Satan or else confess that they do not truly believe. At any rate, the hate got quite out of hand and so I decided to put them all on virtual ignore. But I did by first explaining why and telling them all that there is nothing they could ever say or do to make me stop loving them, that I forgive them for any offense they may have caused and that I pray for them all. That is the Christian response, and I awaited the same in reply but it was not forthcoming.
And so I went silent, but the hateful personal attacks continued on the now deleted thread. (That thread has been saved to local disk by at least one Freeper other than me.)
At one point, the DU posters threatened to turn me over to God for rebuke if I didnt repent (I presume for posting His Word without their commentary) and then ultimately, they actually did turn me over to God for rebuke. This is the equivalent of excommunication in a cyber-sense. And, in the turning me over yet a third person said that I was being led by Satan.
None of this is of any consequence to me in a spiritual sense because I abide in Christ. But I am deeply concerned for them and continue to pray for them and love them to this very moment.
But alas, they cannot lay aside their hate for any of us and most especially their hate for me.
Of the original DesignedUniverse "hit team" there are only a few left. If any wish to see how a coordinated attack on a Freeper is carried out --- in this case against betty boop, Ogmios and me --- start reading on the What is Man? thread at about post post 209 where Ogmios joins the thread after my invitation to Ogmios on this thread. I invited Ogmios because he was seeking a sedate discussion of worldviews which is what the What is man? thread is all about. Come to find out, the DU posters believe Ogmios, a newcomer, is Aric2000 (banned evolutionist) returned under a false identity.
Or you can get a feel for the obsession by reading posts 905, 927, 1124 on this thread.
Do I know anything about who you are? Have I speculated on your marital status? Family tree? Relationship with pets? Sources of income? Lifestyle?
I'm one of two people your lot had "a little fun" with, remember? When you weren't yipping after me, you were baying after Alamo-Girl. I have at times been amused at your persistence, yes. It gets comic. I can't believe you're still charging away here and now.
5.56mm
Without a relief like the LP biker bar, FR would be ven more harmed than has been by those oppressions unique to it.
Hmmmmm... maybe all the "oppressed" should just congregate on Ed Asner's forum.
Saying stuff like that just makes you look purposefully deceitful.
Every single one of them are trashing Jim Robinson and Freepers -- and you join right in!!
I agree with your characterization of LP's biker bar as being essentially like a movie theater's "cry room", where you take bawling bratty infants and children who are disturbing other patrons during a movie. There, they can scream their lungs out and work through their temper tantrums without bothering anyone else.
However, the question begs to be asked: If you consider FreeRepublic to be an "oppressive" environment, why in the world do you still post here? I consider the hellbroth of slander, personal attacks, stalking, etc. that goes on in the biker bar to be "oppressive," therefore I don't go to LP any more.
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