Well...
Maybe not quite. I stayed off most of the Schiavo threads once they started getting completely crazy, so I guess they didn't hit me all that hard. I try not to get too personally invested in other people's stupidity. Being far from perfect myself, I have plenty of my own to go around. I have views that probably agree with some of the crazies, I simply chose to keep them to myself since there was no value to be added by expressing them.
That being said, I haven't seen a lot of difference between the Schiavo furor and the Bush-bot Blitzkriegs last fall. FR has always had her extremist factions. That's part of what makes her so much fun. I have friends and colleagues who think I'm a complete right-wing nut-case for just typing in the FR URL.
I have little more patience with cry-babies and quitters than I do flakes and nut-balls, so I can't say that these self-serving swan-songs stir up much sympathy in me. If you are fed up, then step away, do something else, go your own way, have a nice life. These dramatic "I've had it with you kooks and I'm leaving" posts serve no purpose. As you can see from the responses, they really change nothing and they make the poster look over-egotistical and more than a little bit silly. It's the stuff of which Jerry Springer is made.
This isn't about his "ego". This is about someone who doesn't want to be associated with this forum anymore, and someone who wants his (very valid, imo) reasons made known.
I respect him. He will be missed.
I hear you, Steve.
I'm trying to get my little one to bed, but as far as opuses (opi?) go, you'll NEVER see one from me.
If I decide FR is not for me, I will probably just start posting less and less, and then I'll be gone.
I'll respond more later. You have been a voice of reason here and I appreciate that.
For the Bush bots, the difference may be that they were now on the receiving end. Either way, I think your post summed things up pretty well.
Yes, they offer some thoughts as to the reason for their departure but if read in the spirit it was intended, I think it was to offer ways to make FR better. To allow those who do not sign on much an opportunity to chat about years past. Maybe that is selfish or egotistical but from where I sit, I appreciate their thoughts.
I hope some return, that the course of their lives bring them back to Free Republic but it is a journey that only they can take. I for one will be glad to welcome them back no matter the time away.
Again, thanks for your thoughtful and kind observations on the subject.