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A statement about the decision to shut down comments
American Thinker ^ | 01/15/2021 | Andrea Widburg

Posted on 01/15/2021 4:57:52 AM PST by Bonemaker

Yesterday, we announced that we are closing comments at American Thinker. We immediately received a couple of hundred very unhappy, angry, and sometimes insulting emails about that decision. Without divulging why we made that decision, here are a few points to ponder.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet; Miscellaneous; Society
KEYWORDS: americanthinker; comments
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To: Bonemaker
I think it was Kurt Schlichter who wrote: "We have smart guys, too" ... or something similar.

There are conservatives/American patriots out there who see a potentially magnificant business opportunity with this ... a multi-billion dollar opportunity that I suspect is being developed as I type this.

41 posted on 01/15/2021 6:10:54 AM PST by glennaro (Tyranny can only be defeated by force ... physical force. It doesn't just "go away" by itself!)
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To: Bonemaker

I have to agree with the American Thinker.

There are plenty of blogging sites, like this one, and plenty of Conservatives will bring to those sites the articles found on American Thinker.

The best writers among bloggers might read an article on American Thinker, disagree with that article on whole or in part, and submit their own article to American Thinker, registering the different point of view.

I am thinking of doing that myself, after disagreeing greatly with a recent article of theirs.

Freereprs ought to remember how this forum itself depends on their donations and Jim keeps it running by not offering a lot of technical bells and whistles that a more costly site could maintain.

If American Thinker thinks their choice is to continue hosting readers comments, at costs they cannot afford, or keep their enterprise up and running, then I think they made the right choice.


42 posted on 01/15/2021 6:10:58 AM PST by Wuli
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To: 9YearLurker

Exactly so. Very juvenile and superficial to expect each site, many with small resources, to go down in a pointless blaze of glory and leave the internet without conservative input. Just Big Brother’s voice, which is after all the point of the suppression exercise.


43 posted on 01/15/2021 6:12:06 AM PST by JayGalt (You can't teach a donkey how to tap dance. Nemo me impune lacessit!)
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To: SharpRightTurn

AT will not survive the liberal onslaught. All opinion that does not follow the line will be banned; see the Great Chinese Firewall. Enjoy FR while you can. In a way this is good for patriots. They will be forced to engage with each other. Get ready to create samizdats. That will be the only way communicate.


44 posted on 01/15/2021 6:17:26 AM PST by Vehmgericht (12)
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To: Bonemaker

They may have been threatened by the Server masters.


45 posted on 01/15/2021 6:20:35 AM PST by ZULU (Impeach John Roberts for corruption. SOROS IS "SPARTACUS" BOOKER'S LANISTA.)
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To: MAAG

“Without divulging why we made that decision”

The only reason to say that is because they were threatened and they’re not prepared to reveal that.


46 posted on 01/15/2021 6:20:44 AM PST by cymbeline
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To: SharpRightTurn

AT will not survive the liberal onslaught. All opinion that does not follow the line will be banned; see the Great Chinese Firewall. Enjoy FR while you can. In a way this is good for patriots. They will be forced to engage with each other. Get ready to create samizdats. That will be the only way communicate.


47 posted on 01/15/2021 6:21:18 AM PST by Vehmgericht (12)
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I like AT’s layout better than TownHall’s. Also TH has too many articles on topics interesting to me that are behind its VIP wall.


48 posted on 01/15/2021 6:21:39 AM PST by foreverfree
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To: chajin

“Effective compromise already in place: repost the articles here, and see if we can post comments of a high standard as should befit FR.!”

Sometimes the proper response is simple, easy and at a minimal cost for us.

Thanks


49 posted on 01/15/2021 6:22:04 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Law & order took the last train out of DC and America on election/coup/night, Tues., Nov. 03, 2020!)
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To: Bonemaker

Not to worry..”they” will tell us what to think.
“They” will even provide the comments.
Now here is some government approved music..for your listening pleasure...


50 posted on 01/15/2021 6:23:47 AM PST by Leep (Save America. Lock down Joe Biden!)
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To: Turbo Pig

good post... and in this era the fine line between free speech and CMA has thinned considerably...


51 posted on 01/15/2021 6:26:38 AM PST by sit-rep ( )
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To: mlitefan

Quick correction. Free speech and elections ARE dead. We have arrived already.

See my tagline re end of elections,Tues., Nov. 03, 2020!

Our Free Speech basically died 6 Jan 2021 in the capitol.


52 posted on 01/15/2021 6:27:51 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Law & order took the last train out of DC and America on election/coup/night, Tues., Nov. 03, 2020!)
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To: _longranger81

“What I perceive is going on is that Antifa types have been spending a LOT of time and energy as Agent Provocateurs on conservative sites, posting comments that are over the line, and baiting others to join them, exactly as they did at the Capitol protest.

We have to take some deep breaths here, look around ourselves carefully, and figure out how we show these people up for who and what they are.”


53 posted on 01/15/2021 6:30:52 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Law & order took the last train out of DC and America on election/coup/night, Tues., Nov. 03, 2020!)
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To: Bonemaker
The check threat from Google cleared.
54 posted on 01/15/2021 6:52:08 AM PST by moovova
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To: Bayard

Conservatives need to Defund the Left, that includes conservative businesses.

80 million need to vote with their wallets


55 posted on 01/15/2021 6:56:27 AM PST by PMAS (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing)
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To: marktwain

From what I understand of their model, a lot of their - if not nearly all - writers are just people that submit essays. They look them over to see if they are interesting and of sufficient quality and post them if they are, largely on a yes/no basis as they don’t have enough people managing it to work with the writers.

Hardly surprising that they would trim off 3rd-party dangers they can’t moderate.


56 posted on 01/15/2021 6:57:34 AM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Wallace T.
Mainstream news and liberal websites cut off comments several years ago.

The Atlantic and NPR used to have lively comment sections. Both were shut down with some excuses that always sounded, to me at least, like evasions. The fact is that on both sites the liberals were being dominated by much better informed conservatives on most politically-oriented topics. Both sites attracted high quality participants and the tone was overwhelmingly civil. There was very little trolling; conservatives seemed to understand that they were playing in the other side's sandbox and mostly behaved themselves. When abusive and vulgar comments occasionally did emerge, however, they were overwhelmingly from the left, which will not surprise anyone here. My suspicion is that management at both organizations simply became embarrassed at having their staff writers exposed on a regular basis.

57 posted on 01/15/2021 7:21:29 AM PST by sphinx
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To: L,TOWM

The upside is, we are discovering we can trust no specific entity to save us. The power is with us, the people.


58 posted on 01/15/2021 7:56:09 AM PST by JimSp
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To: Turbo Pig

Sites that have comments sections often see a “community” of regulars form due to that feature. It becomes an important part of the website to regular visitors even if the fools running the site arrogantly think everyone is just there for their content. Take it away, especially suddenly and with a poorly written explanation, and many will never return.


59 posted on 01/15/2021 8:05:19 AM PST by Stravinsky (Politeness will not defeat the Marxist revolutionaries)
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To: Leep
I have been using my lockdown imposed leisure time for the last two weeks 10 months to use the download feature on music videos, full length concerts, movies, and TV shows not already on DVD into an external hard drive. I figure I'll probably still wanna enjoy some of my favorite stuff after it gets banned...
60 posted on 01/15/2021 8:06:47 AM PST by L,TOWM (An upraised middle finger is my virtue signal.)
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