Could You At Least Meet Him Halfway ?
Posted on 06/10/2025 11:32:39 AM PDT by Jaysin
Dear Freepers
After almost 25 years of freerepublic.com being a rare bastion of sanity in this crazy world, I will be ending my time as a member of this once great site.
The quality of FR has degraded to the point that I no longer find much usage for the site that I can’t find on other platforms and sources. I have had multiple conversations with many freepers, both in the forum and privately and many of them agree with some of my points of contention:
A) The primary reason I am leaving is the failure of FR to address the rising and blatant antisemitism on here. Yes, a vast majority of freepers call them out and see right through it but the failure of the FR leadership to deal with this issue is not acceptable. There are a few dozen of these posters on here who have a very clear track record of posting their jew-hatred over and over again. Of course they will mask it under the cover of “I’m criticizing Israel, not Jews” or “I’m an American Firster” label or my favorite one “I’m an Appalachian Christian”. But if you look closely at what they comment on and how they do it, it is clear they have a JEW problem. These posters will ignore the atrocities committed by the same types of people who committed 9/11, killed RFK, blew up the USS cole, the marine barracks in Lebanon, shot up a club in Florida and countless other horrific acts that have killed and maimed thousands of people, orphaned many children, and left multi-thousands of grieving loved ones behind. The moral compass of these posters is quite shocking to say the least. And they always use the same tropes–foreign aid, the USS Liberty incident, war-mongering BiBi, AIPAC controls xxxxxx, and my favorite one is when they link to sites like the UN and Amnesty International as their “proof” that Israel is violating some international “law”. Some are more blunt and vicious than others, but it’s come to the point where much of my time is spent responding and commenting to the crazies on here. And of course most of them will deny they hate Jews, they just don’t want American foreign policy dictated by Israel etc….. FR is not twitter and is supposedly a tightly monitored site of like minded conservative individuals. Most of these loonies should be formally warned or banned, but they are not. Whatever happened to zotting?
B) Another significant reason I’m leaving is sadly, the quality of the discourse here. This was a website that was once feared as a threat by the left and helped expose the Dan Rather scandal. Those days are long gone. There was a time when I would come on here to get genuine and insightful opinions on politics and world events from intelligent people. Many of my political understandings and positions over the years were molded from what I read on this forum. Nowadays most of the comments to the real issues facing the USA are nothing more than silly venting comments in the vein of “we should lock up everyone of these rioters and throw away the key” or “Trump needs to fire these judges ASAP” or “It’s time for public tarring and feathering to return” level of quality. I can read through multiple threads without finding a useful insight to glean from it. It is really nothing more than venting and wishful thinking but not really practical–the same level of commentary can be found on a foxnews comments section. The personal assaults and attacks levied against each other don’t bother me so much and are often a natural response and I do sometimes like seeing someone get slammed down. I know I have been guilty of some crude and impolite commenting over the years. It’s the overall value of the content that has declined.
C) As a follow up to B, A vast majority of the articles that are being posted nowadays are from very mainstream fake news sources such as the NYtimes/Reuters/AP/DailyMail/MSNBC/CNN/SFGate etc… with a solid supplement of other almost useless sources such as foxnews/nypost/breitbart. Any halfway intelligent freeper on here KNOWS darn well that there's NOTHING useful published on these websites or articles so the comments turn into nothing more than “this article is such fake news” and similar style comments. It’s the same story over and over and over again and we all point it out. But real thought provoking ideas are not to be found. And of course we have the endless BOMBSHELLS and BOOMS and BREAKING headlines from the gateway pundit and dailymail posted on a daily basis that never amount to anything. Sites like American Thinker / townhall / Sultan Knish and some others are the only ones with real content worthy of real discussion If anyone dares to post some thought provoking article from some small blog or some less-known unfamiliar site, you’re instantly accused of blog-pimping. As a lead on to my next issue, the same news event is often posted multiple times just from a different source.
D) Leadership–I know I’m going to get flamed hard for this but who is steering the ship here at FR nowadays? I have much respect for Jim and what he’s built but I really feel like he only appears when appealing for money. He certainly is not actively involved in leading and guiding the site into the future. Perhaps it is time to pass the torch on to someone else who can keep the site as a useful and relevant place on the internet. Sadly, I feel that there is no one clearly calling the shots and no leadership here anymore
E) My final issue with FR is the functionality of the site. There hasn’t been a single update to this site since I joined. Not a thing. No, we don’t need flashy profiles and avatars and other silly bells and jingles but it’s 2025 and simple features like the ability to edit your comment or even delete it would be nice. A like and dislike option to a post would also be a nice feature and save a lot of the commenting issues I mentioned above. The ability to respond inline to comments would also make the flow much easier–If someone makes a comment at #12 and I dont join in until comment #93, I’m forced to copy/paste what they wrote so my comment can be understood in context. And no in 2025, I shouldn’t have to use html to post a picture. The breaking news is often hours behind an actual event happening. The search features are primitive at best. The site can still be very basic looking but can still be user-friendly.
I would love for FR to become a political powerhouse again that it once was but it will need to look in the mirror and decide what it wants the future to be. Or it can bury itself in the sand pretending that young 27 year olds are jumping on here and using the site (they aren’t!) I’m in my early 50’s and I sometimes feel like I bring down the median user age by 10 years. That’s not a bad thing per se, but what's going to be in 5-10 years? I really wonder how FR is going to make it into the next decade without some type of overhaul.
I truly wish FR the very best going forward and I wish only the best. I genuinely hope something good will come out of this final post. I will not be responding to this thread but will probably read direct freepmails sent to me regarding the thread before I log off for the last time. Some of you will tell me good luck and some of you will me good riddance. I understand.
GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL FREEDOM LOVING PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.
Safe travels.
I chose to stay and generally ignore the usual garbage posters you note.
Its a community, not a rabble.
Could You At Least Meet Him Halfway ?
God is putting an Ezekiel 38 hook in the jaw to drag Western Civilization to the Ezekiel 39 Valley of Hamongog. Of course such a denoument is going to reverb on an open place like FR.
Yeah I have been here a while and I am struggling to recall every seeing antisemitism at this site.
Nice soliloquy.
See you tomorrow.
That was a much-needed belly laugh
For me it's starting fashion trends. I wear something and a year or two later everyone is, amazing :)
oh for sure. sometimes I wonder where someone went and wondered if they died. there was one women who was some kind of scientist from a family of scientists who was posting during COVID. Can’t remember her alias. I don’t think she has posted for awhile. something like “blackarmysergeant” but that wasn’t it.
I've been called a Putin lover, a Russian troll, etc., despite the fact that I've repeatedly stated I don't give a crap about either country, and that I don't want billions in unaccounted-for taxpayer dollars sent to support another proxy war with Russia, which only helps people who have investments in the military industrial complex get richer than they already are. There's arrogant, ignorant idiots no matter where you post on the internet. The secret is to ignore them because they always revert to name calling when they can't argue facts civilly. They show themselves for who and what they are. And I've found that there are plenty of other people here who feel the same way I do. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never kill me."
Orwell talked about this, using the word fascism: “Where’s that fascist waiter with our food?!”
It came to mean, he said, anything you don’t like.
Like lefties playing the race card when you have them on the ground boxing their ears.
Yeah, it sucks. But no, they shouldn't be zotted. Better to be exposed, corrected, and if needed, humiliated. I see that happening...a lot, including by me. This is 2025, and free speech is the norm.
B) Another significant reason I’m leaving is sadly, the quality of the discourse here.
Are you kidding? I often learn more here than from Facebook and X. FR is filled with some very talented and experienced engineers, aviators, computer scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, etc, who shed detailed light that goes far beyond what I read elsewhere. And as I have known many of them for a quarter century, I often know who to ask.
C) News sources, etc.
Nitpicking. Only humblegunner has ever hit anyone for blog pimping. As far as what constitutes a "legitimate source," as Potter Stewart said, like obscenity, you know it when you see it, and there are some very discerning eyes around this place.
D) Leadership–
Please just go ahead and apologize to JimRob for this very unfortunate rant.
E) My final issue with FR is the functionality of the site.
We all agree, but it is what it is at this point.
I would love for FR to become a political powerhouse again that it once was but it will need to look in the mirror and decide what it wants the future to be
That is never going to happen, just as Facebook will never again have the same impact. A historical peak comes and goes for all media. But what we do have is an enviable and, to me, priceless community of friends, frenemies, patriots and fellow travelers who have come a long damn way together, and are growing old together. And I treasure those real human beings more than any other mere platform. I am sorry you do not.
But I also urge you to stay anyway.
I’d like to know how much $$$$ he/she has contributed to the site, since FR relies on our donations.
I am with politicket. I have not seen you appear in any post or comment I have read. I post and comment on mainly defense (Navy), abortion, and LGBTQ + whatever community issues.
It’s been a while since we had a good flounce. I give yours a 7/10.
I’m staying until the Boss kicks me out or he turns the server off.
Nice Opus. You made some good points.
I am sorry to see you go.
Please feel free to reconsider.
Perhaps you can “go first”. This is a speck/log check.
You make some good points.
The ability to have back and forth discussions is important.
I like the basic nature of the site however.
Simple is good
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