Posted on 06/25/2002 3:42:21 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
The following email is being circulated to our members by various disgruntled former FReepers:
Subject: The Future of Our Free RepublicDear Fellow Free Republic Member,
Many of us at Free Republic are distressed by the extraordinary level of censorship that has been so obviously going on. It is very obvious that individual posts, entire threads, and the entire work of members who have been highly regarded are disappearing into a Memory Hole.
Scores of us have organized an e-mail network that is independent of the communication controls presently, and sadly, being used at our Free Republic. We have carefully documented the unmistakeable evidence that most of the posts, threads, and posters that are vaporized completely are overwhelmingly targeted for their political stance on the Right. These are not Leftwingers. These are not even Middle-of-the-Roaders. These are not disruptors. These are not foul-mouthed delinquents. These are fellow patriots on the Right who disagree with the controllers of FR on specific issues that are now hotly debated by the Right. We have documented that FR will parade before you, as if to hide all of the great posters whose work has been destroyed, a straw-man delinquent that has been banned. This is deceptive.
Treating these fellow patriots on the Right so shabbily is not right. As shabbily as those banned into the Memory Hole are being treated, the most shabbily treated of all are all of the good folks on Free Republic themselves. We came here for honest debate. Free Republic advertised itself as a Forum for honest debate. Without that honest debate...everything at Free Republic becomes shabby.
We can do much better. As a measure of how intense the simmering feelings have gotten among members on this unjustifiable use of deleting, censoring, and banning please link to the following thread. You will notice that one simple and sincere plea from one of our finest members has spontaneously touched off a prairie fire of approximately 500 posts in a mere 18 hours. If it isn't Memory Holed this thread may shoot into the thousands.
If you would like to receive anonymous updates of information concerning the hundreds of Freepers who have networked via e-mail to restore the wonderful honest debate to Free Republic, just drop an e-mail of just one or two words if you like for extreme brevity to:
StopCensoringUs@hotmail.com
And, here's that link back to the snowballing thread at FR:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/704701/posts
Thank you so much for giving your thought to this vital matter for our Internet home.
Sincerely, StopCensoringUs@hotmail.com
Yet another socialist proposition disguised as a "libertarian" solution. "If you don't like getting the shaft, leave."
It's kind of an in house deal, the axes don't have any defects on the sound side but they have cosmetic defects.
You could probably let go some of the outboard gear and maybe sell some of the vintage stuff for a profit. But be forewarned, the PRS guitars are thick on the neck and you'll still have to outfit it with pickups. I suggest Joe Barden rails. He's local and the service is right on.
I have the same screen name that I have always had. The "_fr" is still on my Yahoo name.
Unfortunately, the "materials that I do not want here" have never been stated with any reasonable certainty. It is virtually impossible for anyone to know what specifically is to be thought improper. During the Clinton Presidency for instance, it was totally kosher to post articles by Christopher Hitchens and other left-wingers for two specific reasons. Hitchens hated Clinton which then made him a "respectable" source. Other left-leaning sources were fine as well since the sole intent at FR was to dissect the articles and rebut them.
Now what you appear to be asserting is that left-wing articles cannot be posted. I have to assume then that you have no confidence in your membership being able to rebut the facts presented in those articles since you refuse to let them be posted.
That, my friend, is not censorship.
No, as stated, it is a contract. However, the banning of posters who offer up particular viewpoints that contradict a large group of posters here, is in fact censorship.
Furthermore, it is a contract that has no binding authority on you. In practice, there is no objective measure for what constitutes improper sources or opinions. There is no recourse for the ousted poster if you happen to make a mistake. For the sake of argument I'll imagine that you are perfect and incapable of making mistakes. Even with that as a given, you haven't bothered to offer any recourse for the fellow wrongly accused.
And I believe that Black Jade was one of those posters who was totally and utterly shafted by not only being banned but all references to his/her posts eliminated. THAT is in FACT censorship.
BlackJade was instrumental in delivering media investigative reports showing the CIA's funding and support of terrorists world wide. These were not just lefty articles. They were from some very respected journalists including Gertz who was one of FR's favorites at one point.
What are you afraid of?
I was there. You have a faulty memory. There wasn't a majority of the articles or posts that were in any way relating to FR or bitching about it.
There were definately posts which voiced frustration. Alot of the flame wars were in fact instigated by Mojo and Navigator who dragged posts from there to here in order to further fan the flames.
But there was not a majority of posts bashing FR. You will find that almost all of those posts still exist and some of them were by those of us banned rejecting any continued focus on FR. That's not what we were there for.
We had some problems but they have been cleared up, I believe.
Here is how it works.
Set the example. If you don't want flame wars, try not to flame others. Follow the guide lines of NO PERSONAL ATTACKS. Making personal attacks is a sign of immaturity and lack of debating skills.
Everyone makes mistakes. If you do, APOLOGIZE. You would be amazed at how your enemies become your friends.
Be willing to forgive other's mistakes. FUNNY thing about forgiveness.
To forgive is to set the prisoner FREE, and then find the prisoner was really YOU.
Take time to read what is going on on a thread before jumping into the middle of something. It is too easy to take what someone said wrong, if you don't understand the context or follow the conversation first a little.
Sometimes it is good to lurk, especially if you get overheated. Sit back and watch a while. Called a TIMEOUT. It helps you get your perspective back.
If we all take RESPONSIBILITY for OUR OWN behavior on FREE REPUBLIC, we don't have to worry about Jim or Admin Mons having to step in to do so, and getting blamed for HOW they do it.
What a envy-ridden socialist you've exposed yourself to be.
Maybe you should try this. Tell them they can only play in the ADULT POOL if they behave and show respect for THE RULES. IF not, they can go out and play in the sand with the little kids.
It is not as subtle, but just as true.
Remember, never argue with an idiot. Nobody will be able to tell the difference by the time you are finished.
Hope your sense of humor hasn't completely been worn away.
I am aware that you believe that your guidelines are quite sufficient. I am telling you that they aren't as clear as you perceive and that there are quite a few complaints (as evidenced by the email that you posted along with several disgruntled ex-Freepers) and have been for a while. It is your prerogative to ignore any and all criticism and discount it entirely.
And I use my sole judgment to determine if the bounds have been violated. Those are the terms.
I fully understand. However, this is the classic definition of censorship and I'm surprised you want to call it something other than what it is given your commendable comfort in telling it like it is when it comes to who runs the show here.
You agreed to them.
Yup. I still think that there are others who were mislead by the rules which are not nearly as specific as you claim and are no longer consistently included in the reply page.
They used to be "All conservative views welcome" under the conditions that you use "no profanity, no racist posts, no personal attacks." That's from memory so forgive any ommissions. All other "rules" were gleaned from your infrequent posts letting everyone know what was and was not acceptable at any given point.
If somebody hadn't posted since before the election, today they might get themselves in trouble if they echoed the sentiments that you posted about Dubya being a cokehead felon who shouldn't be allowed near the post of dog-catcher much less President. I assume that you'd ban yourself today if you caught yourself saying such a thing.
I guarantee you will not be dictating terms here to me. I do not want Free Republic filled with a bunch of tin foil hat crap. The reason is, I do not want the class of posters that stuff attracts.
I'm not attempting to dictate anything to you at all. I'm simply pointing out that you don't pay the bills anymore without the good people that post here including the tinfoilers who were paramount to this site's success during Clinton's tenure. Ignore their valid criticism at your own peril.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.