Posted on 01/04/2004 7:55:31 PM PST by Lead Moderator
Edited on 01/04/2004 8:43:28 PM PST by Lead Moderator. [history]
Hello everyone.
I've been talking to some long time Freepers via email for several weeks (one in particular). His concern was over the immigration threads and how they turn out on Free Republic.
Many times these threads turn into flame wars. There appears to be a lot of pent up hostility that various factions have developed for each other which ends up coming out, over and over, and the result is that the threads turn into a lot of crap. The moderators get hit with dozens of abuse reports over personal attacks and other silliness. Eventually, it becomes more work than is really worthwhile, and the threads get moved to the backroom so we don't have to deal with it.
This is an OK status quo when it occurs just occasionally. But when it happens frequently, it is not OK. That means that there is a problem.
So we are going to try to fix the problem.
There are sincere people on both sides of the debate who have gotten too into the battle that they are no longer being constructive. The goal will be to help them get back on track.
But we have two groups of people who are completely not sincere.
One group is those who really have no other goal other than to try to fracture conservatives and turn them on each other. One group is those who think that those most concerned with immigration are really just bigots and want to shout them down.
The good news is that both of these groups are very, very small. The bad news is that lots of people are firmly convinced that many of those who are just riled up sincere Freepers are actually part of one of these small groups. In other words, a lot of suspicion of motives has come about.
We're going to have to overcome that.
One of us tried something with a topic which had developed a similar problem, the Creation/Evolution threads. We'll give that type of approach a try for the immigration threads.
So here is what is going to happen. Starting tomorrow, when I see an immigration related thread go up, I am going to post immediately a warning that this would be a very bad thread to engage in insulting or flame baiting. When I see someone ignoring the warning, I'll address them personally telling them to knock it off.
What we need those who are serious about the issue to do is to act responsibly during this time. Engage in debate, without the insults. Post arguments, not ad hominems. Post facts, not innuendos. If you don't like someone, figure out a way to not have it get in the way of your postings. If you want to be disagreeable, do so without being needlessly disrespectful and instigative.
What will happen is, over time with this approach, those who are just trying to stir up crap, and those who are unable to help themselves, will stick out like sore thumbs and will get the axe.
And once that happens, then more direct involvement will not be needed, which I think everyone will agree is the preferred way.
So ping those who you know are interested in debating the topic to this thread, so they can see what is coming.
Thanks
LM was being way too patient with him on a thread where he was trying to see how far he can push the envelope of conversation. I mean, it's amazing that he would start the very crap that LM wrote about in the post.
First off, Joe, as you have undoubtably noticed, you were suspended when I woke up this morning. If you are looking for a pissing contest with some strange desire to martyr yourself, that is completely up to you. I am not going to avoid it just because I suspect that is your intention.
I am now down to post 219 in that thread, and to be honest, the ones who were causing that thread to degenerate were you three and I am calling you out on it. The warning was posted at the top of the thread to tone it down, yet all three of you were pedal to the metal in absurd ways. An "active conspiracy to nullify our sovereign borders" by Bush? Come on Seven, some bit of sanity and proportion in posting is not too much to ask for. Of course Joe was going to echo that. I should have figured as much. And then you WRhine, upping the thought to treason while echoing it yet again? I feel like I am taking crazy pills here.
Then we get Seven talking about another Civil War? No thanks. I also saw you working to get wet back in there. Also no thanks. Same to the idea that all of their children are theives. And same to the personal attacks.
The way that thread evolved is not going to be happening on Free Republic in the near future. If you plan on posting on threads in the same manner that you did there, then the result will be a removal of your account. If you can figure out a way to keep your lesser impulses in check, then that end result can be avoided.
Regards
If you read that thread (and use some imagination for the pulled posts) and think this is the way you like threads going, then odds are you are going to be unhappy in the future, and you may want to reconsider if you belong here.
Thanks. LM
g
First of all, no one here (except perhaps principled Libertarians) supports illegal immigration, just as no one supports drug abuse or the initiation of force with guns. Secondly, it is not racism to oppose the non-conservative attitude of tribal justice. People deserve to be judged as individuals, based upon the content of their character, not as members of some larger, different group. That is true justice, and conservatives are big on justice.
Yep, they're ALL guilty of scoffing at American immigration laws.
And I'm not your friend.
Well, they can't force people to be friends.
The problem isn't with the posts, or least with most of them, that you point out. The problem is with your eyes. You tend to see "shoot, shovel, and shutup" in every post that you disagree with on this topic. Then you're howling like a cat with sandpaper-and-turpentine butt, smacking the abuse button, and singing your indignation to the sorry stars.
I have my own flaws, but I don't deny or minimize them. And I don't strike up the band and dance the beer barrel polka on the abuse button every other post.
Nor can they enforce reading comprehension, apparently.
Post #1: "I am NOT going to vote. I am going to stay home and play Delta Force 2, pretending I am a border guard shooting at illegal crossers."
Post #2: "Raid cargo containers, sweatshops, construction sites and tortilla houses with an MP-5 and grenades. Save America!"
Introduce your friends/family to the political newsgroups on usenet. FR will seem like the bridge club at the old folks home after that.
That said, I think a lot of us worry about immigration (specifically illegal) because of the national security implications (lawbreaking aside) and because at times these issues seem to be an effort by the administration to court liberal voters. I don't like the issue for those two reasons.
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