Posted on 06/28/2004 1:47:12 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
AUSTIN -- Erica Anthony-Benavides is a junior at Trinity University in San Antonio, a member of Ladies in Physics and not very politically active. But because she signed a petition against the war in Iraq, a national conservative Internet site has declared her an enemy of America.
"I don't know why they want to accuse us of treason. It's not fair. We haven't done anything. We've just said something that somebody doesn't like," said Anthony-Benavides, a native of Corpus Christi.
Anthony-Benavides, 19, has been swept up in a new Internet war between the right and left in America that is trying to establish ideological purity for the nation.
Grass-roots political Internet sites have been springing up since the 2001 terrorist attacks. Those on the right vilify anyone who does not support President Bush and the Iraq war as communists and un-American, while those on the left use common curses to describe people on the right as fascists.
The right organizes boycotts against musicians and actors who oppose the war. The left urges boycotts of conservative talk-show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh or actors such as Bruce Willis.
Altogether, the Internet chatter is part of the partisan echo chamber of talk radio and political cable television shows that some experts believe has intensified the polarization of America's electorate.
Polls indicate American voters are at their most divided in a decade, with a partisan split on national security at its highest level since the late 1980s.
A Pew Research Center poll conducted earlier this year also found the number of people who get presidential campaign news from the Internet grew from 9 percent in 2000 to 13 percent this year. The number of people getting campaign news from traditional sources such as television networks and newspapers has declined as much as 10 percent.
James Gimpel, a University of Maryland professor who studies political divisions in America, said a small percentage of the U.S. populace visits ideological Web sites. But he said they reinforce strong feelings for those on the left and right.
"The people who tend to go to these sites are people whose views are pretty well entrenched," Gimpel said. "It's likely to enhance polarization. It's likely to enhance extremism. But it's not likely to create many converts."
The enemy list that included Anthony-Benavides received notoriety because of its connection to the beheading of U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg in Iraq.
Berg was a Bush supporter, but his father, Michael, like Anthony-Benavides, signed an anti-war petition for the International Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.) coalition.
A conservative known as "Doug from Upland" took the petition and turned it into a posting called "Here is the enemy" on FreeRepublic.com.
Doug from Upland told the Chronicle he had no idea who Berg was when he posted his enemies list. He said he wanted fellow subscribers to FreeRepublic to know the names of people who had signed on to what he described as a communist organization.
"That was my opinion. Here are the enemies of America," Doug said. "I called them enemies because I believe that while we are at war, they really are the enemies. They are hurting the morale of our troops."
Postings on the FreeRepublic site often urge readers to call the employers of liberals to report their anti-war sentiments.
Doug said he was motivated to post the enemies list because his son-in-law is in the Navy and one of the signers of the anti-war petition identified himself as being in the U.S. Coast Guard.
"That man had no right to have these feelings if he was in the military," Doug said.
Doug, who is 51 and lives in Upland, Calif., is in commercial real estate and was among those who questioned Bush during a Jan. 4, 2002, town hall meeting broadcast on C-SPAN. His photograph is posted on the FreeRepublic site, but he did not want to be interviewed using his last name because of concern that a liberal backlash would harm his business.
"They're foul-mouthed and vile and they call for violent behavior," Doug said.
Some liberal Web sites promote boycotts of conservatives, most particularly commentator Limbaugh. One Limbaugh boycott site is Take Back the Media, run by Michael Stinson, 51, who lives in an "undisclosed location."
"As far as I'm concerned, this is just voting with your buck," Stinson said.
Stinson posts contacts for Limbaugh's advertisers and urges liberals to call them to complain.
"Some people say we're trying to stifle Limbaugh's freedom of speech. We're not, but the Constitution does not guarantee 1,300 radio stations," Stinson said. "I'm not going to pay money to his advertisers for him to call me a Marxist and a traitor to my country."
The Internet battles have spawned at least one libel lawsuit that may test the future bounds of free speech.
A site called ProBush.com posted a list of politicians and entertainers who signed an anti-war petition and called them "traitors." The site describes it as a parody, but one of those on the list, former liberal Sen. Jim Abourezk, D-S.D., has sued for libel in federal court.
"Senator Abourezk has a pretty tough hide and can take as good as he gives," said his lawyer, Todd Epp of Sioux Falls, S.D., a University of Houston graduate. "It's also his concern that some people might be cowed by this. ... If you speak out and you're called a traitor, the social and legal ramifications of that can be harmful."
ProBush founder Michael Marino, 20, of West Point, Pa., said Abourezk's lawsuit is an assault on the First Amendment right of free speech.
"It would be most unfortunate if lawsuits could be used to silence the diverse voices of this 21st century medium," Marino said.
Marino's defense is supported by the Electronic Freedom Foundation, which has filed a brief in his case.
Well if the shoe fits....
Cool! Doug from Upland gets a lot of positive attention in the article.
you so famous!
Wow...FR is getting a LOT of publicity. And DFU is probably going to make the cover of "People" at some point! LOL
Wow, another "Evils of the Internet" story. God forbid people have opinions and express them. [ /bitter sarcasm ]
That's because the left can't lie anymore and get away with it.
"Grass-roots political Internet sites have been springing up since the 2001 terrorist attacks."
Political debate is painful for the left, I realise. They end up looking childish, especially when you can cut-and-paste factoids word-for-word with ease.
Er, more research is needed. For example, how can I have a screen name dating back to '97? Move-on [with more minucia] was formed later to oppose impeachment of Clinton. I guess they have a forum, although hadn't found it yet. I wanted to do some fifth column activity there.
FReegards....
FGS, this is like the lie that will NEVER end!
Somebody needs to put a stake in its heart!
"That's because the left can't lie anymore and get away with it."
Right you are. Truth-bombs are painful to the left.
This is a HUGE overstatement! I've only ever seen people comment upon military members, and what their commanding officer might say. It isn't as if we're calling up the local factory bosses to intimidate people.
"Postings on the FreeRepublic site often urge readers to call the employers of liberals to report their anti-war sentiments."
I've never seen a list like that.
Thank you, I couldn't believe that was taking place... probably liberals calling claiming to be conservatives if anything like that actually takes place.
They're losing the info war and they know it.I knew of FR in 99,FGS.They live in another world.But even an old tiger,sensing the end is near,can strike out one last time.
...isn't everyone guaranteed their 15 minutes...?
The comments were always something like, "Gee, I wonder what his CO would think about that." I think on one occasion (that I saw) someone claimed to know the commander of a particular unit. That is all of it that I've seen.
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