Posted on 08/30/2004 10:05:23 PM PDT by ChicagoHebrew
I enjoy this forum, but lately I've noticed a troubling tendency for posters here to descend into horrible and immature name-calling. Such name-calling, and extremism without reason does nothing but harm our cause. It turns off casual lurkers and readers of this forum. It provides fodder for this forum to be demonized and non-respected elsewhere. Below I provide a few examples. I call on Freepers to stop using such terms voluntarily. If that doesn't work, I call on the moderators to warn, if not censor, posters who use such terms. I realize that Democratic Underground uses even more ridiculous terms sometimes. However, your opponents' choice to frolack in waste does not provide an excuse to do likewise. Rather, it provides an opportunity to rise above, and show one's intellectual and moral superiority. Without more, I present a few examples of the type of garbage I'm talking about. I call on fellow posters to add their own.
1) "Hitlery" -- I dislike Hillary Clinton's politics, and what I know of her personality. However, nothing she has said or done (including her love-fest with Suha Arafat) justifies comparing her to one of the worst monsters in all history. Doing so not only demeans the Holocaust, and all the war dead of WWII, it makes a mockery of this forum to allow it to be posted.
2) "Demorat" -- This is just stupid. Calling your opponent a rodent does nothing to promote conservatism or libertarianism. It does everything to make posters and this forum look like intellectual infants, prone to tantrums and incapable of rational debate. We disagree with Democrats. We should not dehumanize them, or think them so below us that we need not engage them in debate and triumph.
3) "McInsane" & etc. -- John McCain is a conservative, loyal Republican. Indeed, in some areas -- such as controlling spending -- he's far more conservative then Bush. However, he is also a mavarick who doesn't tow the party line -- and, in my opinion, sometimes perhaps puts his principles below his desire to win applauds from the media. That being said, his ACU rating is strong, and he has put legitimate personal disagreements with Bush behind him to support what's best for his party -- and, more importantly -- his country. Feel free to critique McCain. Feel free to disagree with him when he criticizes fellow Republicans or takes an odd liberal stand. However, do not resort to petty name-calling -- especially not name calling that implies he lacks mental faculties, and/or is evil. It's just not right.
So I have written. I hope that a silent majority of Freepers agree with me here.
Ah, Hitlary is fun to use.
.
Have a nice day.
There is a history as to why Democrats are referred to as "Rats".
Look it up.
LOL hope you're wearing flameproof undies.
I'm familiar with the commercial. It was funny at the time. It's 4 years later now. Get over it. It's an idiotic term, and just makes us look like arses.
Compare Hillary's political agenda to the Nazi Party political agenda and you'll think again about disdaining the comparison. The major difference is that Hillary doesn't yet have the power to enact her will, and if we remind people of what has happened in the past we can help to avert it happening again in the future.
You're still a newbie, huh?
I like to talk about the rats.
I like to talk about hitlery.
I like to talk on Free Republic.
Ah well if CH is sensitive about the usage of Hitlery,well let not your heart be troubled, I prefer Hildebeast,Shrillery,Crustfrau the Terrible,etc. Boss of Klintoon and the like.
I agree. The correct spelling is "DemonRAT".
I suppose s#$%head is out of the question...
Obviously it doesn't really matter for most of us, but anyone somewhat in the public eye should watch their words, or at least keep themselves suitably anonymous.
While I dislike the name-calling between forum members, I don't care about some of the play names that are given around... Even the occasional flame wars are kind of fun to watch..
Demorat/'rats -- you missed the Joke my friend... It comes from a 2000 campaign ad where the word democrat was panned in the background, and the 'rat' portion stayed on screen for several seconds. It was quite funny, and still is.
As far as McInsane -- Who cares? It can be accurate at times...
I see your point about Hitlary, do u have a problem with old-crusty?
How about "JFnK?"
If you think that Hillary Clinton would start murdering millions of people if she had the chance, or try to conquer the world, you are either a maniac or an idiot.
OOOOOOOOOOOps, I forgot.
I like to talk about McLame.
"My fellow Americans, I have just signed legislation to outlaw Islam. The bombing began in October 2001."
Practice what you preach, my FRiend.
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.