Posted on 02/11/2005 7:19:23 AM PST by Lazamataz
Recently, two Freepers who have some measure of prominance outside the forum have been damaged by liberals and/or Democrats. Jeff Gannon has resigned as a White House reporter, and the individual who goes by the name NCPAC has left his position in Maryland.
J. Gannon wasn't necessarily damaged by anything he posted here, but NCPAC was damaged by the work of a Democrat mole or a Washington Post reporter who revealed his freepmails.
It should be possible to post on this forum with anonymity and to be able to really discuss what's on your mind without worrying about Democrats trying to ruin your professional life, so, in order to help prominent Republicans who may wish to be an active member of Free Republic, I'm formulating some suggestions that I would like to have new users see.
This is what I have so far, as far as guidelines to help our prominent freepers avoid damage in the future:
If You Are A High-Profile Individual In “Real Life”….
If your daily job is such that you are a high-profile individual – as example, an official in a Republican campaign, or a state official in a Republican administration, or a rightward-leaning reporter – please read this article and take these suggestions.
- Please don’t reveal your identity. Please don’t drop hints as to who you are. Please don’t succumb to the temptation to show off a little and thusly compromise your anonymity.
- Know that there are Democrat operatives (and now, it appears, Legacy Media reporters) who pretend to be loyal conservatives. They will attempt to get you to reveal damaging information about your candidate, your administration, or your media enterprise.
- This is for ALL Freepers: Never reveal any personal contact information. Please don’t post (or share in Freepmail) any email accounts, private phone numbers, addresses, or places of employment – unless you really know and trust the person to whom you are revealing these things.
- Know that Freepmail can be, and sometimes is, exposed publicly. Please, never say anything in Freepmail that you would not want posted on the public forum. Please, people, add whatever you think might be helpful, and I will post the result as a new article.
Over here
I don't have anything to add, except that it's a great list and things we should all keep in mind.
How does this happen other than someone voluntarily exposing it...
NEVER put anything in writing that you wouldn't want anyone else to see. Because inevitably, someone will.
The other thing to be aware of is that those types of folks should always post from home.
If they post from any type of office environment there are IT people who can see what sites they are visiting and what they are posting.
And those who can see may not be of the same political persuasion.
bttt
Democrat mole or a Washington Post reporter who revealed his freepmails.
Excuse me! I thought these were private.
I have no problem with people posting as themselves (obviously), but whether annonymous or actual, people just need to be careful. If you are not, the otherside will galdly nail your tail to the wall, heck, they make up enough Bravo Sierra without us handing them some of our own.
Great list. The only thing I would add is that apparently we need to do the same to them over at DU.
It is my understanding that someone posed as a conservative, maybe posted several comments to a FReeper, they exchanged a few freepmails, and the poser later released them.
Also, if anyone feels an unbearable urge to violate #1 and #3, they should make a temporary dummy account with which to post.
Perhaps, also, FReepers need to be aware of other "FReepers" who are information gathering about fellow FReepers....perhaps there should be a system of some sort to let the Mods (or someone else) know that poster(s) "xyz" and "123" are asking about personal/professional information known about poster "abc." That way, the Mods/JR might be able to see a pattern developing concerning certain poster(s) regarding the target "abc" poster.
Good advice. I'm paying closer attention since these two events happened.
Wonder if we could convince Al Gore to just reformat the Internet, so we can all start over with a clean slate.
Laz...I think it's terrific..I have been up all night but could not possibly improve on this even if I were not sleep deprived.
Words of wisdom ping to a good idea.
Sorry if anyone got pinged twice.
Read this thread. You won't think FReepmails are automatically private any more:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1340900/posts
Here is the real problem. I have worked in Republican Party politics for almost 40 years and have been successful in many ways, helping to bring change to Texas politics. Of the thousands of people involved in the process I can count on one hand those I can trust with a secret.
People have a need to talk. A secret is no good unless others can be made aware of it so you can prove your worth. If people can just shut their mouths and not tell what they should not, it is amazing what can be accomplished.
bump
Agreed....
Fight fire with fire....
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