Posted on 02/11/2005 10:55:36 AM PST by Jim Robinson
The shot heard around the Internet has been fired on FreeRepublic.com The owner Jim Robinson and his moderators have launched a sniper style purge against members that disagree with the President’s ‘guest worker’ amnesty or support more control of illegal immigration. Free Republic is an amazing tool for those looking for a good debate and news from around the country.
The problem for the administration of the site is that their creation is allowing the participants to learn that the Bush immigration record and plans are shockingly out of line with the views of most conservatives. The management’s answer to this conflict between the majority of conservatives and the influence of the White House on their Web site has become electronic executions and censorship.
Members and readers of Free Republic would be surprised to know that many members of their community have fallen silent on the discussions about illegal immigration lately because free speech is an illusion on FR.com. They are silent because they have been banned from the Web site without warning, cause, or explanation in most cases. For weeks the moderators have been suspending and banning new members that chimed in quickly on the immigration debates.
Now this trend has broadened as the first groups of long-term users were suspended or banned this past week. Although Robinson and his staff removed many members of the Free Republic community in the first few days of the purge, those that religiously support President Bush’s immigration plan, open borders and approve of public benefits for illegal aliens remain on the forum. Those that were banned were the members that wanted more done to control illegal immigration and a strict observance to the President’s Oath of Office.
The movie Stalag 17 comes to mind, for some reason. In that movie, you plant the idea amongst the people that one of them is a snitch, and then wait for them all to turn on themselves.
Or, there is the sub-plot in the movie The Manchurian Candidate, where James Gregory plays a befuddled Senator who keeps making higher and higher claims of the number of communists in the government. When he asks his wife, played by Angela Landsbury, to just pick one number that he can remember, she says that she wants the confusion in the press over the number of communists, because while they're arguing amongst themselves, they're not paying attention to what's really going on.
So, are we under attack by an organized "whisper campaign?"
-PJ
hahaha!Thanks. He put me in the list because of the Viking Kitty/ZOT pings I send out.
I think you could take her. ;-)
hehe! An "He's dead, Jim!" award? :^)
And he wants to murder her. God bless her.
Maybe you should have a once a month free for all food fight no holds barred at FR and let them all get it out of their systems.
And continue to regulate the other threads the rest of the month.
Seems like all these prohibitions are frequently violated. I personally use asterisks instead of profanity but isn't that just a sneaky way of getting around the prohibition?
Maybe we need someone to come and explain how to be civil during a spirited discussion.
However, given a choice I think many FReepers would opt for a FOOD FIGHT thread rather than learn about civility.
yes he does....and so does Greer.
hahaha! Thanks. :^)
I think Bush is making a mistake. I understand the econmic reasons behind the Administration's decision to continue to allow uncontrolled immigration. I still don't like it though.
How sad and tragic a situtation.
LOL!
You may not realize how cutting your remarks are.
The swearing issue is like the abortion issue with me. Personally, I don't care if Democrats want to kill their children, but God does.
I have very vocally spoken out against illegal immigrants on this site. I have never used profanity nor links to other sites. I have tried (and sometimes failed) to keep my responses civil. I have not been excluded from the free expression of ideas.
Where do these so-called reporters get this stuff? DU?
Nah. I've been through forums who did do the "free-fer-all". It doesn't work. When things get too hot, posters need to get away from the board. Go live. Do your laundry. Go to the bathroom. Get on with the everyday tasks of living. Come back refreshed. It's called "self-control". And that's apparently what most all of us in FR want the US to do in re illegal immigration: control ourselves.
And of course, some genuine conservatives are also jerks.
You too? I had such high hopes...
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