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.
If the border is in your backyard then what?
I firmly believe that they do see the illegality in it all but that they choose to ignore it. Much like drug traffickers.
Again with the lies.
You are insinuating that I don't want the borders enforced, that's a demonstrable lie.
Get back to me when you can have a honest debate on this issue that does not include lying about people who disagree with you on the methods to achieve border security.
Otherwise, don't bother.
Something does not have to be racist in order to be used for a racist purpose by people anyone would define as racist. I've read a lot of books like Bell Curve but disagree anyway. I've not read Jared Taylor's book, but I've read Pat Buchanan's books. There are a lot of bigots in the republican party but doesn't mean that the party itself or the platform is racist.
However, like a lot of people, if I see someone's name continually associated with racist groups like NA, stormfront,etc. as I've just seen Jared Taylor's name, I do wonder. Hence, Jim Robinson has every right to get rid of even the 'appearance of evil'.
I know people who have the border in their back yard. They have fences, dogs, and stay armed. They report a lot of border intruders to Border Patrol.
I know one woman who has had to put bars on her windows and is afraid to go out of the house because of all the trouble she's had with border intruders. She's been tied up and robbed, threatened, etc. I know of some people who have been forced to move because of their close proximity to the border and the massive flow of law-breaking border intruders on or near their homes. If my home was about one block east of where it currently sits, I would be having serious problems with the border intruders as the road one block east of my house borders a large field that sometimes serves as a highway for illegals. Often, we will see the waiting pick-up vehicle and call Border Patrol to come out and apprehend the intruders. Sometimes, the drivers will leave a stolen vehicle there with the keys hidden in a nearby location. The coyote knows where to find the key when he gets the survivors of his group there. I have a friend who lives closer to that location than I do. One morning he saw one of these vehicles and called Border Patrol. He couldn't wait around for the BP to arrive, so he yanked a cable in the engine to slow the smugglers down when they got there and tried to leave. We've had high speed chases start from that location and go right down our street.
It is in my back yard, but not quite as bad as some others I know who live a lot closer to the problem.
It's pretty frightening and if the talking heads had an opportunity to live there, maybe they'd understand. Yet, they don't. JB would put up pics of garbage and filth on his property. It's just not right.
Saying "there are alot of bigots in the Republican party" is a bit of a broad generalization.
Not meant to be a generalization or taken that way... I'll say that some are, and I know from experience.
BTW, the most openly hostile racists are in the democrat party. That I will generalize about and it's not only white democrats engaging in racial hostility game.
I would imagine if there was something called a "bigotry index" then the republicans would score higher than the democrats.
Yet America has bent over backwards to allow immigration. The majority of the people in this country are only a couple generations descended from immigrants. Including members of congress.
So I think we indeed have demonstrated in the past the willingness and ability to do things in a fair and just manner.
So it seems the issue no longer is immigration. It's that if you don't agree with someone elses "anything goes" attitude, you are automatically branded a KKK member.
The "racist" mantra has lost almost all credibility.
The meaninging of it has been watered down, and sure if a person considers border control to be racist then republicans would be guilty as charged. I think it's ridiculous but the democrats have used it as an effective tool. Look at Howard Dean. There was also a lady debating Laura Ingraham on last night saying the democrat party has always had the best interests of black people. Oh really? LOL At least I know different! I just don't get why a lot of people still believe them. Actually I do. People like to get something for nothing. The democrats are good at that.
Border patrol is not racist. It is self defense.
One of the facts that gets oft ignored is that illegal immigrants are lawbreakers.
We, who were born in and live in this country, have a right to know that the people who come in are doing it in a lawful manner and are not a threat.
agreed.
I appreciate your comments, djf, and agree.
cyborg, there is a difference between bigotry (extreme ethnocentrism) and ideological racism.
While the latter dehumanizes other races/ethnicities and espouses the legal differentiation of groups based on race, the latter is simply behaving in a natural, though ignorant, way.
Archy Bunker, though a plain bigot, was not nearly so much a racist as are those who promote multi-culturalism and want to balkanize our nation on the basis of ethnicity and race. And yet the former are shunned and the latter not only tolerated but allowed to dominate the vaqst majority of our universities.
Why is that do you think?
The liberals like their own people. Criticizing the 'our strengeth is our differences' crowd means a lot of mirror gazing. Archie Bunker is an easy target because he's different from them. I like the Bunker analogy because my father was just like him, and I think a lot of libs would call him a racist but nothing compared to what I've heard from liberals. I think 'low expectations' is actually worse than outright racism IMHO.
I was not aware that the Minuteman Project is a "FReep." But a group of armed people who take the law into their own hands to detain others is vigilantism. Whether that's good or bad is for each person to decide. To me, it's asking for trouble and could lead to some serious problems. These are not going to be just local people defending their property.
But I think if you really examined it, Archie Bunkers racism would have to be labeled xenophobia, fear of the others.
I never got the feeling (and, yes, I am quite old enough to have watched all the shows) that he felt others were inherently evil or incompetent. His attitude was very much simply that his comfort zone was intruded on.
My personal view of racism is that it is a much more active, malignant concept.
I agree with your assessment.
The event called the "Minuteman Project" is much like the "FReeps" many here at Free Republic have done. It has been mischaracterized by many as some sort of armed vigilantism. You've been deceived.
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