Replies

Well said. And speaking of one who has undoubtably benefited from a "few mulligans" over the years, I am grateful for the policy of extra slack being made for old-timers and that I have been allowed to hang around here all these years, through good and bad times. I can understand mods having a short fuse with "newbies" because so many sign up here just to be disruptive and we need to weed those out pretty quickly so that this forum doesn't turn into a sewer.

But once one has survived the first few months and has demonstrated a solid track record of posting responsibly (within guidelines), I think that individual has earned the right to be here, even though his/her posts might be offensive to many. Obviously if there is a fragrant violation of the rules (threats, profanity, the repetitive posting of prohibited material etc.), then that person should be shown the door. But by and large, our long-time "curmudeons" have become a part of our community and belong here. Even if they don't march in lockstep with the conservative agenda.

A good example is the poster "Willie Green." I can't think of another individual on this forum with which I disagree more often. But no matter how many times I disagree with him, he is unfailingly polite and civil in our disagreements. Sometimes he even makes me think a little about my own political views on things. If he was to disappear from this forum, I am honest in saying that I would miss him. He is a real asset to this forum.

There are many others here that I love to argue with and sometimes I post articles intentionally that I know will "rile them up" a little!

I think most of us on this forum have the ability to accept other points of view but there are certain issues that tend to divide us and cause huge rifts between us. The Terri Schiavo case was definitely one of them. So was the Elian Gonzalez case. And also the 2000 election when Pat Buchanan supporters were pitted against George W. Bush supporters. There were some real flame wars back then and a lot of people got banned or suspended.

Each of these times, there were always those who said "Well this is the end of Free Republic" and we saw our fair share of farewell opuses. But I suspect that most of those snuck back in under other screen names!

Free Republic will survive the Terri Schiavo debate, I am sure of that.

Sam, you talked about another Freeper without pinging him to your post. I'm afraid you used up your last mulligan, big guy. It was nice knowing ya.

Dang.

PING Comment #419

As I have scanning through the various threads of those leaving staying or well both, I stumbled across this one.

I do not think I have exchanged much with the thread creator nor the person who posted at 419 but I have to tell you there were some interesting thoughts offered. So, if you have the time and are so incline take the time to read who knows perhaps you to will find something noteworthy as well.