Replies

Mad, you are one of the few people on Free Republic who is actually missed and inquired about when you go missing for any length of time, whatever the reason. I have seen that repeatedly for as long as you and I have been here.

You are right, but it's not just about Great Britian, it's about EVERYTHING.

Please, please do not take a rational voice from our midst.

And to the rest of you: please notice how many people join in in saying that they are or have thought of leaving FR; it's time to SPEAK up about what is going on on this site -- don't stay silent any longer.

it's time to SPEAK up about what is going on on this site -- don't stay silent any longer.

When is the candlelight vigil?

But seriously, what's going on on this site? A few of your allies are leaving and you're feeling like you're losing control of the forum? Or do you also protest when a hardcore libertarian or "far-right" poster leaves? I highly doubt it.

I'm not normally a person who expresses much emotion in public (apart from disdain for the Left) - but I have to thank everyone deeply and sincerely from the bottom of my heart for all the very kind things that have been said. I had no idea that the things I had said had reached so far and wide...and I'm very touched.

I have to say that the Mods have asked me to reconsider, and I've agreed to think about it - to their credit, they've reassured me that they are concerned about the same things I'm concerned about.

I'm not sure what else to say except again...thank you everyone...for your kindness and friendship, which is a large part of why I've been here as long as I have been.

Best Regards, Ivan

And to the rest of you: please notice how many people join in in saying that they are or have thought of leaving FR; it's time to SPEAK up about what is going on on this site -- don't stay silent any longer.

I agree completely. I'm not the sort to write an opus but I have withdrawn from FR substantially. I have never been big in discourse but I have always enjoyed posting interesting threads (at least, I think they have been) - 872 at this morning's count. I hope they have added some value to this forum. But, the discourse has become so uncivil, it seems. Many of us seek refuge at FR where we can exchange thoughts from people who are, at the same time, like-minded yet independent thinkers. Instead, there seems to be a troupe of disruptors who have brought bad manners from elsewhere on the web. And so many of these people are, shall we say, "evangelical". Seems at odds to me. Anyway, disagreement is fine ... being disagreeable isn't.

So, have I thought about leaving FR? Yes. And I still might. Simply because my precious "free" time can be better spent elsewhere.

Lando

And to the rest of you: please notice how many people join in in saying that they are or have thought of leaving FR; it's time to SPEAK up about what is going on on this site -- don't stay silent any longer.

Your heart is in the right place, Howlin. I'll post here what I posted on another thread earlier today.

Anyway, the upshot is that the forum has become a very uncomfortable place for some very good people. ;-)

I often see folks around here quoting from and relying upon our Declaration of Indenpendence. We shouldn't forget that it was made longer than the one sentence it really only needed to be because of a felt need to demonstrate a "decent respect to the opinions of mankind." Why can't we just try harder to read and to respond to the posts of others in that same spirit? Why can't we try a bit harder to show a decent respect for the opinions of others? Why must it so often be viewed in such personal terms?

This is, after all, just a forum. ;-)