"I've asked him not to post to me because it serves no purpose.
And obviously it's not a rule because he keeps posting to me."
Well, I was hoping for a ruling from someone in charge. I'm still hopeful that one will come along.
Here's the thing, as I see it. I haven't been on FR as long as you have, but it seems to me that public threads and messages are open for discussion. If I write something in a thread, I expect other FReepers to respond to it, if they choose to. Often, those reponses are in disagreement with what I wrote. There it is. I post in a public forum, and others respond.
FReepmail is another matter, of course, and I think you should be able to ask people not to send private messages to you. But, the public forum is just that...public.
As long as the basic Rules of Free Republic aren't violated, such as personal attacks and the like, it just seems off the mark a little to try to insist that people not address posts to you in a thread in which you are participating.
That's just my opinion, of course, and I'll certainly abide by any ruling from the moderator or from Jim. I'm afraid that such a rule, though, would tend to limit debate here, and that's something I think would be unhealthy.
Here's the thing, as I see it. I haven't been on FR as long as you have, but it seems to me that public threads and messages are open for discussion. If I write something in a thread, I expect other FReepers to respond to it, if they choose to. Often, those reponses are in disagreement with what I wrote. There it is. I post in a public forum, and others respond. ...so what you're proposing is FReeper amnesty for illegal responders who come across named FReeper replies and steal them for their own thoughts. Hey, they're just doing posting that others won't/can't do;)
If a 'certain poster' doesn't like what others post, that 'certain poster' can "...pound sand."
After all, that's what a 'certain poster' posted to me in January.