Posted on 03/07/2007 6:57:43 PM PST by Bob J
I have diligently watched the rise in size and influence of conservative websites, including Free Republic, over the last 7-8 years. I have been shocked and concerned over the drop in traffic at the most popular ones over the last year or so. There was good growth up until 2006 but since then there has been a steady downtrend that would crash any other market.
Anyone have any ideas as to what is happening? I'm out of explanations. The deficiencies in alexa.com are noted, but even if the numbers aren't accurate you're still comparing off numbers to off numbers so the decline is consistent.
Could your apparent double std be because you are sympathetic to DCP's POV? Nah.
I'm not convinced the majority will.
Here, you've got the most devout, most extreme folks spouting off at the mouth. That doesn't mean that they represent all the less extremist folks out there. And it doesn't even mean they will all follow thru on their threats.
Many of the "Evo" posters on "Crevo" threads were purged, and/or their posts deleted.
I'm not doing this to exclude anyone, just trying to define 100%.
I am a geologist. In describing a sedimentary rock, pure quartz sandstone, for instance, is rare. Pure shale (100% clay minerals) is not as common as rocks which are somewhere in between.
Most rocks of these types fall somewhere in between, as most political viewpoints fall somewhere between Liberal and Conservative. (Yes there are others, but I am trying to describe the concept after working 14 hours, so bear with me, please).
Although a rock which is 49% clay minerals and 51% sand is still a sandstone, it is not the end member in the series.
Similarly, someone who is more conservative than liberal can still be defined as a conservative, even though their views as a whole are more liberal than the person who (hypothetically, anyway) is 100% conservative in their outlook.
What I am trying to do,and inviting others to participate in, is define the pure end member: 100% Conservative.
From there we can go off on all sorts of tangents describing the varying degrees and types of conservatism, but first, it would be nice to define the maximum.
Again, I am not doing this to exclude anyone, just get a better bearing on where we all stand.
It's a valid fear.
But I'll tell you, if Rudy does somehow win the nomination, I think he's got a very good shot at winning in a landslide.
Chief Jackson is a lot of things, but "nasty" is not one of them. He's a wiseass on FR, much like I am. Unfortunately, people interpret that as mean spirited, hence all of the "comments from fans" on my freeper home page.
Jackson is a friendly guy if you chat with him on threads you agree on.
Exactly, we're not at some big impass here. And yet several times social Cs have told me I must be a liberal, democrat, main-stream-media hack who they don't want in the Conservative camp.
What is up with that?
Well personally, if I were a noob and saw so many Rudy threads on here, I'd just assume this isn't the place for me. Same goes for all of the conservative sites that are suffering from Rudy-Spam.
Alan Keyes is a friend of this site. When someone makes untrue accusations against him, such as being a "huckster", expect a bad reaction.
"Double standard"?
One side slapped first. I fault the agressor.
You're trying to blame the victim.
I just don't play that.
>>Many of the "Evo" posters on "Crevo" threads were purged, and/or their posts deleted.<<
I remember when a couple of creationists got suspended for spamming the threads a couple of years ago, but at the time I thought a lot of the evos were doing it as well.
The evo spam became intollerable. You would read this volumes of "apparently scholarly" stuff with graphs, pictures and even peer review, but they were the same old tripe filled with phrases like "could have been", "indicates", "appears to be", etc.
I'm glad it all got cleaned up. The True Believers on both sides either got suspended or toned it down.
I think I understand -- and I'd still say that abortion can't be defined.
It depends on what you mean by 'conservative'. One group believes that means "the conservative use of federal power". We believe in the 'component architecture' of the constitution, allowing states to make their own rules, as componenets of a system.
Another group means 'socially conservative', they want federal rules like the defense of marriage act and a federal law making abortion illegal.
One group believes in a system, a process. The other believes in a set of fixed positions. We agree on certain things, and we had a coalition to fight for those, while we agreed to not take action on the things we do not have agreement on.
I took a minute to read some of your posts on a few threads. I think that we agree in spirit if not exactly in degree.
Anybody's guess, but I bet we continue on the same path, fighting for what we believe in, regardless of who's in power.
And a lot of that will depend on how Rudy does, if elected.
NO, NO, and NO!!!!!!!!!!!!
FR has the single BEST messaging software I have ever come upon on the web, and I'm not just saying that to kiss butt. What other messaging system allows you to read a comment, click once to read the comment the original was replying to, click once to see replies to the original comment, and click twice to view the other comments of the poster, all without unnecessary bells and whistles which detract from the content?
As long as we're clear you're not reeally about bringing the coalition together, but about pointing the finger, just like the 'extremist' freepers you poo-poo.
Except to put us in even more danger.
And you're still awake? :-D
I think we do agree, in spirit. It's all a matter of detail. And I think a small group of folks who like to use extreme language are having unintended consequences here.
But I hope we'll all unite against the real adversary, once the generaal election is upon us.
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