Lead Pipes vs. Leaky Pipes (FR extensively mentioned)

Hugh Hewit's blog ^ | August 05, 2007 | Patrick Ruffini, eCampaign Director at the Republican National Committee

[SC Swamp Fox]

This forum ain't what it used to be.

I agree. We don't get the thoughtful analysis and discussions that we used too. We did a poor job of educating new members on how to use this forum.

As soon as an article is posted we now get 50 to 100 posts that mostly say the same thing. There is a rush to post something witty or a recycled graphic. Many don't bother to read the full article, that has become worse now that almost everything is excerpted.

I gravitate towards threads dealing with science, technology, economics and the military. Some of the people that browse-in and start spouting uninformed opinions are down-right stupid.

[DCPatriot]

“I don’t think the Republican party is so overwhelmingly conservative as the dems are so completely liberal.”That is where the difference lies.

The silent majority in the Rat Party are citizens that love a government supplying benefits/handouts. They are basically apolitical, IMO.

The silent majority in the GOP Party are God-Fearing Americans with personal goals and an appreciation of a "get off your ass" attitude.

That's the basic difference.

[brityank]

One good thing you can be sure of with Hugh is that if you were in a bar fight, by the time you got to the car, it would be all warmed up and with windows defrosted.

THAT has to be one of the best comments I have seen on FR.

Outstanding ! ROTFLMAO

[Tree of Liberty]

Already being done (though not by Jim or John Robinson).

[Enterprise]

Thank you.

[AndyJackson]

has eveerything to do with "leadership" losing its way - not the grassroots failing to act.

What leadership? Far and away the smartest we have is Newt, but everyone worries that every once in a while he will have a brain seizure and do something really dumb. It doesn't detract from what he says when he is being smart, but it does raise the question of his capability to be president 24/7.

[SauronOfMordor]

Wrong. FR has ALWAYS been marginalized. It is too grass roots for the RNC, a Tory elitist, financialists, hereditary organization that at it best disdains working class conservatives in the millions, small business in the hundred of thousands with their petty gripes.

To some extent, the set of conservative sites on the Net can serve as a "shadow RNC", and to an extent supplant it (which has the elites worried).

What is the RNC at its essence? It is an organization which sets the tone of what the Republican party as a whole should be, and enforces its position by its ability to grant or withhold support, recognition, and soft money funding to individual candidates

Well, what is FR doing? We let people know about the strengths and weaknesses of candidates, and allow people to make informed judgments on who to send their money to. The net result is to diminish the power of the RNC (and the elites that control it) over the party. If a candidate, detested by the elites for his positions, can secure campaign funding without support from the elites, then that strips the elites of power.

The solution to elite control is to never send money to the RNC. Always send money to individual candidates that you admire. And mention in the letter that you made your decision to send money from what you heard about them on FR

[Leisler]

It was by accident and I had the time of my life.

[philetus]

You:
I viewed their point as a call to engage in real conversation and debate, rather than come up with one line rebuttels that add nothing.”

Cannoneer No. 4:
“The IQ level here has dropped precipitiously since I joined. Lots of highly intelligent, articulate, engaging Freepers don’t come here much any more.”

ME:
Cannoneer spelled precipitously wrong, while telling us how
dim witted we are.
He added nothing to the context of the thread.

[Enterprise]

Leisler: "The next day I went to the voting commissioners office. There was a crowd of the usual Freepers and unwashed multitude and also a brand new white motorhome with some young, male official RNC people. They wouldn’t even come out into the crowd. Bunch of oxford collared lame ass stiffs."

Cannoneer: "Lots of highly intelligent, articulate, engaging Freepers don't come here much any more. They have moved on"

They probably moved on in their brand new white motorhomes.

[Leisler]

I agree. Since maybe WWI we have had a centralizing, top down trend, under the influence of various elitists and modeled on old, corporations. But as you pointed out the cost drop due to the Internet has weakened the power of centralized gate keepers. So, for any movement, left or right, their gatekeepers have a personal disdain for what is going on. Remember how Dean within the Democrat establisment was disliked and feared with his netroots/Dean meet up approach? Trent Lott, Pelousey, would like to go back to their old pals in the MSM.

[Leisler]

No one comes here anymore, it’s too crowded.

[Clara Lou]

Thanks!

[SC Swamp Fox]

I think the point is on the top of your heads..... both of you are trolls.

You are illustrating our points well. Why don't you troll-off and post pithy, one-liners elsewhere, Newbie.

(I know that you won't, I'm just feeding the troll.)

[SauronOfMordor]

That said, PR is dead wrong re: FR and its' impact. It is truly a wonderful site and the modern day equivalent of the townhall meeting where the people could voice their opninion in 2-way dialogs.

But it's not the only game in town any more. There's littlegreenfootballs.com, jihadwatch.com, bellmontclub.com, and many others where I spend time in addition to FR

[RightWhale]

FR hasn’t done some of these things such as swarming because of a conscious decision to behave according to a conservative ethical code.

[Enterprise]

You’ve touched on a point that some people are missing. FreeRepublic is not a place to come to for marching orders. People gather here, discuss issues and ideas, and as a result of those discussions, are motivated to take action on some of those issues. Jim Robinson is not sitting there cracking the whip, telling the crowd what to do. They talk amongst themselves and then get moving!

Trying to tell Freepers what to do is like the proverbial attempt to herd kittens. But when Freepers reach concensus, they move as one to accomplish the task. And then, leaders arise to assist, like Kristinn and Dr. Raoul!

[Enterprise]

"It was by accident and I had the time of my life. "

"There are no coincidences." - George Noory

[MaryFromMichigan]

No one comes here anymore, it’s too crowded.

Lol!
Very good!

[Vision]

What a silly article.