[rlmorel]

I disagree completely with the tone set by this article.

The author makes a moral and functional equivalence between FR and Daily Kos with the description of FR as the “Daily Kos of the right”.

It isn’t. He thinks the function of someplace like FR is to rally people to swarm to online polls and sway them en-masse or to raise money.

It is neither of those things. It is a place to discuss issues and ideas, something not ACTUALLY done on liberal analogs like DU and Daily Kos. Not to say it is without emotion, bias and occasional mistreatment by both admins and other posters, but it is not the howling at the moon environment like DU.

[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!