Posted on 08/16/2007 7:56:17 PM PDT by crusher
I was listening to the news out of the corner of my ear when I heard FreeRepublic specifically mentioned as a "hate site" about fifteen minutes ago.
Ostensibly the long report was about the Klan using the web to recruit new wackos. Then the focus turned to Casa Maryland, and their director who claimed that calls for his murder had circulated on the internet by anti-immigrant bigots. It was then that the anchor identified FR by name as a hate site.
Actually I think they prefer a "shaped" democracy...one they shape of course. Why does this seem so French to me? :)
I keep thinking we should have a “deranged” button for Ron Paul threads.
Can you name these "scabrous few"? Are they really a problem or are they just those with which you disagree?
See my post at 448... I don’t think it’s a conspiracy theory at all. Actually, I think that is EXACTLY what they are trying to do! It makes perfect sense from their point of view and it’s the ONLY way they could attempt to marginalize us without attacking the First Amendment.
You are in rare form today...:)
Thanks for the ping. I think you have it right. Honestly, JimRob should sue. If there’s a fund being set up for paying for a COMPETENT attorney, please let us know.
Sometimes the shoe fits, though -- at least insofar as a particular post or thread is concerned. FReepers ought to be self-policing, and other FReepers ought to call out folks whose behavior is beyond the pale. It's the only way FR can avoid having the "hate site" label stick.
FWIW, I never call anybody a nazi ... but I do point out that sometimes FReepers will say or suggest something that sounds like something a nazi would say or do.
For example, many of our resident keyboard kommandos are prone to suggesting that we wipe out entire Iraqi villages in reprisal, whenever American troops are killed by terrorists. It's simply true that that is the sort of behavior for which the nazis and Soviets were infamous, and it's worthwhile pointing that out to FReepers who suggest it.
Then again, there are numerous threads about heinous crimes where some FReepers figuratively nod grimly and knowingly when it turns out the perp is a black guy ... and sometimes one gets the feeling that they think it's the fellow's color that caused the crime. Would an outsider be justified in wondering whether such posts are made by a KKKer?
I can't recall ever seeing anybody accusing somebody of being a "brown-shirt thug." There is, however, that class of FReepers who are prone to disparaging police officers as Jack Boot Thugs, and the like. That particular crowd is nuts, IMO -- but they can make FR look pretty bad.
Awww... thanks, meyer! (o:
“We will not be silenced. The fact that the news whores have taken notice is strong evidence of the effectiveness of that great grassroots forum known as Freerepublic.com.”
You got that right!!!
Thanks to Jim Robinson, Kristinn, and ALL the wonderful NON-RACIST, NON-HATE MONGER & REAL FReepers (i.e. NOT TROLLS!) who make this site such a wonderful community!
tsmith130 is right, but left out the fact that O’R deliberately misquoted and/or twisted and/or took out of context several posts. The “I hate blacks” post, for instance, was a headline taken from a story an ASIAN wrote for one of the MSM papers. Another one was taken from the body of another story published in 2002. ONE post was a little iffy, and I understand that one was removed, and the freeper warned about it. It was supposedly a joke, albeit a little out of kilter.
Better than Rudybots were!!! LOL!
Excellent idea. Let's see FR through the eyes of the Media Matters hacks out to shut us down. If only we can appease them, maybe they'll learn to accept our existence.
Where have I heard this before?
Now....you have been given a little taste about how Ron Paul supporters feel when they hear Fox’s smears and/or failure to acknowledge Ron Paul.
Thanks for proper use and spelling of “champing at the bit!”
Leftists and liberals know that FR is a site where real news gets reported, media lies get debunked, and where patriots organize to take action (hey idiots in the MSM reading this... "take action" means political activism, not rioting, burning down buildings, overturning vehicles, breaking news van windows, or general mayhem-making) for or against political causes. We are good at what we do. We have had a not minor part in holding back the leftist and liberal hordes.
Therefore we must be defamed, denigrated and destroyed, by any means in the leftist and liberal arsenal. And lying is at the top of their list.
Cherrypicking—yes, I saw that particular show, and of the THOUSANDS of messages posted here, they came up with, if memory serves, THREE—and of those three, two were completely bogus (taken from articles people had posted from MSM), and one was mostly bogus (someone’s attempt at humor that didn’t quite work).
The problem with FR is that it is the AP of the net. It sets the tone. These attacks were inevitable when the real war between the net and the MSM began. It will only get worse.
The problem is that a hardened FReeper's idea of a "strongly expressed opinion" might well look outright racist to an outsider. And because this thread is precisely about outsiders' impressions of FR, understanding the the limits of "strongly expressed opinions" is something that we need to seriously think about.
Again....this will mushroom into an attempt to marginalize the influence of FR for the "greater good".
That's probably true. If FR can be labelled as a "hate site," then anything coming from FR is automatically suspect. The question is: does FR offer anything that might cause an outsider to come to the conclusion that FR is a hate site? The answer is, unfortunately, yes.
Problem is it may backfire on the players because of the disingenuous nature of the attack.
Doubtful. It's enough for them to paste the label.
Can’t disagree with any of that.
Are you Lindsey Graham?
Your screen name is very well chosen.
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