I’m glad I don’t know much about it. I’m afraid of quitting this place. I don’t want to quit this place. I like it here a lot. But if it gets to the point where only certain candidate preferences are permitted — even if that candidate is one I prefer myself — then I will quit.
Free Republic should mean Free Speech for all Republicans and conservatives.
Even those who support Ron Paul. Even those who support Giuliani.
It’s a conservative website not a republican website. Too many republican candidates at all levels are more leftist than their democrat opposition. That’s because we as republican voters have allowed it. “(R) means good” needs to be re-evaluated.
Jim Robinson created a forum where conservatives could meet and discuss the issues. He banned a certain group who actively cheerleaded for one of the most leftist republican candidates in history. Rudy.
Free Republic should mean Free Speech for all Republicans and conservatives.
Even those who support Ron Paul. Even those who support Giuliani.
That is the bottom line, almost. The bottom line is that Jim Robinson owns the site. And whether you or I agree 100% with his decisions or not - and I think that the success of the site, and the fact that you and I spend so much time on it, reflects the fact that he has manifested superb judgment overall - he ultimately makes the call.Some of the Rudybots got into words with The Boss on the thread—and he took a lot of “trash”, I guess you’d say, before he pulled the switch.15 posted on 08/19/2007 8:43:34 AM EDT by Clara Lou
Bottom line - FR is for conservatives and conservative causes. Not 'republicans' and/or 'pro abortion moderates' (rudy and his bots).
14 posted on 08/19/2007 8:22:55 AM EDT by Condor51
If Jim says something or some candidate (Guliani, in this case) is not conservative - and puts his foot down on the issue - then, at least on this site, Guliani ain't conservative. And I happen to agree with that assessment, and as a resident of a county near New York City I think I was among the first on FR to point that fact out when people were waxing enthusiastic about him early on.
But it always has to boil down to someone making, or failing to make, a call. Fail to make a call - allow pornography on the site, for example - and you repulse your target audience. Make a series of wrong calls, and you lose the people who attract your target audience. Those are the constraints within which Jim operates on the site, but how he slices and dices it is in reality his decision.
But do not suppose that you can have free speech and still have that target audience. You want free speech, you got it - just do it on your own site, and attract the audience you want to target, as well as you can. But you and I know that it would be awfully cold out there. So until and unless something really blows up, we will salute Jim's decisions and continue to contribute (intellectually and I hope financially) to FR.