Replies

"I've got other Freepers denying that this flaming even took place, demanding that I show them where it occured."

Here's an example:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2113457/posts?q=1&;page=608

excepts:

Listen, dipsh*t...Don’t tell me I need to be cautious about something I know about. I’ll stand behind my previous statement and, in fact, let me make it even clearer for the slow ones: She should have been licensed and packing at the time — the cutter should be AT ROOM TEMPERATURE on a slab right now— a bullet in his evil brain.
“Surely you are not suggesting we suspend the right to a fair trail and burden of proof"
Of course not, TROLL!..There wouldn’t be a need. The video would have shown him coming at her with a knife and her ending his pathetic existence..
“There are a few lonely young woman out there who will do strange things to get attention.
”You’re a puke!...There’s video that is being analyzed right now. If it was faked we would have heard about it already...The ones that have faked it recently were all on the left side — YOUR SIDE, obviously..Sure you are, silly liberal, guns are for grown-ups — you stay away from them. The last thing we need is a “friendly fire” incident caused by you as you freeze and wet your trousers.

Actually I agree with the poster about one thing:
"If she had been licensed and packing at the time — the cutter should be AT ROOM TEMPERATURE on a slab right now"
This is probably true because if she was carrying a gun the cutter would likely now be dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound.

One thing I really, really wish is that some of our posters would tone down the insults a bit. It’s possible to disagree without screaming insults, and in addition, I think it adds to the irrationality quotient here. It’s like stepping into the middle of a barroom brawl. Maybe the mods should be a little stricter on this, although I realize it’s hard to monitor.

Appreciate your follow-up post. Of course, this wasn't the bulk, or even the worst of the nastiness in here yesterday. I found the virulency of some not only repulsive, but also the real-time embodiment of the very worst sort of stereotyping leveled at FReepers by leftist thugs--who, as another poster indicated, are the last ones who should throw stones.

Yeah, I realize that emotions are high. I also know that we can be prone to assume the worst, because past experience has led us to that. I also know that it is much easier for some to project outward than look inward. The upshot is that, often times, many blithely provide the enemy with the very ammo they seek, without a seeming thought to the potential for blowback.

Drudge may have recklessly started this snowball rolling, but there were way too many FReepers who were all to happy to kick it further and faster down the hill. In other words, she didn't make people in here appear to be presumptuous fools. That was the other self-inflicted wound in this case.

Of course, why would anyone listen to me? I've been told I'm a troll. Apparently having an aversion to engaging in self-defeating auto-mutilation carries that consequence.

Breaks my heart...really.