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Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children
The Vancouver Sun ^ | July 11, 2009 | Chris Parry

Posted on 07/11/2009 12:01:08 PM PDT by buccaneer81

Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children

By Chris Parry, Vancouver SunJuly 11, 2009 11:01 AM

This photo of U.S. President Barrack Obama's daughter Malia, wearing a peace-symbol t-shirt touched off a storm of epithet-laced comments on the conservative 'Free Republic' blog

"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."

These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.

The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."

Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.

Moderators of the blog left the comments - and commenters - in place until a complaint was lodged by a writer doing research on the conservative movement, almost a full day later.

"Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?" wrote one commenter.

"They make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin', and especially 'lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps," wrote another.

Such was the onslaught of derision on the site that the person who originally complained about the slurs, a Kristin N., claims only one comment in the first hundred posted actually criticized the remarks as inappropriate.

A note on the front of the blog reads, "Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government," but one comment on the thread read, "This disgusting display makes me more and more eager for the revolution," while another read, "I never actually wnated [sic] to be a pistol before but..."

After attention from other blogs, the thread was suppressed and placed under review, but before long it was returned to the site intact, and attracted a new series of racial slurs when the original complaint email was posted publicly to the site, with the sender's email address intact.

"The writer has a point," wrote site owner Jim Thompson sarcastically. "We should steer clear of Obama's children. They can't help it if their old man is an American-hating Marxist pig."

"I agree Jim," wrote commenter, by the nickname NoobRep. "The kids didn't pick their commie pinko pansy of a father. Nor did they choose to be put into the spotlight. But Obama/Soetoro is fair game and so is his witch of a wife."

"Poor kids. I hope they're not 'punished with a baby'," wrote another. "Hopefully they won't deal cocaine like the Kenyan."

"DIRTBAGS! All of them. Our [White House] is now a joke to the rest of the world. We have no respect and this is not going to turn out well, mark my words. We will be hit, and much worse than last time. We are now seen as weak and vulnerable. Ghetto and Chicago thugs have taken over."

Only after significant negative attention from a host of left wing political blogs did the maintainers of the Free Republic site place the thread under review for a second time, before finally pulling it.

In the wake of the controversy, some Free Republic posters complained about the vitriol.

One poster by the name of "fullchroma" wrote, "To Jim Thompson: The recent uptick here in racist vitriol, aimed at Barrack, Michelle and their children has made me wonder if I belong. My objection to Obama has nothing to do with skin tone. Is the ugly stereotype of Conservative racism true?"

Another, going by the name of TChris, wrote, "Free Republic is a political discussion forum. It SHOULD be beneath us as a group to stoop to such juvenile tactics as I see increasing here lately. Do we REALLY have to insult Mrs. Obama's appearance like a clique of nasty 14-year-old girls?"

But such opinions were not shared by all. Said Roses of Sharon, "Poor libs .... Too late, the battle has been joined." © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: freerepublic; jimthompson; malia; maliaobama; obama; obamafamily; peacesign; slander; vancouver; vancouversun
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To: Stentor

‘Kinda like a Vichy Free Republic. Cool.’

No! More like the liberation of France and removal of the scum that invaded and occupied the same. Free Republic did not have this number of ‘racist thinking’ and ‘racist seeming’ posts when I joined.


301 posted on 07/11/2009 2:47:11 PM PDT by TheInvisibleMan (')
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To: fanfan
Sorry, but why is ghetto trash assumed to be black?

Every color of people live in ghettos.

The Obama's, to my knowledge, have never lived in a ghetto. So why does that word get introduced at all in discussions about them, if it's not a matter of race? What was specifically "ghetto" about how his daughter looked, if it's not a matter of race? In other words, why is that particular label being put on any of the Obamas instead of some other label?

302 posted on 07/11/2009 2:47:19 PM PDT by Question_Assumptions
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To: Question_Assumptions
What was specifically "ghetto" about how his daughter looked, if it's not a matter of race?

The clothing. Tasteless, especially on an official state visit. And the male cousin...don't get me started.

303 posted on 07/11/2009 2:49:30 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: Gator113
The left can’t understand that unlike their leader, we true and proud patriots refuse to bow to anyone.

Pride goeth before a fall. There's no harm in refusing to sink to the Left's level of classist/racist/heathen snarking in order to avoid being forced to bow, as has happened to free people martyred throughout history for their speech, justified or unjustified. All of us need to reduce Jim's workload from unnecessary crap that truly does not advance the strategy for reclaiming our freedoms, regardless of what color the people are who stole them. Obama has had the majority of his help come from white people.

Even Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount said this (in Matthew, Chapter 5):

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

304 posted on 07/11/2009 2:50:05 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (If ten percent is good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for Uncle Sam. --Ray Stevens)
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To: Question_Assumptions

Post # 277 sums it up perfectly.


305 posted on 07/11/2009 2:50:32 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: GovernmentShrinker

Good point, but perhaps that should be read as a need to post a notice asking for more volunteers. Preferably, I would think, some of the more experienced FReepers with a bit of free time and known not to be trolls. Other Mods can be alerted if some do manage to slip through.


306 posted on 07/11/2009 2:50:56 PM PDT by Utilizer (What does not kill you... -can sometimes damage you QUITE severely.)
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To: mojitojoe

Thanks for your post.

So, Chris Parry, what were you saying?


307 posted on 07/11/2009 2:51:42 PM PDT by CaliGirl-R
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To: RoseofTexas

Riiiiigghht. One word: DECAF!


308 posted on 07/11/2009 2:52:19 PM PDT by Utilizer (What does not kill you... -can sometimes damage you QUITE severely.)
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To: Utilizer
Your post #272.

On walking my dog looking across the river at the United States, I thought I could have been taken wrongly. Yes, Free Republic has to hit back at the bumptious and the arrogant in the Canadian press. They are numerous.

I meant that take these people at their worth. They are like smug little kids, trying to please teacher. Vancouver has it's troubles with the "homeless". A sort of San Francisco homeless scenario. Off loaded them off to decent neighbourhoods to "solve" the problem. Ruined decent peoples lives.

Back to my meaning. Do not unduly suffer over fools and hypocrites.

309 posted on 07/11/2009 2:53:04 PM PDT by Peter Libra
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To: TheInvisibleMan
Free Republic did not have this number of ‘racist thinking’ and ‘racist seeming’ posts when I joined.

You worry about racism on Free Republic when the President of the United States is a racist for sure. Priorities?

310 posted on 07/11/2009 2:53:45 PM PDT by Stentor (If you don't believe you can say anything about the Obamas, you belong to Vichy Free Republic.)
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To: buccaneer81

My question is, when will the Vancouver Sun cover all the disgusting, vile and inappropriate things said about Sarah Palin and her family on Daily Kos and DU?


311 posted on 07/11/2009 2:53:57 PM PDT by rintense (Senior Marketing / IT / UX architect unemployed and looking for work. Freepmail me if you have leads)
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To: MaxMax
The owner of this site says they are not fair game.

One more from the left: Free Republic Pulls Thread Bashing Malia Obama

Post 368

The thread will remain pulled. We do not wish to go that route. The leftists own the garbage heaps and they can keep them.

368 posted on Friday, July 10, 2009 8:33:26 PM by Jim Robinson (Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jimrobfr)

312 posted on 07/11/2009 2:55:32 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (Make yourselves sheep and the wolves will eat you. Ben Franklin)
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To: northernlightsII
...which I would not subscribe to, except my husband insist he wants to read the sportspages.....

Tell hubby about this new thing called the internet. ;-)

313 posted on 07/11/2009 2:55:44 PM PDT by fanfan (Why did they bury Barry's past?)
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To: Lancey Howard
The image below is okay, but if somebody did the same thing with an Ubama image it would be racist.

Linked from the article is another article about this little guy, named Obama by his klueless kraut zoo keepers.


314 posted on 07/11/2009 2:56:01 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: Stentor
You worry about racism on Free Republic when the President of the United States is a racist for sure.

Yes, absolutely.

Fall into that trap, and you're guaranteed to lose. There's only one way to win in a situation like this, and it's to stand by clean principle. Jumping into the gutter with the pigs to wrestle is foolish. The pigs will have fun, and beat you with experience.

Like they are now.

315 posted on 07/11/2009 2:56:32 PM PDT by Steel Wolf (Obama can't fix the economy for the same reason people who win the lottery die broke.)
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To: All

No matter what we say or do, we are going to be accused of being racist. Even deviating a smidgeon from the political policies of Obama’s Mein Kampf immediately brands you as a racist.


316 posted on 07/11/2009 2:57:47 PM PDT by fatnotlazy
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To: TheInvisibleMan
Free Republic did not have this number of ‘racist thinking’ and ‘racist seeming’ posts when I joined.

There are kooks on every public internet forum, including racists. Jim and crew do a good job of smacking down these idiots. So do decent FR members.

That said, any poster with a member since date after 2006 is suspect in my mind, simply because there have been (and always will be) coordinated efforts by sneaky trolls to make FR look like a racist site. Heck, we've already seen coordinated 'attacks' on the Team Sarah site to infiltrate, assimilate, then spew racist garbage.

It can happen anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if local ACORN chapters have guidebooks on how to do this.

317 posted on 07/11/2009 3:01:12 PM PDT by rintense (Senior Marketing / IT / UX architect unemployed and looking for work. Freepmail me if you have leads)
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To: Question_Assumptions
The Obama’s, to my knowledge, have never lived in a ghetto. So why does that word get introduced at all in discussions about them, if it's not a matter of race?

The Obamas have no class.

It reminds people of the ghetto, and lowlife types in general.

Don't forget that FReepers especially are enraged at what Obama is doing to the Republic of the United States of America, and filled with that rage, it's easy to use the worst insults one can come up with, to vent against an enemy like him.

318 posted on 07/11/2009 3:02:06 PM PDT by fanfan (Why did they bury Barry's past?)
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To: sausageseller
Vancover Sun article post: Robbins Mitchell says: I was right...the Obama administration is nothing more than a ghetto toilet. July 11, 2:56 PM

Do you have a link for that? Better save it or grab a screenshot before they take it down.

319 posted on 07/11/2009 3:02:06 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: Jim Robinson

AMEN and all one has to do to see that this is true is to spend a 2-3 hours on KOS, DU and the others. Search their posts on Palin’s kids, the Bush kids, they don’t even attempt to put it nicely. Of course you have to wade through all of the 4 letter words.


320 posted on 07/11/2009 3:03:31 PM PDT by mojitojoe (All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.)
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