There are a lot of fake FReepers posting inappropriate comments to stir up controversy.
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
The zoo keepers said they intended it as an honor:
The baby mandrill, which belongs to a species closely related to the baboon, was born on March 23, Manuela Collmar, zookeeper at the zoo’s “Afrika Haus,” said. Each year the zoo names all newborn animals beginning with the same letter.“This year they all begin with ‘O,’ and one of the zookeepers chose ‘Obama’ – it was meant to be positive and an honour in light of his visit to Dresden in June,” Collmar said, adding that neither she nor her colleagues were aware of the history of using monkeys to caricature and ethnically stereotype black people.
Perhaps an example of the "purple defense". When the facts are in your favor, argue the facts. When the law is in your favor, argue the law. When neither the law nor the facts are in your favor, say whatever you can say without turning purple.
I just don’t get it - she wore a peace shirt in public
__________________
Not just in public. Her father, the president was attending a Summit with leaders from around the world and visiting the Pope. Malia Obama’s T-shirt is the symbol of unilateral disarmament, the CND organization [Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament] logo. It’s leader is Kate Hudson who is also a member of the British Communist Party. Maybe that’s why the UK was the first to run the story on the shirt.
LOL, that wasn't my point.
Let's put it this way, if I want to eliminate the Colorado potato bug, I have to get my hands dirty.
Sometimes the moderators are busy and can’t keep up. When something is that clearly out of line, I’d try again a few hours later if it’s still up. When I hit Abuse on a post, most of the time it disappears very quickly. But it’s true that if people see their complaints about inappropriate posts going unheeded, they’re less likely to bother reporting problem posts in the future.
There are a lot of fake FReepers posting inappropriate comments to stir up controversy.
One word: AHHHHHHH
Great idea. Like the yellow stripe on the bumper for NASCAR rookies.
There is another way too. You can give members a flag button. If x amount of people flag that post it is automatically deleted. It makes it easier on the mods. This is a big forum and they can’t be expected to see each post and sometime members may not even see them or want to take the time to report them through the abuse feature. When maybe 10 people flag a post, it can be automatically deleted or the mods can take a look and decide. It makes it easier for them than checking every single abuse report.
I saw some of the original thread and the only one in the email to Jim that I thought was out of line was calling the child a whore.
There are many thousands of regular posters on this site, and it's possible to post in entirely different circles for years. For instance, I read daily since 2004 and post frequently, but never recall having encountered you or your screen name, even though you joined just a few months after me.
You can search individual posts several ways. With a few clicks, I found the join dates of the people mentioned in the article: two joined on different dates in 2000; two joined on September 11, 2004.
It might be a red flag that two joined the same day if not for the fact that it is a significant day for us, so that proves nothing at all. Other than that, one of them posts a lot of vanities. That's annoying; but without reading his/her articles word for word, it's not necessarily significant, either.
If you want to make suspicious claims about other FReepers, do your homework first and go back through their posts. Otherwise, keep it positive.
Is it any wonder why after all the “believe me, or your lying eyes” propaganda, that some here would post about her?
Silly libs.
‘Oh I get it. You joined in 2006 and your panties are in a twist because you think I was talking about you. Get some thicker skin. If you aren’t a kook or troll then don’t worry.’
I apologize for any misunderstanding or misinterpretation that I made.
Now. Will you please close your eyes and turn your head while I ‘untwist’ my panties.
saw you peeking
I am sorry for your discomfort, but I am ROFLMAOSTN*!
* (scaring the neighbors)
Hey, I always peek! :)
We were Alinskyed under the rules for radicals. They pulled the entire threads.
Thanks for your informed point of view!
it was VERY cynical of the Obamas to dress their daughter in a peace signed tee. TWICE. It was not a mistake, it was baiting. They can all go to hell. The daughters are off limits, but not what their parents allow them to wear. It was a disgrace to have her in that outfit, with her male cousin nearby who looked like a bum in sweats. They looked sloppy and too casual for the First Family.
jaketapper "The "peace symbol" is known to provoke the right, like the swastika ...And Malia does look trashy in that photo."about 1 hour ago from web
The other thing is I tend to avoid commenting on posts generally that I consider offensive- I figure there’s enough that will do so. The RARE occasions when I have done so (at other forums besides FR) were over things which would involve seemingly near/over-the-line in terms of perceived threats to Prez or former Prez. I have first told the poster privately, then if that didnt work other posters then the site owner, or if on a liberal site and someone who seemed malicious as opposed to careless with words, the SS. THAT is a limit for me. The racial things- most often I see anti-semitism on lib blogs or non-partisan forums etc. There are ways to police one’s own. Also, alerted local police to “anti-war” protestors who were planning on shutting down a local recruiting office. There are so many ways to handle things. The left will hate us no matter what. Just the same, it doesn’t hurt to be careful before posting.
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