Free Republic Smeared by NAACP Report (Freepers will not be intimidated)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010 | Kristinn

[kristinn]

In a report released today entitled, Tea Party Nationalism, the NAACP falsely accuses Free Republic of being "an important space for...racist(sic)" and of having as a member the Holocaust Museum shooter James Von Brunn.

In falsely accusing Free Republic of being a haven for racists, the NAACP report notes Free Republic's front page promotes the Tea Party Express. However, the report fails to note the front page also includes several statements warning that racism and violence are not welcome on Free Republic:

"Please enjoy our forum, but also please remember to use common courtesy when posting and refrain from posting personal attacks, profanity, vulgarity, threats, racial or religious bigotry, or any other materials offensive or otherwise inappropriate for a conservative family audience."

And

"Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government. Free Republic advocates a return to constitutionally limited government, reserving all government powers not expressly delegated by the constitution to the United States to the States respectively, or the people, emphasizing sovereign state governments, local government, self-government and self-rule, while restricting government powers to only those enumerated in the constitution and maximizing individual rights and liberty as originally envisioned and established by our Founding Fathers and secured and defended by the blood of patriots and statesmen for over two hundred years."

With regard to Von Brunn, he was not a member of Free Republic. The article authored by him was posted by another poster. The article did not contain racism, however the article was pulled when the moderators became aware that Von Brunn was a racist. Articles by known racists are not tolerated on Free Republic (unless the articles are authored by racist Democrats like the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Vice President Joe Biden or the late Sen. Robert Byrd.) To say that Von Brunn was a poster at Free Republic, or that the site is "an important space for...racists" is false and a correction will be demanded.

From page #53 of the section on the Tea Party Express in the NAACP report:

One of the official partners of the Tea Party Express is Free Republic, which identifies itself as “an online gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the web.”173 It is an important space for the birthers and racist. One of those posting material on Free Republic claiming that President Obama had no birth certificate was James von Brunn, the white supremacist who killed the guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., on June 10, 2009.174 This website has also posted racist attacks on the Obama family. In July 2009, after Obama’s elevenyear- old daughter Malia was photographed wearing a t-shirt with the peace symbol, a Free Republic thread featured racially charged comments about President Obama’s wife and children, using racist epithets and terms like “Ghetto street trash.” The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured that caption, “To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make Monkey sounds.”175

On the front page of its website, Free Republic advertised the Tea Party Express Bus Tour. (The Free Republic web page also features links to Tea Party Patriots and ResistNet). Free Republic’s Kristinn Taylor serves as a bridge between Free Republic and the folks behind the Tea Party Express.176 He has also worked for the anti-immigrant vigilante group Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, and has spoken at Florida Tea Party events.177 He does not get along particularly well with factions other that Tea Party Express, however. In a March 22, 2010 article entitled “Freedom Works Willing to Throw Tea Party Under the Bus to Appease Democrats, Media” on Free Republic, Taylor wrote: “Freedom Works...latched onto the Tea Party movement last year is now threatening to abandon the grassroots movement in the face of a propaganda onslaught by the Democrat party and the media.”178

The mention of the offensive comments about the Obama family is regretfully correct, but the report fails to note that the offensive comments were made by a handful of posters out of over 300,000 registered user and that the thread was pulled by Free Republic moderators when it was brought to their attention.

Freeper Gary Dunn was quoted today in The Guardian about the report:

Gary Dunn, a contributor to the Free Republic website, said it had a policy of always removing racist comments as quickly as possible.

It uses up to eight moderators to filter offensive posts, and repeat offenders were had their access withdrawn, he said.

As for my affiliation with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, I was a media consultant for several months. The group was not anti-immigrant and not vigilante.

The NAACP report is not just meant to smear the Tea Party movement, it is also meant to show participants and organizers that they will be investigated and held in a bad light to the public just for being in the movement. For example, others mentioned in the report have their financial situations highlighted.

I will not be intimidated by the racist NAACP, nor, I know, will Freepers.

NAACP report footnotes:

173 . Free Republic website, http://www.freerepublic.com.

174 . James W. Von Brunn, “Obama is missing!” Free Republic website, taken down by Free Republic after the shooting, cache of the post available here, http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:niXSYG-nVO8J:www. freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2141655/posts+http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2141655/posts&cd

88 | Tea Party Nationalism — A Special Report of the IREHR

=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a.

175 . Chris Parry, “Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children,” The Vancouver Sun, July 12, 2009, http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Conservative+Free+Republic+blog+free+speech+flap+after+racial+slurs+directed+Obama+children/1782375/story.html.

176 . Kristinn Taylor is a spokesperson for Free Republic and also works with Move America Forward, whose leadership is also behind Our Country Deserves Better PAC. See, Kristinn Taylor, “Author page” Big Government website, undated, accessed August 1, 2010, http://biggovernment.com/author/ktaylor/.

177 . Our Country Deserves Better PAC is the creation of the principles in the PR firm of Russo Marsh & Rogers. Russo Marsh & Rogers was the driving force behind Move America Forward, the pro-war, pro-torture group known best for harassing anti-war activists. In fact, Our Country Deserves Better and Move America Forward share several staff members. Howard Kaloogian chairs OCDB and is the founder and former chair of MAF. Sal Russo serves as chief strategist for both groups. Joe Wierzbicki, a principal in Russo Marsh & Rogers serves as grassroots coordinator for MAF and coordinator of OCDB. Deborah Johns is MAF’s director of military relations and, until recently, an OCDB spokesperson.

178 . Kristinn Taylor, “Freedom Works Willing to Throw Tea Party Under the Bus to Appease Democrats, Media,” Free Republic Website, March 22, 2010, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2477257/posts.

[eyedigress]

Exactly. Accusing or thinking people do or think the way you act or believe.

[fight_truth_decay]

http://twitter.com/derekahunter

“Liberal Juan Williams is fired because liberals didn’t like what he said; media to do more stories on conservatives chasing out moderates. “

being tweeted all over..

“Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech...” but #NPR will fire you if 378 liberals don’t like what you say. #TeamJuan
12 minutes ago via TweetDeck .

Sickening that tax dollars fund NPR & they fire Juan Williams for speaking his mind...in a PC way. #TeamJuan #tolerance http://is.gd/gaAhz
17 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[muawiyah]

Juan was fired today. George Soros just bought out the reporters and reporterettes on NPR, so there was no room for an independent thinking black man anymore.

This is not the first time Leftwingtard bigots have gone after Juan.

[UCANSEE2]

What does NAACP stand for?

I don't know, but the CP can't stand for COLORED PEOPLE, because that word has been outlawed and declared racist.

[goodnesswins]

Are you referring to the $1 mil Soros admitted giving to Media Matters today?

[Mariner]

They'll take it back...AFTER the election.

The NAACP and Freepers are now eternal enemies.

I'll not be smeared by a bunch of racists and communists.

People get ready, there's a train a comin'...

[justsaynomore]

Herman Cain reposted several of his replies to the NAACP on his facebook today. These were back in July when the NAACP was calling the tea party racist. Of course, Herman is a tea party participant/speaker and has a bit to say about all of that - mainly that they are using SIN tactics to divert the attention from the failed liberal policies. (SIN is a Hermanism, it stands for Shift the subject, Ignore the facts and Name call)

http://www.thehermanatorpac.com/weekly_column/calling-tea-party-people-racist-s-i-n/

[tcrlaf]

THESE PEOPLE ARE FREAKIN’ Kidding, right?

just ONE discussion board on Yahoo Finance has been home to:

Carlos Hartmann, the guy who attacked an innocent man on a train platform in Amterdam, while looking for an American soldier to Kill.

Vikram Buddhi, an Indian National grad student at Purdue University, sentenced to 7 years in prison for threatening the life of President Bush, as well as hacking THOUSANDS of Yahoo ID’s, then using Purdue’s computers to spread Anti-Bush, Pro-Kerry propoganda across the internet, to the tune of MILLIONS of messages a day.

Pat Bedell, the 36 yr-old San Jose liberal loon that lived in his mommy’s basement, who drove to Washington to shoot up the Pentagon, and died in a hail of gunfire after wounding a guard.

David Kernell, the Palin email hacker, whose dad was Obama’s Tenn. Campaign manager

These are the ones I know about, and that have been proven.

Jason Lee was also a Yahoo Poster, but his hate got him banned, right about the time he attacked the Discovery Channel, being killed by a sniper.

I WONDER WHY THE NAACP HYPOCRITES DIDN’T MENTION THAT???

[Nachum]

You must be doing something right, Kristinn.

[mojo114]

You must see this!

[chris_bdba]

The more I learn about NAACP the less respect I have for them.

[ggwyo]

You know, this would almost be a perfect time for the NAACP to realize that most intelligent people don’t give a da*n what their little racist and bigoted organization has to say or think.

With racists like the NAACP and the Obama administration around I am beginning to think that the KKK might sue, the both of them, for infringement. Or at the least want a copy of their play book.

[re_nortex]

The NAACP of 2010 is a racist despicable bearer of a once proud name.

My experience with that outfit (I was a member of the NAACP in the early 1960's) is otherwise. See my posting (#29 in this thread) and follow the "ex-member" link.

Since my naive college days, I've studied the NAACP extensively and read everything published by or about W.E.B. DuBois and the Niagara Movement. The NAACP of 2010 is faithful to its Socialist, racist principles dating back to its founding in 1909.

I urge anyone who has any sympathy to the NAACP of the past to read more about its early days and those involved with its creation (including Oswald Garrison Villard and Florence Kelley). The NAACP is now and has always been a stain on America.

[surfer]

Was Jim Thompson mentioned...they should have focused on that guy!

[mojo114]

Absolutely. Divide and conquer.

[fight_truth_decay]

Soros/Trumka/CPUSA: GOP Pledge Racist
From the Communist Party USA’s Peoples World (formerly
known as the Daily Worker):

Labor takes on racism in GOP "Pledge"
by: Dan Margolis
October 12 2010

The Republican Party’s platform for the mid-term elections, its "Pledge to America," is already regarded by most progressives and moderates as something that, if enacted, would be a huge step backwards.

Now, a new report confirms what many could have easily guessed: the Pledge has a sharply racist edge.

This "new report" (a pdf file) is from the Soros-funded Center For American Progress.

Source

[mylife]

You want to see racist?
Go to Mexico, or the Middle East, or Africa or anywhere but FR.
America is the most egalitarian place on the planet.

Criticism does not equate to racism.

[muawiyah]

Recalling the events now ~ week later I had a giant retinal tear and that clean done put that stuff out of my mind for nearly a month of "Keep Your Head Down" recovery after serious surgery.

But yeah, that guy posted all sorts of cr*p all over the net and then wrote articles complaining about how slow people were to get rid of it.

He was a filthy little Canadian POS it turned out. Nasty piece of work that can only be tossed up in a society that tolerates those abusive "human rights star chamber" operations.

Is he still allowed to walk the streets spewing his garbage?

[rmlew]

sue them for slander!

[mojo114]

NO, read Kristinn’s remarks in the opening. It was a poster that posted a statement by Von Brunn.
Gosh..