Ok, since this thread has come to be what it is, I’ll add my two cents.
First, I’ll say that this is still one of the best sites on the web. When I first started becoming interested in politics, this site was immeasurably helpful in getting me acquainted with the current political situation. For that, I will be forever grateful, so know that, when I make my following points, I still really like this site, despite its flaws. Here’s a observations:
1) No one here is disputing Jim Robinson’s right to run his site however he wants. We know that we can stop visiting this site or post somewhere else. We’re just dismayed that the greatest conservative forum on the web is collapsing. Sure, we can go somewhere else if we don’t like it, but it’s senseless to just let this site die for silly reasons.
2) The lack of posters is hurting more than just freepathons. With less people, this site is not the great news aggregator that it once was. Going here used to be one stop shopping for news and commentary. Now, the site can no longer fulfill that role, and there’s less of a reason to visit the site because of it. It’s sad to see how little activity this site has now, and the place seems to be a shell of its former self.
3) The lack of posters also means less posting and commentary on each thread. It’s sad to see the site being half dead. When I read the older threads, I am in awe of how intelligent the discussion is.
4) There are a few things that have made the posters on this site lose much of their credibility in my mind. One is the treatment of Newt Gingrich. If you read some older threads, you can see that only a year or so ago, he was widely reviled as a RINO here. Now, all of a sudden, he has become almost above reproach. Both positions are too extreme, but this site seems really dumb when it flip-flops on someone like that.
5) The Palin cult of personality was obnoxious. I like her as a person, but this site seemed out of touch with reality when, in 2010, people were acting like it was a shoe-in that she would be president in 2013.
6) The anti-Mormon junk is obnoxious. It’s one thing to allow Mormonism to be deservedly criticized, but it’s another thing to make anti-Mormonism a semi-official site policy. There is a reason why public figures won’t touch this site with a ten foot pole, and the condoned anti-Mormonism by people like Colofornian and Elsie is a large part of that reason. You can have a site dedicated to trashing Mormons or a site where mainstream public figures like Tony Snow post, but not both. I sure as Hell would prefer having the latter.
7) The anti-Catholicism on this site is also obnoxious. It’s not as obvious as the anti-Mormonism, but it is noticeable in the way the religion forum is moderated. There is no reason posters like presently no screen name and Quix should be allowed to post the way they do. However, most of this has subsided due to the fact that, because of the decrease in site activity, the religion forum is half-dead.
8) On the topic of Mitt Romney: I’d like it if the site allowed people to support or not support Romney equally. We all know that Romney is bad, but this is a question of strategy not principles. Either position should be acceptable.
9) As has been noted on this thread before, the whole viking kitties celebrating a zot thing has become ridiculous. Unless it’s a genuine troll, there is no reason to childishly celebrate the zotting of a freeper.
10) The suck-ups on this site are also obnoxious. I have no idea why grown adults feel the need to score brownie points by sucking up to Jim Robinson. We can all like Jim Rob, but we don’t need to worship him or suck up to him like he’s a dictator or we’re teachers’ pets.
So, although I love this site, it has some avoidable problems that are leading to its fundraising problems. If this post leads to a zot, so be it, but due to where this site has been headed, I’m going to take a break from posting for a while and maybe forever. I’ll still lurk and I may respond to comments on this post, but aside from that, I’ll be gone for a while. It was nice while it lasted guys.
Uhhhhhhhh
WRONG.
I don’t get into the RC Proddy rock fights much any more because they increasingly grieved my spirit.
IF I feel a need to say something forceful on an issue related to our differences, I’ll say it strongly but with much more civility and graciousness. That’s a change I chose to make on my own prayerful considerations. That has been true for more than a year.
You might update your facts before posting, next time.
That was beautiful! I could never have said it so well, I think you probably are vocalizing what so many FReepers are thinking. Love the site, love what it stands for, still visit, don’t post much anymore. Every point you made is what I’ve thought over the past few months.