Posted on 06/26/2013 11:03:17 AM PDT by marktwain
Today, I posted my 10,000th thread on Freerepublic. I thought some reflection was appropriate.
When I found Freerepublic in 1998, it was as though I had found a gold mine of truth in a desert of lies and spiked news stories. You had to work to find the nuggets, but they were there, instead of the fool's gold constantly being peddled by the MSM to a propagandized public. Freerepublic became my home on the net.
Jim Robinson, as a Californian, has done a great deal to make up for all of the horrible ideas that have come out of that state.
Freerepublic was what provided the troops and organization to keep the Democrats from stealing Florida and the 2000 presidential election. I cannot image what horrible shape our country would be in if Al Gore had become President in 2000.
After the revolt of 1994, where the population rose up against the Democrat machine, I expected real change to come about. Newt Gingrich and the Republicans tried. I saw it. But, once the MSM got over the shock of having a Republican Congress (which their political scientists had told them was impossible), they were willing to trade credibility for political power, and pulled out all stops to discredit the Republicans at every turn, no matter how much they had to lie to do it.
Politicians are media creatures. They backed down, and I began to understand that the real power lay with the MSM, not in the politicians. The MSM decides what is a story and what is not. They decide what is a scandal and what is not. They determine what the issues are that need to be addressed by Congress, and whether congressmen are doing a good job (advancing the "progressive" agenda) or not.
As we approached the 2008 elections, I was determined not to let the 2006 disaster happen again. I thought of what I could do to influence the outcome. I had become a precinct committeeman for the Republican party. I had attended local events, donated money, went door to door. It had not been enough in 2006. It was clear that the problem was the MSM, and the fact that most people did not see how agenda driven the MSM was.
One of the keys to the success of the revolt in 1994 had been the Second Amendment. The MSM reflexively spikes stories about armed self defense. Some were reported on Freerepublic, but haphazardly. I decided that showing how much the MSM spiked self defense stories needed to be done, and that the most effective way to do this was to regularly search for these stories and post them on Freerepublic, the premier conservative site on the web.
In the summer of 2008, I started posting stories about armed self defense and other Second Amendment issues on the banglist on Freerepublic every day. I have missed few days since then, nearly always because I could not access the Internet for more than 24 hours. That was five years ago.
One of the advantages of this is that Freerepublic acts as a memory for these stories. Many are only covered in a transient way in local media, and many are lost to the Internet after only a few days. Looking for an important story that I remembered from a few years ago, Freerepublic was one of the very, very, few places that I could find it.
While I was researching stories to post on the banglist, I came across the blog Gun Watch. It was created by John Jay Ray, an academic and successful businessman in Australia, as one of about a dozen that covered subjects that he thought were important. John Jay Ray is brilliant. In his academic career, he studied the psychology of leftists. His monograph on leftism should be taught in our schools. At 70, John Jay Ray decided that he should cut back on his self imposed workload. He asked for someone to take over the management of Gun Watch. As I had recently retired from the DOD(Department of Defense), I reluctantly volunteered. I did not want to see the blog die, and I was already doing much of the work necessary.
I had written a few pieces, including one of my most successful "Gun Registration is Gun Confiscation", published in December of 2000.
When I took over daily operation of Gun Watch almost a year ago. I used it to publish more original content, the most successful of which has been Mass Killings Stopped by Armed Citizens. While I try to write a couple of original articles a week, original content is hard work. I know I will never have the talent of a Matt Bracken, but I can hope to be informative and readable.
I appreciate help in posting self defense stories to the banglist, and there are many who have been helping more and more over the past few years. I hesitate to list them because I am certain to miss some who have done excellent work. You know who you are. Thank you for all the help you have given and all the tips that have been forwarded. We are part of the new media.
The new media has had a major impact. We are how the Tea Party self organized. We are the reason that half of the American voters are informed and no longer trust the MSM. We win because the truth is powerful.
Over the next few years, I expect that more and more people will be posting stories on the banglist. I hope to spend more time writing original content. There is much to do because if we are to save the Republic, the MSM must be held accountable. If the truth is told often enough, we win.
Many now know that marktwain is my freeper screen name, and Dean Weingarten is my given legal name. I made the decision, years ago, that I could fight more effectively out in the open. There is some protection in being well known. Matt Bracken calls this Sakharov's Immunity.
For 50 years the MSM built up credibility with an oligopoly on the information that most Americans received. For the last 20 years the MSM has been trading that credibility for transient political power. At some point, as the new media builds, there will be a tipping point and they will lose that power. The only thing that can stop this trend is if the State steps in to limit the new media and prop up the old. Our job is to build the new media by exposing the truth, and to prevent the stifling of the new media by the State.
Freerepublic is an important part of that effort, and I am proud to call Freerepublic my home on the net. My motto on Freerepublic has become: Self appointed, self disciplined, self satisfied.
Dean Weingarten, AKA freeper marktwain.
Thanks for the hard work!
9,999. Happy?
Thanks for all your hard work. I didn’t even know that Free Republic recorded the number of our postings and replies until this thread, too. It looks like I have a lot of catching up to meet your standards, though. My numbers: 23 postings, 4215 replies.
I'm too chicken to post a thread, so I just comment ;^)
(Hey, I did finally learn how to post pics!)
Many thanks for the info, MarkTwain. You are one of a group of FReeper Authors I’ve had the privilege of reading over the years, along with a first-class News aggregation by FReepers around the world.
My paltry stats:
Freeper No.: 11491 - 3 October, 1998
You’ve posted a total of 432 threads and 9,811 replies.
Of my early threads, the only one I’ve been able to track down is from 9/11/01, sad to say.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/520125/posts\
Stay well, stay safe.
I’ve posted a total of 532 threads and 51,064 replies. Since Jan 18, 2000.
Thank you kind Sir!
Thanks for what you do. Really...Thanks. From the heart Thanks.
Class of 98 here. Just checked on myself. I’ve posted 10,368 replies. Never checked before to see how many replies I have posted until today. I guess my fingers have been busy on the keys all these past years since 1998.
Agreed about the MSM. They have had a majority influence in the last 15 years of politics if not longer. Thanks for all the posts. And this was a great read as well. Semper Fi.
Indeed. Buuuump!
Congratulations and thank you so much, marktwain!!!
Onward to your next 10,000 articles!!
I guess I need to shut up and post more articles...
“You’ve posted a total of 518 threads and 201,130 replies.” ...LOL.
God bless and keep everyone here.
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