Freedom Fighters-FR mentioned in Liberal paper

badger herald ^ | 05/09/02 | Kate McDonald

[ElRushbo]

Freedom fighters

by Kate MacDonald, Staff Writer May 09, 2002

One of the most influential and monumental First Amendment battles of this new millennium is being fought in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The unhappy marriage of print media and the Internet has finally reached an impasse. Free Republic bills itself as a "loosely organized group of grassroots Americans who support the constitution and look for honesty, integrity and honor from those in government." Nice PR. Really, this staunchly conservative activist group's popularity and fondness for a good battle have turned quite a few heads on Capitol Hill. Active members, who call themselves FReepers, include Dr. Alan Keyes, Gary Aldrich, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Congressman Bob Barr and Matt Drudge. In its fifth year, the Free Republic has grown to over 60,000 members with chapters all over the country. The crux of their movement is Freerepublic.com, a massive forum-driven website where the pseudo-militant grassroots conservatives can convene to pontificate at the virtual podium on the devious workings of government and media.

There is no noise on the Internet, but these ranters are screaming loudly enough to garner the reproach of more than easily offended liberals. The FReepers frequently use examples from current media to facilitate their arguments. Their practice of posting entire articles lifted from news sources all over the country has infuriated commercial media.

Crying theft, unfair competition and intellectual property rights, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times have filed suit against Free Republic.

What a delicious irony, that a group of enlightened and loquacious defenders of constitutional privilege are now entangled in this trenchant imbroglio calling into question the very principles their movement was founded upon.

The Free Republic calls their media adversaries "elements of the socialist propaganda machine" and claims that the practice of posting articles is tantamount to "gathering in our virtual town hall where we virtually pass around newspaper clippings."

The newspapers claim their copyrighted material is produced at great expense to them. They post these materials online, and the ad revenue from their websites is necessary to sustain their operation.

As both sides are armed with strong and persuasive rhetoric, the issue is exacerbated by the fact that Free Republic is a nonprofit movement. All of its funding comes from private donations. Therefore, there is soundness in the Freepers' assertion that they are not stealing the articles for commercial gain but rather passing them around to educate and illuminate each other on issues of immediate relevancy.

The district judge disagreed and ruled erroneously in favor of the Post and the Times, saying that Free Republic is a commercial enterprise. Free Republic is appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and will likely have its arguments heard in September. In the meantime, the group is barred from allowing its members to post full-text articles from The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.

The FReepers are calling this legal fight no less than a "life-and-death struggle." In fact, this description is the truth. If this battle falls in favor of the commercial media, the Free Republic will die. With its principled dedication to the First Amendment called into question, the group is being forced to defend it absolutely. If it fails, then the fundamental foundation of the group's movement will have been destroyed. No structure can stand without a foundation.

The fight that Free Republic is embroiled in is broader and farther-reaching than just the relatively small group of people involved. The U.S. Constitution is the foundation upon which our democracy is built. Its first and foremost amendment is being challenged in the name of monetary gain.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals must recognize that to rule in favor of the commercial media in this case will weaken and debase the words supporting this country. Chipping away at the foundation doesn't bode well for any American: conservative, liberal, or purveyor of socialist propaganda.

Kate MacDonald (kmacdonald

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Remember, political change comes slow.

Real political change requires a Constitutional majority. That is, a majority sufficient to amend the Constitution. To remind us, that will require a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress, plus a majority in each house of three-fourths of the state legislatures. Once we have had this kind of majority of non-RINO's for a decade or two, our political work will be done. I do not intend to hold my breath waiting for this though.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

I'll also take a country that does not limit your access to the government unless approved by one of two non-governmental associations.

Please give this theory a rest, on at least some threads. If you think that they are all criminals, arrest a few, and see how you do in court.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

you supported one of the numerous third party candidates in 2000. Like . . .Keyes

If you can cite a link to a story wherein Alan Keyes filed as a third party candidate for President in 2000, I will give $100 to Free Republic. If you cannot, please apologize to the Ambassador. I notice you did not name any other of the President's primary campaign opponents as 'third-party' candidates.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

If this is typical of her articles, I would read them.

Based on the story and her picture, I wouldn't mind discussing this with her in person.

[Paul C. Jesup]

If the liberals to manage to close down Free Republic. They will be closing off one of the few major pressure valves that keeps conservatives from committing armed revolt against the government.

The liberals do this at their own risk.

[ppaul]

[ppaul]

Thanks for the BUMP.
Good article.

[cake_crumb]

"THANK YOU. FV ON LIST PLEEEEEZ. However, who is calling us Freedom Fighters? That is what the Palestinians call themselves. I do not like that tag. WE ARE FREEDOM LOVERS NOT FREEDOM FIGHTERS imo."

I wasn't going to post to this, since I got offline before your ping yesterday, and I'm a day late, BUT I can rant freely now, heheheh...

AMERICANS were freedom fighters 150 years before "Palestinians" were ever INVENTED. It's OUR term, HIJACKED BY LEFT WING TERRORIST SYMPATHIZERS, in order to give the world the ERRONEOUS IMPRESSION THAT TERRORISTS WANT 'FREEDOM.' Terrorists don't want 'freedom'. THE TERRORISTS wouldn't know freedom if it bit then on the behind.

It's time to wrest OUR terminology from the incorrectly political appeasers, and FORCE THEM TO USE THEIR BRAIN CELL TO CREATE THEIR OWN DARNED TERRORIST DESCTIPTIVE.

[Incorrigible]

I always considered myself more of a "decoy rebel" than "psuedo-militant" but it's an OK moniker.

[Grampa Dave]

BOL, re a DOM's comments here! :)

[floriduh voter]

Thanks, cake. They are too busy blowing themselves up to think of their own stuff.

I appreciate your post. Floriduh Voter is a Freedom Lover who will fight the good fight against the mainscream media, against the DU, against dems in office and against RINOS. I don't think any of those groups have a clear picture of freedom.

And as my attorney the Major and I concurred on the other day "Everything is at stake." We know this at Free Republic and far from being an extremist view, it is the truth.

God Bless America and America, Wake Up!

[VOA]

the ultra-liberal University of Wisconsin

I have a relative (by marriage) who did her bachelors and PhD. at UW-Madison.
She now dislikes the place...she became a Republican/Conservative after she left
for a saner environment.

[Bigg Red]

...pseudo-militant grassroots conservative...

Shucks! There ain't nuthin' pseudo about my militancy!

If this is a lib paper I am dumbfounded by the author's evenhandedness.

Thanks for the ping, nutmeg. (How's your carvillized hand doing? Did you autoclave it yet?)

[FreeTheHostages]

Any thoughts on this article, fellow pseudo-militant conservatives???

Oh shoot. This weekend I had planned to buy some helium balloons for my 2-year old niece, continue a quilting project, make a chicken-pot pie, clean the place (always on the list, never completely done) and do some gardening out front. (I have already taken my cat to the vet.) Now that I learn that I am a psuedo-militant, I am going to have to completely revise my plans. Where do I put those boots?? (But, um, for the record, those ERT people do freak me out.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[RonDog]

"you supported one of the numerous third party candidates in 2000. Like . . .Keyes" - Reagan Man

"If you can cite a link to a story wherein Alan Keyes filed as a third party candidate for President in 2000, I will give $100 to Free Republic. If you cannot, please apologize to the Ambassador. I notice you did not name any other of the President's primary campaign opponents as 'third-party' candidates." - Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Not unless you count the GOP as a "third party..."

Ambassador Alan Keyes Files Presidential Exploratory Committee
News/Current Events Announcement Keywords: ALAN KEYES
Source: Keyes 2000
Published: June 17, 1999 Author: Becky Fenger
Posted on 06/21/1999 03:38:56 PDT by planomike

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Becky Fenger
(602)955-1930
Thursday, June 17, 1999

Ambassador Alan Keyes Files Presidential Exploratory Committee

(Washington, D.C.) Thursday, June 17, 1999 - Ambassador Alan Keyes, conservative commentator and host of "The Alan Keyes Show: America's Wake-Up Call", has officially formed an exploratory committee for seeking the Republican Party nomination in the presidential election of 2000.

and

White House Hopeful Keyes Files With FEC
Politics/Elections News
Source: Reuters
Published: 6/17/99
Posted on 06/18/1999 14:27:03 PDT by Keyes For President

Thursday June 17 2:24 PM ET White House Hopeful Keyes Files With FEC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Alan Keyes, a former U.S. ambassador turned syndicated radio talk show host, formally moved Thursday toward a second White House bid.

Keyes, 49, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission establishing a presidential exploratory committee and fund-raising apparatus, said spokeswoman Becky Fenger.

Keyes has been campaigning for the party's 2000 Republican nomination for months, but wasn't ready to file with the FEC until Thursday.

``We just got down to it,'' Fenger said.

Since Keyes was previously ``testing waters'' for a presidential campaign, he was not required to disclose contributions.

Now that he filed with the FEC, he must disclose all the money he has raised toward his 2000 presidential run, which Fenger said would be about $1.6 million by the end of June.

Since 1994, Keyes has hosted a nationally syndicated radio talk show, ``The Alan Keyes Show: America's Wake-up Call.''

He previously ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996, and twice for the Republican nomination for the Senate from Maryland, in 1988 and 1992.

During the Reagan administration, he served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and later as an assistant secretary of state.

[ned13]

pseudo-militant grassroots conservatives

Shoot, now I'll never be a CNN News Anchor babe!

[RonDog]

...Now that I learn that I am a psuedo-militant, I am going to have to completely revise my plans. Where do I put those boots?? (But, um, for the record, those ERT people do freak me out.)

Would that be:

European Roundtable of Industrialists - ERT is a forum of 45 European industrial leaders aiming at promoting the competitiveness and growth of Europe's economy.

or

Environmental Resources Trust - ERT is a Washington, DC-based, non-profit organization that pioneers the use of market forces to protect and improve the global environment.

or

Hiya! - I'm Ert, a long-travelled software engineer currently settled in Boston.

[RonDog]

Shoot, now I'll never be a CNN News Anchor babe!

LOL!!!

For those who may have missed it, here is a link to that WONDERFUL thread:

After Action Report - D.C. Chapter's White House Correspondents Dinner Freep 5/04/02
self | Sunday, May 5, 2002 | Kristinn
Posted on 5/5/02 9:12 AM Pacific by kristinn

Honor Roll: Sauropod, FreeTheHostages, ned13 and two lurker friends, staytrue, nutmeg, zelig, Exit148 and her sister, Bigg Red and her husband, tgslTakoma and kristinn.

The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic held its fourth annual freep of the White House Correspondents Association Dinner last night at the Washington Hilton. Fourteen FReepers and lurkers braved the cold rain outside the hotel to ridicule the pompous media elite as they arrived for the dinner and to condemn the liberal bias in their reporting.

We started gathering at 4 p.m. just below the main entrance to the Hilton at Connecticut Avenue and T Street, NW. Sauropod got in costume while we worked on signs and formed our freepline at the corner.

Officer Brinkley of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department was not assigned to us this year, thankfully. We were checked out by the Secret Service and MPD and given the all-clear with the caveat that we would be moved when President Bush arrived. The D.C. police officer who spoke with us asked if we were the ones at the White House on Saturdays during the Clinton years. We told him that was us and he laughed, saying, "You guys are alright!"

The law enforcement officers did keep an on us, though. That's their job and we didn't mind.

Before the guests started arriving, passersby had a great time with Sauropod's drag impersonation of a "Media Whore Madam" complete with wig, make-up, fishnet stockings, platform shoes and a silver sequined dress with bazooms that would've made Christie Brinkley jealous if she had seen them on her way into the dinner.

One of the signs Sauropod used with the costume said, "CNN ANCHOR BABE WET T-SHIRT CONTEST WINNER." Ned13 stood next to him/her touting her own credentials to be a CNN anchor babe. Her sign said, "CNN HIRE ME! NO EXPERIENCE, NO CLUE, WILL STRIP FOR WORK. REFERENCES--BILL CLINTON, JESSE JACKSON and HEIDI FLEISS." - more

You guys looked pretty MILITANT to me! :)

[Reagan Man]

Real political change requires a Constitutional majority.

There is the politics of getting elected and the politics of governing after one is elected. Either way, political change comes slow. But I dont agree with you that political change can only come about through a constitutional amendment. The Constitution grants all legislative powers be vested in the Congress. These representatives have the power of the people, to make law, as they see fit. With more conservatives holding power in Congress, America could be returned to it's more traditional beliefs and values. That would mean reduced taxation and smaller government.

While the Constitution is a political governing document, it doesn't specify or stipulate, anything to do with political parties. Which is what my argument was all about.

But don't give up, not yet. In another 70 years, things can do another 180. It's happened before and it can happen again. That may be too late, for you and I, but it's not to late for America.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

The U.S. Constitution is the foundation upon which our [democracy=communism] Constitutional Republic is built.