Posted on 08/03/2002 10:16:57 AM PDT by justshe
(Regarding the answer to stopping the 'in-house wars')
The answer is for everyone to just stop doing it.
I know that is hard for some, because things have gotten to the point where now things are personal. There are wounds in some cases, and in others there is anger. Makes it really hard for people to stand down. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure it has been planned this way.
Earlier tonight thanks to a tip from someone who I wish I had listened to earlier, we discovered someone who had at least 8 different accounts. One bashed Horowitz, Swaggert, and Art Bell. Another bashed Keyes. Another posted as a rabid Keyester. Another posted as a Klayman basher. Several seemed to have a thing for mocking Registered.
What was the guy's game? Here is a graphic and caption off of the profile of one of them:
Yes, he wanted to get people fighting to where they would walk away.
One of this guy's incarnations posted a piece or two from anarchist website strike-the-root, which to me hints to what his ideology is. It would also explain why he had a knack for going after the DC chapter folks. I recall nrkybill (anarchy Bill) had some issues with you all. They are not the same people, I don't think, but if their ideology is the same and their main targets are the same, then it is possible that there is some connection.
Obviously, the goal is to drive people away. This is not happening on just one side, it is happening on all sides. It is a form of disruption that relies on the cover of good people engaging in flame wars with them so that the disruptors seem part of the mass rather than the agent provocatuers that they are.
There are two options, really. People can help us out in finding them by refusing to take part in the flame wars and being understanding when a person gets sent to the cooler, so that eventually the real problem children are rooted out.
And the other option is to let them win by letting them drive you away- with you being people from every single conservative faction we have. Rest assured though, if that one happens, if you make another home and it starts being successful, they will come there and do it to you there.
I've asked this before. I'll ask it again. (And this is not aimed at you, ... but at the forum). Please stop it with the personal attacks. One can have a rip-roaring take-it-to-the-mat political debate with someone without getting personal, without resorting to childish taunts, and still not have it be bland.
And the best thing that one can do otherwise is to use a little self-enforcement. A Bushie telling a Bushie to knock off the insults is going to probably work better than a Keyester telling a Bushie to knock off the insults, and vice versa.
My flame suits are back on, so everyone have at it again. But please at least think about it. Thanks, AM
Well, the stakes (and, concurrently, the infighting) are always higher when you're in power than when you're not. Pre-2001, we were practically all united around a single purpose: Get the 'Toon off the stage and make sure his even more evil (and worse, far more boring) Mini-Me wasn't elected president. Now that we've got the White House, we're free to spend more time arguing over split ideological hairs.
BTW, does anyone know if The Mods ever keep note of IP addresses and actually ban them so that they not only can't sign up multiple accounts, but aren't even allowed to read the site? I mean, if you run a search for duplicate IPs in the account database, and you ever find more than two accounts using the same IP, then you've got a probable disruptor. And even the two-account IPs should be checked to make sure they're legitimate (husband and wife, etc).
Of course, diehard disruptors could get around this just be accessing FR through AOL, but I have to admit I wouldn't complain one bit if the whole of *.aol.com was blocked from FR.
OH-MY-GOD, some people here have an agenda??? You mean they aren't just pouring away their lives sending keystokes into the abysss.
Most people on this site who discuss ideas do so with the belief that honest debate and disagreement is good for our country. Changing people's opinions through facts and debate is critical.
As one who has been on this site now for almost two years-- through the Gore/Bush War, the early Bush Presidency, and the 9-11 Aftermath, I have not seen a major change in civility.
What I have seen is vibrant discussion about the best Bush strategy in the current situation.
Once Bush is safely in his 2005-2008 term, he can forget politics somewhat, right now he has a country to lead, a country that has ZERO access to the information he has. We NEED TO TRUST THE MAN TO DO THE RIGHT JOB.
But it is a valuable venue for conservatives to discuss where his policy choices leave the conservative farm in the pursuit of political strenght-- Bush needs the people behind him to lead. ALL FREEPERS NEED TO REMEMBER THAT WE ARE IN THE WAR FOR OUR LIVES, AND BUSH HAS RISEN TO THAT TASK. DISINFORMATION IS A PART OF ANY WAR.
BTW, The Next New Moon over Iraq Draws Near-- August 8.
Ah, quite true. I guess I've gotten a little elitist over time with my cable modem. ;) I totally forgot about dialup ISPs.
But with a little extra effort, I think direct evidence could still be established. People using locally-based ISPs - say, for example, the RATS-R-US ISP in the Peoples' Republic of Berkeley - are still all going to show up as *.ratsrus.com. So you could just pull out all the accounts that use that domain (almost certainly no more than a few in any given town) and examine their posting habits and times for any suspiciousness. And most national ISPs (not AOL, which is part of why I said "just ban them entirely") give easily identifiable localities in their domain names (say, *.phil.pa.earthlink.net). So you could just run searches against that. Etc.
My approach is usually to refute the stupid claim of the disruptor with facts, then ignore their illogical responses.
Not unless they weren't just banned or suspended, but also had their real name posted by JimRob or an AM, along with an explanation for their banning that included outright libelous statements. (And we all know that no AM or JimRob would ever do something that stupid.) Online communities have been around for well over two decades now, and nobody has ever successfully sued a privately-run community over a banishment. I think only a couple of people have ever even tried, and they lost big time.
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