Free Republic is open to everyone. Anyone can register, and once registered they have full membership authority to post articles and make comments. Not everyone here is who they pretend to be (a gasp is heard, we are shocked, not everyone here is, shall I say it a conservative?)
I enjoy stopping by FreeRepublic, I enjoy reading the articles, but I enjoy the discussion that follow the articles more. Most are serious and well thought out, some are purely emotional, and a few are childish. And a very few are really mean and nasty. These are usually removed by the moderator.
I suspect that some of the really mean and nasty posts are done by people pretending to be a conservative. The same as those that would email a journalist and instead of attempting to engage them in a meaningful discussion, to simply call them names and say you hope they die soon. Personally I would not attempt to engage any liberal in any meaningful discussion as it is as pointless as trying to teach a pig how to sing. It is a waste of both your time, and it will give you a headache.
There are some on this site I look forward to reading, and there are others I skip over as soon as I see their name. Debbie shows her true nature as a journalist, to bring to the story a preconceived idea, and then find proof to support it. She believes this site is full of mean right wing nuts, and found proof.
If she would have visited this site with an open mind, and spend more than the few minutes it took to grab the quotes she was looking for, she may have found what I found, a forum of reasonable people, discussing the issues of our day (much like we do at work, or when we get together with our friends) most from a (self defined) conservative viewpoint. Only this group has what, 100,000 members?
Sorry Debbie, it is your loss, not ours.
