Um -- if FR becomes dominated by folks who flame anyone who disagrees with them . . . most folks will vote with their feet.
I believe we rose to greatness cuz this was an open discussion board where folks felt free to speak up when they disagreed. JimRob was very good about warning even the best conservatives when they became abusive, when they flamed innocents for having different opinions.
I'm afraid I see things might be a slight bit different now.
I respect JimRob. He's built a great site here. This is by far the best message board software on the web. What he does with his site is completely fair.
I'm just afraid of losing that openness that I believe got us here in the first place.
The difference is that Jim didn't create his site to see it become a vehicle to promote a liberal Republican into the nomination. The media may express their bias by claiming that Rudy is the only Republican that "can win in 08" and certainly the occasional poster can claim that as their honest opinion, but to see the site heading down the trail of Rah-rah for Rudy ignoring conservative issues was too disgusting without a "hell no, we won't go" reply from Jim, IMHO.
This site isn't a business venture trying to be popular and agreeable. He sees the site as having a real impact whether it is populated with 20,000 viewers or 60,000 viewers. He isn't getting paid by the visit.
He blew up at quidnunc, but there is some history there, I imagine. He has snapped at me a time or two over the years.
This site is a personal creation. It is not set up as a theoretically precise internet virtual citizen senate.