Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children

The Vancouver Sun ^ | July 11, 2009 | Chris Parry

[buccaneer81]

Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children

By Chris Parry, Vancouver SunJuly 11, 2009 11:01 AM

This photo of U.S. President Barrack Obama's daughter Malia, wearing a peace-symbol t-shirt touched off a storm of epithet-laced comments on the conservative 'Free Republic' blog

"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."

These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.

The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."

Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.

Moderators of the blog left the comments - and commenters - in place until a complaint was lodged by a writer doing research on the conservative movement, almost a full day later.

"Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?" wrote one commenter.

"They make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin', and especially 'lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps," wrote another.

Such was the onslaught of derision on the site that the person who originally complained about the slurs, a Kristin N., claims only one comment in the first hundred posted actually criticized the remarks as inappropriate.

A note on the front of the blog reads, "Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government," but one comment on the thread read, "This disgusting display makes me more and more eager for the revolution," while another read, "I never actually wnated [sic] to be a pistol before but..."

After attention from other blogs, the thread was suppressed and placed under review, but before long it was returned to the site intact, and attracted a new series of racial slurs when the original complaint email was posted publicly to the site, with the sender's email address intact.

"The writer has a point," wrote site owner Jim Thompson sarcastically. "We should steer clear of Obama's children. They can't help it if their old man is an American-hating Marxist pig."

"I agree Jim," wrote commenter, by the nickname NoobRep. "The kids didn't pick their commie pinko pansy of a father. Nor did they choose to be put into the spotlight. But Obama/Soetoro is fair game and so is his witch of a wife."

"Poor kids. I hope they're not 'punished with a baby'," wrote another. "Hopefully they won't deal cocaine like the Kenyan."

"DIRTBAGS! All of them. Our [White House] is now a joke to the rest of the world. We have no respect and this is not going to turn out well, mark my words. We will be hit, and much worse than last time. We are now seen as weak and vulnerable. Ghetto and Chicago thugs have taken over."

Only after significant negative attention from a host of left wing political blogs did the maintainers of the Free Republic site place the thread under review for a second time, before finally pulling it.

In the wake of the controversy, some Free Republic posters complained about the vitriol.

One poster by the name of "fullchroma" wrote, "To Jim Thompson: The recent uptick here in racist vitriol, aimed at Barrack, Michelle and their children has made me wonder if I belong. My objection to Obama has nothing to do with skin tone. Is the ugly stereotype of Conservative racism true?"

Another, going by the name of TChris, wrote, "Free Republic is a political discussion forum. It SHOULD be beneath us as a group to stoop to such juvenile tactics as I see increasing here lately. Do we REALLY have to insult Mrs. Obama's appearance like a clique of nasty 14-year-old girls?"

But such opinions were not shared by all. Said Roses of Sharon, "Poor libs .... Too late, the battle has been joined." © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

[Mamzelle]

LOL...took me a full minute to get the joke...

[Star Traveler]

Well, I don’t know..., maybe some posters wanted to create that impression, but if that was their intended purpose, then they are actively working against Free Republic.

I think, for the most part, that these posters who do this are venting, getting emotional and displaying anger in non-productive ways, and that gives ammunition to the other side to make accusations.

[Mamzelle]

re: I've been here over 8 years and I have. It's gotten worse with the election of Obama.)))

I believe you. Put me down for wanting to do something about it.

Ideas?

1) No pics of Obama's kids. It would be too easy for a team of trolls to work in tandem to put up a thread. The thread was started, I think, to show the disrespectful way they dress in public. Without the picture, any comments lose.

2) Hit the abuse button more often, particularly when it involves a child or a non-com.

3) Be alert for seminar trolls. And they don't have to be newbies.

[Poe White Trash]

Good point.

[Recovering_Democrat]

LOL. Well, lookout ‘cause Hussein’s regulatory czar is gonna start trollin’ the ‘net, lookin’ for things that are untrue and tellin’ you to SHUT IT DOWN.

BTW, I wonder if these same “journalists” ever listen to gangsta rap and the truly misogynistic filth that pours from their mouths. Perhaps they can do some research into the kind of hate that is going on in Akron, Ohio. Or maybe the self-hate that happens in South Florida where 12 people are shot by gangsters but no one is apparently coming forward to say WHO did it.

No, these “journalists” decide to define hate by whether some kids are allowed to swim when they’re overcrowding a private club, or if some cornball statements are made on a WEB SITE.

Idiots.

I read stuff that is over the line sometimes here on FR. And for the MOST part, the mods do a damn good job getting rid of it.

[Star Traveler]

You said — I’ve been here over 8 years and I have. It’s gotten worse with the election of Obama.

—

Things have been getting worse in a general sense, over the years. People are accused of being liberals and trolls for simply having a different opinion than another poster.

I’ve said, recently, that a good working definition for a “troll” on Free Republic is basically anyone who disagrees with your viewpoint... LOL... And there happens to be a whole lot of people who hold to that definition... :-)

And yes, with the election of Obama, things took a real nose dive, and went down even faster than before (but it was already sinking that way, before Obama), I guess the real shock of having Obama be elected and realizing that there were that many liberals out there and how radical it all was, in terms of how our government’s policies were now going to be — was just too much of a shock to a lot of people.

I tend to look at these things as pendulum swings in which they have to reach the end of the swing before they turn back the other way. Politics has been this way for years. Even though I don’t like Obama, I’m sure that we’ll be getting rid of him soon enough, especially the way the economy is crashing.

You know..., you can say to him, “It’s the economy, stupid!”... :-)

[Stentor]

A racist Chicago thug is President. He is intent on taking our freedom. Your topic is what is wrong with Free Republic. LOL.

[Star Traveler]

You said — HE is, and he is on the troll list.

—

Only your imaginary troll list... LOL...

See the Free Republic Definition for troll, by the way. It’s one that has been developed to perfection over the years....

---

Troll — any poster who disagrees with your opinion.

---

As I said, all in your own mind...

[Albion Wilde]

We could disallow photos of Obama children, period. But I'm not going to give up the fashion critiques of Michelle. They just ran on too long about Jackie Obama, and she's no Jackie.

It is the press hypocrisy about the "fashion icon" thing that is the main point. The Empress has no taste! Even the supermodel Iman, a born-in-Africa black woman (and wife of David Bowie), dared to say she's not all that. We are sick of the press trying to turn Mrs. O into Princess Diana and turn the dignity of the FOTUS position into a tabloid frenzy. It lowers the image of the United States.

And look how things turned out for Princess Diana; her focus on self instead of duty to the postion she married into contributed to the loss of her marriage by upstaging her insecure husband, in turn setting in motion her own untimely death and the devastation of her children.

Iman, supermodel

[eXe]

Cool... so I guess its ok to head on over to DU and call up Fox news every-time they post something really hateful. Two can play at that game.

[Albion Wilde]

Just being emotional and venting really doesn’t help anyone. I doubt it even helps the person doing the venting... LOL... So, just get analytical and fight on policies and legislation and fundamental governmental viewpoints. That’s where the real action is at.

Amen to that!! Well said!

[NoobRep]

I believe it was Rush and quite a few others who said that the election of Obama would set race relations in this country back 50 years. The man is a divider, not a uniter.

[Star Traveler]

You said — A racist Chicago thug is President. He is intent on taking our freedom. Your topic is what is wrong with Free Republic. LOL.

—

I know that Obama is our political opponent, but that doesn’t change the fact of what that previous poster was saying about the declining nature of the dialog here at Free Republic. That has been going on for a while now, and before Obama.

And furthermore, this isn’t “my topic” — as I didn’t post the thread and neither did I post the original comment about the declining nature of the dialog here on Free Republic.

I’m responding to both the thread and the comments on the thread — and actually — one can see (very well), just from some comments back on my comments how this declining nature of the dialog on Free Republic is being played out right here and now... :-)

[NoobRep]

It is what it is. And Obama is what he is-a turd in a punch bowl.

[GOP_Lady]

All I have to say is:

This type of stuff should not be happening on the Fashion Police threads. These threads are dedicated to discussing fashion and nothing else.

Remember, you can’t hide from what you post on the internet and you are responsible for it.

Thank you.

[Star Traveler]

Thanks..., it’s well past the time for people to let go of their big emotional “vents” here, regarding Obama, and fight the good political fight that is needed...

And you know..., if someone says that, automatically there comes out of the woodwork those who say that anyone who says that must “love Obama”... LOL...

I don’t know if some of these people need therapy or what.... :-)

[.... okay, okay, now I’m venting... :-) ...]

[Rodney Dangerfield]

Obama’s job approval ratings are tanking, so the media is playing the race card against his critics.

Anyone criticizing Obama will be labeled as a racist by the media to help prop up his plummeting job approval numbers and to intimidate further criticism.

As someone here once said “It’s not the color of his skin, it’s the thinness of it”

[Peter Libra]

Your post #436. At the risk of getting away from the topic and incurring a reminder by the moderator, I acknowledge your humour and certainly I retain mine. Love a good joke and English are fair game. To return to the topic to sort of validate my post, I wholeheartly agree with keeping the children of prominent people out of the hurly burly and thrust of polemic. Let me say this. The President has two sweet little kids and I do mean this.

Marvels have been done with the first lady's appearance, but I suppose her attitude begs some retaliation.

I feel better all ready.

[Star Traveler]

You said — It is what it is. And Obama is what he is-a turd in a punch bowl.

—

And..., let’s see..., how is this dialog supposed to help in fighting against legislation that goes against conservative philosophy?

You know what it actually shows, don’t you? This kind of language is evidence of someone who is powerless, and thus they try to vent in such a manner as to make up for their powerless situation.

I’m just pointing out what this indicates to someone on the other side. And then, they can use that kind of language, the language of powerlessness, against that same person. Namely, they say it shows the absence of any intelligence or legitimacy to what they think.

Again, just pointing out what this kind of language does for one who engages in it.

—

Now, mind you, if you were making a different kind of argument and saying that he is a Marxist and is promoting socialism throughout our entire system, you’re talking about something substantial and “arguable” there. And you can show how you arrive at that definition and prove it through policies enacted and/or stated in the past or present. And one can make a very good case there.

I prefer the argument of substance to the argument that is borne out of being powerless...

[South40]

People are accused of being liberals and trolls for simply having a different opinion than another poster.

I'vve been a member of FR since May of 2001. Just yesterday I had a poster object to my being offended by a racist joke. I was told to "go post at DU" by a poster who has been a t FR over 3 years less than me!

I do beleive some are fed up with the reverse racism we see daily. That, and the claims of victimhood. So am I. But I'm as conservative as most and more so than many. I don't like having to defend my participation at FR or my politics simply because some cannot control their hatred.

Thank you for your well thought out post. -SoFo