A long time ago, back when the internet was young and free, before the Democratic Underground was hatched from its reptilian Orc pit, before the Daily Kos was a twinkle in Stalin's eye, a lot of folks here wanted to allow liberals on FR, in order to debate them and set them straight personally. Kind of like a battleground of ideas.
Management disagreed, basically saying that there's plenty of places for you to go if you want to fight with liberals, but this isn't going to be one of them. This is a refuge for strategic planning and the advancement of conservatism. If they were to allow liberals or (for lack of a better term) liberal RINOs, to infiltrate the discussion, it basically turns a fortress into a whorehouse. So to speak. GOP or DNC infiltrators could basically divert the entire discussion down paths they wanted, and use Jim's electrons as free advertising into the conservative bloodstream.
This idea of keeping it Conservative Only waxes and wanes. At one point, years back, management actually got worried about encroaching Democrat power, and put up polls asking if we should turn FR into an internet wing of the GOP. This was voted down by a huge margin, and Jim decided he had it right in the first place. FR is more effective as a conservative power center that has no other allegiance. Kind of a proto-Tea Party.
That said, I hear exactly what you're saying. I often don't agree with the prevailing sentiment of Conservatives Only. I like arguing with liberals, which means I tend to go long stretches lurking or not posting. I can go to other websites (generally news sites) and open fire on liberals all day long.
FR's a different animal. There's strong advantages and disadvantages to how it is run, but it's truly unique. The strict lane of discussion keeps the site calibrated, like the northern star of conservatism. The steady flow of newbies over the years has actually helped keep the place grounded in reality. On the other hand, it's an awful echo chamber, and you can spot the folks that ONLY come here a mile away. What passes for argument with them is often just people trying to one up each other for who's the most hard core conservative.
Lots of people have gotten frustrated and gone off to form other websites, none of any note. End of the day, there's lots of places to open fire on liberals, and I can suggest some good ones if you're feeling trigger happy. I've been as frustrated as you seem with what feels like short-sighted reasoning. I wish that parts of FR were different.
I'd also be angry if I spent years working on a website, and then suddenly the posters on it started advocating Barack Obama's reelection. Maybe I'm a petty jerk, but I'd ban people who promoted that idea, and tell them to peddle it elsewhere. I think the ban parameters on FR are often not set correctly, but I understand the idea itself.
Yeah but don’t you think there’s a little bit of a difference between saying something that could be construed as positive about Romney and arguing all out for the re-election of Barack Obama?