You are far too kind. I've missed you, too Arator. The same most certainly should... no, must (!) be said of you.
The reason why guys like us get banned has nothing to do with insulting repartée, for indeed, we only responded in kind to the mental midgets who were stupid enough to insult us first.
Our banning had to do with numbers. There are far more sheep out there waiting to be herded to the abbatoire than there are wolves like us who will chomp those attempting to kill the sheep.
FreeRepublic, and Jim Robinson, rely on those larger numbers. This site does not need the insightful, confident and un-bullyable few... its existence relies upon the many.
So, when a brave and outspoken few make it uncomfortable for the sheep to play "ostrich," we get banned so that the sheep still have a pen (here) to mill about in without having their vapidness challenged, or their comfort zone encroached upon by people who learned at a young age to think for themselves, and who never forgot that all-important lesson.
Whether allowed to use it here on FreeRepublic, or whether its wisdom must be relegated elsewhere due to FreeRepublic's reluctance to endure the disparity it illustrates between the few and the many, I will continue to embrace that Life Lesson, and to share it with all who will listen.
No, YOU da man. ;^)
The reason why guys like us get banned has nothing to do with insulting repartée, for indeed, we only responded in kind to the mental midgets who were stupid enough to insult us first.
Our banning had to do with numbers. There are far more sheep out there waiting to be herded to the abbatoire than there are wolves like us who will chomp those attempting to kill the sheep.
So, basically you are saying that democracy inevitibly devolves to lowest-common-denominator majoritarian tyranny. You know, I think many of the founding fathers worried about the same thing and attempted to build a constitutional bulwork against such tendencies. Unfortunately, their bulwork failed. Of course, FR has no bulwork at all. It's mob rule run amok.
FreeRepublic, and Jim Robinson, rely on those larger numbers. This site does not need the insightful, confident and un-bullyable few... its existence relies upon the many.
So, when a brave and outspoken few make it uncomfortable for the sheep to play "ostrich," we get banned so that the sheep still have a pen (here) to mill about in without having their vapidness challenged, or their comfort zone encroached upon by people who learned at a young age to think for themselves, and who never forgot that all-important lesson.
Where shall we hole up to await the inevitable end of the world, your bunker or mine? LOL.
Has the last 12 years (and especially the last 4)disillusioned you about politics as much as it has me? I considered the Reform Party and Buchanan to be our last best hope to escape globalist tyranny. Now, I see no way out. How about you?