Jim Robinson & FR accused of censorship

WhatReallyHappened.com ^ | 4 January 2002 | WRH.com goobers

[Vigilant1]

FREE REPUBLIC ADMITS IT IS PRO-WAR AND CENSORS ALL POSTS NOT IN ACCORD WITH US GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA

NOW MAKING THE ROUNDS ON THE NET. Cited under "fair use" for educational purposes.

____________________________________________________________
Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2002 02:50:39 -0800
From: "Jim Robinson"
Organization: Free Republic
To: "Larry McDonald"
Subject: Re: What Are You Scared Of?

Those who are coming in here to post a bunch of propaganda to smear Bush or otherwise harm the war effort are going to be deleted.

I guess you missed my posts where I said that I am 100% behind our President and the war. I don't care if it's Ron Paul, Larry McDonald, or the head of the John Birch Society himself. I do not want it on FR. And I do not want a bunch of 40 year old conspiracy crap. Not interested.
____________________________________________________________

There you have it. Free Republic is not an objective reporter of the facts but a blatent supporter of the Bush administrations' war for oil, and by Jim Robinson's own admission.

In another post, Jim states...

____________________________________________________________
Jim Robinson (Free Republic)
by JIM ROBINSON in This thread

Lots of grumbling lately about deleted posts. Well, my friends, the simple truth is the game has changed. We are now at war.
____________________________________________________________

Of course, Jim Robinson has it wrong. We're not at war. Only Congress can state otherwise and there has been no formal declaration of war by anyone. Bush hasn't gone to Congress to ask for such a declaration because that would restore Congress to its role in the balance of powers doctrine on which the nation was founded. Bush has no intention of allowing Congress to second-guess him, and indeed Bush has flat out declared that he will not bother informing Congress of intelligence operations from this point forward as is required by law.

Yes, we have been attacked, but it's not really known by whom. Even the FBI admits the IDs on which they based their accusations were faked using the stolen identities of middle eastern Arabs, some of whom have since turned up alive. From this it should be obvious that we cannot really know who was on those planes, only who we are supposed to blame.

But Jim Robinson isn't interested in these facts. He's spiked threads pointing out that the FBI admitted the IDs used by the hijackers were phony. Jim Robinson has spiked threads about how some of the accused hijackers have turned up alive. Jim Robinson has spiked many of the threads dealing with the Israeli spy scandal and the fact that the US has classified evidence linking some of the arrested Israeli spies with the events of 9/11. Jim Robinson has spiked threads suggestng that Bush has exceeed his constitutional authority. Jim Robinson will tolerate no doubts about the righteousness of Bush's war for oil.

But more than that, Jim Robinson displays an arrogant assumption that the presence of a war justifies anything. He argues that we should get behind the government because (he claims) there is a war. But translate that to Germany of 1939. Was it the right thing for the German people to unquestioningly back Hitler because there was a war on? Or would the German people (and the world) have been better served taking a pause and a closer look at just what the government was doing? And if Germany should have examined their government's claims a lot closer, then how can we not do the same now?

Free Republic has shown its true colors. Jim is "not interested" in facts, only in selling Bush's wars. Free Republic isn't about news any more, only about propaganda.

[Admin Moderator]

"There's no "accused" about it. No, it's been proven. (There's been other evidence, but) Last night I placed an article directing Republicans who like Bush to go to this thread and defend their party and their man's "Made in China" policies. Within just a few minutes the article was deleted, like clockwork "

Any article that is nothing but a one line vanity back to another Free Republic thread will be deleted on sight.

That one is was a nobrainer.

How is it censorship when the original article is still there?

[ivanhoe116]

But translate that to Germany of 1939. Was it the right thing for the German people to unquestioningly back Hitler because there was a war on?

Not equitable , sorry boys.

[OKSooner]

Michael sure knows how to gin up hits on his website. I hope all the trouble he's going to is worth it.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Any article that is nothing but a one line vanity back to another Free Republic thread will be deleted on sight

What? FR is not an online chatroom for brainless dolts? Dammit Jim, I'm not a thinker!

Good grief, if it were me, half the people who post here would be gone. And for goodness sakes, if they don't like it, they can leave and start their own site or post their vanity crap somewhere else. Ahhh thank you, that felt good.

[harpo11]

First most Americans other than the ever increasingly busy body leftists were minding their own business on September 11 doing things that most people do going to work, raising their families, going to school, eating their breakfasts when a bunch of crazy cowardly demons from hell decided to make war on innocent men, women and children by using them and our airplanes to destroy the Americans and our way of life.

Second, if that isn't war, then what the hell is? I really don't care what fancy term or action Congress feels necessary to call it, but in my world, OBL, et al., have declared war on civilization.

Our decisive President George W. Bush is using his executive power to execute our war against terrorist low life thugs and I proudly support him and our brave troops 100%. I trust and respect him and his bold leadership because he is not grandstanding or celebrating his successes with everyday news conferences where his adoring fans would be high fiving and swooning at every syrupy word he says as predictably would prez #42 if he had got off his rather ample duff, pushed his mistress off his lap and actually did what he said he was going to do, but that is another story entirely.

Third this excellent and highly acclaimed forum is Jim Robinson's gifted creation. It is his home. He generously keeps his doors open so that all can enter from all walks of life to join in on the great opportunities provided by this forum to discuss, comment, entertain, learn and become actively involved. But still it is his house, his rules, and surely is it so much to ask his quests to listen up when he lays down the rules of engagement?

[proudofthesouth]

Yea, they get off on attention that they get.

[carenot]

I am with you on that.

I sure do miss Michael and wish he was still posting here.

[IronJack]

Free Republic is not an objective reporter of the facts

To my knowledge, it never claimed to be. Free Republic is a bulletin board where people paste the cyber equivalent of cut-out newspaper articles and other people stick comments on them. Sometimes it's to correct bias in the original articles. Sometimes it's to correct outright LIES. Sometimes it's to give a hearty Hurrah! to the author and to salute his integrity. But none of the news on FR is created by FR, nor has this site ever claimed to embrace every ideology on earth.

Furthermore, since it's a private website, it is under no obligation whatsoever to BE "an objective reporter of the facts." If you don't like what you see when you're here, there are plenty of other options. Seek them out.

[ofMagog]

Hard to keep up with what all the commotion is about.
This thread ain't got nothing to do with Mena, Texas, nor Monica.
But, it has cheese possibilities.

[Neets]

Here! Here!!! This whinning and crying gets so damn tedious after a while.

[dighton]

It's obvious that whomever is running Free Republic at present (Jim Robinson's ultimately responsible)doesn't want the article to be read. Yes, it can stay (to delete it would be too obvious), but having another article point Republicans and Bush fans to that particular article is an action that just will not stand. That's censorship.

You could have bumped the original article. I suspect you know that, but are much too fond of whining.

[sweetliberty]

" I never heard of "What Really Happended Dot Com"--are they big, are they important?"

LOL! I never heard of them either. Judging by what I've see here I would say, "no, not important at all."

[cake_crumb]

I have an email all composed....

First: would sombody please tell me if this Rivera guy is the same writer wannabe, who publishes via a vanity press, that I never heard of until I read his tinfoil-hat-type-conspiracy-theorist drivel about Afghanistan, posted right here on FR?

If this is the same guy, he had his facts wrong. Many of us pointed those incorrect statements out. We provided proof that he was wrong. That's what an open debate is all about. Rebuttal and counter rebuttal. He was not pleased that we did not blindly swallow his propaganda and thank him for removing the scales from or eyes.

If this is the same person, Mike Rivera is a non-entity as far as I'm concerned. What an overinflated EGO. Anyone got a pin?

[L.N. Smithee]

Jim is "not interested" in facts, only in selling Bush's wars.

Rivero is very interested in facts. Something that he has yet to learn is that a collection of facts doesn't equal evidence.

[madfly]

I agree. One is allowed to debate articles that might not be pro Bush, but that doesn't make them all bad, sometimes answers are found to the many issues swirling around today.

But, being from the Viet Nam era, I am totally behind the troops and they are to be honored for the risks they are taking for our country.

I remember when the war in Nam was getting blasted here at home and all the protests. The saddest thing was how the returning soldiers were ridiculed and spit upon, and no matter what will be said about this war in here, I am happy that Jim is doing his part to honor our troops.

They are the ones laying it all on the line. We must cheer their efforts to protect our country.

[SJackson]

Hard to keep up with what all the commotion is about. This thread ain't got nothing to do with Mena, Texas, nor Monica.

Perhaps, but could Barbara Hartwell be Monica's screename? If Monica were to post here, I bet you'd see a long thread.

[calmseas]

Jim owns the board. He can make FR whatever he wants it to be. This is true of the liberal media as well: they censor all the time. Why is it that there are only a precious few on the right who cry foul where the "mainstream" press is concerned.

[cake_crumb]

"Michael Rivero is not a liberal, BTW; he is more conservative than even your favorite past time, Rush Limbaugh"

You're right. Rivero's writing makes him sound like psychologically-challenged Libertarian, far-right-wingut.

My apologies in advance to those many moderate libertarians who post to this forum: your opinions and insights are invaluable.

I'm working my way through all the replies...I've read about a half dozen really nasty ones...they HAVE NOT BEEN DELETED.

NO reply I have read so far as been deleted. Of course, I'm only up to #150, but so far, the lack of deleted threads of the strongest possible proof of FR's - and Jim Robinson's - openness to civil debate.