Email: The Future of Free Republic

Email | 06/25/02 | Jim Robinson

[Jim Robinson]

The following email is being circulated to our members by various disgruntled former FReepers:

Subject: The Future of Our Free Republic

Dear Fellow Free Republic Member,

Many of us at Free Republic are distressed by the extraordinary level of censorship that has been so obviously going on. It is very obvious that individual posts, entire threads, and the entire work of members who have been highly regarded are disappearing into a Memory Hole.

Scores of us have organized an e-mail network that is independent of the communication controls presently, and sadly, being used at our Free Republic. We have carefully documented the unmistakeable evidence that most of the posts, threads, and posters that are vaporized completely are overwhelmingly targeted for their political stance on the Right. These are not Leftwingers. These are not even Middle-of-the-Roaders. These are not disruptors. These are not foul-mouthed delinquents. These are fellow patriots on the Right who disagree with the controllers of FR on specific issues that are now hotly debated by the Right. We have documented that FR will parade before you, as if to hide all of the great posters whose work has been destroyed, a straw-man delinquent that has been banned. This is deceptive.

Treating these fellow patriots on the Right so shabbily is not right. As shabbily as those banned into the Memory Hole are being treated, the most shabbily treated of all are all of the good folks on Free Republic themselves. We came here for honest debate. Free Republic advertised itself as a Forum for honest debate. Without that honest debate...everything at Free Republic becomes shabby.

We can do much better. As a measure of how intense the simmering feelings have gotten among members on this unjustifiable use of deleting, censoring, and banning please link to the following thread. You will notice that one simple and sincere plea from one of our finest members has spontaneously touched off a prairie fire of approximately 500 posts in a mere 18 hours. If it isn't Memory Holed this thread may shoot into the thousands.

If you would like to receive anonymous updates of information concerning the hundreds of Freepers who have networked via e-mail to restore the wonderful honest debate to Free Republic, just drop an e-mail of just one or two words if you like for extreme brevity to:

StopCensoringUs@hotmail.com

And, here's that link back to the snowballing thread at FR:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/704701/posts

Thank you so much for giving your thought to this vital matter for our Internet home.

Sincerely, StopCensoringUs@hotmail.com

[TexKat]

Thanks for the ping.

Keep up the good work.FreeRepublic is my bestest friend!!!!

[Bigg Red]

If you are the kind that finds them attractive, by all means, stay and enjoy yourself. I'm sure FR will manage somehow without you.

And don't let the door hit you...

Keep on freepin' on, Jim. Thanks for all you do.

[Jefferson Adams]

Of course they already know the extraordinary contempt I have for them....

Chook, don't make me bust a puppet in yo *ss.

[Phil V.]

(and at FR, so do you!)

NOT!

That rumor last week about me trading my bed pan for a sand box was pure BULLSHIT!

[Cogadh na Sith]

LOL! Ok, ok, ya got me......

[Valin]

Scores of us have organized an e-mail network that is independent of the communication controls presently, and sadly, being used at our Free Republic.

OH NO! Not an independent organized e-mail network. Oh however will Freerepublic survive in the face of such an onslaught?
I have one sugestion and one question for these dolts
1 question, who's the pivotman?
2 sugestion, well lets just say it involves a goat.

Of all the thousands of people how have pasted through here or are still here how many have been banned? less than 1% I'd say.

Talk about a bunch of losers.

[parsifal]

Thank you for the compliment. However, I think I am not going to post that "Dynasties" article from the "Nation" magazine for a few days. It is in favor of estate taxes on the wealthy. Discretion is, after all, the better part of valor. parsy the timid.

[Steve Eisenberg]

My wife is a better student of the Bible than I, but she tells me that God instructed the Jews to kill every man, woman, child and domestic animal when they conquered a land. They didn't and were punished for their stupidity. Are you second-guessing God?

Hopefully there is a misunderstanding between oldfart and his wife. This commandment was limited to the Amalekites, a nation which no longer exists.

There are a small number of Jews who equate today's Palestinians with the Amalekites. Last I heard, there were two organizations of such Jews quite properly included on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist organizations. Needless to say, I hope, is that their organizations are outlawed in Israel.

The relevance for this thread, if there is any, concerns the question of whether calling for civilians to be massacred should result in the poster being thrown off of FR. The answer is that it is a tough call. And the FR moderators have to make that tough call frequently and without a whole lot of time for back and forth deliberation. As far as I can see, the effective policy is to allow sarcasm and overstatement while stopping serious and considered support of mass murder. I like that policy, I appreciate the work the moderators do, and I don't see any possibility or need for moderators to be completely consistent.

[christine]

Free Republic belongs to Jim Robinson, and it's his to do with as he wishes. While I frequently disagree with Jim - and we've had some strong words in private - I nevertheless am grateful to him for what he did in creating a place for conservative people to meet. I personally think that FR would be a better place if it was more Free, but as I said, that's for Jim to decide, not me.

I'm glad that I haven't been banned here, even though Jim has pulled threads of mine. Frankly, it makes me almost sick to my stomach sometimes here to see how easily so many "conservatives" are so willing to ignore their Constitution and the principles that this country were founded upon, choosing, rather, to just parrot the Party line (and not seeing the Actions of the Party, rather than the rhetoric). But again, in a truly free society that's a part of the freedom. I personally think that it's a major part of why America is failing, but that's the fault of those over the decades who have failed to educate We the People to know better.

excellent post! you stated my sentiment perfectly.

[cake_crumb]

"Provocative posts like the one at the top of this thread are part of the reason"

I thought this thread had been posted because of a rather paranoid, anti-FR, email campaign to multiple FR members.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[Roscoe]

Damn. I'm not in the list of "Spooks & Gubm't apologists"

It's very disheartening.

[Jethro Tull]

Jim, from your mission statement;

"We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America."

I agree with your mission statement, but, if an elected member of the Republican Party (and there are many) doesn't agree with and/or work toward these goals, why should they be supported with our vote?

In short my political philosophy is simple; Liberals should be defeated, whether they be a Republican or Democrat.

Those posters who are members of the "Republican Party, right or wrong" clique, are just as wrong and fanatical in their support of their party as the Klintonites were...

[general_re]

Live dangerously. What's the worst that can happen? ;)

[Admin Moderator]

"Once you delegated the moderation to others, you can't know they're using it responsibly without cross-checking their every decision (in which case you might as well not delegate at all)."

Jim checks over everything.

I can make a comment in an abuse report while he is sound asleep, asking him to check on something. When he gets up, everything he is asked for, he does. Occasionally he comments on something that was done. Occasionally he overturns something.

But he does, in fact, review everything.

Thanks, AM

[Reagan Man]

>>>Well, they've reported and I've reported, you decide.

I think most reasonable folks have decided FreeRepublic is a great conservative website. I've taken a few short trips over to this Liberty Forum. It's the gathering place for fringe rightwing extremists, with the usual crowd of misfits, malcontents and militants hanging out. They have found their home, now let them dwell in it, as they spew their vile and vicious bulls**t. You know Jim, these people who are angry at everything in life, really miss out on the best in life. They proudly display their arrogance and ignorance as badges of honor, for all to see, but its really an albatross around their own necks. What they see as nirvana is really hell.

[SJackson]

It's only fair to point out the the "Free speach" alternative at Liberty Forum is, of couse, by invitation only.Not permanently. The site is being beta tested before opening the floodgates to the world. I think that's wise, myself. Don't you?

It might be necessary, it might be wise.

I was responding to the E Mails statement that Among the reasons for this back channel of communication are to help folks like [name omitted]: a)find new and other forums on the Internet where their fine writing can be effective (like LibertyForum.org and LibertyPost),, which would seem to imply that it’s open to all, in contrast to “FRs censorship”. It’s not.

I admit my interest in posting there has waned. Intentional or not, I’d suggest that their method of admitting “beta testers” "by invitation" has imposed a defacto if not intentional censorship of the viewpoints expressed.

[Roscoe]

And if he and his staff of moderators don't want to spend time rebutting statements which dare to affirm conservative and constitutional principles

Woof, somebody is sure full of himself this morning.

[cake_crumb]

"It sounds like Doc.Lady is within inches of jumping ship anyway, and just getting in the parting shots. Is there an Opus on its way?"

LOL...I doubt it. DL is more like a hit and run propaganda artist. He/she comes into a thread, posts some canned statement, then watches the fireworks begin. Or not. I've never been sure. DL rarely ever replies to anyone. However, DL's posts DO tend to liven up a thread. <G>

[Ratatoskr]

I thought this thread had been posted because of a rather paranoid, anti-FR, email campaign to multiple FR members.

I didn't say why this thread had been posted, only that this sort of response contributes to a sense of feud. If there were such a "campaign", is this how you would go about calming it down?

You've been around for a while. How many of these "Future of FR" threads have you seen?

[Jefferson Adams]

Thanks, Christine.