Posted on 06/25/2002 3:42:21 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
The following email is being circulated to our members by various disgruntled former FReepers:
Subject: The Future of Our Free RepublicDear 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
Clearly, there is.
Also clearly, there are some over on LF who have wanted to stir things up over here.
Pointing out that there are several groups who all are working to undermine his site is quite valid for Jim to do in my opinion. If they are working together or all one group really isn't relevant.
I dunno...
Apparently there's been an undercurrent of a half-dozen disgruntled FR posters, who were trying to organize a protest movement of some kind.
The first I saw of this email campaign, was on yet another offshoot forum (not LF) about a week ago.
Didn't seem like it had much in the way of legs to me.
Oh lighten up already. You made a hysterically funny accusation back in April, and even though the thread is gone, it will live forever in my memory. I don't need the "contact info", wherever you may have posted it, because WWJ will never provide me with the entertainment equivalent of your post about the priest with pictures of childrens' shoes on fire.
Unless you're telling me they HAVE the pictures of flaming tennies and will send them to me?
(Oh, my sides...)
Keep looking - there were several.
Yeah, there's probably two or three who might.
Just as there might be a few here who relish the thought of stirring things up over there.
But in general, I think it's better to ignore the dweebs and Gomers who get off on that kind of thing, and stick to our stated purposes.
We have much in common.
Posts 183-195.
Unless they happen to be Islam.
Then you don't know if it results from people at LF or not. My first thought was LF, Not FB or Sit-Rep's site.
Your complaint seems to be that posters over there don't march in step with what you deem is appropriate 'free speech'.
Which is why it is imperative for some to drive a wedge between us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.