Into each life, a little rain must fall.
Of those you've mentioned, I think Eschoir is the only one committed to the downfall of FR. Of course he doesn't participate on LF.
Arator isn't such a bad guy. He's passionate about what he believes in (which isn't all that different from most of us), and he got a little wrapped in petty squabbles here. The result was banishment and bitterness. I suspect if tempers were a bit less intense (and the moderator crew could manage to tolerate dissent), Arator would still be posting here, and his contributions would be valued.
Todd... well what can I say.... he's Todd. He isn't happy unless there's a controversy, and he's at the center of it.
jj... he's just a troll (but a funny one at times). His participation consists of choosing one side or the other in an existing argument (for no particular reason) and egging on the participants until a fight breaks out. Classic troll.
I agree with you. Thanks, OWK.
Speaking of Liberty Forum, there are NO - (0, none, nada) - perfect websites in the world. Including LF, and including FR. But what I appreciate about Liberty Forum is the fact that the owner has publicly stated that while he ultimately IS the owner, he wants US to be the owners. He told me once that he believes in a free marketplace of ideas, and that the marketplace - rather than censorship - can take care of itself.
I'm not as libertarian as he and many others on LF are, but I do respect his concept of a truly free website. In the several months that I've participated there, I've seen only one post pulled, and that was because it revealed someone's personal identity. While it does get rather heated sometimes - and I really do get tired of the incessant Jew-bashing done by a handful of posters - I enjoy the fact that at LF we are adults and are therefore capable of policing ourselves.
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.
To sum this all up, like I said - there is NO perfect website. And even if there was, it would be perfect only for me - no one else would find it perfect. Most of the people at Liberty Forum don't bash Free Republic, although many of us may have bitter memories that occasionally cause us to reflect on things here. But the site was never intended to be an anti-FR site in any way. Again, when there is no censorship, people WILL talk about anything - and some people are still very hot about how they were treated here. But that's not a reflection on the site - it's a reflection on the people.
I hope America is free again some day. Probably not gonna happen.
I hope that Jim stops the censorship here. Probably not gonna happen.
I hope that the anti-Jew loonies at LF will stop their Jew/Israel bashing. Probably not gonna happen.
And life goes on :)
Mom always told me if you can't say something nice, don't say anything....in this instance, I agree....as it regards the other 3. :)
Mostly his own doing. He's a whiner and malcontent who should have learned a huge lesson with his own web site fiasco. He needs to belong to some/any Internet group, much like most of the complainers at LF and Con AF. They don't have lives so they take out their self-created frustrations out on some guy who wrote software for Internet site - a site based on his own beliefs (however fluid they may be).
To paraphrase an earlier poster, they seem to think someone owes them a web site of their liking. What a bunch of crybabies.