Free Republic losing its impact

Alamance Independent ^ | Unknown | Matt Maggio

[BraveMan]

What a long way Free Republic has come! From its birth in 1996 as what began as just a place where hardcore conservatives to post the latest news and analyze it, Free Republic two years later had a significant role in the neutralization of the Clintons - as it became the organizing point for enormous protests ridiculing Bill Clinton over Monicagate everywhere he went in the U.S. early in Monicagate throughout 1998. Some top liberals even blame Freepers for Al Gore's defeat.

Very early in Monicagate, Freepers brought Free Republic out of just being a sort of giant cybercafe for dissidents to talk things over - and made it into a very-effective organizing point for giant protests against liberals and liberalism, like the one in Houston at a Clinton fundraiser that not only like most greeted Clinton with hundreds of dissidents ridiculing him for his adultery and perjury, but even found a fire engine to hang a giant sign on that read "Bill Clinton Is A Four-Alarm Fraud." Freepers in Florida hung a giant sign on a cabin cruiser to float in a strategic position just offshore a fundraiser of his there. And here in North Carolina, about 30 Freepers picketed an Al Gore fundraiser in Raleigh's Volvo district in May 1999 - some dressed as Buddhist monks. The Clintons/Gore Regime just couldn't escape the conservatives from hell.

Other liberals were no luckier. The "Rosiecott" that ended Corporate America's willingness to indulge leftist politics was in large part organized on Free Republic. Freeper-organized boycotts were to Rosie O'Donnell's career what a later gay boycott was to advice-talk radio host Dr. Laura's.

But - just six years after its founding, just four years after the height of its power - Free Republic today is largely a total waste of time. As a reader commented, it isn't accomplishing anything anymore - with the giant protests against liberals formerly organized on it by Freepers over; as he agreed last week, the sole positive things it now does are to provide rapid dissemination of news, even from small-town dailies, to dissidents everywhere - and to guide dissidents to the various dissident newspapers that really are hardcore.

Some social issues are almost unmentionable on Free Republic today. More than one Freeper has griped that posted articles on immigration often just disappear. Other Freepers have been just blacklisted from Free Republic - for offending the sensibilities of founder Jim Robinson or the small clique under him that largely actually runs Free Republic now.

Today, Free Republic is every bit as handicapped as founder Jim Robinson - but by another problem. To all too many Freepers now, anyone calling themselves a Republican is God's brother - and cannot be criticized, no matter how Clintonesque their views on many social issues may be. And to all too many Freepers now, Pres. Bush really is God - uncriticizable, no matter what.

To make Free Republic great again, a number of things have to happen. First, all involved - from ordinary Freepers to "JimBob" himself - have to accept that having an (R) next to one's name doesn't make a politician beyond criticism. Second, all involved must also accept that Pres. Bush isn't God. And then, all Freepers must commit to doing again what made Free Republic great - hounding any politician at odds with Red Nation's masses on social issues; if that means picketing Pres. Bush everywhere he goes if he hints at amnesty for illegal aliens or tacit support of racial quotas, that's what it takes.

Free Republic didn't become great by being a Chinese-style "Democracy Wall" for dissidents to post articles from "mainstream" newspapers to and then discuss them. It can only became great again the same way it originally got great.

[Howlin]

You're always in the middle of everything, have you noticed that?

[Cultural Jihad]

Me and Ben Kenobi

Busted flat on Tatooine
Wishing it would rain
When I was feeling near as faded as my robe
Obi thumbed a ship down
Just before they came
To ride as all the way to Alderaan

I put on a blast helmet
And a dirty old poncho
I was fighting there while Obi used the force
Han and Chewie flyin’ high
The Empire left behind
They used every trick that they knew

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose
Nothing, well its nothing if it ain’t free
Feeling good was easy when Ben taught the force
Feeling good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and Ben Kenobi

From the remains of Alderaan to the station like a moon
Well Obi shared the secrets of the force
Through blaster fire and everything he knew
Well Obi opened up a whole new world
One day on the death star
I let him slip away
Darth Vader cut him down, and I miss him so

Well I’d trade all tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be seeing Obi’s body next to mine

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose
Nothing, well that’s all Obi left me
Feeling good was easy when Ben taught the force
Feeling good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and Ben Kenobi

[DoughtyOne]

...and I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: 'I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.'

~~ Ronald Reagan, in his autobiography, An American Life

I think you're missing my point to a certain extent.  I don't expect all home runs in the next two years.  What I do expect is for us to see a lot of "at bats" during the next two years.  If we attempt a lot of conservative legislation, I'll be happy to see 40 to 60% of it passed.  On tougher issues like Immigration, we need to see tangible changes.  Either we wish to have a sovereign nation or we don't.  Either we wish to be safe in our homes, places of business and public areas, or we don't.  It cannot continue this way.  It's a national security and sovereignty issue.  I don't think there are more important issues than these two.  Without them we are exposed and losing parts of our nation and who we are.
 

[Senator Pardek]

Now I know I'm at the wrong website.

[Willie Green]

Let me give you an idea what happens - in cases where the kid at least looks like both parents, so at least he isn't not accepted by classmates of any race.

No. I specificly asked about the "mutants".
That's what I would like you to explain.

[TLBSHOW]

Don't let truth get in his way! LOL

[CWOJackson]

LOL! This is spectacular.

That isn't demidog's picture is it?

[Howlin]

If he had he would know that the handicapp is only in the eye of the beholder.

It took 576 posts, but you nailed it. It's all in this guy's view.

BTW, when I asked him, he says he stands by his entire article, remarks about Jim and all.

[Howlin]

Ha! You're always there, lurking in the background. That's how you get into so much trouble, lurking around, looking for restroom, stuff like that.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Some just don't quite understand that many of us here don't hate Bush. We do disagree on some issues, one being this complete immigration lunacy. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the man has taken no real action to end this ever escalating crisis. If he did take action, which he should have done on midnight of 9-11-01, he would have millions more, dedicated, strong supporters, more than he could imagine.

My big question is, why is he and his administraion basically ignore this titanic, volatile issue? Most in the southwest United States have spoken loud and clear about immigration.

Why are we not being represented?

Why in hell are we being ignored?

[Howlin]

He's not answering.

[rintense]

You forgot series. And I'm being series.

[Texasforever]

I also asked for their list of threads that are pro-Bush/GOP and they are not answering that either.

[DoughtyOne]

DO, the entire point was that in your ORIGINAL statement, you didn't explain that!!

I didn't have to explain it.  As a poster on this forum who's been here for a long time, you should have realized that I was not misleading anyone.  I spoke the truth and you objected.  I then tried to explain the basis for my comments.  It's okay with me if you think I'm lying, just don't get upset when I explain why you're wrong.

[Fred Mertz]

Let me go find the Daze in the Life of....

[oceanperch]

Our belief is the only true handicap is death.

[Senator Pardek]

I apologize for making an example of you, but have you ever apologized to this site for making the denizens here believe your screen name is pronounced "r-intense" instead of "rintense"?

I think not.

[DoughtyOne]

My inlaws are Hispanic. We went over to my brother-in-laws home on Thanksgiving for dinner. One of the cousins ventured into the subject of television news, and he couldn't say enough nice things about FoxNews. What seems to escape folks is that Hispanics are by nature law and order folks. They have a strong Christian foundation, not a strong Aztec foundation I might add.

Immigration control is not something that separates the Hispanic citizen from any other citizen. It's a law and order issue. Believe it or not, Mexico has laws. Former Mexican nationals understand laws. They also understand duped idiots when they see them. They think we are the world's biggest suckers. They will continue to think that until we take the actions that they themselves would take if it were them being put-upon.