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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
 Posted - 02/16/2007 : 21:45:13
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This group is an active rightwing forum community that came up as one of the most vocal against the Dixie Chicks (see other thread). So I looked a little further. The following is just some links and excerpts because they speak for themselves. I followed the links from the Wiki page. It claims the entry is disputed though it isn't clear to me after a brief glance at the discussion page who disputes what.
Statement by the founder of Free Republic
"Free Republic ^ | Jim Robinson
Posted on 03/22/2004 6:22:17 PM PST by Jim Robinson
I posted the following statement to our front page in response to the criticism I'm receiving lately as to not being fair and balanced and perceived mistreatment of trolls and assorted malcontents. Got news for all, I'm NOT fair and balanced. I'm biased toward God, country, family, liberty and freedom and against liberalism, socialism, anarchism, wackoism, global balonyism and any other form of tyranny. Hope this helps."
Free-for-all at Free Republic
"Lucianne Goldberg, Matt Drudge and other friends abandon the Clinton-bashing Web site over its attacks on George W. Bush.
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By Jeff Stein; Salon.com
July 13, 1999 | WASHINGTON -- Last year, when the sound and fury of the anti-Clinton movement was cresting with every White House revelation, no group reveled more gleefully in the president's troubles than the habitues of Free Republic, a raucous conservative Web site where Clinton bashers vied to top each others' harangues and posted press clips bolstering their views.
The "Freepers" turned their cyberspace coffee klatch into the liveliest, if not the biggest, right-wing Web site on the net.
But Free Republic was more than just a Web site where red-meat conservatives could interact, as opposed to merely read. Freep sponsored anti-Clinton Washington rallies. It took out newspaper ads. It gave a dinner for the congressional managers of the impeachment drive. Freep clubs sprang up in some cities. Lucianne Goldberg, the New York literary agent and catalyst of Monicagate, joined the party, and Web Wunderkind Matt Drudge helped it out with publicity and links. Free Republic became the main soundstage for the anti-Clinton bandwagon, with its "latest posts" page drawing 50,000 individual visits per day.
What a difference a year makes.
... a swelling number of haters have turned up the volume of death threats, gay-bashing, name-calling and conspiracy theories tying the father of Republican front-runner George W. Bush to drug-dealing by the CIA.
To be fair, Free Republic has always been a home for pugilistic far-right zealots, and its recent traffic decline is probably due to the passing of impeachment as an issue, not just dissent over the crusade against Bush. But disaffected Freep stalwarts say that in recent months Robinson "let all the Y2K, gun-nut, Jew-baiting crazies take over and flame the plain-old conservatives," in the words of Goldberg."
They're here, they're mad, get used to it
"Lured by dreams of hobnobbing with their Florida recount heroes, Free Republic faithful have to make do with one another.
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By Kerry Lauerman; Salon.com
June 24, 2001 | SEABROOK, S.C. -- I make it to the Free Republic conference Saturday just in time for the "Round Table Discussion on Media Bias," held in a conference room that, despite its panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean, is a little dark and dank, the air stale from a good number of cigarettes. ...
... When I'm introduced to the group of about 25 members sitting at the tables, organized in a square, I'm mostly met with glares, some steely, others surprised. It's not just that Freepers hate Salon. (But, boy, do they hate Salon.) They also hate, with the exception of Fox News, the rest of the media. "Feminized men and airhead women," clucks Janice Matchett, a retired widow from Florida....
... The group has also expressed a level of vitriol toward Democrats, particularly the Clintons (including occasional death threats), that has normally reasonable voices on the left wishing they could shut the group up. Legal scholar Cass Sunstein uses the Free Republic as an example of what his new book, "Republic.com," describes as "group polarization," where people segregate themselves so effectively online with other like-minded thinkers that they create an echo chamber where the group's worst and most malevolent opinions get reinforced and strengthened."
Blogger alleging CBS memos as frauds is GOP lawyer
"Saturday, September 18, 2004
By Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON -- It was the first public allegation that CBS News used forged memos in its report questioning President Bush's National Guard service -- a highly technical explanation posted within hours of airtime, citing proportional spacing and font styles.
But it did not come from an expert in typography or typewriter history, as some first thought. Instead, the Los Angeles Times has found that it was the work of Harry W. MacDougald, an Atlanta lawyer with strong ties to conservative Republican causes. He helped draft the petition urging the Arkansas Supreme Court to disbar then-President Bill Clinton following the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
The identity of "Buckhead," a blogger known previously only by his screen name on the Web site freerepublic.com and lifted to folk-hero status in the conservative blogosphere since last week's posting, is likely to fuel speculation among Democrats that the efforts to discredit the CBS memos were engineered by Republicans eager to undermine reports that Bush received preferential treatment in the National Guard more than 30 years ago.
Republican officials have denied any involvement among those debunking the CBS story."
I had no idea the Free Republic had any connection to the Rather/Mapes incident when I made the comparison here and here in the Dixie Chicks thread. My what a small world, (and a disproportionately loud voice.)
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Edited by - beskeptigal on 02/16/2007 22:04:52
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2007 : 22:52:40 [Permalink]
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| Sheesh, I looked at the Free Republic site. Now I must go take a shower... |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2007 : 04:17:36 [Permalink]
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I've been loosly keeping track of these shitheads for some years now (know thy enemy). They represent everything foul and disgusting in neo-conservativism.
This is the outfit that published the name and address of the bar manager that called the cops on Bush's daughters, who were trying to drink underage and refused to leave when asked to. They also sent her death threats and generally harrassed her. They call it "freeping," and think of it as either their solemn duty or some kind of joke, I'm not sure which. Democratic Underground has an on-going war of sorts with them on their fora.
I take some pride in that I was banned at FR after only one post. 
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2007 : 11:49:02 [Permalink]
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What this really brought home to me was the power of forums to build power in numbers. Here you have a bunch of the most vile all finding each other and then instead of a single jerk in some podunk town, you have a mob that can act in unison.
With this group it's a bad thing. But other like minded folks are getting together in many different forums. The skeptic community has a pretty good group. I need to find the politically active group (or maybe start one?) that represents my fantasy Critical Thinking Party values.
Back to this group, what really got me was the right wing forum was taken over by the radical right wing. That's frightening. And these idiots just love death threats. What morons! Death threats are their answer to anything they don't like. I say put 'em all on an island, give 'em guns, and every time one disagrees with another, that will be one less for everyone else to worry about.
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Mycroft
Skeptic Friend
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2007 : 12:29:14 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
What this really brought home to me was the power of forums to build power in numbers. Here you have a bunch of the most vile all finding each other and then instead of a single jerk in some podunk town, you have a mob that can act in unison.
Sure, but the radical left wing takes advantage of that same power. Democratic Underground and Daily Kos come to mind, both of which bring together people just as vile only from the other side of the political spectrum.
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigalWith this group it's a bad thing. But other like minded folks are getting together in many different forums. The skeptic community has a pretty good group. I need to find the politically active group (or maybe start one?) that represents my fantasy Critical Thinking Party values.
Then you will need to learn some critical thinking skills yourself. Right now your opinions seem to be formed by whatever the party line is of the far left.
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigalBack to this group, what really got me was the right wing forum was taken over by the radical right wing. That's frightening. And these idiots just love death threats. What morons! Death threats are their answer to anything they don't like. I say put 'em all on an island, give 'em guns, and every time one disagrees with another, that will be one less for everyone else to worry about.
Death threats are certainly wrong, but when you engage in this kind of rhetoric all you do is sink to their level. You don't make yourself look good with this kind of disregard for human life. Human life doesn't become less precious just because they don't agree with your politics.
I hope other people in the medical profession don't think as you do. It would be a sad day indeed to learn that the value placed on your life by care-givers depended on your political views. |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2007 : 13:00:10 [Permalink]
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Mycroft, your defense of this group and your assumptions about my politics are simply wrong.
I'm hardly far left just because I have not bought into the mainstream misinformation flow. Where have I ever posted a single thing supporting socialism, communism, the Socialist Workers Party or anything in that political realm except one anti-war rally. And in any discussion of that rally almost every post of mine was about the rally being anti-war and not pro anything else and that it was attended by a variety of groups.
Just because you don't like what I post shouldn't lead you to make shit up. If my views are so bad as you seem to think, you shouldn't have to make shit up about them.
And as to your Freeps, I suggest you read the Salon articles about the mainstream right wing neocons rejecting the FreeRepublic group themselves.
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| Edited by - beskeptigal on 02/17/2007 13:00:48 |
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Mycroft
Skeptic Friend
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2007 : 13:26:51 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
Mycroft, your defense of this group and your assumptions about my politics are simply wrong.
I have not defended the group, only pointed out that your description is similar to how someone might describe similar left-wing groups.
People congregate with other people of the same opinion. The Internet makes this easier. That's true of everyone from every part of the political spectrum.
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigalI'm hardly far left just because I have not bought into the mainstream misinformation flow.
Uhm, actually yeah, that's what makes you far left. Democracy Now, Media Matters, Air America and other sources that you quote are far lefty sources.
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
Where have I ever posted a single thing supporting socialism, communism, the Socialist Workers Party or anything in that political realm except one anti-war rally. And in any discussion of that rally almost every post of mine was about the rally being anti-war and not pro anything else and that it was attended by a variety of groups.
I don't think open support of communism is the only definition of far left.
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigalJust because you don't like what I post shouldn't lead you to make shit up. If my views are so bad as you seem to think, you shouldn't have to make shit up about them.
What have I made up?
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigalAnd as to your Freeps, I suggest you read the Salon articles about the mainstream right wing neocons rejecting the FreeRepublic group themselves.
Sure I will, but even if it's exactly as you describe, it still doesn't change anything that I say.
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2007 : 16:35:11 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Mycroft
Uhm, actually yeah, that's what makes you far left. Democracy Now, Media Matters, Air America and other sources that you quote are far lefty sources.
From my point of view, they seem rather centric/neutral.
But I don't expect much else from a country where the political spectrum is tilted so much to the right it's in immediate danger of capsizing.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Orwellingly Yurz
SFN Regular
USA
529 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2007 : 18:41:08 [Permalink]
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YO: A quote from Mycroft...
"Uhm, actually yeah, that's what makes you far left. Democracy Now, Media Matters, Air America and other sources that you quote are far lefty sources."
OY Sez: The media cited above are NOT far left. They are left. What is far left is the asshole in North Korea. I heard yesterday on a local radio talk show the author, David Willechinsky. He said that the North Korean government comes to the homes of North Koreans to check to make sure those folks are tuned to the government broadcast frequencies. But being left or right doesn't define the dictatorial nature of authoritarian/totalitarian tyranny.
It is clear to me that the neocons and the Bushits are more far to the right than Democracy Now, Media Matters and Air America are to the left, and that Beskeptigal would probably be highly pissed-off if somebody came to her house and said, "Stand aside and let us in to make sure you're tuned to Kim Jung Il's approved broadcast frequencies."
Alas, it is my belief that George W. Bush has difficuly discerning such subtly.
Anyone wish to discuss the similarity of that North Korean government policy with 3 to 5 corporate media conglomerates controlling nearly all of what goes out on television and radio, and, to a lesser extent, cable?
Striving for democracy should always be at the top of the agenda, because this world is neither perfect----nor simple, especially when there are those in it who use 'democracy' as motivation to spread it.
Now you know why they call this cowboy, Orwellingly Yurz.
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"The modern conservative...is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy. That is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
--John Kenneth Galbraith
If dogs run free
Then what must be,
Must be...
And that is all
--Bob Dylan
The neo-cons have gotten welfare for themselves down to a fine art.
--me
"The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights."
--J. Paul Getty
"The great thing about Art isn't what it give us, but what we become through it."
--Oscar Wilde
"We have Art in order not to die of life."
--Albert Camus
"I cling like a miser to the freedom I lose when surrounded by an abundance of things."
--Albert Camus
"Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes."
--Oscar Wilde |
| Edited by - Orwellingly Yurz on 02/17/2007 19:21:16 |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2007 : 20:21:12 [Permalink]
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| I'd say that Democracy Now is the furthest left of them, and borders on "far left" (after about 5 minutes of listening to Amy Goodman droll on, I have to change to something else). Air America is broad as it covers various programs. Media Matters by now is almost center as it takes almost no effort nowadays to find mainstream media outlets parroting RNC talking points. |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2007 : 01:44:44 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Cuneiformist
I'd say that Democracy Now is the furthest left of them, and borders on "far left" (after about 5 minutes of listening to Amy Goodman droll on, I have to change to something else). Air America is broad as it covers various programs. Media Matters by now is almost center as it takes almost no effort nowadays to find mainstream media outlets parroting RNC talking points.
See my new thread on this in the Media Forum in a couple minutes. |
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tomk80
SFN Regular
Netherlands
1278 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2007 : 07:17:22 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
quote:
Originally posted by Mycroft
Uhm, actually yeah, that's what makes you far left. Democracy Now, Media Matters, Air America and other sources that you quote are far lefty sources.
From my point of view, they seem rather centric/neutral.
But I don't expect much else from a country where the political spectrum is tilted so much to the right it's in immediate danger of capsizing.
I totally agree. Being in America was an eye-opener for me. There really was a country where the mainstream right-wing party in the Netherlands would have been on the left. In the Netherlands, the far-right echoes the American republican party. Only the extreme right would be consider far-right here. |
Tom
`Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, `if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
-Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Caroll- |
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Mycroft
Skeptic Friend
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2007 : 10:52:40 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Orwellingly Yurz
OY Sez: The media cited above are NOT far left. They are left. What is far left is the asshole in North Korea.
Wow. So here we see the standard by which you measure. The mind boggles.
Do you really mean to suggest that only Kim Jong-Il qualifies as “far left”?
quote:
Originally posted by Orwellingly Yurz
It is clear to me that the neocons and the Bushits are more far to the right than Democracy Now, Media Matters and Air America are to the left, and that Beskeptigal would probably be highly pissed-off if somebody came to her house and said, "Stand aside and let us in to make sure you're tuned to Kim Jung Il's approved broadcast frequencies."
You seem to be saying that so long as someone would object to the government telling them what programs to watch that they are not yet too far to the left?
That can't be what you really mean. Could you please clarify?
quote:
Originally posted by Orwellingly Yurz
Anyone wish to discuss the similarity of that North Korean government policy with 3 to 5 corporate media conglomerates controlling nearly all of what goes out on television and radio, and, to a lesser extent, cable?
Sure. Let me start.
I see no similarity at all.
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2007 : 11:44:22 [Permalink]
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quote:
Mycroft:
Sure. Let me start.
I see no similarity at all.
Oh come on Mycroft. Certainly you can see that too few owners of much of the media would have a chilling effect on free speech, while at the same time allowing for the promotion of a limited point of view to be broadcast over most of the media?
Propaganda is propaganda, whether it's government or corporate sponsored.
Capitalism or communism isn't the issue here. Control of the message is. When the message is in too few hands, it becomes centralized. And that is bad for the people, no matter where they live.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Orwellingly Yurz
SFN Regular
USA
529 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2007 : 11:56:35 [Permalink]
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YO:
Kil quote: "Capitalism or communism isn't the issue here. Control of the message is. When the message is in too few hands, it becomes centralized. And that is bad for the people, no matter where they live."
You response to Mycroft on this matter is better than anything I can write. I continue to wonder what part of the word "democracy" some folks don't get.
Keep on strivin' for it.
OY!
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"The modern conservative...is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy. That is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
--John Kenneth Galbraith
If dogs run free
Then what must be,
Must be...
And that is all
--Bob Dylan
The neo-cons have gotten welfare for themselves down to a fine art.
--me
"The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights."
--J. Paul Getty
"The great thing about Art isn't what it give us, but what we become through it."
--Oscar Wilde
"We have Art in order not to die of life."
--Albert Camus
"I cling like a miser to the freedom I lose when surrounded by an abundance of things."
--Albert Camus
"Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes."
--Oscar Wilde |
| Edited by - Orwellingly Yurz on 02/18/2007 11:57:13 |
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