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INTERNET SITES: LEFT AND RIGHT
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Conservative: ·FreeRepublic.com-- Those who use the site are called FReepers. · PABAAH.com -- Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood targets movies.
Liberal:
· Democraticunderground.com -- Those who use the site are called DUers. ·Take Back the Media -- An anti-corporate media site sponsoring a boycott of commentator Rush Limbaugh. |
AUSTIN -- Erica Anthony-Benavides is a junior at Trinity University in San Antonio, a member of Ladies in Physics and not very politically active. But because she signed a petition against the war in Iraq, a national conservative Internet site has declared her an enemy of America.
"I don't know why they want to accuse us of treason. It's not fair. We haven't done anything. We've just said something that somebody doesn't like," said Anthony-Benavides, a native of Corpus Christi.
Anthony-Benavides, 19, has been swept up in a new Internet war between the right and left in America that is trying to establish ideological purity for the nation.
Grass-roots political Internet sites have been springing up since the 2001 terrorist attacks. Those on the right vilify anyone who does not support President Bush and the Iraq war as communists and un-American, while those on the left use common curses to describe people on the right as fascists.
The right organizes boycotts against musicians and actors who oppose the war. The left urges boycotts of conservative talk-show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh or actors such as Bruce Willis.
Altogether, the Internet chatter is part of the partisan echo chamber of talk radio and political cable television shows that some experts believe has intensified the polarization of America's electorate.
Polls indicate American voters are at their most divided in a decade, with a partisan split on national security at its highest level since the late 1980s.
A Pew Research Center poll conducted earlier this year also found the number of people who get presidential campaign news from the Internet grew from 9 percent in 2000 to 13 percent this year. The number of people getting campaign news from traditional sources such as television networks and newspapers has declined as much as 10 percent.
James Gimpel, a University of Maryland professor who studies political divisions in America, said a small percentage of the U.S. populace visits ideological Web sites. But he said they reinforce strong feelings for those on the left and right.
"The people who tend to go to these sites are people whose views are pretty well entrenched," Gimpel said. "It's likely to enhance polarization. It's likely to enhance extremism. But it's not likely to create many converts."
The enemy list that included Anthony-Benavides received notoriety because of its connection to the beheading of U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg in Iraq.
Berg was a Bush supporter, but his father, Michael, like Anthony-Benavides, signed an anti-war petition for the International Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.) coalition.
A conservative known as "Doug from Upland" took the petition and turned it into a posting called "Here is the enemy" on FreeRepublic.com.
Doug from Upland told the Chronicle he had no idea who Berg was when he posted his enemies list. He said he wanted fellow subscribers to FreeRepublic to know the names of people who had signed on to what he described as a communist organization.
"That was my opinion. Here are the enemies of America," Doug said. "I called them enemies because I believe that while we are at war, they really are the enemies. They are hurting the morale of our troops."
Postings on the FreeRepublic site often urge readers to call the employers of liberals to report their anti-war sentiments.
Doug said he was motivated to post the enemies list because his son-in-law is in the Navy and one of the signers of the anti-war petition identified himself as being in the U.S. Coast Guard.
"That man had no right to have these feelings if he was in the military," Doug said.
Doug, who is 51 and lives in Upland, Calif., is in commercial real estate and was among those who questioned Bush during a Jan. 4, 2002, town hall meeting broadcast on C-SPAN. His photograph is posted on the FreeRepublic site, but he did not want to be interviewed using his last name because of concern that a liberal backlash would harm his business.
"They're foul-mouthed and vile and they call for violent behavior," Doug said.
Some liberal Web sites promote boycotts of conservatives, most particularly commentator Limbaugh. One Limbaugh boycott site is Take Back the Media, run by Michael Stinson, 51, who lives in an "undisclosed location."
"As far as I'm concerned, this is just voting with your buck," Stinson said.
Stinson posts contacts for Limbaugh's advertisers and urges liberals to call them to complain.
"Some people say we're trying to stifle Limbaugh's freedom of speech. We're not, but the Constitution does not guarantee 1,300 radio stations," Stinson said. "I'm not going to pay money to his advertisers for him to call me a Marxist and a traitor to my country."
The Internet battles have spawned at least one libel lawsuit that may test the future bounds of free speech.
A site called ProBush.com posted a list of politicians and entertainers who signed an anti-war petition and called them "traitors." The site describes it as a parody, but one of those on the list, former liberal Sen. Jim Abourezk, D-S.D., has sued for libel in federal court.
"Senator Abourezk has a pretty tough hide and can take as good as he gives," said his lawyer, Todd Epp of Sioux Falls, S.D., a University of Houston graduate. "It's also his concern that some people might be cowed by this. ... If you speak out and you're called a traitor, the social and legal ramifications of that can be harmful."
ProBush founder Michael Marino, 20, of West Point, Pa., said Abourezk's lawsuit is an assault on the First Amendment right of free speech.
"It would be most unfortunate if lawsuits could be used to silence the diverse voices of this 21st century medium," Marino said.
Marino's defense is supported by the Electronic Freedom Foundation, which has filed a brief in his case.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
I've never seen such a thing, and I sincerely hope it hasn't happened, because this behavior could cause a lot of trouble and I wouldn't want JimRob hurt.
WAAAAAH!! WAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! MOOOMMmY!!! << sniffle... >> All I did was sign a Petition and now they're calling me NAmES!! wAaaAAAAAH! Nobody was supposed to KNOW I signed it!!! WAAAAAAAaahhhh.... MOMMy... MAke them STOP... << Sob.... >> << Whimper... >>
People who are "not politically active" probably shouldn't sign petitions, especially if they don't understand what they are signing, or are not willing to defend that decision in public. The point of a petition is a formal declaration of a position, usually for the purposed of persuading others. But I am sure she just wanted to save the baby ducks and have everyone just get along.
If I were a liberal I would be upset as well but they are fighting a country that is growing more conservative as it ages.
BUMP