Posted on 12/01/2002 1:23:55 PM PST by 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.
current posts:
"S. Carolina: No Tattoo's Here! ",
"Gorbachev Girl Leads the Paris Ball Season [Talk of the Town] ",
"Near-Naked Women Won't Be Drafted in Colombian War "
whats your point?
This person is either not familiar with Free Republic or is simply not telling the truth.
As I said,it is harsh...it get's personal.
I have seen immigration discussion pushed aside in ignorance and I wonder why this thread with a speech from President Bush to the U.N. and some unanswered questions about another agency? (outside of homeland security) Go ignored, yet a day in the life of President Bush threads rule.
Moron.
If human races were actual species or sub-species, a child of a mixed marriage would be a hybrid, not a mutant. Since races aren't species, a mixed-race child is just a human.
Don't diss a vet, it's not good form.
Re: "himself - have to accept that having an (R) next to one's name doesn't make a politician beyond criticism. "
Dissing our team is THEIR job. If THEY don't do a good job of dissing the GOP, write a letter to baba streisand and ask her party to do something about it.
As for proud Republicans ?
That said, the first FR sponsored rally (March for Justice) on October 31, 1998, a full page Washington Times ad during the Impeachment process, and the persistence of the Florida Freepers during the 2000 election debacle have all been attributed to making a direct impact, according to government officials.
Now that the Republicans have control of all 3 branches and we're facing a protracted asymetrical war, time will show if Freepers once again contribute significantly to the political landscape. It will take the right cause and the right leaders to mobilize the Freepers in large numbers. But make no mistake, they're still there...and many of them are still active on a local level.
You obviously do not live in the greater L.A. area or the many areas where there are concerns and English is becoming a second language. My stepfather is of Hispanic descent and he does not like what is happening! And what about the trucks that do not have to go by all the rules and regulations that American truckers will have to abide by? And all the different permits and taxes they do not have to pay! Oh well if it is good for Mexico even though it is going to screw Americans out of jobs who cares right??
MCD
Most likely. Who is Matt Maggio, Editor & Publisher? Anybody ever heard of him? I wish I had a nickle for everytime someone predicted Free Republic was going down, I could own a South Sea Island by now.
Braveman (?) why did you post this trash?
I'm amazed he doesn't like to Farrakhan's site.
I think Free Republic, running with the ball started by Drudge, really brought the 1st Memorial Wellstone DNC Midterm Convention (aka The Plane Crash Jamboree) to the public conscious. The political resonance of that event really turned the tide of the midterms.
The FReepers were particularly resonant, IMHO.
I hope his day job isn't as a psychic.
Expect Bush to acquiesce to forcing Cheney to quit - much like Nixon did with Agnew - within six months. Expect Bush to then have to name his choice of a Gerald Ford-like replacement vice president that a hostile Senate will approve - just as Nixon had to. And expect Bush himself to then soon either be forced to either quit to avoid impeachment due to violating federal laws in his "war on terror" in a scenario much like the end of the Nixon presidency - or actually be impeached. Because it's - already - the last days of the Bush/Cheney Regime. LINK
No love just slugs here.
101 things that the Mozilla browser can do that Internet Explorer cannot.
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