SF CHRON ON FR: FReep This -- How The Right Wing Is Making Itself Heard

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | January 30, 2003 | Joyce Slaton

[sweetliberty]

"It's that context that worries the Left -- that opinion-shapers get their influences here, sort of like one giant focus-group session for the Right."

I'd really like to believe that is true and to some extent I do. But as the left becomes more alert to our existence and influence, we can expect more attacks in the form of disruptors, lawsuits and possibly efforts to access and use personal information about posters. The left are not constrained by the ethics most FR posters would adhere to and they are in their element when it gets dirty. Since there are no advertisers on FR (thankfully) they can't go after that the way they are trying to do with Rush, not that I believe that would be effective on the net anyway.

I don't really think it will work with Rush because he is a gold mine and the sponsors know it. The point is, they are seeing us as a real threat and therefore real hostilities can be expected from them. As Rush has been saying of late, it isn't that their voice isn't being heard; it is that people are rejecting their message. The natural solution would be to discover what is wrong with the message and fix it and come up with some new ideas, but instead they try to put a fresh coat of paint on the old ones and try to sell them as new and work tirelessly to silence anybody who points out the facade. They are trying to sell the people a bill of goods and resent and will try to shut down anyone who effectively exposes them.

Perhaps it is just my narrow perspective, but it appears that the top three on their hate list are Fox news (television), Rush (radio), and Free Republic (internet). They would love nothing more than to silence these powerful voices, lovers of free speech that they are.

[sweetliberty]

" I need to find that to see for myself."

'Mammy Condoleezza' Parody Prompts Apology, NAACP Mum

[sweetliberty]

"...Will crazy glue plug the 9MM holes in my flat panel screen???"

Wirestripper might be able to answer that for you TB. WS, see post #363. Teehee..

[TLBSHOW]

bingo

on a side note

EXECUTED

January 30, 2003 -- A pioneering Chinese-community activist who raised big bucks for state GOP politicians was found brutally slain with her husband in their Brooklyn co-op, cops said yesterday.

snip

Both had yellow plastic bags on their heads - fastened around their necks with duct tape. Both were bound hand and foot, and Shan had tape on his mouth and nose.

Autopsies revealed they died of strangulation from the tape around their necks and suffocation from the bags on their heads.

There was no sign of forced entry, and robbery didn't appear to be the motive, because money and jewelry were found in the apartment

snip

They're also trying to determine if the Lins made enemies through their political activities or work in the community.

snip

In addition to selling insurance and raising political funds, Josephine also helped recent arrivals with their immigration papers, served as a PTA president and sat on her co-op board.

Her husband, who was also retired, was active in Christian broadcasting and the Boon Christian Church in Flushing.

new york post

[sweetliberty]

"what a freaking loser she is. Incompetent and useless as an investigative reporter"

I believe "LIAR" is the word you're looking for.

[sweetliberty]

Good grief. You have to read that forum one post at a time??? Is it just me? Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but it certainly seems cluttered and clumsy to me.

[TLBSHOW]

Who ever said a liberal could use the internet?

Now a plug is a plug is a plug for truth here

How Conservatives Conquered the Internet


Friday, January 31, 2003

posted at 06:55
THE NEW UNDERGROUND - PRE-SALES AVAILABLE

A friendly Freeper named TLBSHOW has kindly plugged my new book on FreeRepublic.com. Thanks, TLBSHOW!

Pre-sales of The New Underground: How Conservatives Conquered the Internet are now available from Amazon.com.

http://www.richardpoe.com/blog_single.php?rowID=84

[L.N. Smithee]

I skimmed past an article a few days ago that concerned the use of the word "mammy" in reference to Condoleeza Rice. I suspect it was along the same lines. I need to find that to see for myself. I'd like to know who said it.

Talk show host Neil Rogers of WQAM-AM Miami. Here's a link to two FR posts of a NewsMax article about how the NAACP passed on criticizing Rogers for calling Rice "the House Negro" in the White House.

[L.N. Smithee]

I skimmed past an article a few days ago that concerned the use of the word "mammy" in reference to Condoleeza Rice. I suspect it was along the same lines. I need to find that to see for myself. I'd like to know who said it.

Talk show host Neil Rogers of WQAM-AM Miami. Here's a link to two FR posts of a NewsMax article about how the NAACP passed on criticizing Rogers for calling Rice "the House Negro" in the White House.

[Kip Lange]

think you'd best do some research. Your "facts" are simply wrong. Barnicle received a 2-month suspension for his first offense. Jacoby got 4 months' suspension without pay. Barnicle came up on a second charge from an earlier column and was forced to resign from the Globe.

Er, what fact was wrong? I said Barnicle got a second chance, and Patricia Smith was making sources up out of whole cloth...

Jacoby still writes for the Globe. So the score is two liberals gone, one conservative punished but working. I don't think Jeff should have been disciplined at all, but he still has a job.

Jeff still writes for them, sure, but with a nice "plagiarism" black mark on his career record. Jeff was bumped off the staff for political reasons (see PJ's post below yours); Barnicle and Smith's *known* plagiarism was tolerated for much longer because their views fit in with the Globe's. Where are am I goin' wrong here? ;-) The *SCORE* is two liberal columnists EVENTUALLY bumped off because their plagiarism became too blatant for even the Globe staff to ignore; one conservative op-ed writer deliberately silenced for the 2000 elections who was reinstated due in large part to outrage over the nothingness of his "infraction" when compared to what the Globe had tolerated before (if you recall, they took a little while deciding how whether or not they'd keep him at all, until they settled on the magic 4 month number, conveniently putting him on the shelf until the elections were over...or say the hoped...). The Thought Police are very prevalent here in MA, if you haven't noticed yet. After all, it ain't spring in MA until a Kennedy drunkenly rams his car up on the curb somewhere near Hyannis.

--CWL

[Kip Lange]

Perhaps it is just my narrow perspective, but it appears that the top three on their hate list are Fox news (television), Rush (radio), and Free Republic (internet). They would love nothing more than to silence these powerful voices, lovers of free speech that they are.

There's a rising number of hit pieces attacking Fox pundits, conservative radio hosts, and a general lashing out at the internet (the whole thing, liberals HATE the internet most of all, because they log on and find -- conservativism -- and they can't control it like they can Ted Koppel's hair). I really do think this is a definite strategy. However, it is most DEFINITELY not strategery, cuz *strategery works*. ;-)

--CWL

[PJ-Comix]

I don't really think it will work with Rush because he is a gold mine and the sponsors know it.

Also any advertiser that drops Rush soon finds itself in the toilet as far as sales are concerned. Remember what happened to Snapple. They were doing great while advertising on Rush's show. Then a big corporation bought Snapple and decided that Rush was too "controversial" for them so they dropped his show. And the next thing that happened is that the Snapple sales plummeted to the bottom.

[GOPJ]

It came from Trixie. It was her pet name for us... The old timers know the details. Anyone?

... How in the world did somebody ever get the words "Freep" and "Freeper" out of "Free Republic"? For decades, "Freep" has been common shorthand for newspapers named "Free Press" (like Detroit). That's an understandable derivation -- Free-P. But how did Free-R turn into "Freep"?

[Jerez2]

I took a few days to answer this woman thoughtfully. Here's my letter:

Dear Ms. Slaton,

I read your recent Chronicle article on Free Republic with interest.
I am a Freeper.
I am a conservative.
I live in the Bay Area, under constant pressure to shut up and keep my views to myself, pressure exerted by friends, employers, coworkers, and social acquaintences.
But I will no longer be silenced.
If you really believed in diversity, in balance, in fairness, you would insist that conservative voices be heard.
Instead, we conservatives are constantly maligned and ridiculed.
If not portrayed evil and racist, then we are dismissed as stupid and ignorant.
I am none of the above. Name-calling doesn't affect me anymore.
I fought and suffered for equal rights in the 60s and 70s.
I give all people equal consideration, and treat them as friends until proven otherwise.
I just tell you all this because -- I am a Freeper. I am an American. I deserve to have a voice. And I will no longer be silenced!

1. Your main argument, that Freepers do a terrible disservice to the scientific measuring of public opinion by alerting each other to vote in online polls, is pure bunkum. You know this -- or you should know this, as an intelligent, educated reporter for a big-city daily. People who participate in online polls are self-selected, and tend to be 'partisan' in one way or another. The essential element of randomness is not present in online polls. That's why online polls are not considered true or scientific. Yet, if they show a result favorable to the agenda of the publication or reporter doing a story on public opinion or policy, they will be reported as though they are. This is a mistake -- whether it is done by someone with an agenda of the left or of the right. It is either an honest (if ignorant) mistake, or a dishonest misrepresentation.

2. Your choice of spokesmen, your main interview subjects, show a great deal of bias. Did you check out David Allen's 'Democrat Underground' site before you quoted him so extensively? And if you did, why did you not report that people on his site are far more guilty of the 'scary' behavior that you import to Freepers? On Free Republic, we have Admin Moderators who immediately remove any post that could result in harm to someone (such as addresses of private citizens). Our posting rules preclude any racist or ad hominem attacks, and the moderators will remove any post that contravenes the rule -- sometimes removing the entire thread. Your other liberal/leftist spokesman, Mr. Pitt, also has an agenda that went unreported by you. I think your article would have been stronger had it reported on what BOTH sides are doing on the Internet these days.

3. The Internet is a source of news for us, and none is better than Free Republic. We have people reporting first-hand from all over the world. We have experts from many fields who provide amazingly-detailed background information. Often we will hear a 'breaking' news story DAYS before it is reported by broadcast or print media. Even before Drudge! This morning, for example, when the space shuttle crashed, on one thread within moments we had information on the various systems that could have malfunctioned; weather maps showing the trajectory of the shuttle; bios of the astronauts; on-site reports from people in Texas who heard the sonic boom; links to live coverage from all over the country and the world. No news organization could come close. We also had one guy saying that it was God's retribution for having an Israeli on board. This person's vile post was immediately removed -- but not before he was thoroughly thrashed by numerous Freepers. We are wise enough to reject such bilge -- to take the good stuff and leave the bad. We don't need 'gatekeepers' in the liberal "mainstream" media deciding what we can and cannot see -- or read -- or discuss -- or think about. The 'mainstream' media voted for Clinton -- 90%, by their own report; in the country as a whole, he never received more than 46% of the vote. This means that the "mainstream" press is not so mainstream after all -- and as a result, they have simply disregarded, for years, the feelings, opinions and concerns of half their countrymen. This has to stop! And with the Internet, and sites like Free Republic, it HAS been stopped. To the woe of the formerly-great dailies! Like our own poor, late lamented Examiner!

What is truly 'scary' is the lack of reporting on the true background of the 'anti-war' protestors. What is truly scary is the lack of condemnation of people who call for killing Henry Hyde and his whole family on national TV. What is truly scary is realizing that some stories are not being reported at all by the media that most people get their news from, because they are not deemed PC. This lack of information could conceivably cost lives. When your agenda becomes more important than your calling, as a reporter, to report the truth -- or at least all sides of an issue, objectively -- then you are no longer a journalist. You are a propagandist.

I know this is a long letter, but I have tried to keep it civil and reasonable. I hope you will take my comments under consideration as constructive criticism, and in the future serve the people of the Bay Area better with more honest, balanced reporting.

Sincerely,
(name, city)
Freeper "Jerez2"

[sailor4321]

My feelings, EXACTLY! She has failed to see what the real nature of the Free Republic is: a forum for the expression/sharing of conservative viewpoints, for ascertaining the "true facts" rather than what the left wing media provide us and for building thoughtful solidarity on the right. And, as a base from which to "take it to the streets" when appropriate, which we have done on many, many occasions.

[gogeo]

From the editorial (or did they call it news?) of William Rivers Pitt...

In these two short entries, the daughter of a President is accused of carnal knowledge of animals and plants. She is accused of being a spreader of STDs. Senator Hillary Clinton is called a "dyke."

LOL!!! Why am I reminded of that Seinfeld episode?

"Not that there's anything wrong with that..."

[Travelgirl]

Post 394 - Great letter!!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Don't worry, Ms. Slaton. You'll KNOW when I'm being violent and breaking the f***ing law!

This IS in the editorial section, isn't it?