Free Republic Purge: Conservative Web Site Bans Giuliani Supporters
A few weeks ago – in between Hillary Clinton’s official entry into the presidential race and the first Republican primary debate of the cycle – the fiery online conservative forum Free Republic marked a decade in operation as one of the premier online forums for right-wing political discussion.
It also experienced one of the biggest internal battles to rock the site since the 2000 election of George W. Bush -- a tumultuous campaign year that nearly tore the site apart, as its founder and chief administrator first cleansed commenting ranks of Bush supporters, then, later, rallied to his support.
At the heart of the latest controversy: the fight over the conservative bona fides of Rudy Giuliani.
Over the past few weeks, chaos has reigned in the “Freeper” community as members sympathetic to the former mayor's candidacy claim to have suffered banishment from the site. They were victimized, they say, by a wave of purges designed to weed out any remaining support for the Giuliani campaign on the popular conservative web forum. Another significant chunk of commenters have migrated away from the controversial site over the action, according to a number of former site members and conservative bloggers who have been tracking the situation.
In a plaintive post on the blog “Sweetness & Light,” exiled commenter Steve Gilbert, who says he does not support the former mayor’s campaign, blasted the site’s new “anti-Giuliani, anti-abortion jihad.” Since George W. Bush was elected president, he wrote, “there haven’t been any large scale [Free Republic] purges to speak of – until now.”
The fight began one month ago, when site founder Jim Robinson posted an anti-Giuliani manifesto titled: “Giuliani as the GOP presidential nominee would be a dagger in the heart of the conservative movement.” Then the virtual ax started to swing. Longtime posters to the freewheeling discussion threads, used to serious no-holds-barred web etiquette, were still stunned by the intensity of the anti-Rudy activity; conservative blogs buzzed with the development.
“Jim Robinson has been going on a tear demonizing Rudy Giuliani, because Rudy (agreeing with the vast majority of Americans), is personally opposed to abortions on a moral level…” complained a user on the GOPUSA Web site. “Anyone who posts any support for Giuliani at the site, if it's at all forceful, will be banned.”
(“Normally, we don't allow complaints about other conservative forums,” chided the moderator, but “…because it is being discussed all over the Internet, I'll make an exception.”)
Just a few months ago, Rudy Giuliani placed second in an early Free Republic straw poll; now, his support on the site has been virtually eliminated. “After the ‘April Purge,’ I don't think there are any Rudybots left around here,” noted Free Republic commenter “upchuck” in one recent post. “And if there are, they're not posting pro-Rudy stuff :).”
The forums weren’t the only venue for the Free Republic’s new antagonism toward Mr. Giuliani, which coincided with a wave of comments expressing similar sentiments from other corners of the conservative movement. A few days after Mr. Giuliani’s equivocal Roe v. Wade comments at the Republican presidential debate on May 3, a new “STOP RUDY NOW News & Information Thread” was featured on the site, and a newly-created stand-alone category debuted via a link from the homepage: “The Giuliani Truth File.” (So far this campaign season, Mr. Giuliani is the only candidate – Republican or Democratic – to be singled out for that level of scrutiny from the Free Republic.)
Why Rudy? Why now? Some conservative bloggers and former commenters contacted for their view of the continuing controversy say they believe that site founder Jim Robinson holds ideologically middling Republicans like Mr. Giuliani responsible for the GOP’s congressional loss and current woes. (They asked that their names be kept out of this story for fear of antagonizing the famously frisky site regulars.)
Others claim that the former mayor’s top-tier status is spurring frantic site administrators into action.
Finally, one popular theory holds that the Free Republic is secretly hoping for another Clinton presidency that would send its Alexa ratings soaring back to levels it hasn’t experienced since its halcyon days of the Clinton impeachment, when a since-soured relationship with blog pioneer Matt Drudge and overwhelming anti-Clinton sentiment in Republican ranks helped make Free Republic one of the hottest Web sites in the nation. It hasn't recovered that luster since the Bush administration took over.
“It’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s an observation,” said one blogger, who describes himself as a half-hearted Mitt Romney supporter. “They’ve still got a brand name that means something, but they’re not what they were in terms of real-world impact. A Hillary presidency would get them there.”
Robinson himself could not be reached for comment, but his original post laid out his case against Mr. Giuliani – a graphics-heavy presentation of some of the former mayor’s most damning moderate quotes in mainstream media venues, along with a color-coded report card tracking his less-than-doctrinaire positions on abortion, immigration, gays and guns.
Robinson, it should be noted, famously blasted George W. Bush’s presidential candidacy back in 2000, before a dramatic late-campaign about-face that saw him emerge as one of the GOP ticket’s biggest supporters. But whether or not Free Republic experiences a similar election-year shift this cycle, the site’s current campaign is spreading a dangerous primary-season meme of Rudy Giuliani as big-city liberal – and turning one of the most influential web forums in conservatism into an exclusive gathering place for those who share that view.
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When good conservatives are called homo lovin, liberal baby killer, gun grabbing lovers, by the owner of Freerepublic, one has to wonder of the mental state of the forum.
When founding members are purged and must start a new site that is rational and pragmatic, it is the end, of the Freeper era, for mainstream conservative opinions!
Interesting and well researched article. As the author notes, the decline at FreeRepublic has taken place over a period of time and the recent "purge" was really just a tipping point. Most long time members who departed weren't actually purged. They simply refused to stay at a site that would not allow open debate. Many moved to this site www.wideawakes.net , where open, thoughtful debate is encouraged.
Free Republic was infested (and has been for years) with many posters who pretend to be conservative, but are really liberals, if such labels have any meaning at all. Such posters tend to subscribe to the theory of evolution, think gays should have some legal rights, are unwilling to deport illegals and secure our borders, think there should be some separation between church and state, and refuse to recognize the life begins at conception, and are blind to the Declaration's promise to protect LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Thus Jim Robinson was right to ban them all, or run them off, and purify Free Republic. True, a bonus was that many of them supported Guiliani, but the supporters of Romney and Fred Thompson need to go too, because those guys are just as liberal as Giuliani, while pretending not to be, which makes them even worse. They epitomize the twim evils of liberalism and fake conservatism.
The Republican party is damaged goods, and awaits a candidate of courage to emerge that can rescue it from the pit of liberalism into which it has fallen.
It is regrettable that Jim Robinson, Free Republic, and his enablers gave so much fodder to left with this recent purge. Remember, FR gave us Buckhead who blew the lid off of Rathergate. Now, many long-time FReepers have moved on to Wide Awakes and elsewhwere. These people largely helped make FR credible. Now, it is viewed as a bunch of snarling piranhas that will feast on their own - and Jim Robinson as a bitter opportunist. Bitter because his site has diminished during the Bush administration and opportunistic to seek a Republican defeat - thereby propping up his sagging forum.
I was never banned from Free Republic. I chose to leave the site voluntarily because of the nasty, vile tone that has become commonplace at Free Republic. Many of us have not decided who we will support for the Primary election in 2008. Free Republic has taken the path of not only not allowing positive articles to be posted about Rudy Guiliani by members, but also banning and calling people not openly reviling Rudy, names. I didn't want my name associated as a reader of Free Republic. They say they are not Republicans but conservatives. Well, this conservative wants nothing to do with the fanaticism of Free Republic.
Jim Robinson has handed the reins of Free Republic over to a pair of political gadflies - erstwhile Keyes operative Tom Hoefling and J. Edward White of stoprudy.com.
The site that took Dan Rather down is now nothing more than a third-rate third-party echo chamber.
"This "EV" is NOT the shorthand name for a well known poster at FR. It was a parody - with bite."
It's too difficult to tell the difference. Poe's Law for political debates.
:)
"FR is a fish rotting from the head down. Time to make some chum and start over."
Shove it.
OH Jim, that is as clever as calling a poster who disagreed with an "asswipe"
I want to know who is paying you to trash your once respected site?
Since the Stormfront crowd moved in at FR, you have become a joke!
Hi Jim.
At least you use better language here than on your site.
The purging started earlier than this; over the last year most of the conservatives who didn't accept the creationist line were forced out. Jim Robinson, FR's owner, has called evolution a Marxist plot and said that all science is political (which ironically is a Marxist sentiment).
The website is now a kook site, with people pushing geocentricism (GourmetDan), people who argue openly that slavery isn't a moral issue and is perfectly OK (taxesareforever), people who think surgery is Satanic (Editor_Surveyor), people who claim to be atheists but attack anybody who doesn't accept a literal Genesis as being Marxist homos (Sir Francis Dashwood), people who think the moon landings were faked (taxesareforever again), people who believe in crop circles and alien abduction (quix), people with ties to racist organizations like League of the South (pistolpaknmama and l8pilot), people who openly call for the nuking of Mecca (too many to name), people like EV above (Eternal Vigalence, AKA Tom Hoefling), a third rate political operative who hasn't backed a winning candidate and wants to drive out any candidate that has a chance to win.
The list is endless. Whatever is the reasoning behind JimRob's latest purges (is he getting paid to defeat Rudy? Is that even legal?), his efforts over the last year have only lessened the impact the site can have. Whether he likes it or not, the thing that people liked about the site was the ability for conservatives of many different stripes to debate and chat. Nobody knows what the new heresy will be, and whose head will be on the block next. Who wants to post on a site like that? Who wants to be told "Shove it asswipe!", as Jim Robinson himself actually told a Rudy symphasizer?
FR is a fish rotting from the head down. Time to make some chum and start over.
A number of science-minded conservatives started a website last May called DarwinCentral.Org
Like-minded conservative/libertarian leaning people are welcome to check us out.
DarwinCentral.Org is a cool place! Very intellectual people there! I read it everyday. I also like the other new site, set up by long time freepers, www.wideawakes.net.
Both places are great for civil discussions.
I am glad the web is a large place and Fr is not the only ballgame in town!
Jim Robinson has been marginalizing his site for years. It is entertaining to watch him self-inflicting wounds. With so many other hospitable websites catering to Conservative thought, why would anyone step foot in Free Republic?
The history of Free Republic is replete with purges - this most recent one is merely the latest, though it is without question the bloodiest of them by far. And while the number of posters who have actually been banned in the purges is relatively small, what's not so small is the number of other posters who have quietly left the site in disgust as the tone of the "discourse" at Free Republic has turned increasingly shrill, nasty and bigoted.
Another major difference between this purge and previous purges that's worth noting is that among the posters banned during this one are a lot of old timers who have historically been among Mr. Robinson's most loyal fundraisers and donors. Some of them have been around since the site's earliest days and have participated in lots of actual "meat world" activism, as well as in making sure the lights stayed on in Fresno. So why have these most faithful FReepers been tossed over the side? Have they ALL suddenly turned into baby-killing RINOs?
The posters still at Free Republic like to brag about the supposed trail of bodies they've left all over the Internet as they've sought to "improve" Free Republic by driving off all posters with dissenting views. What they've left instead is a whole host of sites such as wideawakes.net, darwincentral.org and others made up of former FReepers who just want to get together and discuss politics and their mutual interests without being shrieked down by a bunch of Bible-banging thugs and bullies.
And while Free Republic is still the 800-pound gorilla of conservative forums, it's starting to lose some weight, as thoughtful, rational, center-right and small "l" libertarian leaning people grow increasingly disgusted with the incivility, the churlishness, the paranoia and outright hatred of all things different that's so thoroughly infesting "America's premiere conservative forum" these days.
For the love of God, what is wrong with you people? Free Republic is the home of the true Noah's Ark Republicans and the fact that we don't support a male candidate who would actually put on a bra should come as no surprise to liberal America.
We don't like hippies, scientists, or even mainstream Republicans. We are the lone voice in the wilderness and we like it that way.
If you don't like us, don't read us! Yes, we'll purge those who infiltrate and try to spread "reason" at the forum. That's a "reason" to ban your happy butt.
Now mind your own business and leave us alone.
"Shove it.
Posted by: Jim Robinson | May 26, 2007 5:29 PM"
Don't you mean "knock it off" Jim?
(inside joke, folks)
I was wondering when word of this would get out there.
Many, many great, loyal posters from Free Republic, good folks who contributed money to the forum, were unceremoniously shown the door after an arbitrary, new set of criteria for posting there was sprung on the membership, with no warning and in a hostile, nasty fashion.
What was ok on Wednesday was verboten on Thursday. It was absurd and insulting.
Some moderators even quit over the purge btw.
It only benefits Rudy though, as it fires up his supporters and makes the paleo-con right look loony.
Several sites benefited from the crazy purge, including:
http://www.wideawakes.net/forum/
and
http://sweetness-light.com/
You lose Jim Robinson!!
Not surprised at all. I, a rock-ribbed Conservative (Note: NOT a Republican) and who voted twice for Jorge W Bush (okay, the last time was against that traitorous rat-bastard Kerry, rather than "for" W) was banned a few months back for having the temerity of suggesting that perhaps under the circumstances (based upon W's selling out our country through this support of Shamnesty and his absolute refusal to secure our borders) I might consider supporting impeachment IF we ever had another terrorist incident and it is shown that they waltzed in as so many other millions of illegals have.
I know it is not difficult to sign up using another name, however, based upon Robinson's continual Bush "can do no wrong" and his suck-up and butt-kissing for this man (W) I like and admire but who is turning out to be a complete failure with regards to securing our borders (and Jims' sycophant, moronic, discourteous, "Mods") I would not waste my time.
Admittedly, I still lurk and check out their postings occasionally, however, I will not give them the satisfaction of signing up once more, simply to take a chance that whatever I may post, may get me banned once again.
Its a shame that Robinson is so narrow minded as he will undoubtedly lose more good conservative members.
I wouldn't even say that it's only about Rudy Giuliani. I am, and shall remain, a Romney supporter. I was inexplicably banned weeks ago for reasons that were never revealed to me. This was before Jim Robinson suddenly decided that Romney was no longer an acceptable candidate either. After months, or perhaps years, of hiding out on a few select threads, I realized that if I could not be myself, there was no point in being there. The reason for my banning is no longer important to me. I hope that others who are hiding from the rest of the forum will take a good look at the site they continue to support. There's no safe place left on FR. If you'd rather have a sane place to discuss politics, please join us at www.wideawakes.net for politics with rationality.
What passes for intelligent discourse at FR these days is calling Rudy "Rooty" and claiming Rudy's wife has "cooties."
I remember talk about cooties - from grammar school.
Jim Robinson predicated his purge largely on Rudy's position on abortion. Now, he says that the Republican candidate must obey this conservative platform:
"Win the war!
Secure the nation!
Secure the borders!
Stop the illegal aliens!
Rebuild the military!
Deal with growing threats! Iran, Syria, North Korea, China, (and an increasingly Muslim Russia and Europe?)!
Cut government!
Cut spending!
Cut taxes!
Allow the free economy to expand!
Return control of states issues to the states!
Defend life, liberty, property and individual rights! "
All good, but unless it is rolled up in the last point, he makes no mention of Roe v. Wade.
Also, the goose-steppers at FR are now happy civility has returned. Well, dictators make the trains run on time, but Che Robinson is a topic in the FR speak-easies, I'm sure.
And a long-time FReeper, Peach, was banned because she insisted Ronald Reaga once supported abortion.
WELL, JIMROB HERE IS A CLAIM FROM MICHAEL REAGAN THAT STATES THE SAME (Front Page Magazine:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=26986
===========
Finally, Good conservative discourse can be found at
www.wideawakes.net and
http://www.wethepeopleforum.com/forum
JimRob - your loss is huge. You've been reduced to a snarling, bitter man.
This "EV" is NOT the shorthand name for a well known poster at FR. It was a parody.
"Now, many long-time FReepers have moved on to Wide Awakes and elsewhwere. These people largely helped make FR credible."
LORF. Get a clue. FR was never credible. Now WA is FR redux, boring as all get out ... just like the FR they all pretend to depise. (Ronnie's a bitch!)
Purging FR was one thing. JR's ill-mannered and boorish insults targeted toward people who had been supporters for a decade or more was something else altogether. The best minds at FR have moved to www.wideawakes.net.
Free Republic will remain cursed until the only candidate pure enough to be called a True Conservative receives the respect there that he is entitled to.
It was ever thus.
Keyes for President!
God Bless and Whoo Hoo!
I highly recommend Wide Awakes. Civil discourse, intelligent conversation, and the owner doesn't allow trolls, spammers, and other assorted internet clowns to muck up the threads. Mainstream conservatives will find it a pleasing forum.
At any rate, Free Republic's days of relevance are over.
All of you can see for yourselves that the above article is true, Rudy supporters were indeed banned purely for expressing support for him the most polite way and reasons for banning stated "non-conservative abortionist supporting troll". Everyone can scan through this thread:
"Will FR embrace socialism to make way for Rudy Giuliani as a Republican presidential candidate?"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1821435/posts
Read post 50, then the response of the owner and founder of FR in post 56. That will give you an example. The poster of post 50 was also immediately banned. Then continue reading that thread to get an idea of the posters – the banned can’t defend themselves against the lies, yes, lies perpetrated against them.
While the owner maintains that most left on their own, a significant number were banned by him personally, just for supporting Giuliani, or just posting facts about him, deemed to be positive; and/or for posting factual information, deemed to be negative, about their current darling, Fred Thompson.
Then after the continuing abusive tactics against posters who didn’t fall in line against Giuliani, or dared to express disapproval of the massive banning of long time polite, intelligent fellow posters, a lot of others did indeed leave and found homes at some of the websites already mentioned by other posters here. Facts and truth were banned from FR. Free Republic is now a totalitarian regime.
And to top it off, which was also noticed by another "progressive" (i.e. left-leaning) website,-- so I am not revealing anything that isn’t available publicly – many current posters on FR agree, that basically the US deserved 9-11, Bin Laden was right – as Ron Paul stated in the Republican presidential candidates’ debate.
"Freepers Take Giuliani to School"
http://allspinzone.com/wp/2007/05/17/freepers-take-giuliani-to-school
The posters on FR seem to be proud of it, see the thread discussing the above article:
"Freepers Take Giuliani to School (Someone noticed!)"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1835060/posts
This links to their earlier thread:
BIN LADEN'S FATWA (Why Ron Paul was Factually Correct) (UBL cited Iraq in 1996 Declaration of War)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1834249/posts
(In the GOP debate Ron Paul blamed “US intervention in the Middle East” for the reason we were attacked on 9-11, basically saying that Bin Laden was justified in attacking us. Giuliani immediately took issue of it, asking him to withdraw his statement, but Ron Paul refused)
When a website claiming to be conservative, allows defense of Bin Laden and his actions, but won’t allow defense of Rudy Giuliani, the leading Republican presidential candidate, who wants to make sure the US is safe from terrorists, it is a sad day indeed.
Those who still post there might consider whether they really want to continue to be part of this.