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{{Short description|Internet forum for conservatives}}
]
{{Multiple issues|
'''Free Republic''' is a moderated ], activist and chat site for ], primarily within the ].
{{update|date=October 2017}}
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-03-30-pro-war-money_x.htm|title= Conservatives 'fed up' with protesters|publisher=USATODAY|accessdate=2008-02-07|last=|first=}}</ref> It presents articles and comments posted anonymously by registered members using screen names. Due to copyright restrictions (see below), posted articles are often excerpts from originals.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}
{{Undue weight|date=March 2020}}
{{primary sources|date=August 2022}}
{{unreliable sources|date=August 2022}}
}}
{{Infobox website
|name = FreeRepublic
|logo = ]
|caption = logo displaying motto
|url = {{URL|http://www.freerepublic.com/}}
|commercial = Yes
|type = ]
|language = ]
|registration = Required to post
|owner = Jim Robinson
|author = Jim Robinson, John Robinson
|launch_date = {{Start date and age|1997|02}}
|current_status = Active
|revenue = Donations (not deductible)
}}
'''Free Republic''' is a moderated ] and chat site for self-described ], primarily within the ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-03-30-pro-war-money_x.htm|title=Conservatives 'fed up' with protesters|publisher=USATODAY|access-date=2008-02-07|first1=Patrick|last1=O'Driscoll|date=March 31, 2003}}</ref> It presents articles and comments posted ]ously by registered members, known as "Freepers",<ref name="Stein">{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/07/13/free/print.html|title=Free for all at Free Republic|date=1999-07-13|work=Salon.com}}</ref> using screen names. The site is supported entirely by donations, with ]s known as "Freepathons" held each quarter.


Free Republic has been involved in several organized conservative campaigns including against CBS anchor ] after Rather reported on documents about President ]'s service record which turned out to be forgeries, and against ] for their antiwar statements.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.image.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/complete_report/CBS_Report.pdf|title=Complete report|work=CBS News}}</ref> Freepers were instrumental in raising the question of a lack of authenticity in the so-called "]".
For each article, the forum's main page typically shows its headline, plus the first hundred words of the article as posted to Free Republic. Users can see the full article at its original source by clicking a hyperlink beneath the headline. Registered members post a continuous flow of new articles to the forum.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}


== Local chapters and forum policies == ==Local chapters and forum policies==
There are local chapters "unconnected with ''Free Republic''", organized through ping lists, ], and Free Republic mail.<ref></ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/freerep/19991029rob.htm|title=Document: Declaration of James Robinson in LA Times v. Free Republic, 10/_/99.|work=techlawjournal.com}}</ref> Some are only "ping list" groups, members who include their names in a list to be "pinged" on news articles of a certain nature. Some cover presidential events (daily picture, prayer, and speech threads), some focus on contemporary conservative issues such as the ], the ] movement, or opposing ]. The more active chapters ] live protests, which they call "Freeps." Since the ], these are often counter-protests, responses to protests by opposition groups, or small rallies.


As concerns policies and purpose, the main page of Free Republic states,
There are local chapters "unconnected with ''Free Republic''", organized through ping lists, e-mail, and Free Republic mail.<ref></ref><ref></ref> Some are only "ping list" groups, members who include their names in a list to be "pinged" on news articles of a certain nature. Some cover presidential events (daily picture, prayer, and speech threads), some focus on conservative principles such as the ], the ] movement, or opposing ]. The more active chapters ] live protests, which they call "Freeps." Since the 2000 election, these are often counter-protests, responses to protests by opposition groups <ref></ref><ref></ref>, or small rallies<ref></ref>.


"Opinions expressed on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Free Republic or its operators. Please enjoy our forum, but also please remember to use common courtesy when posting and refrain from posting personal attacks, profanity, vulgarity, threats, racial or religious bigotry, or any other materials offensive or otherwise inappropriate for a conservative family audience."
Free Republic has an official policy which allows authorized moderators to remove postings identified as blatantly violent, racist or bigoted.<ref>Freerepublic.com - Registration </ref><ref>Freerepublic.com </ref>. Postings deemed to support "liberal" points of view may also be "moderated" per official policy, expressed in 2004 by the owner as: "we feel no compelling need to allow a platform to promote their repugnant and obnoxious propaganda from our forum. Free Republic is not a liberal debating society."<ref></ref> The owner reserves the right to revoke posting privileges and exclude any individual without recourse.<ref> by Admin Moderator, September 21, 2001.</ref>


"Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government. Free Republic advocates a return to constitutionally limited government, reserving all government powers not expressly delegated by the constitution to the United States to the States respectively, or the people, emphasizing sovereign state governments, local government, self-government and self-rule, while restricting government powers to only those enumerated in the constitution and maximizing individual rights and liberty as originally envisioned and established by our Founding Fathers and secured and defended by the blood of patriots and statesmen for over two hundred years."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Jim |title=Welcome to Free Republic! Conservatives for God, Family, Country! |url=https://freerepublic.com/home.htm |website=Free Republic |access-date=21 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Jim |title=Reminder: No profanity, no racism, no personal attacks, no threats, no violence, etc. |url=https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3713751/posts |website=Free Republic |access-date=21 July 2021}}</ref>
==Chronology==


== Site funding ==
===1996-2000 - Anti-Clinton===
The FreeRepublic.com website is funded through individual contributions each quarter through fundraising on the website. The website generates approximately $250,000 each year by its own admission.


==History==
Founded in September ] as a sole proprietorship by Founder, Chairman and President James C. "Jim" Robinson<ref>Robinson, James C. </ref> of ], Free Republic opened to the general public in February, 1997. Robinson filed for LLC status on September 11, 1998.<ref>California LP/LLC Search Free Republic LLC</ref> It has always been a for-profit company and donations have never been tax exempt. <ref>Morrow, Margaret M., J. Case No. CV 98-7840-MMM (AJWx) Los Angeles Times et. al vs. Free Republic et. al</ref>


===1996–2000: Clinton Administration===
Free Republic gained popularity during the ] controversy in 1997 and 1998, a time when it was linked on the '']'' as "Whitewater Archives," when protests and write-in campaigns were organized through the website. Many were also introduced to the site through an impeachment rally in Washington, attended by over 500 participants, called the "March for Justice," broadcast live on ] 1998 (a Saturday) by the ] channel. Featured speakers were ], ], Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson of B.O.N.D. and ]. ], ] and ] also attended.<ref>Political Research Associates Spring 1999, Volume XIII, No. 1</ref> Other Free Republic events over the years have also been televised by C-SPAN.<ref>, fetched ]</ref><ref>York, Anthony April 2, 2001 [http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/04/02/blue/index.html ''Katherine Harris, woman of the year?
Founded in September 1996 as a sole proprietorship by Founder, Chairman and President James C. "Jim" Robinson<ref>Robinson, James C. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523150304/http://www.psnw.com/~jimrob/resume.htm |date=2007-05-23 }}</ref> of ], Free Republic opened to the general public in February 1997. Robinson filed for ] status on September 11, 1998.<ref>California LP/LLC Search {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111203722/http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=199825410007 |date=2008-01-11 }} Free Republic LLC</ref> It has always been a for-profit company and thus donations have never been ].<ref>Morrow, Margaret M., J. Case No. CV 98-7840-MMM (AJWx) Los Angeles Times et al. vs. Free Republic et al.</ref>
''] Salon.com, fetched ]</ref>


Free Republic gained popularity during the ] from 1997 till 1999, a time when it was linked on the '']'' as "] Archives," when protests and write-in campaigns were organized through the website. Many were also introduced to the site through an impeachment rally in Washington, attended by over 3000 participants, called the "March for Justice," broadcast live on ] 1998 by ]. Featured speakers included ], ], Reverend ] of B.O.N.D. and ]; ], ] and ] also attended.<ref>Political Research Associates Spring 1999, Volume XIII, No. 1</ref> Other Free Republic events over the years have also been televised by C-SPAN.<ref></ref><ref>York, Anthony April 2, 2001 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929144338/http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/04/02/blue/index.html |date=2007-09-29 }} Salon.com, fetched 2006-12-30</ref>
Drudge dropped the link to Free Republic by February, 1999, "because they were doing racist stuff over the ." Drudge quickly restored the link, but later dropped it again for unknown reasons, and currently does not link.<ref></ref>


Drudge dropped the link to Free Republic by February 1999, "because they were doing racist stuff over the ... I click on and I see this headline, '] Baby.'" Drudge quickly restored the link, but later dropped it again for unknown reasons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/mugger021299.asp|title=Mugger|work=jewishworldreview.com}}</ref> As of April 2008 the Free Republic link is back on Drudge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drudgereport.com|title=DRUDGE REPORT 2015®|work=drudgereport.com}}</ref>
In its early years, Free Republic generally allowed its members to post ]ed news stories in entirety to its forum, regardless of whether permission had been granted by content owners, until the site was sued in 1998 by '']'' and ''The ]'' for ] infringement. The newspapers obtained a permanent injunction, although stipulated damages of $1 million were reduced to $10,000 during settlement negotiations which allowed the defendants to drop their appeal.<ref></ref> The case, often cited when arguing ], is called '']''.


In its early years, Free Republic generally allowed its members to post copyrighted news stories in entirety to its forum, regardless of whether permission had been granted by content owners, until the site was sued in 1998 by '']'' and '']'' for copyright infringement. The newspapers obtained a permanent ], although stipulated damages of $1 million were reduced to $10,000 during ] negotiations which allowed the defendants to drop their ].<ref></ref> The case, often cited when arguing ], is called '']''.
From 1996-2000, the bulletin board was virtually unmoderated.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} This policy was central to the website's Fair Use defense in the Copyright Infringement litigation, wherein it stated "(t)he website operated by the defendants, www.freerepublic.com, permits anyone who wishes to post news articles or other items and to post commentary about the article as well ... no censorship is made and all views are permitted."<ref></ref>
]'s Jeff Stein observed in 1999 that: " 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/07/13/free/print.html |title=Free for all at Free Republic |date=July 13, 1999 |publisher=Salon.com}}</ref> Robinson "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."<ref name="observer"></ref> These shifts signalled internal battles comparable to the nomination controversies of 2007 "as its founder and chief administrator first cleansed commenting ranks of Bush supporters, then, later, rallied to his support."<ref name="observer"/>


From 1996 to 2000, the bulletin board was virtually unmoderated. This policy was central to the website's "]" defense in the copyright infringement litigation, wherein it stated "(t)he website operated by the defendants, www.freerepublic.com, permits anyone who wishes to post news articles or other items and to post commentary about the article as well ... no ] is made and all views are permitted.".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/freerep/19991018mem.htm|title=Document: Free Republic's Memorandum in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment, 10/18/99.|work=techlawjournal.com}}</ref> This supposed light moderating hand did not prevent the permanent banishment from the site of such "controversial" contributors as crime author Dan E. Moldea, novelist Todd Brendan Fahey, "What Really Happened" website host Mike Rivero, and Internet poet David Martin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dcdave.com/article5/080514.htm|title=See Martin's exchange with Moldea at the end of the article|work=dcdave.com}}</ref>
{{rquote|left|'''''Leftists began to infiltrate the site, posting articles or posing as conservatives to act as agents provocateurs.'''''. &mdash; Sean Scallon in ] magazine, describing pre-2000 left-wing infiltration at Free Republic. <ref name="Scallon">Scallon, Sean. "Letter from the Upper Midwest Blizzard." ''Chronicles'' magazine, Dec. 1, 2002.</ref>}}
]'s Jeff Stein observed in 1999 that: " swelling number of haters have turned up the volume of death threats, ], name-calling and ] tying ] of ] front-runner ] to ] by the ]."<ref name="Stein"/> Robinson "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."<ref name="observer">{{cite web|url=http://www.observer.com/2007/free-republic-purge-conservative-web-site-bans-giuliani-supporters|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601180620/http://www.observer.com/2007/free-republic-purge-conservative-web-site-bans-giuliani-supporters|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-06-01|title=Free Republic Purge: Conservative Web Site Bans Giuliani Supporters|first=Rebecca|last=Sinderbrand|work=Observer}}</ref> These shifts signalled internal battles comparable to the nomination controversies of 2007 "as its founder and chief administrator first cleansed commenting ranks of Bush supporters, then, later, rallied to his support."<ref name="observer"/>


White House Press Secretary and former ] commentator ] was a registered member from April 23, 1998 until the day after the White House announced his consideration for the post of Press Secretary on April 23, 2006.<ref></ref><ref></ref> When he accepted his position with the Bush administration his account was "purple screened" (suspended), and the account was reactivated on September 14, 2007 when he resigned his post with the administration.<ref> homepage of "tonysnow"</ref> Snow was not afraid to 'mix it up' with the Freepers who sometimes disagreed with his political philosophy and who called him a "pansy".<ref></ref><ref></ref> ] and former ] commentator ] was a registered member of Free Republic. Snow was not afraid to 'mix it up' with the Freepers who sometimes disagreed with his political philosophy and who called him a "pansy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/03/22/blue/index1.html|title=Judicial Watch: Bush wins (again)|work=salon.com|access-date=2007-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214043415/http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/03/22/blue/index1.html|archive-date=2007-02-14|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Free Republic had been criticized during the pre-moderation period for the actions of a few of its members. In 1999, after FReepers heard that Julie Hiatt Steele, the woman charged with obstruction of justice by Kenneth Starr during President Clinton's impeachment trial, was taking credit-card donations to help pay her legal bills, they flooded her Web site with fake donations. Hundreds of "donations" listing fake credit-card numbers (a form of wire fraud){{Fact|date=January 2008}} ended up costing Steele around $4,000, since she had to pay her e-commerce service company 25 to 35 cents to process each one.<ref></ref> Some threatened to assassinate former President ], like this from February 2001: "If he keeps on he's going to make me come up there. There is only one solution to the Klintons, two 45 rounds and a nice little spot in Marcy Park." <ref></ref>. Free Republic had been criticized during the pre-moderation period for the actions of several of its members. In 1999, FReepers ran a campaign to make fake donations to the legal defense fund of Julie Hiatt Steele, who had been charged with obstruction of justice during then-President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. Hundreds of fraudulent<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm00941.htm|title=Criminal Resource Manual 941 18 U.S.C. 1343 -- Elements of Wire Fraud|work=usdoj.gov|date=19 February 2015}}</ref> transactions from this campaign cost Ms. Steele around $4000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2003/01/30/frpng.DTL|title=FReep This / How the right-wing is making itself heard|first=Joyce|last=Slaton|date=January 29, 2003|work=The San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> Some threatened to ] Clinton, like this from February 2001: "If he keeps on he's going to make me come up there. There is only one solution to the Klintons, two 45 rounds and a nice little spot in Marcy Park."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/02/09/blue/index.html|title=It's going to be a fun four years|work=salon.com|access-date=2006-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225023451/http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/02/09/blue/index.html|archive-date=2007-02-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>


When the bar manager of an Austin restaurant called ] to notify authorities that an underage ] had attempted to purchase liquor in June 2001, her personal information including her home address, date of birth, driver's license number and physical description was posted on FreeRepublic, along with calls for punitive action.<ref></ref> The Clinton threat and some of the bar manager's personal information were removed by Robinson when brought to his attention, and the authors' posting privileges were revoked. He said that the site had had to "delete relatively few posts" over time for violations of its "no-violence" policy despite Free Republic's popularity and ease of registration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/02/09/blue/index.html |title=A poster crosses the line on Free Republic forum |date=Feb. 9, 2001|publisher=Salon.com}}</ref> When the bar manager of an ] restaurant called ] to notify authorities that an underage ] had attempted to purchase liquor in June 2001, the bar manager's personal information including her home address, date of birth, driver's license number and physical description was posted on FreeRepublic, along with calls for punitive action.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/06/06/blue/index.html|title=New theories on the Gore-Clinton split|work=salon.com|access-date=2006-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225002750/http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/06/06/blue/index.html|archive-date=2007-02-25|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Clinton threat and some of the bar manager's personal information were removed by Robinson when brought to his attention, and the authors' posting privileges were revoked. He said that the site had had to "delete relatively few posts" over time for violations of its "no-violence" policy despite Free Republic's popularity and ease of registration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/02/09/blue/index.html|title=A poster crosses the line on Free Republic forum|date=2001-02-09|work=Salon.com|access-date=2006-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225023451/http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/02/09/blue/index.html|archive-date=2007-02-25|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/06/06/blue/index.html|title=The jihad against Chuy's|access-date=2006-12-11|date=2001-06-06|work=Salon.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225002750/http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/06/06/blue/index.html|archive-date=2007-02-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/06/06/blue/index.html |title=The jihad against Chuy's |accessdate=2006-12-11 |date=June 6, 2001|publisher=Salon.com}}</ref>


=== 2001–2004: Bush's first term and Killian documents ===
Both Free Republic moderators and external sources have described the persistent presence of left-wing ] on the Free Republic forums.<ref> homepage of "Admin Moderator"</ref><ref name="Scallon"/> One such case, the ], received a modicum of publicity. In another case, a ] state employee was forced to resign after allegedly engaging in disruption of Free Republic forums from his workplace computer.<ref> "Politics Can Be Dangerous For State Employees." ''Free Times,'' Aug. 22, 2000.</ref> Moderation was later added to the site in an attempt to combat disruptive posting, but conservative commentator ] suggested in July 2007 that left-wing vandals were still creating "planted" posts to discredit the forum.<ref>http://mediamatters.org/items/200708010014 The O'Reilly Factor July 31, 2007</ref>
In January 2001, the forum organized the inaugural "Free Republic Gala and Count the Silverware Ball".<ref></ref> It was attended by radio personality James Golden, who was one of the first high-profile conservatives to invest in the site and the Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson of B.O.N.D.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112021723/http://home.att.net/~alanj.hall/BushInaugural/PhotoPage3.html |date=2008-01-12 }}</ref>


] at an ] demonstration at ] on October 2, 2004.]]
===2001-2004: Bush's first term and ]===
During the ], ], a ] and co-author of the book '']'' that attacked the ] record of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, apologized in the national media for comments that he made on Free Republic under the user name "jrlc."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-08-10-book-author-sorry_x.htm|title=USATODAY.com - Anti-Kerry book author sorry for slurs|work=usatoday.com}}</ref>

In January 2001, the forum organized a "Free Republic Inaugural Gala and Count the Silverware Ball, with orchestral entertainment provided by the sitting governor of Arkansas (Gov. Mike ]) and his band."<ref></ref> Among the attendees were James Golden (a.k.a., Bo Snerdly from Rush Limbaugh radio broadcasts, an early investor in Free Republic), and the Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson of B.O.N.D.<ref></ref>

] at an ] demonstration at ] on ], ].]]
During the 2004 U.S. Elections, ], a ] and co-author of the book '']'' that attacked the ] record of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, apologized in the national media for comments that he made on Free Republic under the user name "jrlc." <ref></ref>

Free Republic posters, notably "TankerKC" (later identified as active Air Force officer Paul Boley)<ref name="Pein">Pein, Corey. "" ''Columbia Journalism Review,'' January/February 2005.</ref> and "Buckhead" (later identified as Atlanta GOP lawyer Harry W. MacDougald)<ref name="Wallsten">Wallsten, Peter. ''Los Angeles Times,'' 18 September 2004.</ref> contributed, along with members of the blogs ] and ], to breaking what Freepers called "]", the controversy surrounding ]' use of allegedly forged documents during the ].<ref> Pein, ''supra.''</ref>

MacDougald may be the first Internet user to post assertions that the memos were forged. In a post<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1210662/posts?page=47#47</ref> on Free Republic the night of the broadcast, he mentioned the memos' proportional spacing and made the claim that such printing was "not widespread until the mid to late 90's" <ref></ref>. His posting spurred discussion spread across the Internet via blogs (attributing Free Republic{{Fact|date=January 2008}}) and the Drudge Report<ref name="Drudge"> Drudge Report Archives. (Retrieved February 5, 2007.)</ref> (attributing the Power Line blog, which credited "Buckhead" at Free Republic<ref>http://powerlineblog.com/archives/007760.php</ref>). The Associated Press later picked it up.<ref name="Dobbs">Dobbs, Michael, and Allen, Mike. ''The Washington Post,'' September 10, 2004.</ref> Though the Investigative Panel "was not able to reach a definitive conclusion" on the documents' authenticity, the final conclusion of document expert Peter Tytell in Appendix 4 of the Panel's final report is noteworthy:

<blockquote>Tytell concluded ... that (i) the relevant portion of the Superscript Exemplar was produced on an Olympia manual typewriter, (ii) the Killian documents were not produced on an Olympia manual typewriter and (iii) the Killian documents were produced on a computer in Times New Roman typestyle ... he Killian documents were not produced on a typewriter in the early 1970s and therefore were not authentic.<ref>http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/complete_report/CBS_Report.pdf</ref></blockquote>

This resulted in the early retirement of ], and the resignations of ] and three other news division executives at CBS. According to Ivor Tossell of the ], Free Republic "was central to the network of websites that uncovered the forged memos about Bush's Vietnam service that appeared on CBS News and ultimately cost ] his job."<ref name="Tossell">Tossell, Ivor. "" ''The Globe And Mail,'' 20 October 2006.</ref>


One of the first responses to "]", the controversy surrounding ]' use of documents of questionable origin during the 2004 presidential campaign, came on Free Republic the night of the broadcast.<ref> Report of the Investigative Panel p 163</ref> When the "Killian memos" (which were allegedly created during the 1970s) were shown during a CBS News broadcast, a Republican lawyer going by the pseudonym of "Buckhead"<ref name="Wallsten">Wallsten, Peter. ''Los Angeles Times,'' 18 September 2004.</ref> mentioned the memos' proportional spacing and made the claim that such printing was "not widespread until the mid to late 90s".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002039080_buckhead18.html | work=The Seattle Times | title=The Seattle Times: Nation & World: "Buckhead," who said CBS memos were forged, is a GOP-linked attorney}}</ref> Buckhead's post and some responses spread across the blogosphere rapidly, and were picked up by the Drudge Report the following afternoon.<ref name="Drudge"> Drudge Report Archives. (Retrieved February 5, 2007.)</ref> Within minutes of Buckhead's post, there was some dispute as to whether the Executive line of IBM typewriters had proportionally spaced fonts at the time, arising from a comment on the ] blog. The dispute made headlines when an investigative panel set up to examine ] with the documents "was not able to reach a definitive conclusion".<ref name="Dobbs">Dobbs, Michael, and Allen, Mike. ''The Washington Post,'' September 10, 2004.</ref> Canadian journalist Ivor Tossell later opined that Free Republic was "central to the network of websites that uncovered the forged memos about Bush's Vietnam service that appeared on CBS News and ultimately cost Dan Rather his job."<ref name="Tossell">Tossell, Ivor. "" ''The Globe And Mail,'' 20 October 2006.</ref>
{{details|Killian documents authenticity issues}} {{details|Killian documents authenticity issues}}


====]==== ====MD4Bush Incident====
In October 2004, the "MD4Bush" account was created to investigate the source of false rumors that Democratic ] ] had committed ].<ref name="snyder">Snyder, David and Mosk, Matthew. ''Washington Post,'' 11 February 2005.</ref> These rumors were suspected to be coming from the camp of ] ].<ref name="snyder"/> O'Malley was a likely (and eventual) opponent of Ehrlich in the ].<ref name="snyder"/> Using this alias, MD4Bush allegedly lured Joseph Steffen, aide to Ehrlich, who had a Free Republic membership as "NCPAC," into contact.<ref name="snyder"/> MD4Bush then allegedly brought up the O'Malley rumors, and baited Steffen into giving responses on the Free Republic "private message" system, appearing to take credit for spreading the rumors.<ref name="snyder"/>


Ehrlich fired Steffen when the contents of these messages were published in '']'' on February 9, 2005.<ref name="rivera">Rivera, Ray. ''Washington Post,'' 3 November 2005.</ref> "Kristinn Taylor, a spokesman for FreeRepublic.com, said Ryan O'Doherty's Democratic Party address was one of at least three used to operate the identity of MD4BUSH."<ref> ''Baltimore Sun,'' Dec. 16, 2005</ref> Taylor charged that ''Post'' reporter Matthew Mosk's access to the MD4Bush account was a violation of the Free Republic users agreement, and they were "looking into whether the ''Washington Post'' violated the ] when ''Post'' reporter Matthew Mosk accessed the Free Republic account of MD4Bush."<ref></ref>
In October 2004, the "MD4Bush" account was created to investigate the source of false rumors that Democratic ] ] had committed ].{{Fact|date=January 2008}} These rumors were suspected to be coming from the camp of ] ].{{Fact|date=January 2008}} O'Malley was a likely (and eventual) opponent of Ehrlich in the ].{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Using this alias, MD4Bush allegedly lured Joseph Steffen, aide to Ehrlich, who had a Free Republic membership as "NCPAC," into contact.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} MD4Bush then allegedly brought up the O'Malley rumors, and baited Steffen into giving responses on the FR "private message" system, appearing to take credit for spreading the rumors.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}
The e-mail address used in October 2004 to open the MD4Bush account was later changed to rodoherty@mddems.org, then changed for a third time. Anyone who had the password to the MD4Bush account could change the e-mail registration address at any time. It is not known how many people may have had access to that password. The e-mail address information obtained does not shed light on the actual users of the MD4Bush account, nor does it reveal whether someone attached the Ryan O'Doherty e-mail address to the account without his knowledge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wbaltv.com/11investigates/5538206/detail.html|title=I-Team Uncovers MD4Bush E-Mail Addresses|date=26 March 2015|work=WBAL-TV}}</ref>


=== 2005–2009: Bush's second term ===
Ehrlich fired Steffen when the contents of these messages were published in the '']'' on ], ].{{Fact|date=January 2008}} "Kristinn Taylor, a spokesman for FreeRepublic.com, said Ryan O'Doherty's Democratic Party address was one of at least three used to operate the identity of MD4BUSH."<ref> ''Baltimore Sun,'' Dec. 16, 2005</ref> Some Republicans and Freepers have charged that ''Post'' reporter Matthew Mosk's access to the MD4Bush account constitutes complicity to the alleged entrapment of Steffen, and a violation of the privacy of Free Republic users.<ref>Sprueill, Stephen. "Did the ''Washington Post'' Violate the Electronic Communications Privacy Act?" ''National Review Online, November 10, 2005.</ref> No legal remedy was sought by any of the parties.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}
In January 2005, Free Republic organized an unofficial Inaugural Ball at the Washington Plaza Hotel to celebrate the reelection of President Bush and ] ] and to honor the men and women serving in the ]. The event was promoted to feature then ] Republican Governor ] and his ] band ].<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324052314/http://www.presidential-inauguration.com/freerball.htm |date=2007-03-24 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10286-2005Jan14.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=Inauguration: Free Republic|first=Kristinn|last=Taylor|date=January 19, 2005|access-date=May 2, 2010}}</ref>


====Dixie Chicks boycott====
{{details|MD4Bush Incident}}
{{Rquote|right|It's scary how much power they do have. They can take down someone single-handedly and I don't think Americans are aware of that." — ] of the ], speaking about Free Republic.<ref name="Haysen">Haysen, Kirsten. ''Adelaide Now,'' October 7, 2006. Retrieved February 4, 2007.</ref>}}
The band ] and lead singer ] claim that Free Republic was instrumental in fueling a nationwide ] of their music, which was organized by some former fans and radio stations after Maines made anti-Bush comments in 2003. In their 2006 documentary '']'' as well as in interviews, the Dixie Chicks have often mentioned Free Republic in reference to the boycott, which sharply reduced sales of their ]s and concert tickets.


] grounds on Thursday, April 7, 2005.]]
===2005-now - Bush's second term===


Maines was quoted as saying: "It's scary how much power they do have. They can take down someone single-handedly and I don't think Americans are aware of that."<ref name="Haysen"/> "And I think it was originally started by the Free Republic. And they were very organized in calling radio stations across the country and telling them that they would never listen to their station, when they didn't even live in that town." Kristinn Taylor of Free Republic's dominant Washington, D.C., chapter attended the screening of the documentary, hosted by the liberal advocacy group ]. He was invited to join in a discussion after the screening and complimented the director on the film.<ref></ref><ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212083713/http://www.citypaper.com/film/story.asp?id=12989 |date=2007-02-12 }}</ref>
{{rquote|right|'''''It's scary how much power they do have. They can take down someone singlehandedly and I don't think Americans are aware of that.'''''. &mdash; ] of the ], speaking about Free Republic. <ref name="Haysen">Haysen, Kirsten. ''Adelaide Now,'' October 7, 2006. Retrieved February 4, 2007.</ref>}}


{{details|Dixie Chicks controversy}}
In January 2005, Free Republic organized an unofficial Inaugural Ball at the Washington Plaza Hotel to celebrate the reelection of President Bush and ] ] and to honor the men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces. The event was promoted to feature then ] Republican Governor ] and his ] band called ].<ref></ref><ref></ref>


====Allegations of unfair treatment of Giuliani supporters and others who digress from popular opinions====
The band ] and lead singer ] claim that Free Republic was instrumental in fueling a nationwide boycott of their music, which was organized by some former fans and radio stations after Maines made some anti-Bush comments in 2003. In their 2006 documentary ''Shut Up and Sing'' as well as in interviews, the Dixie Chicks have often mentioned Free Republic in reference to the boycott, which sharply reduced sales of their CDs and concert tickets.
In 2007, moderators removed the posting privileges of many members who supported the presidential campaign of then current Republican front-runner ]. The '']'' reported:
<blockquote>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Starting in April 2007 ... 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...<ref name="observer" /></blockquote>


Robinson himself endorsed ] and was an enthusiastic backer of his campaign.<ref>Hackbarth, Sean. ''Jim Robinson, founder of Free Republic has 'endorsed' Fred Thompson.'' Fred Thompson campaign press release. 3 January 2008.</ref> Robinson has frequently banned fellow conservatives and others who don't completely share his political mindset. Among those claiming to have been permanently banned are several participants in the debate over the violent death of Bill Clinton's Deputy White House Counsel, ]. They include Hugh Turley of FBICover-up.com, David Martin of DCDave.com, and Dan E. Moldea of Moldea.com.<ref>, David Martin, June 10, 2008. See May 31, 2008, email from Martin to Moldea near the bottom of the page.</ref> During and after the ], according to political commentator ], "veryone I knew basically left because of so much childish, immature personal attacks. The propensity there to eat their own. And a lot of the people—most of the people—I knew that were on it left."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/sean_hannity_vs_free_republic/|title=Sean Hannity vs. Free Republic|work=outsidethebeltway.com|date=17 February 2005}}</ref>
] grounds on Thursday, ], ].]]


====Instigating Birther rumors about Barack Obama====
Maines was quoted as saying: "It's scary how much power they do have. They can take down someone singlehandedly and I don't think Americans are aware of that."<ref name="Haysen">Haysen, Kirsten. ''Adelaide Now,'' October 7, 2006. Retrieved ], ].</ref> Kristinn Taylor of Free Republic's dominant Washington D.C. chapter attended the screening of the documentary, hosted by the liberal advocacy group ]. He was invited to join in a discussion after the screening and complimented the director on the film.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref>
On March 1, 2008, a Free Republic poster made the earliest recorded report on the internet of a rumor that then-candidate ] was secretly born outside the United States, and was falsely claiming to have been born in Hawaii. The poster may have been inspired by a legal hypothetical expressing a similar fact pattern posted at the law blog ] the previous day. The Free Republic poster's claim was then promulgated across other blogs in the months that followed, eventually developing into the ] movement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/sep/20/hillary-clinton-and-birther-movement-still-no-ther/|title=Hillary Clinton and the birther movement: Still nothing there|work=PolitiFact.com|date=September 20, 2016}}</ref>


===2009: Obama administration===
{{details|Dixie chicks#Political controversy}}
], the white supremacist who ] at the ] in Washington, D.C., on June 10, 2009, posted an article on another site questioning the citizenship of President ] (a view held by so-called "]"); the article was then pasted into a thread on Free Republic. The thread was deleted by moderators after the shooting, but later restored when a review found that it had not violated posting guidelines.<ref>{{Cite news|issn=0740-5421|last=Hesse|first=Monica|title=Notoriety Trumps Preservation as Some Web Sites Scrub Hateful Posts|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2009-06-14|date=2009-06-12|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/11/AR2009061104031.html}}</ref>


In July 2009, after Obama's eleven-year-old daughter ] was photographed wearing a T-shirt with the ], a Free Republic thread featured racially charged comments about Obama's wife and children, using such terms as "] street trash". After the thread was criticized, it was eventually suppressed and placed under review. It was then restored to the site intact. Only after persistent criticism did site administrators remove it a second time.<ref name="sun">{{Cite news|last=Parry|first=Chris |title=Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children|newspaper=]|date=July 12, 2009|url=https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/Conservative+Free+Republic+blog+free+speech+flap+after+racial+slurs+directed+Obama+children/1782375/story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104080736/http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Conservative+Free+Republic+blog+free+speech+flap+after+racial+slurs+directed+Obama+children/1782375/story.html|archive-date=January 4, 2010}}</ref> In an email response to the incident, Jim Robinson called Obama an "] ] pig."<ref name="sun" />
====Allegations of unfair treatment of Giuliani supporters====


In April 2012, after ]'s suspension of his presidential campaign left ] the presumptive Republican nominee, Robinson posted: "FR will never support the abortionist, homosexualist, socialist, mandate loving, constitution trampling liar Mitt Romney,"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2871012/posts|title=Notice: Free Republic has been in full rebellion mode since 2008 and will remain so for the duration|website=www.freerepublic.com|access-date=2017-10-20}}</ref> and indeed, initially, Robinson, the Free Republic site, and many 'Freepers' did not embrace the candidacy of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Robinson posted to the site, "I'd rather shut the place down than be involved in any effort to install abortionist/gay rights pushing ]S like Romney or ] into the White House!! Do NOT push this crap on FR. Take your business elsewhere!!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2725798/posts|title=NOTICE: FR DOES NOT AND WILL NOT SUPPORT ABORTIONIST, GAY RIGHTS PUSHING BIG GOVERNMENT STATISTS|website=www.freerepublic.com|access-date=2017-10-20}}</ref>
In 2007, moderators removed the posting privileges of many members who supported the presidential campaign of then current Republican front-runner ]. The ] reported:
<blockquote>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Starting in April 2007 ... 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... <ref></ref></blockquote>


====Influencing online polls==== ==Influencing online polls==
Media web sites, including newspapers, television networks, and ], run occasional "polls" that do not use the ] methods of formal ]s, but instead invite all Internet users to respond. Some Free Republic forum messages, usually captioned "Freep this poll!", urge Free Republic members to vote ''en masse'' in these polls, to deliberately skew results and render the polls useless. Members are also urged to "'Freep' C-Span's 'Washington Journal' with telephone calls pointing out media bias."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fairpress.org/handbook.htm|title=fairpress.org}}</ref>


"Whenever a poll is posted on Free Republic.com, everybody goes and votes the right way, and there's nothing wrong with that," says Marinelle Thompson, Freeper and founder of ] group Second Amendment Sisters. "We just do it for a laugh. It doesn't really mean anything." The polls can also be manipulated, said Vlae Kershner, SF Gate News Director (and poll writer): "People are finding a way of getting around our system that only allows one vote, and they're voting hundreds of times. It's not thousands of people voting one way; it's one or two people voting hundreds of times."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2003/01/30/frpng.DTL|title=FReep This / How the right-wing is making itself heard|work=SFGate|date=30 January 2003}}</ref>
Media web sites, including newspapers, television networks, and ], run occasional "polls" that do not use the ] methods of formal ]s, but instead invite all Internet users to respond. Some Free Republic forum messages, usually captioned "Freep this poll!", urge Free Republic members to vote ''en masse'' in these polls. Members are also urged to "'Freep' C-Span's 'Washington Journal' with telephone calls pointing out media bias."<ref></ref>


==Survivalist attraction==
"Whenever a poll is posted on Free Republic.com, everybody goes and votes the right way, and there's nothing wrong with that," says Marinelle Thompson, Freeper and founder of gun rights group Second Amendment Sisters. "We just do it for a laugh. It doesn't really mean anything." The polls can also be manipulated, said Vlae Kershner, SF Gate News Director (and poll writer): "People are finding a way of getting around our system that only allows one vote, and they're voting hundreds of times. It's not thousands of people voting one way; it's one or two people voting hundreds of times."<ref></ref>
As evidenced by past threads with over 10,000 posts each, Free Republic posters have had a particular interest in "prepping," from growing gardens to surviving varying periods of lack of access to supplies to living "off the grid."<ref>{{cite web |last1=nw_arizona_granny |title=Home gardening offers ways to trim grocery costs |url=https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1990507/posts |website=Free Republic |access-date=21 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=nw_arizona_granny |title=Is Recession Preparing a New Breed of Survivalist? |url=https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2181392/posts |website=Free Republic |access-date=21 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=nw_arizona_granny |title=Weekly Roundup - Living On Nothing Edition |url=https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2299939/posts |website=Free Republic |access-date=21 July 2021}}</ref>


==References==
Occasionally, if the current results of an online poll are unfavorable to them, Freepers will "reverse freep" it, voting against their own views to pad the opposing vote to the point where it loses credibility. <ref>{{cite web| last =Langer| first =Gary| authorlink = | title =Online Ballots: Let the Clicker Beware| publisher =]|date=August 28, 2007| url =http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2007/08/online-ballots-.html | accessdate =2007-08-30}}</ref>
{{Reflist|2}}

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}


==External links== ==External links==
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* Stein, Jeff. : Lucianne Goldberg, Matt Drudge and other friends abandon the Clinton-bashing Web site over its attacks on George W. Bush" Salon, ] ].
* Lauerman, Kerry. Salon, ] ].
* York, Anthony. Salon, ] ].
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FreeRepublic
Free Republic logo
Type of siteForum
Available inEnglish
OwnerJim Robinson
Created byJim Robinson, John Robinson
RevenueDonations (not deductible)
URLwww.freerepublic.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired to post
LaunchedFebruary 1997; 27 years ago (1997-02)
Current statusActive

Free Republic is a moderated Internet forum and chat site for self-described conservatives, primarily within the United States. It presents articles and comments posted pseudonymously by registered members, known as "Freepers", using screen names. The site is supported entirely by donations, with pledge drives known as "Freepathons" held each quarter.

Free Republic has been involved in several organized conservative campaigns including against CBS anchor Dan Rather after Rather reported on documents about President George W. Bush's service record which turned out to be forgeries, and against the Dixie Chicks for their antiwar statements. Freepers were instrumental in raising the question of a lack of authenticity in the so-called "Killian memos".

Local chapters and forum policies

There are local chapters "unconnected with Free Republic", organized through ping lists, e-mail, and Free Republic mail. Some are only "ping list" groups, members who include their names in a list to be "pinged" on news articles of a certain nature. Some cover presidential events (daily picture, prayer, and speech threads), some focus on contemporary conservative issues such as the Second Amendment, the anti-abortion movement, or opposing gay marriage. The more active chapters organize live protests, which they call "Freeps." Since the 2000 election, these are often counter-protests, responses to protests by opposition groups, or small rallies.

As concerns policies and purpose, the main page of Free Republic states,

"Opinions expressed on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Free Republic or its operators. Please enjoy our forum, but also please remember to use common courtesy when posting and refrain from posting personal attacks, profanity, vulgarity, threats, racial or religious bigotry, or any other materials offensive or otherwise inappropriate for a conservative family audience."

"Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government. Free Republic advocates a return to constitutionally limited government, reserving all government powers not expressly delegated by the constitution to the United States to the States respectively, or the people, emphasizing sovereign state governments, local government, self-government and self-rule, while restricting government powers to only those enumerated in the constitution and maximizing individual rights and liberty as originally envisioned and established by our Founding Fathers and secured and defended by the blood of patriots and statesmen for over two hundred years."

Site funding

The FreeRepublic.com website is funded through individual contributions each quarter through fundraising on the website. The website generates approximately $250,000 each year by its own admission.

History

1996–2000: Clinton Administration

Founded in September 1996 as a sole proprietorship by Founder, Chairman and President James C. "Jim" Robinson of Fresno, California, Free Republic opened to the general public in February 1997. Robinson filed for LLC status on September 11, 1998. It has always been a for-profit company and thus donations have never been tax exempt.

Free Republic gained popularity during the Clinton impeachment from 1997 till 1999, a time when it was linked on the Drudge Report as "Whitewater Archives," when protests and write-in campaigns were organized through the website. Many were also introduced to the site through an impeachment rally in Washington, attended by over 3000 participants, called the "March for Justice," broadcast live on Halloween 1998 by C-SPAN. Featured speakers included Alan Keyes, Bob Barr, Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson of B.O.N.D. and Larry Klayman; Ann Coulter, Lucianne Goldberg and Matt Drudge also attended. Other Free Republic events over the years have also been televised by C-SPAN.

Drudge dropped the link to Free Republic by February 1999, "because they were doing racist stuff over the ... I click on and I see this headline, 'Nigger Baby.'" Drudge quickly restored the link, but later dropped it again for unknown reasons. As of April 2008 the Free Republic link is back on Drudge.

In its early years, Free Republic generally allowed its members to post copyrighted news stories in entirety to its forum, regardless of whether permission had been granted by content owners, until the site was sued in 1998 by The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times for copyright infringement. The newspapers obtained a permanent injunction, although stipulated damages of $1 million were reduced to $10,000 during settlement negotiations which allowed the defendants to drop their appeal. The case, often cited when arguing cyberlaw, is called L.A. Times v. Free Republic.

From 1996 to 2000, the bulletin board was virtually unmoderated. This policy was central to the website's "fair use" defense in the copyright infringement litigation, wherein it stated "(t)he website operated by the defendants, www.freerepublic.com, permits anyone who wishes to post news articles or other items and to post commentary about the article as well ... no censorship is made and all views are permitted.". This supposed light moderating hand did not prevent the permanent banishment from the site of such "controversial" contributors as crime author Dan E. Moldea, novelist Todd Brendan Fahey, "What Really Happened" website host Mike Rivero, and Internet poet David Martin. Salon.com's Jeff Stein observed in 1999 that: " 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." Robinson "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." These shifts signalled internal battles comparable to the nomination controversies of 2007 "as its founder and chief administrator first cleansed commenting ranks of Bush supporters, then, later, rallied to his support."

White House Press Secretary and former Fox News commentator Tony Snow was a registered member of Free Republic. Snow was not afraid to 'mix it up' with the Freepers who sometimes disagreed with his political philosophy and who called him a "pansy".

Free Republic had been criticized during the pre-moderation period for the actions of several of its members. In 1999, FReepers ran a campaign to make fake donations to the legal defense fund of Julie Hiatt Steele, who had been charged with obstruction of justice during then-President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. Hundreds of fraudulent transactions from this campaign cost Ms. Steele around $4000. Some threatened to assassinate Clinton, like this from February 2001: "If he keeps on he's going to make me come up there. There is only one solution to the Klintons, two 45 rounds and a nice little spot in Marcy Park."

When the bar manager of an Austin, Texas restaurant called 9-1-1 to notify authorities that an underage Jenna Bush had attempted to purchase liquor in June 2001, the bar manager's personal information including her home address, date of birth, driver's license number and physical description was posted on FreeRepublic, along with calls for punitive action. The Clinton threat and some of the bar manager's personal information were removed by Robinson when brought to his attention, and the authors' posting privileges were revoked. He said that the site had had to "delete relatively few posts" over time for violations of its "no-violence" policy despite Free Republic's popularity and ease of registration.

2001–2004: Bush's first term and Killian documents

In January 2001, the forum organized the inaugural "Free Republic Gala and Count the Silverware Ball". It was attended by radio personality James Golden, who was one of the first high-profile conservatives to invest in the site and the Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson of B.O.N.D.

Members of the independent D.C. Chapter counter-protest at an anti-war demonstration at Arlington National Cemetery on October 2, 2004.

During the 2004 election, Jerome Corsi, a Swift Boat Vet and co-author of the book Unfit for Command that attacked the Vietnam War record of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, apologized in the national media for comments that he made on Free Republic under the user name "jrlc."

One of the first responses to "Memogate", the controversy surrounding CBS News' use of documents of questionable origin during the 2004 presidential campaign, came on Free Republic the night of the broadcast. When the "Killian memos" (which were allegedly created during the 1970s) were shown during a CBS News broadcast, a Republican lawyer going by the pseudonym of "Buckhead" mentioned the memos' proportional spacing and made the claim that such printing was "not widespread until the mid to late 90s". Buckhead's post and some responses spread across the blogosphere rapidly, and were picked up by the Drudge Report the following afternoon. Within minutes of Buckhead's post, there was some dispute as to whether the Executive line of IBM typewriters had proportionally spaced fonts at the time, arising from a comment on the Power Line blog. The dispute made headlines when an investigative panel set up to examine authenticity issues with the documents "was not able to reach a definitive conclusion". Canadian journalist Ivor Tossell later opined that Free Republic was "central to the network of websites that uncovered the forged memos about Bush's Vietnam service that appeared on CBS News and ultimately cost Dan Rather his job."

Further information: Killian documents authenticity issues

MD4Bush Incident

In October 2004, the "MD4Bush" account was created to investigate the source of false rumors that Democratic Mayor of Baltimore Martin O'Malley had committed adultery. These rumors were suspected to be coming from the camp of Governor of Maryland Robert Ehrlich. O'Malley was a likely (and eventual) opponent of Ehrlich in the 2006 gubernatorial race. Using this alias, MD4Bush allegedly lured Joseph Steffen, aide to Ehrlich, who had a Free Republic membership as "NCPAC," into contact. MD4Bush then allegedly brought up the O'Malley rumors, and baited Steffen into giving responses on the Free Republic "private message" system, appearing to take credit for spreading the rumors.

Ehrlich fired Steffen when the contents of these messages were published in The Washington Post on February 9, 2005. "Kristinn Taylor, a spokesman for FreeRepublic.com, said Ryan O'Doherty's Democratic Party address was one of at least three used to operate the identity of MD4BUSH." Taylor charged that Post reporter Matthew Mosk's access to the MD4Bush account was a violation of the Free Republic users agreement, and they were "looking into whether the Washington Post violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act when Post reporter Matthew Mosk accessed the Free Republic account of MD4Bush." The e-mail address used in October 2004 to open the MD4Bush account was later changed to rodoherty@mddems.org, then changed for a third time. Anyone who had the password to the MD4Bush account could change the e-mail registration address at any time. It is not known how many people may have had access to that password. The e-mail address information obtained does not shed light on the actual users of the MD4Bush account, nor does it reveal whether someone attached the Ryan O'Doherty e-mail address to the account without his knowledge.

2005–2009: Bush's second term

In January 2005, Free Republic organized an unofficial Inaugural Ball at the Washington Plaza Hotel to celebrate the reelection of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and to honor the men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces. The event was promoted to feature then Arkansas Republican Governor Mike Huckabee and his rock band Capitol Offense.

Dixie Chicks boycott

It's scary how much power they do have. They can take down someone single-handedly and I don't think Americans are aware of that." — Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, speaking about Free Republic.

The band Dixie Chicks and lead singer Natalie Maines claim that Free Republic was instrumental in fueling a nationwide boycott of their music, which was organized by some former fans and radio stations after Maines made anti-Bush comments in 2003. In their 2006 documentary Shut Up and Sing as well as in interviews, the Dixie Chicks have often mentioned Free Republic in reference to the boycott, which sharply reduced sales of their CDs and concert tickets.

Jim Robinson, waving a U.S. flag at right, musters about two dozen other Freepers for the March for Justice II rally at the Upper Senate Park on the United States Capitol grounds on Thursday, April 7, 2005.

Maines was quoted as saying: "It's scary how much power they do have. They can take down someone single-handedly and I don't think Americans are aware of that." "And I think it was originally started by the Free Republic. And they were very organized in calling radio stations across the country and telling them that they would never listen to their station, when they didn't even live in that town." Kristinn Taylor of Free Republic's dominant Washington, D.C., chapter attended the screening of the documentary, hosted by the liberal advocacy group Center for American Progress. He was invited to join in a discussion after the screening and complimented the director on the film.

Further information: Dixie Chicks controversy

Allegations of unfair treatment of Giuliani supporters and others who digress from popular opinions

In 2007, moderators removed the posting privileges of many members who supported the presidential campaign of then current Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani. The New York Observer reported:

     Starting in April 2007 ... 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...

Robinson himself endorsed Fred Thompson and was an enthusiastic backer of his campaign. Robinson has frequently banned fellow conservatives and others who don't completely share his political mindset. Among those claiming to have been permanently banned are several participants in the debate over the violent death of Bill Clinton's Deputy White House Counsel, Vince Foster. They include Hugh Turley of FBICover-up.com, David Martin of DCDave.com, and Dan E. Moldea of Moldea.com. During and after the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, according to political commentator Sean Hannity, "veryone I knew basically left because of so much childish, immature personal attacks. The propensity there to eat their own. And a lot of the people—most of the people—I knew that were on it left."

Instigating Birther rumors about Barack Obama

On March 1, 2008, a Free Republic poster made the earliest recorded report on the internet of a rumor that then-candidate Barack Obama was secretly born outside the United States, and was falsely claiming to have been born in Hawaii. The poster may have been inspired by a legal hypothetical expressing a similar fact pattern posted at the law blog The Volokh Conspiracy the previous day. The Free Republic poster's claim was then promulgated across other blogs in the months that followed, eventually developing into the birther movement.

2009: Obama administration

James von Brunn, the white supremacist who killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., on June 10, 2009, posted an article on another site questioning the citizenship of President Barack Obama (a view held by so-called "birthers"); the article was then pasted into a thread on Free Republic. The thread was deleted by moderators after the shooting, but later restored when a review found that it had not violated posting guidelines.

In July 2009, after Obama's eleven-year-old daughter Malia was photographed wearing a T-shirt with the peace symbol, a Free Republic thread featured racially charged comments about Obama's wife and children, using such terms as "ghetto street trash". After the thread was criticized, it was eventually suppressed and placed under review. It was then restored to the site intact. Only after persistent criticism did site administrators remove it a second time. In an email response to the incident, Jim Robinson called Obama an "American-hating Marxist pig."

In April 2012, after Rick Santorum's suspension of his presidential campaign left Mitt Romney the presumptive Republican nominee, Robinson posted: "FR will never support the abortionist, homosexualist, socialist, mandate loving, constitution trampling liar Mitt Romney," and indeed, initially, Robinson, the Free Republic site, and many 'Freepers' did not embrace the candidacy of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Robinson posted to the site, "I'd rather shut the place down than be involved in any effort to install abortionist/gay rights pushing RINOS like Romney or Giuliani into the White House!! Do NOT push this crap on FR. Take your business elsewhere!!"

Influencing online polls

Media web sites, including newspapers, television networks, and America Online, run occasional "polls" that do not use the sampling methods of formal opinion polls, but instead invite all Internet users to respond. Some Free Republic forum messages, usually captioned "Freep this poll!", urge Free Republic members to vote en masse in these polls, to deliberately skew results and render the polls useless. Members are also urged to "'Freep' C-Span's 'Washington Journal' with telephone calls pointing out media bias."

"Whenever a poll is posted on Free Republic.com, everybody goes and votes the right way, and there's nothing wrong with that," says Marinelle Thompson, Freeper and founder of gun rights group Second Amendment Sisters. "We just do it for a laugh. It doesn't really mean anything." The polls can also be manipulated, said Vlae Kershner, SF Gate News Director (and poll writer): "People are finding a way of getting around our system that only allows one vote, and they're voting hundreds of times. It's not thousands of people voting one way; it's one or two people voting hundreds of times."

Survivalist attraction

As evidenced by past threads with over 10,000 posts each, Free Republic posters have had a particular interest in "prepping," from growing gardens to surviving varying periods of lack of access to supplies to living "off the grid."

References

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