Talk:Free Republic: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 23:28, 7 January 2008 editEschoir (talk \| contribs)Extended confirmed users2,162 edits →Page refactoring project notes here.: please don't recognize me for who I am.← Previous edit		Latest revision as of 09:56, 23 December 2024 edit undoExtraordinary Writ (talk \| contribs)Administrators74,789 edits replace with the intended template; no sanctions were ever logged aside from the now-repealed "article probation"
(503 intermediate revisions by 75 users not shown)
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{~~article~~ ~~probation~~}}		{{Talk header}}
			{{WikiProject banner shell\|class=C\|1=
	{\| class="messagebox standard-talk"
			{{WikiProject Blogging\|importance=Mid}}
	\|-
			{{WikiProject Websites}}
	\|align="center"\|
			{{WikiProject Conservatism\|importance=Mid}}
	]
			{{WikiProject United States\|importance=Low}}
	\|align="center"\|
			}}
	'''This is a ] topic''', which may be ]. Please read this talk page and discuss substantial changes here before making them. <br><small>(This message should only be placed on talk pages, please.)</small>
			{{controversial}}
	\|}<includeonly>]</includeonly><noinclude>
			{{Contentious topics/talk notice\|ap}}

			== Attacks on Obama family ==
	<!--Template:Archivebox begins-->
			This section seems to be unnecessary and not notable. It concerns a single thread on a site that has thousands of them. One effect of it, intended or not, is to demean the subject of the article. Unless there is some reasoned opposition, I intend to delete it. --] (]) 13:45, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
	<div class="infobox" style="width: 315px">
	<div style="text-align: center">]<br />
	]
	</div>
	----
	# ]
	# ]
	# ]
	# ]
	# ]
	# ]
	# ]
	# ]
	# ]
	</div><!--Template:Archivebox ends-->

			:The incident received media coverage and can be kept in the article.—] ] 14:17, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
	==Sources please==

			::And why should it be kept? And if it is kept, why shouldn't the material from the posts be included? --] (]) 04:51, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
	"Free Republic has a significant relationship with conservative talk radio. There are daily threads discussing, as of May 2007, seven syndicated shows (as well as a weekly thread for Matt Drudge's Sunday night show). In addition, several famous conservative talk hosts have been known to post (or at least have an account) on Free Republic, including Mark Levin and Steve Malzberg. Tony Snow was also once a member before joining the White House staff."

			:::Any material which was covered by the media (in this case, the ''Sun'' article) can be included in the article.—] ] 14:32, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
	I have resisted the urge to delete this to provide the editor time to source it.<small>—The preceding ] comment was added by ] (] • ]){{#if:{{{2\|}}}\| {{{2}}}\|}}.</small><!-- Template:Unsigned -->

			:::The quotations in the Vancouver Sun give a taste of the tone (excuse the mixed metaphor) of the discussions on the website which is the subject of the article. I think that the article should include more quotations from the thread which were covered by the news article. The quotations give insight regarding the subculture which the website cultivates --- an angry, racist, irrational group.—] ] 14:51, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
	:There is nothing conservative about Free-Republic. It is globalist, Libertarian leaning.] 18:22, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

			::::I agree with goethean that the material now in the article should remain. The site has thousands of threads but very few of them attract coverage in other media. This is an opportunity for us to give our readers information about the site by reporting the observations of a third party.
	The Jewish World Review source indicates that Drudge removed his link to FR because of racist posts surrounding the "Clinton love child" story. But you've ignored a statement by Drudge one paragraph later in the same JWR story, saying that he restored the link. The history is that Drudge briefly removed the link for racist posts, quickly restored the link, and then removed the link again for unknown reasons. As it stood, the paragraph here in the Wiki article was misleading; and the brief removal of the link for a few racist posts isn't notable. ] 21:50, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

			::::On the other hand, the coverage doesn't need to be extremely detailed. We now have one quotation from the Free Republic thread. I'm skeptical about whether additional quotations would add much; I suggest that proposed language be posted her for discussion. ]<small> ] ]</small> 15:03, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
	FreedomAintFree has been banned as another BryanFromPalatine sockpuppet.] 05:40, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

			:::::Concur. --] (]) 22:16, 20 June 2010 (UTC)
	::Everything negative that I've ever read about Misplaced Pages has been confirmed. All they have to do is point a finger and say, "Sockpuppet." ] 18:38, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

			::::::The author of the '']'' article, Chris Parry, is a member of a rival progressive website and has made extremely inflammatory and contemptuous posts there. His bias against Free Republic has been thoroughly exposed. If we're going to include his article as a reliable source, and quote from it for an entire paragraph, then we'll need to qualify all that with information about Parry's bias. ] (]) 15:03, 11 April 2011 (UTC)
	:::Newsmax rots your brains. Can we still count on your support and participation? ] 04:25, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

			:::::::I don't think it's necessary to talk about the author; it's not as if he needs to spin comments like "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds." Besides, if you were to document the bias of every writer cited in wikipedia in the very article, it would take years to do the whole wiki. ] (]) 17:42, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
	== Is this source based on a LTTE? ==

			== Cheap shot ==
	I may be misreading the column at this , but it seems to be little more than a letter to the editor. The final paragraph states: ''Submit your own rant or favorite discussion to redvsblue@salon.com, or jump right into a Table Talk discussion about Red vs. Blue.''.
			"One thing that apparently won't result in a ban: using the site solely to boost Web ranking for your child porn site." Quite an accusation, given that an actual child porn site would be illegal. Sitting there in the article with little context, and effectively having the last word.

			I'm no friend of Free Republic, but this is not appropriate for a Misplaced Pages article. - ] \| ] 18:13, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
	Letters to the editor or their rough equivalent, are certainly not reliable sources, especially in the context of controversial material, nonetheless in article that ARBCOM has place on probation. There are certainly no fact-checking facilities or editorial oversight in a letter written by Joe Nobody. A better source needs to be found, or this material should be removed--] 00:06, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

			:I'm going back on forth on whether to include it. I decided to leave it in, but am certainly open to a debate on the subject. I would ordinarily consider it a non-notable criticism, but it is likely more notable here when charged against a website full of "morality police." I also tried to make the statement a little less ambigous. I've removed the weasel word "critics" and named the specific critic. There may be other "critics" who have made a similar point, but the one I linked was where the quote actually came from. If we are going to include a direct quote, then we should definitely credit the quote in-line. The sentence has become a bit unweildy and someone with a better command of proper grammar may wish to take a look and rearrange it a bit. ] (]) 17:07, 13 December 2010 (UTC)
	::I thought you were onto something at first, but the line where it goes "When contacted by Salon" indicates it is reportage. OLD reportage.] 02:24, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

			::This is an opinion, and we report facts about opinions. The mainstream media don't give much coverage to political message boards, so when they do, any such criticism is probably notable enough to be reported. The way to balance it would be to include anything that Robinson or some FR supporter has said on the subject. ]<small> ] ]</small> 00:57, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
	== Does FR have any relevance except history ==
			The line is absolutely a cheap shot, out of context and placed without response at the very end to make it appear Free Republic supports child porn. Given that Free Republic is a Judeo-Christian site with a strong Second Amendment focus, the last place in the world a child pornographer would want to show up is on Free Republic, they'd be hunted down like vermin. If this is the quality of editing, I hope to be fair you will edit the Planned Parenthood entry to reflect they are child killers, and since the ACLU represents NAMBLA surely they must supprt child sodomy. I mean, why not add a throw away line claiming everyone on the right is a child molester (though sexual freedom has long been a cause of the left), why be fair when you can just make up some thin accusation to sully an organization's name for political reasons. <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 05:38, 22 December 2010 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

			If you think it's a cheap shot, take it up with the Salon article, wherein it is demonstrated that accounts linking to child pornography remain unhindered on Free Republic even while "RINOs" are banned en masse. <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 18:24, 25 January 2011 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
	I'm trying to think of a more organized version of this article. I was thinking of arranging the paragraphs by date. When you do that you get a LOT of ancient history, but less recent stuff. How to show current relevance (assuming it has any)? Seems like first two paragraphs of Format & Policy go up to first sectioin, then History (Chronology) and finally polls. Any takers?] 02:36, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

			I agree, while Free Republic is filled with troglodyte opinions, they aren't child pornographers. It should be removed. -GMcG
	==Last "Citation Needed" sourced!==
			::I also agree it should be removed. And I've belonged to DU since '03.] (]) 02:49, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

			== History of purges ==
	We're free now!] 05:56, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
			I have not been to this article in quite a while, but I thought that I remembered once there was at least a capsule history of "purges" that have happened frequently on the Free Republic forum, often of high-profile "Freepers" or forum members. This is a pretty important topic essential to the understanding of Free Republic's history. The arbitrary nature of the Free Republic ownership in conducting these purges is noteworthy. ] (]) 15:49, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

			== Removed some lead text. ==
	==Five Months without Controversy==
			"For each article, the forum's main page typically shows its headline, plus the first 100 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." This seemed to go against wikipedia's "what wikipedia is not" guideline; specifically, about a how-to manual type thing. ] (]) 08:49, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

			== Free Republic blacklisted by Misplaced Pages?!?! ==
	That's worth something.] 05:56, 12 August 2007 (UTC)] (]) 07:21, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
	:However, there was a revert of a major rewrite to the article, with the comment "You can't do that without discussing it in Talk", to paraphrase the comment. The comment itself is wrong. According to Misplaced Pages ethic, anyone can do a major rewrite on an article, and if the rewrite is better, it should stay. No one owns an article. Having said that, I don't know if the rewrite is better or not. -- ] 4 December 2007 15:56 UTC <small>—Preceding ] was added at 16:56, 4 December 2007 (UTC)</small><!--Template:Undated--> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

			My eyes widened in disbelief when I got the following "Spam filter notice" while making a link to a Free Republic page (dated ]) from another Misplaced Pages talk page: "The following link has triggered a protection filter: www freerepublic com.
	::Anyone ''can'', you are correct. Whether it ''should'' take place is an entirely different matter. Articles, especially articles that have been as contentious as this one has been, are the sum product of a lot of work by a lot of people. I don't think it is fair for someone like ], who has ] very little to the article, to unilaterally rewrite the article from scratch with no input from others who ''have'' put in time and effort. ] 17:16, 4 December 2007 (UTC)
			Either that exact link, or a portion of it (typically the root domain name) is currently blocked."

			FYI, the incriminated post, part of which is , is the following, on the ] page, and perceptive readers will note that, ironically, it discussed… ]!
	I would rather work than talk. But I respect your position TechBear. So let us discuss. What is different about Free Republic which permits different treatment (content and layout) from other articles of same class such as Democratic Underground, TPMCafe, MoveOn.org? Compare those articles please. You will straightaway see many differences. Those articles are similar with one another. They are consistent. This one is different. Why is this? ] (]) 22:28, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

			:I was amazed to see the use of the word "alleged" in the following External Links item:
	:I am just a watcher, not an editor on this article; you would be better off asking the people who have actively contributed. And with the article already under probation, keep in mind that Misplaced Pages moderators are paying close attention to all changes. I am willing to assume that your efforts are genuine and in good faith, but it would not be wise to make unilateral changes just because you personally don't like the way the article is currently written. ] (]) 23:04, 4 December 2007 (UTC)
			" An expose film of alleged human rights abuse presented by Vladimir Bukovsky (2006)".

			So now the ] must be given the benefit of the doubt, not only during the period that the ]'s police did its (mis)deeds, but even 21 years (!) after the ] collapsed?!
	::"Misplaced Pages moderators are paying close attention to all changes". Well, there really isn't any position of 'moderator', though some people are watching I am sure. Such as myself. And you. <span>] <sup>]</sup></span> 23:06, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

			:In light of the — continued — whitening of the ], along with , no wonder ] published an article ( by ], 29 December ]) speaking of the times that Vladimir Bukovsky "was subjected to the ]’s infamous psychological and biochemical torments during his years in prison and the camps." And you still believe that "alleged" belongs in the description of that exposé film?!
	::: Administrators, moderators, close enough. ;-b ] (]) 01:05, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

			:Then, of course, it's easier to understand when one learns that the Russian cannot get certain books published in the West because they reveal Soviet support of Western leftists ] being ''impossible'' on this page because a conservative internet forum is… !!] ("Vladimir Bukovsky has written a richly detailed, heavily documented account of how the Soviet Union aided ] militants, ] revolutionaries, and even America's ] movement. Based on materials unearthed in ] archives, 'Judgment in Moscow' also discloses ]'s clandestine efforts to manipulate public opinion throughout the West."). ] (]) 13:34, 1 January 2013 (UTC)
	People who have actively contributed are not here. They would watch too if it is important to them. I have patience. How long do we wait for response? Do they own this article? While we wait I ask question to TechBear. Please look at version I posted. What is wrong with it? ] (]) 23:41, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

			== Arbitration motion ==
	What do you mean, not here? This article was a five month labor of compromise and organization, and it had staying power. I'd rather not reopen that particular can of worms. But that's just me, ] (]) 04:38, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
			The Arbitration Committee are reviewing the discretionary sanctions topic areas with a view to remove overlapping authorisations, the proposed changes will affect this topic area. Details of the proposal are at ] where your comments are invited. For the Arbitration Committee, ] <sup style="font-family:Times New Roman;">] ]</sup> 20:45, 23 September 2015 (UTC)

			== External links modified ==
	We have ] and ] to keep consistent style of all Wiki articles of these classes. Many WikiProjects suggests desire to keep consistent style of each class. With respect to editors here I say start of WikiProject:Talkboards to keep consistent style for articles of this class. Why is this article different from others of same class like ] and ]? This one has many words not neutral such as "purge." This word appears many times. No such word appears in other articles of same class but those talkboards also had similar events including fights between members. Why is this article different? Also layout is very different and not attractive. Entire article is history. Much space given to fights between members. Other articles have short history section and many other sections. ] (]) 00:16, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

			Hello fellow Wikipedians,
	:Fine, do what you want. Just keep in mind that the Arbitration Committee warning at the top of this page is there for a reason; if your unilateral rewrites spark yet another edit war on this article, it will be on your head. Don't say we didn't warn you. :-) For what it is worth, I completely agree with you that the article needs a rewrite. I just don't think it will be worth the can of worms such a rewrite will no doubt open. Freepers are a vicious bunch as a glance at the history logs will show. ] (]) 05:46, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

			I have just modified one external link on ]. Please take a moment to review . If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit ] for additional information. I made the following changes:
	== Original Research tags ==
			*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131227012239/http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/3408 to http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/3408

			When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
	I've tagged several references, and the article, with templates that indicate that certain parts of the article may be violating ]. Specifically, primary sources are cited--that is, directly from Free Republic, with no other secondary source establishing notability of such examples. That is, it appears that contributors are deciding which search terms and posts at Free Republic are notworthy. This appears to me to be patent original research. Mind you, I am not suggesting that anything is false; just that as an article, it appears to be original research suitable for publication elsewhere. I hope this clarifies my recent activity, and I look forward to helping. ] (]) 04:03, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
	:I've added more, and have also attempted to correctly title and/or describe the references (many of which, alone, seem to violate ]--they would be fine, in my reading, if they were back up sources to other "secondary" sources). ] (]) 04:24, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
	:They're simply examples of what is on the site, demonstrating the variety of topics discussed on the board. I don't think "secondary sources" are all that necessary; however, some of the content in the 2007 section is almost certainly original research (from banned/former Freepers with an axe to grind). (Disclaimer: I do post there.) ] (]) 05:35, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

			{{sourcecheck\|checked=false\|needhelp=}}
	== Freeper versus FReeper ==

			Cheers.—] <span style="color:green;font-family:Rockwell">(])</span> 08:15, 5 January 2017 (UTC)
	Both versions are used in this article, and I could not find whether the term was good bad or indifferent. We should use the term consistently (Capitalization), and describe it if possible. ] (]) 04:21, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

	== ~~Answering~~ ~~your concerns~~ ==		== Racist site ==

			Shouldn't Free Republic be described as an overtly racist site? The things people write about minorities, especially Muslims, is extremely racist. (] (]) 10:33, 5 September 2017 (UTC))
	I agree that using Free Republic as a source for an article about Free Republic (except for basic information such as name of owner) is incorrect. Use of words that are not neutral is also incorrect. I read this entire page. At least two editors who were very active on this article have conflict of interest. This produced article that is not good. If these editors are confident that their work is good then they should nominate it for Good Article award. It will be instructive process for them. ] has standards much higher. ] (]) 00:24, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

	== ~~Stephenson?~~ ~~DuMond?~~ ==		== External links modified ==

			Hello fellow Wikipedians,
	Why is there no mention of the Andy Stephenson and Wayne DuMond debacles? Both of these incidents had significant effects in the offline world. Any article on Free Republic should include them.
	--] (]) 19:26, 15 December 2007 (UTC)Pamela Troy

			I have just modified 6 external links on ]. Please take a moment to review . If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit ] for additional information. I made the following changes:
	:Are there any reliable sources for those incidents? ]] ] 21:11, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
			*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070523150304/http://www.psnw.com/~jimrob/resume.htm to http://www.psnw.com/~jimrob/resume.htm
			*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080111203722/http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=199825410007 to http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=199825410007
			*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070929144338/http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/04/02/blue/index.html to http://archive.salon.com/politics/red/2001/04/02/blue/index.html
			*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080112021723/http://home.att.net/~alanj.hall/BushInaugural/PhotoPage3.html to http://home.att.net/~alanj.hall/BushInaugural/PhotoPage3.html
			*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070324052314/http://www.presidential-inauguration.com/freerball.htm to http://www.presidential-inauguration.com/freerball.htm
			*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070212083713/http://www.citypaper.com/film/story.asp?id=12989 to http://www.citypaper.com/film/story.asp?id=12989

			When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
	:::Exactly what would you consider a reliable source? Quite a few of the threads in question are still up on Free Republic. Or is this a case of us being told not to believe our own "lyin' eyes?" --] (]) 21:28, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

			{{sourcecheck\|checked=false\|needhelp=}}
	:::...Well? --] (]) <small>—Preceding ] was added at 17:45, 16 December 2007 (UTC)</small><!--Template:Undated--> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

			Cheers.—] <span style="color:green;font-family:Rockwell">(])</span> 14:30, 7 October 2017 (UTC)
	::::You might start by reviewing ] and ].--] (]) 09:02, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

			== Pro-Russian and Pro-Putin bias ==
	::I did. It does not clearly explain why there is no mention of either case. Can YOU give me an example of what you would consider a reliable source on these subjects? --Pamela Troy

			Starting with the February 24, 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine the site has noticeably demonstrated a prevailing bias in favor of Russia and in favor of Vladimir Putin. While some posters are tolerated for pro-Ukrainian stances several pro-Ukrainian posters have been banned from the site.
	Hello Pamela. You are new here. Welcome to Misplaced Pages. I found article on ] but what is Free Republic involvement in his story? Why is it notable? I found no article on Andy Stephenson and ask you the same questions. What is Free Republic involvement in story of Andy Stephenson? Is it notable? This is encyclopedia article. It is not a list of everything editor does not like about Free Republic. Language used must be strictly neutral. Facts must be verified. Reputation of Misplaced Pages project is more important than any editor's agenda. Remember ] and Arbitrators placing this article on probation and banning editors. Many ships have foundered on these reefs. I encourage you to plot your course carefully and wish you smooth sailing. ] (]) 22:20, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
			Many of the pro-Russian posters state consistently anti-American views which would seem to be at odds with the founding principles of the site.

			While unsubstantiated there have been recurring allegations that some of the pro-Russian posters are paid 'trolls' due to apparently coordinated messaging among the pro-Russian posters. ] (]) 21:22, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
	::Free Republic was quite active in advocating for Wayne DuMond's release while he was still in prison for the rape he committed in Arkansas, and considered Huckabee such a friend of the site that he was repeatedly referred to as the "Freeper Governor." This, of course, has changed in the wake of how the DuMond release turned out, and Free Republic's past advocacy for DuMond (which seemed largely based on hatred for the Clintons) is now considered such an embarrassment that one Free Republic poster has requested that past threads on the subject be removed.

	::The Andy Stephenson case involves voting rights activist Andrew Stephenson who, early in 2005, was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. A fundraising drive was held on the liberal website Democratic Underground and enough money was raised to make it possible for Stephenson to go to Johns Hopkins for a Whipple procedure. Free Republic and other right-wing websites got wind of this and began spreading the rumor that Stephenson was faking his illness, or exaggerating it, that it was all a scam. This appears to have gone farther than merely making up nicknames for Stephenson like "Scamdy" or "Undie" (Stephenson was gay) or posting grossly insulting messages describing him as a "grifter." A Free Republic "comedy" blog set up a "junior detective division" that attempted to dig up personal information on Stephenson, and at least one poster to Free Republic boasted of contacting the fraud division in Washington State about him. Not surprisingly, Stephenson's PayPal was at one point frozen and his surgery delayed. The abuse of Stephenson on Free Republic, which included denials that he was ill, that he'd ever had the surgery at all, that he had Pancreatic Cancer, etc., continued up to the day he died -- from complications following surgery for Pancreatic Cancer. The Stephenson issue resurfaced recently with the outcry that resulted when a Free Republic blog that had been especially active in claiming Stephenson was a malingering crook got nominated for a Comedy Weblog Award last November. Yes. I'd say FR's involvement was "notable."

	::I think this all can be described in pretty "neutral" language, i.e., language that does not include adjectives like "immoral," "callous," or "irresponsible." There is, of course, no way of preventing those words from cropping up in the minds of readers as they peruse the threads in question (that are still up and available for interested readers), but those are the breaks.--] (]) 19:02, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

	:::::(and in answer to my questions...dead silence.) We're in the midst of the holidays. You guys are probably pretty busy. But I want you to know that I have no intention of dropping this subject. The entry on Democratic Underground has references to "embarrassments" and links to threads on DU. Why not Free Republic? This disparity leaves the impression that it's Free Republic's clout -- not the actual rules -- that have eliminated references to the Andy Stephenson case from Misplaced Pages. I'd sure hate to think that was the case. --Pamela Troy <small>—Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 19:06, 20 December 2007 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

	Thank you Pamela. Do you have reliable sources to confirm any of this? Particularly effect of Free Republic activity on Huckabee and on Stephenson case? I have been very busy due to final exams and holidays. Also travel and challenges on other Misplaced Pages articles. But I do not want to ignore your concerns. Please post your reliable sources. I welcome your introduction of accurate new material if well sourced and written in neutral language.

	English is difficult language to learn. I want you to understand me please. Did Freepers just point at Huckabee and chatter without any effect? If answer is "yes" then it is not notable and should not be in article. But do reliable sources state that Freeper chatter was cause of Huckabee to take action and cause DuMond to be released from prison? If answer is "yes" then it is notable and should be in article. Thank you for kind patience. We can work together yes? ] (]) 18:51, 23 December 2007 (UTC)


	>>> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1434439/posts
	>>> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=scamdy
	It is curious how scamdy.com, a website formerly maintained by one of the FreeRepublic's administrators, now directs to democraticwarrior.com. Just in case, here is a thread at FreeRepublic showing all the compassionate and very Christian reactions to the announcement of Stepehenson's death: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1439010/posts. Enough with the references? ] (]) 04:07, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

	How is this notable? How did the Freepers influence the Stephenson and DuMond cases? All that you've proven so far is the "Freeper chatter." We all know Freepers chatter. What Shibuni2 reasonably wants you to prove is this: how did the chatter affect any of the real world decisions on Stephenson's medical care, for example, or Huckabee's decisions about DuMond? Regardless of how the Freepers felt about them, how did everyone else in the DuMond and Stephenson affairs feel about the Freepers? How did this Freeper chatter influence them? ] (]) 01:32, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

	:Yes this what I wanted to know from Pamela. Key of this issue is influence of Free Republic on events outside Free Republic website. How is this notable? What influence did Free Republic cause on Stepehenson and DuMond? What they said is not really important. What others did in response to what they said might be notable and worthy of new sections in article. I look forward to response from Pamela with reliable sources. Thank you. ] (]) 23:04, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

	== OR or RS? ==

	I think this is not a WP:OR issue, but a WP:RS issue. The threshold question therefore becomes “Is this material challenged?”

	Any material that is challenged or likely to be challenged must be supported by a reliable source. "Original research" is a claim for which no reliable source can be found. In order to demonstrate that a claim is not presenting original research, one must cite reliable sources that provide information directly related to the topic of the article, and that directly support the information as it is presented. Producing a reliable published source that advances the same claim taken in context is the only way to disprove an assertion that a claim constitutes original research.

	If there is a source, in this case primary sources, but the source or claim is disputed, that is not original research but rather a question of reliable sourcing or undue weight.

	Since no one seriously challenges the claims made in the material, I think it passes the test.
	] (]) 17:27, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

	== Improving the lead ==

	The lead to this article begins

	:''Free Republic is a "for-profit", non-tax exempt moderated Internet forum, activist and chat site for conservatives, primarily within the United States. It presents articles and comments posted anonymously by registered members using screen names.''

	To improve the article, I propose making two separate changes to the lead.

	First, it is not clear right now that most Free Republic posts begin with articles from newspapers, magazines or other media. These articles cover a full spectrum of opinion, and come from all around the world. They are typically from what Misplaced Pages would call "reliable sources." The anonymous comments are typically refer to the content of these articles, sometimes agreeing with them, sometimes ridiculing them, etc. I propose to make the following change:

	:''... It presents articles <s>and</s> <u>from newspapers and other media with diverse points of view, along with</u> comments posted anonymously by registered members using screen names. <u>The comments are typically from a conservative point of view.</u>''

	Second, the for- or non- profit status of the forum isn't a key fact that belongs in the lead. It's covered, at least partially, elsewhere in the article. I propose to remove the words

	:''"for-profit", non-tax exempt ''

	from the lead, and to insure that the points and the reference are appropriately included later on.

	Your comments will be appreciated. ] (]) 14:39, 1 January 2008 (UTC)


	I would disagree. I don't follow as much as I used, but I think the gross number of 'reliable source' articles is down in proportion to the vanity posts, caption the photo, listen to (your fave, the 'brilliant') Ann Coulter on the radio now posts. Val called it a 'spam factory' early on and it only has become moreso.

	I think the "for profit non-tax exempt" may be technically better applied to Free Republic, LLC later in the article or in a separate article.] (]) 22:35, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

	:I just looked at 50 consecutive FreeRepublic posts and did the best I could at cataloging the articles they involved. IMHO, it is a typical list of the sources of FreeRepublic articles. There are a few "selfs," but by and large these are "newspapers and other media with diverse points of view," as stated in the proposed change. Here's the list:

	:Washington Post (On 01/02/2008 6:13:02 AM PST), CNN, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, gopnation.com, news4jax.com, Jewish World Review, mormonapologetics.org, Semiconductor Today, youtube, San Francisco Chronicle, World Net Daily, CNN Blog, The Story Atlanta, Self, Steyn Online, The Australian, Boston.com, NY Sun, Modern Conservative, Houston Chronicle, Self, Washington Post/MSNBC, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Self, New York Times, WSJ Opinion Journal, South Asia Analysis Group, New Media Journal, Self, iht.com, The Salt Lake Tribune, wapo.com, Boston Herald, New York Post, Palm Beach Post, NewsAndObserver.com, Self, Asahi, RTTN News, classroom-issues.suite101.com, Telegraph.co.uk, Turkish Daily News, New Hampshire Union Leader, The Penn Stater, Eject! Eject! Eject!, New York TImes, Reuters, Ynet News, New York Times, Asheville Mountain Express (On 01/02/2008 12:17:41 AM PST)

	:IMHO the present "articles and comments posted anonymously..." business gives a wrong impression of what FreeRepublic is, by emphasizing the posters at the expense of the sources. The proposed change just explains things a bit. Though many/most of these things are "reliable sources," the proposed change doesn't claim that. ] (]) 15:03, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

	Seems to me that a more profitable representative search would be latest articles not latest posts. ] (]) 17:29, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

	I couldn't figure out how to do a latest articles search it's so decentralized anymore. I not the variety in the sidebar, and that the third most recent listing under breaking news is that bhutto was assasiinated. That's why you don't go there for breaking news anymore.] (]) 17:52, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

	== Unilateral edits ==

	I took it upon myself to unilaterally cut one of the two iterations of the 'Sleeper cell" paragraph in this article. I chose the first one as it is out of chronological order with the rest of the article. And I sure would like a reliable source for the Wyldcard and sleeper cell assertions.

	I also called Mr. Kristinn Taylor "Mr. Taylor" instead of 'Kristinn.' First name references may be good for "Hillary" or "Paris" or "Rush" but I don't think Mr. Taylor is there (or wants to be there, despite his anonymous fans.)

	And I acknowledge my recollection of events years ago is faulty - though he talked about constructing and wearing a penis suit, the poster "Doctor Raoul" apparently heeded good advice and never wore that particular costume to any of the street theatre appearances with or without the good Mr. Taylor. ] (]) 05:25, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

	:That is prohibited as ] in any event. I notice that you also blanked an entire section that had been fact-tagged for just a couple of weeks, although that's now been restored. Such actions are often interpreted as vandalism, particularly on such a contentious topic. ] (]) 18:18, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

	Appearing anonymously for the first time with a lot of backstory knowledge are often interpreted as sockpuppetry. ] (]) 19:35, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

	:Adding the word "penis" to an article that has nothing to do with sexuality or medicine rarely fails to be interpreted as vandalism. I am trying to AGF, please return the favor. Regarding the question you raise below, a review of the article and the diffs shows that half of the sources cited are Free Republic threads, and most of the citations of Free Republic threads are by you. But you take issue with this one. Please explain. ] (]) 23:36, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

	You have been banned numerous times yet you keep coming back under different IP addresses, expecting a different result. Please explain. ] (]) 05:28, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

	I propose the deletion of this section entirely. The citation is not to Chronicles, it connects to a free republic article that doesn't link, Chronicles doesn't confirm it, the cite makes a limited point about pre-2000 activities, the rest of the paragraph is unsourced, undue weight, and not encyclopedic.
	] (]) 22:32, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
	:Why do you insist on taunting an editor who is briefly blocked, knowing that he will come back? Why do you make these sockpuppet accusations here, where they're useless? File your case against me at ] but be prepared for the consequences. After I'm cleared, I'll come back with a case against you for harassment, vandalism, COI and tendentious and disruptive editing at ], and ask them to ban you from editing this article. ] (]) 12:22, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
	Maybe you should consider answering my original question instead, rather than trying to change the subject. Based on your previous edits, you have no real problem with fact tags sitting around unanswered for months. Nor do you have a real problem with using a Free Republic thread as a reliable source. You've engaged in both of these practices yourself. Why are you claiming to have a problem with both of these practices now? I think your real problem might be the content. ] (]) 13:34, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

	Rule #1 - never get in a flame war with an anonymous unregistered sock puppet. ] (]) 18:28, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

	:] Eschoir. <span>] <sup>]</sup></span> 20:33, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
	Eschoir, I see that Prodego has thoroughly addressed your sockpuppet claim on his Talk page and I know that you've read it, since you responded to him. Your delaying tactics are now exhausted. Please answer the question. Why, after months of citing Free Republic threads as reliable sources and allowing fact tags to go unanswered for extended periods of time, have you now declared that both of these practices are unacceptable? ] (]) 15:06, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
	:Eschoir will explain in his own time when he is ready. Please do not push him on this. You are getting your way on "agents provocateurs" section. Please be satisfied with that. Thank you. ] (]) 23:02, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

	==='Agents provocateurs' sourcing and content dispute===

	Please - I have not withdrawn my challenge to the agents section. If it is not sourced within the next few days, it goes. I personally answered all the outstanding fact tags back in August, no matter how much anonymous vandals try to obfuscate.

	Citing a Free Republic hobbit chat site with a link to the hobbit chat site is intrinsically reliable for the proposition that there is a free republic hobbit chat site. Whatever the chatters say is not the subject not offered for the truth of the matter asserted.

	In the instant case, the footnote is a lie. It should be identified as a link to the FR source, where it is disavowed by Freepers using language like:
	'''The " article " is full of lies and you have been far less than " honest " , in posting it. As far as I can tell, from your own word : " You know why I posted it. To stir up the nest and liven this place up. " , you have shown that all you are is a disruptor.'''

	It is revealed that it is not claimed to be in the online edition of Chronicles, as the footnote falsely suggests, rather the Freepers conclude it is probably a LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the print edition.
	http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/backroom/793011/posts?page=200#200

	In fact, the wiki footnote itself refers to it as coming from the Chronicles letters section.

	So, in sum, we have a false footnote, linking to a post on FR of absolutely unverifiable provenance, decried by the freepers as dishonest, cited by anonymous editors as proof of the matter asserted. "Hearsay" is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. It is inadmissable, and the whole agents provocateurs is unreliable and unverifiable, and is going away very soon. ] (]) 03:56, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	:Eschoir, regarding your recent reversion of Prodego's edit, which removed the corporate data about Free Republic LLC, I've restored his edit. But if you insist on getting into an edit war with Prodego, I won't stand in your way. Please read his . This article is about the Internet forum, not the corporation. If you ask me, I think the corporation is well described in ].

	''I'll let prodego do his own edits.''

	:About the agents provocateurs section, I think

	'' what you think hardly matters, doesn't it? It is what is verifiable that matters''

	:the MD4Bush incident proves that at least one Democratic Party operative was acting as an agent provocateur as recently as 2004.

	''even if what you assert was verifiable, your thesis is that these agents are there to make FR look bad. This doesen't fit that theory''

	:The Sean Scallon article was published in the print version of ''Chronicles'' magazine (December 2002 edition) but does not appear on their website.

	''Are you citing a blog?''

	:::::I'm citing a blog solely for the purpose of showing that the Scallon article was real, that it was published in the print version of ''Chronicles,'' and that it wasn't published at the ''Chronicles'' website. ] (]) 18:46, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	::::::So you accept the authority of the Scallon article, so you won't object to the inclusion of <blockquote>
	With so many posters banned, the diversity of thought on Free Republic has been reduced to the musings of neoconservatives, Zionists, Republicans who act as if Free Republic were an annex of GOP headquarters, those who consider George W. Bush a demigod and offer prayers to him, and other sycophants and cheerleaders. Robinson has made it clear where he stands: "I see that the only Party capable of blocking and defeating the evil Democrats is the Republican Party. I see that many races are so close that as little as a one percent siphon of conservative votes to a third party could be the difference between success and failure. I see allowing a Democrat to remain in power when it could have been prevented as a triumph of evil."
	</blockquote>
	in the body of the article?] (]) 05:43, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

	:Next, let's look at your other fact tags. Run a Google on the phrase "sleeper troll," limited to the FR site. You'll see right away that there are a lot of Freepers who refer to "sleeper trolls" on FR threads. You argue above that a link to an FR thread about hobbits is "intrinsically reliable" to prove the Freepers chatter about hobbits.

	''Not what i said.''

	:So there are a lot of reliable sources proving the Freepers chatter about sleeper trolls. A term that Shibumi2 was kind enough to sanitize as "sleeper accounts."

	::Just because Freepers chat about hobbits, is not evidence of the existance of hobbits.

	:Finally, there's your objection about the WyldCard/Chuy's Restaurant/Jenna Bush statements. I don't have an answer to that at the moment. Give me some time. ] (]) 06:45, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	:I've also reverted another unilateral edit of yours in which you restored other material that had been deleted. This includes the "unknown person or persons" claim in the MD4Bush Incident section. The person isn't unknown.

	''Well you can scoop the world by revealing it here with a verifiable source.''

	:The internal details of the petty bickering and petty scandals at Free Republic are not notable, nor is including this material appropriate for an encyclopedia article. It was deleted for a good reason. ] (])

	''It was in the article for most of last year, and was eliminated without taking it to talk.''

	:It's low-grade blog material, not encyclopedia material. Misplaced Pages is not your personal blog. Please don't restore it again. ] (]) 07:11, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	''Try taking it to talk before deleting long established content'' ] (]) 17:32, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	:If Free Republic was Hollywood, this content would make this Misplaced Pages article its ''National Enquirer.'' It isn't notable. It's petty and small-minded.

	::YOu left out 'verifiable' hope that helps.

	Including the "purges" quote from the ''New York Observer'' adequately conveys the frustrations of certain banned Freepers. This article is not your personal blog, Eschoir. For the MD4Bush incident, there's plenty of reliable sourcing at ], including the ''Washington Post'' (article still available online) and ''Baltimore Sun.'' Do I need to duplicate all of those citations here? ] (]) 18:36, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	::If you say some identifiable individual has been shown to be MD4BUSH, yes.

	:From top to bottom of your :
	:#The anti-bush quote is not really related to Free Republic, though it was made there, so I question whether it should be included. We must be careful not to confuse Robinson with Free Republic.
	:#"April Purge" of 2007"? this completely violates ]
	:#Yet again. What people say on Free Republic is completely irrelevent. The point of this article is to describe what Free Republic is.
	:#The section about the corporate status of FR is good, we should keep this, preferably with no quotes, since quotes aren't really a good source for a legal status.
	:#The MD4Bush section sounded better as "was created", IMO.
	:<span>] <sup>]</sup></span> 18:39, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	Prodego, you and I (plus Shibumi2, who originally deleted the ''National Enquirer'' style chatter) have formed what I see

	::What a surprise.

	as a consensus.

	::No one person, and no (limited) group of people, can unilaterally declare that community consensus has changed, or that it is fixed and determined. WP:consensus

	Eschoir, the corporate info without the quotation marks is already present in the first few lines of the "Chronology - 1996-2000 - Anti-Clinton" section. Putting it in again would be redundant. The article as it stands represents a consensus. Please do not edit it without discussing your proposed edit here and reaching a consensus first. Thank you. ] (]) 20:22, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	::I guess you commute on Saturdays, too. ] (]) 05:43, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

	== Free Republic v FreeRepublic ==

	Free Republic LLC is not FreeRepublic the web forum. I propose consistency demands the differentiation - references to the LLC be spaced and to the website be one word. ] (]) 05:23, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	:'''Full disclosure''': 1) I'm not an expert on either subject, or on the differences between them. 2) I frequently read the articles in the forum, but rarely read the comments. 3) Prior to 2006 or so, I was a frequent poster of comments, and an occasional poster of articles, to the forum. I was banned at least five times, usually without explanation. Fed up, I stopped contributing.

	:'''Comment''': It sounds like a good idea to separate the forum and the LLC. Probably a major section of the article should be headed '''Free Republic LLC''', and all the "business and corporate stuff" should be put there. If the section gets huge, maybe a separate article would be justified. ] (]) 23:56, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

	== Return of Freedomaintfree? ==

	In his last post before permanent bannage, Bryan wrote

	The Jewish World Review source indicates that Drudge removed his link to FR because of racist posts surrounding the "Clinton love child" story. But you've ignored a statement by Drudge one paragraph later in the same JWR story, saying that he restored the link. The history is that Drudge briefly removed the link for racist posts, quickly ''restored the link,'' and then removed the link again ''for unknown reasons.'' As it stood, the paragraph here in the Wiki article was misleading; and the brief removal of the link for a few racist posts isn't notable. FreedomAintFree 21:50, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

	Six months later, the edit reappears!

	entitled: Improving layout. Changing some awkward wording ... nothing substantive.) (undo)

	Drudge later ''restored the link'' from his site to Free Republlc, but dropped it again ''for unknown reasons'', and currently does not link.

	What does Wiki do? How do you discipline an unregistered banned editor with a false proxy? ] (]) 06:17, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

	== Please AGF ==

	Please AGF Eschoir. You have been warned by Prodego. He is administrator. You have replaced material which should be deleted. It is not notable and it is not NPOV. Prodego and 70 IP editor agree with me. As 70 IP editor says "this is not your personal blog." This is our consensus. I have reverted your edit. Please do not continue seeking edit war. If you seek to change Free Republic article then discuss here on talk page first and get consensus. Then you make change edit with support of community. I have also moved "Agents" section since it was about activity before 2000 and was out of order. Thank you. ] (]) 22:17, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

	:With all due respect, you took none of the unilateral edits you made to talk before making them. Sorry. When you do, and get consensus, your edits will be considered.] (]) 00:34, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	::With all due respect, Shibumi2 was reverting your own unilateral edits that you made without taking them to Talk. He already has consensus, but we'll go through the formal procedure so that you don't have a leg to stand on. ] (]) 01:20, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	:::Let me show you my leg: No one person, and no (limited) group of people, can unilaterally declare that community consensus has changed, or that it is fixed and determined. WP:consensus ] (]) 04:40, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	::::When it's an article about an Internet forum, and every editor working on it supports the changes - with the sole exception of a permanently banned former member of said forum, who created nearly 100 sockpuppets in said forum, who transformed the article into a bitter, petty litle personal blog about said forum - then the changes are supported by consensus. ] (]) 13:26, 7 January 2008 (UTC) ] (]) 13:24, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	:This is not to say I challenge all your edits - or any - it's just procedural.:) ] (]) 00:53, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	==Consensus for edits of Shibumi2==

	Editors, please indicate below whether you support or oppose the edits made by Shibumi2 on the evening of January 6.

	*'''Strongly Support.''' Shibumi2's edits made the article NPOV. They removed a lot of material that made the article read like the Free Republic edition of ''National Enquirer.'' They eliminated the bitter, petty little grudge POV that the reader might find in the personal blog of a permanently banned Freeper. ] (]) 01:25, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	Dearest anonymous commuter, please make our job reaching consensus easier by enumerating those edits below -I've helped you as memory served
	{\| class="wikitable"
	\|-
	! Shibumi edit
	! Strongly Support
	! Oppose
	\|-
	\| delete citation needed in lead and first section of Chronology
	\| Eschoir, Shibumi2, Commuter
	\|
	\|-
	\| reword Drudge Link
	\| Shibumi2, Commuter
	\| eschoir
	\|-
	\| Eliminate Cold dead fingers box
	\| Shibumi2, Commuter
	\| Eschoir
	\|-
	\| Eliminate all box quotes (I threw that one in for prodego)
	\| Eschoir
	\| Commuter, Shibumi2
	\|-
	\| Eliminate vindictive little flames directed at Free Republic management and members ''vindictive little flames is not specific enough to edit by. do you at least have a line number?''
	\| Shibumi2, Commuter
	\|
	\|-
	\| Eliminate ''National Enquirer'' style focus on petty, non-notable issues ''again too vague''
	\| Shibumi2, Commuter
	\|
	\|}
	] (]) 05:23, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
	] (]) 05:30, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	I assume that since Shibumi2 made the edits, he supports them. I also assume that since Shibumi2 originally put the box quotes in, he opposes their removal. Finally, I've also deleted your continued failure to AGF despite repeated warnings from an admin. ] (]) 14:38, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	You don't understand. I assume your edits are made in good faith, I do. And I assume you are doing the best you can. And I don't call for your banning, because as I said ten years ago, you can only ban a name. You've got nothing that can be banned. You are not a sockpuppet if you don't register. So long as you follow the rules, you'll do fine.
	] (]) 23:18, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	== Page refactoring project notes here. ==

	Okay, we're going to start re-working this page this week. Keep the notes under this topic please.

	My view on how to proceed; In particular, I'd like to hear from people who have citations to PUBLISHED material about FR as we are going to have this article clear of uncited material and material which does not meet Wiki standards. Where there is a significant imbalance between positive and negative published material, which I expect, I propose we simply note that fact. Articles about websites and in particular about controversial web sites are a real problem on Misplaced Pages, so lets make this one accurate, NPOV, and short. If there are particular incidents in FR history that seem to be notable and encyclopedic, the briefest of mentions and a citation ought to suffice.

	After we have agreed on the ground rules, I will make a sandbox version of the page to start in on. --] (]) 15:13, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	:That sounds excellent. A large rewrite could really make this page much better, if it is done carefully. <span>] <sup>]</sup></span> 20:35, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	::A complete rewrite to a shorter length sounds great. Shibumi2's edits on January 6 are a fine place to start since they removed about 5 KB of objectionable material. Unfortunately, BenBurch accurately describes a "significant imbalance" in third-party material available on the Internet. Furthermore, Eschoir has an obvious COI problem and it shows in his work. Every petty little feud at Free Republic has been catalogued here in tiresome detail, and with a style that I can only describe as ''National Enquirer'' or a personal blog. An assistant manager at ] or ] wouldn't be mentioned in those articles if previously convicted of some minor offense, but for some reason the treasurer of a local Free Republic chapter was mentioned here for that. Let's try to steer clear of such pettiness, recognize Eschoir for who he is, and write a good article. ] (]) 21:05, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	::This is unmatched irony:
	<blockquote>recognize Eschoir for who he is . . . ] (])
	</blockquote>
	Larf!
	] (]) 23:28, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

	== Lead: Account Registration ==

	Account registration began over ten years ago. Is there any good reason to mention its start date in the lead of the article? (If the date is important, which it probably isn't, it could be mentioned deeper in the article.) ] (]) 17:34, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Latest revision as of 09:56, 23 December 2024

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Free Republic article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Misplaced Pages? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

This article is rated C-class on Misplaced Pages's content assessment scale.
It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Blogging (inactive)

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Blogging, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.BloggingWikipedia:WikiProject BloggingTemplate:WikiProject BloggingBlogging

Websites: Computing

	This article is part of WikiProject Websites, an attempt to create and link together articles about the major websites on the web. To participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page.WebsitesWikipedia:WikiProject WebsitesTemplate:WikiProject WebsitesWebsites
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Computing.

Conservatism Mid‑importance

	Conservatism portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Conservatism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of conservatism on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ConservatismWikipedia:WikiProject ConservatismTemplate:WikiProject ConservatismConservatism
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

United States Low‑importance

This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions.

United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States

Low

This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

The subject of this article is controversial and content may be in dispute. When updating the article, be bold, but not reckless. Feel free to try to improve the article, but don't take it personally if your changes are reversed; instead, come here to the talk page to discuss them. Content must be written from a neutral point of view. Include citations when adding content and consider tagging or removing unsourced information.

The contentious topics procedure applies to this page. This page is related to post-1992 politics of the United States and closely related people, which has been designated as a contentious topic.

Editors who repeatedly or seriously fail to adhere to the purpose of Misplaced Pages, any expected standards of behaviour, or any normal editorial process may be blocked or restricted by an administrator. Editors are advised to familiarise themselves with the contentious topics procedures before editing this page.

Attacks on Obama family

This section seems to be unnecessary and not notable. It concerns a single thread on a site that has thousands of them. One effect of it, intended or not, is to demean the subject of the article. Unless there is some reasoned opposition, I intend to delete it. --Lou Sander (talk) 13:45, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

The incident received media coverage and can be kept in the article.—goethean ॐ 14:17, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

And why should it be kept? And if it is kept, why shouldn't the material from the posts be included? --Lou Sander (talk) 04:51, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Any material which was covered by the media (in this case, the Sun article) can be included in the article.—goethean ॐ 14:32, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

The quotations in the Vancouver Sun give a taste of the tone (excuse the mixed metaphor) of the discussions on the website which is the subject of the article. I think that the article should include more quotations from the thread which were covered by the news article. The quotations give insight regarding the subculture which the website cultivates --- an angry, racist, irrational group.—goethean ॐ 14:51, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

I agree with goethean that the material now in the article should remain. The site has thousands of threads but very few of them attract coverage in other media. This is an opportunity for us to give our readers information about the site by reporting the observations of a third party.

On the other hand, the coverage doesn't need to be extremely detailed. We now have one quotation from the Free Republic thread. I'm skeptical about whether additional quotations would add much; I suggest that proposed language be posted her for discussion. JamesMLane t c 15:03, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Concur. --BenBurch (talk) 22:16, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

The author of the Vancouver Sun article, Chris Parry, is a member of a rival progressive website and has made extremely inflammatory and contemptuous posts there. His bias against Free Republic has been thoroughly exposed. If we're going to include his article as a reliable source, and quote from it for an entire paragraph, then we'll need to qualify all that with information about Parry's bias. Phoenix and Winslow (talk) 15:03, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

I don't think it's necessary to talk about the author; it's not as if he needs to spin comments like "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds." Besides, if you were to document the bias of every writer cited in wikipedia in the very article, it would take years to do the whole wiki. 188.95.42.176 (talk) 17:42, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Cheap shot

"One thing that apparently won't result in a ban: using the site solely to boost Web ranking for your child porn site." Quite an accusation, given that an actual child porn site would be illegal. Sitting there in the article with little context, and effectively having the last word.

I'm no friend of Free Republic, but this is not appropriate for a Misplaced Pages article. - Jmabel | Talk 18:13, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm going back on forth on whether to include it. I decided to leave it in, but am certainly open to a debate on the subject. I would ordinarily consider it a non-notable criticism, but it is likely more notable here when charged against a website full of "morality police." I also tried to make the statement a little less ambigous. I've removed the weasel word "critics" and named the specific critic. There may be other "critics" who have made a similar point, but the one I linked was where the quote actually came from. If we are going to include a direct quote, then we should definitely credit the quote in-line. The sentence has become a bit unweildy and someone with a better command of proper grammar may wish to take a look and rearrange it a bit. Sperril (talk) 17:07, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

This is an opinion, and we report facts about opinions. The mainstream media don't give much coverage to political message boards, so when they do, any such criticism is probably notable enough to be reported. The way to balance it would be to include anything that Robinson or some FR supporter has said on the subject. JamesMLane t c 00:57, 16 December 2010 (UTC)

The line is absolutely a cheap shot, out of context and placed without response at the very end to make it appear Free Republic supports child porn. Given that Free Republic is a Judeo-Christian site with a strong Second Amendment focus, the last place in the world a child pornographer would want to show up is on Free Republic, they'd be hunted down like vermin. If this is the quality of editing, I hope to be fair you will edit the Planned Parenthood entry to reflect they are child killers, and since the ACLU represents NAMBLA surely they must supprt child sodomy. I mean, why not add a throw away line claiming everyone on the right is a child molester (though sexual freedom has long been a cause of the left), why be fair when you can just make up some thin accusation to sully an organization's name for political reasons. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.69.244.157 (talk) 05:38, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

If you think it's a cheap shot, take it up with the Salon article, wherein it is demonstrated that accounts linking to child pornography remain unhindered on Free Republic even while "RINOs" are banned en masse. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.242.54.162 (talk) 18:24, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

I agree, while Free Republic is filled with troglodyte opinions, they aren't child pornographers. It should be removed. -GMcG

I also agree it should be removed. And I've belonged to DU since '03.198.228.228.27 (talk) 02:49, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

History of purges

I have not been to this article in quite a while, but I thought that I remembered once there was at least a capsule history of "purges" that have happened frequently on the Free Republic forum, often of high-profile "Freepers" or forum members. This is a pretty important topic essential to the understanding of Free Republic's history. The arbitrary nature of the Free Republic ownership in conducting these purges is noteworthy. B. Polhemus (talk) 15:49, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Removed some lead text.

"For each article, the forum's main page typically shows its headline, plus the first 100 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." This seemed to go against wikipedia's "what wikipedia is not" guideline; specifically, about a how-to manual type thing. 74.132.249.206 (talk) 08:49, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Free Republic blacklisted by Misplaced Pages?!?!

My eyes widened in disbelief when I got the following "Spam filter notice" while making a link to a Free Republic page (dated 2001) from another Misplaced Pages talk page: "The following link has triggered a protection filter: www freerepublic com. Either that exact link, or a portion of it (typically the root domain name) is currently blocked."

FYI, the incriminated post, part of which is blacklisted by… Misplaced Pages, is the following, on the Vladimir_Bukovsky page, and perceptive readers will note that, ironically, it discussed… censorship!

I was amazed to see the use of the word "alleged" in the following External Links item:

"Voices of Dissent An expose film of alleged human rights abuse presented by Vladimir Bukovsky (2006)".

So now the KGB must be given the benefit of the doubt, not only during the period that the Kremlin's police did its (mis)deeds, but even 21 years (!) after the Soviet Union collapsed?!

In light of the — continued — whitening of the KGB, along with charges of Bukovsky lying, no wonder Pajamas Media published an article (The Greatest Subversive of Our Times by Michael Ledeen, 29 December 2012) speaking of the times that Vladimir Bukovsky "was subjected to the KGB’s infamous psychological and biochemical torments during his years in prison and the camps." And you still believe that "alleged" belongs in the description of that exposé film?!

Then, of course, it's easier to understand when one learns that the Russian cannot get certain books published in the West because they reveal Soviet support of Western leftists ("Vladimir Bukovsky has written a richly detailed, heavily documented account of how the Soviet Union aided Palestinian militants, Latin American revolutionaries, and even America's Black Panther movement. Based on materials unearthed in Russian archives, 'Judgment in Moscow' also discloses Moscow's clandestine efforts to manipulate public opinion throughout the West."). Asteriks (talk) 13:34, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

Arbitration motion

The Arbitration Committee are reviewing the discretionary sanctions topic areas with a view to remove overlapping authorisations, the proposed changes will affect this topic area. Details of the proposal are at Misplaced Pages:Arbitration/Requests/Motions#Motion: Overlap of Sanctions where your comments are invited. For the Arbitration Committee, Liz 20:45, 23 September 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Free Republic. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131227012239/http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/3408 to http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/3408

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 08:15, 5 January 2017 (UTC)

Racist site

Shouldn't Free Republic be described as an overtly racist site? The things people write about minorities, especially Muslims, is extremely racist. (2A00:23C4:6384:FE00:5075:628B:59FB:3143 (talk) 10:33, 5 September 2017 (UTC))

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 6 external links on Free Republic. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 14:30, 7 October 2017 (UTC)

Pro-Russian and Pro-Putin bias

Starting with the February 24, 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine the site has noticeably demonstrated a prevailing bias in favor of Russia and in favor of Vladimir Putin. While some posters are tolerated for pro-Ukrainian stances several pro-Ukrainian posters have been banned from the site. Many of the pro-Russian posters state consistently anti-American views which would seem to be at odds with the founding principles of the site. While unsubstantiated there have been recurring allegations that some of the pro-Russian posters are paid 'trolls' due to apparently coordinated messaging among the pro-Russian posters. 2600:1700:C870:4950:3599:9F2D:AA93:CE01 (talk) 21:22, 22 January 2023 (UTC)

Categories: