Free Republic

File:Free Republic logo.gif

Free Republic logo

Free Republic is a moderated Internet forum and activist site for Republicans and neoconservatives, primarily within the United States. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Robinson of Fresno, California. Free Republic bills itself as "the premier on-line gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the web." According to Ivor Tossell of the Canadian Globe and Mail, during the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, Free Republic was "central to the network of websites that uncovered the forged memos about George W. Bush's Vietnam service that appeared on CBS News and ultimately cost Dan Rather his job."[3]

Robinson and his website have generated controversy on the theory that Free Republic switched its political leanings after September 11, 2001, from one of libertarianism and suspicions about the conservative credentials of President Bush to defending Bush on most issues, having thus ignited some quarrels among conservatives over policy. As disagreements on the site grew, the moderators increased censorship and banned numerous conservative members, some of whom had been with the group for a number of years. Death threats and inappropriate calls to action by some of the site's members have brought criticism from the media and blog-watchers. [4]

Over time, the site has urged members to keep their disagreements over policies and personalities within the Republican Party and its primaries. Founder Robinson, in particular, has strongly discouraged talk of third parties, which he maintains would serve a purpose of electing Democrats.

Founder's 2004 statement

As a conservative site, Free Republic is pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, pro-Constitution, pro-Bill of Rights, pro-gun, pro-limited government, pro-private property rights, pro-limited taxes, pro-capitalism, pro-national defense, pro-freedom, and pro-America. We oppose all forms of liberalism, socialism, fascism, pacifism, totalitarianism, anarchism, government enforced atheism, abortionism, feminism, homosexualism, racism, wacko environmentalism, judicial activism, etc. We also oppose the United Nations or any other world government body that may attempt to impose its will or rule over our sovereign nation and sovereign people. We believe in defending our borders, our Constitution and our national sovereignty.

Origins

Free Republic gained popularity during the Clinton impeachment controversy in 1998 and 1999, when protests and write-in campaigns were organized through the website.C-SPAN carried a Free Republic rally in Washington in regard to impeachment.

Forums

Format and policy

Some posts on Free Republic are devoted to the ridicule of persons or groups perceived as anathema to conservatives. The site's officially stated policy is to remove blatantly racist or bigoted postings.

It is not uncommon for users, who often refer to one another as "Freepers", to be purged for expressing an opinion contrary to the aims of the site, making it seem as though there is no such opposing data or opinion. For example, in February 2005, in response to a difference of opinion about immigration policy, many posters who advocate tighter immigration controls over an "open borders" policy were removed. Many of these posters had a long history on the site. Banning from the site includes blocking the IP address of the poster.

Influencing online polls

Media websites (including newspapers, television networks, and America Online) run occasional "polls" that do not use the sampling methods of formal opinion polls, but instead invite everyone to respond. Some Free Republic forum messages, usually captioned "FReep this poll!", urge FR members to vote en masse in these polls. The goal is to influence polls to reflect the aggregrate votes of FR members. In addition, some members find ways to avoid systems that only allow one vote and, instead, vote hundreds of times.

Social organization and events

Freepers counter-protest at an anti-war demonstration at Arlington National Cemetery on October 2, 2004.

There are local chapters within Free Republic which are organized through ping lists, e-mail, and Free Republic mail.

The more active chapters organize live protests, which they call "Freeps." Often these are counter protests, as responses to protests by groups whom they oppose. "Freepers," will assemble at a predetermined location with signs and banners which are generally designed and hand-drawn by individual members.

One such Freep was described by reporter by Kerry Lauerman for Salon.com [5] in 2001. A number of Freepers paid $20 each to attend the conference at which conservative politicians and thinkers of varying pedigrees spoke to the issues that most interested the audience; the rights of man, the problems with the news media, and striper lakes. The climax of the evening was the presentation of a large Confederate flag, to "Bob Johnson, from Los Angeles, for spearheading the Free Republic Network."

In 2005, Free Republic helped to organize and stage a 'Freep' in Washington, D.C., intended to show support for the troops and in opposition to the antiwar protest of September 24, 2005, which drew an estimated 100,000. Free Republic's D.C. chapter leader and frequent spokesperson for the group, Kristinn Taylor, was quoted as having said that Free Republic was "prepared for 20,000 people to attend the pro-military rally, billed as a time to honor the troops fighting, the war on terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere around the world." Instead of the 20,000 expected, only an estimated 100 reportedly attended. [6]

Free Republic's counter-protest activities at Walter Reed Army Hospital are also notable. In 2005 the Antiwar group Code Pink initiated recurring protests outside the hospital, home to many soldiers severely injured in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The protests reportedly included mock caskets and signs which said "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton," sentiments offensive to many members of Free Republic. The D.C. Chapter, along with other groups, organized successful counter-protests, which allegedly resulted in Code Pink severely curtailing its Walter Reed protests. [7]

Free Republic Inaugural Ball

In January 2005, Free Republic hosted an Inaugural Ball at the Washington Plaza Hotel with the intention to "celebrate" the reelection of President Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney and to "honor our men and women serving in the Armed Forces." The event featured then Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and his rock and roll band called Capitol Offense.[8][9]

Political influence

Free Republic posters, notably "TankerKC" (later identified as active Air Force officer Paul Boley)[10] and "Buckhead" (later identified as Atlanta GOP lawyer Harry W. MacDougald) contributed, along with members of the blogs Powerline and Little Green Footballs, to breaking "Memogate," the controversy surrounding CBS News' use of questionable documents during the 2004 presidential campaign]]. [11] The discussion quickly spread across the Internet via blogs, and the Drudge Report [12] (attributing Powerline), and the Associated Press later picked it up [13]. This eventually resulted in the early retirement of Dan Rather, and the forced resignations of Mary Mapes and three other news division executives at CBS.

Further information: Killian documents authenticity issues

During the 2004 US Elections, 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 Senator John Kerry, apologized in the national media for comments that he made on Free Republic under the user name "jrlc." The posts were discovered and made public by the liberal Media Matters for America [14]. Concerning the remarks, Corsi said, "I don't stand by any of those comments and I apologize if they offended anybody," and, "...the politically incorrect humor I posted on this site is evidently not funny to everyone."

Current White House Press Secretary (and former Fox News commentator) Tony Snow was an active poster on the forum before he took the job with the Bush Administration -- at which time all his posts and his account were deleted. Many of the posts have been archived and show that Tony wasn't afraid to 'mix it up' with the outspoken Freepers, who didn't always agree with his politics.[15] [16]

Free Republic's power and influence was addressed by the band Dixie Chicks who claim that much of the backlash against them, in response to lead singer Natalie Maine's 2003 anti-Bush comments was fueled by Free Republic. The site is featured prominently in their documentary 'Shut up and sing', and in interviews, they have often mentioned Free Republic by name. D.C. Chapter Spokesman Kristinn Taylor attended the screening of the film hosted by the liberal advocacy group Center for American Progress was invited to join in a discussion after the screening, and even complimented the director on the film. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Further information: Dixie_chicks § Political_controversy

Controversial aspects

Ivor Tossell termed Free Republic "the worst site on the Internet, political-rhetoric division" and "an exercise in political extremism that, despite being something of an anthropological train wreck, keeps popping up square in the mainstream." [22]

Free Republic has also been criticized because some members have made alleged threats against former President Clinton and against the owners of a restaurant who notified authorities when an underage Jenna Bush attempted to purchase liquor illegally at the establishment. These posts were removed by Robinson when e brought to his attention. He insists that the site has had to "delete relatively few posts" over time for violations of its "no-violence" policy despite Free Republic's popularity and ease of registration. Salon.com quotes online columnist T.J. Walker in that Free Republic's "political influence is rising even as death threats occur more frequently on its message boards." Walker cites rallies that featuring former Bob Barr, Christopher Hitchens, and James Rogan.

Copyright lawsuit

Further information: L.A. Times v. Free Republic

Because it has been a practice of Free Republic to allow and even encourage its users to copy and paste copyrighted news stories in their entirety to its discussion boards, Free Republic was sued by The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times (which ultimately prevailed in the lawsuit) for federal Copyright infringement. [23] The case, often cited when arguing Cyberlaw, is referred to as L.A. Times v. Free Republic. Free Republic members denounced the lawsuit as a conspiracy by the "liberal media" to "stifle" the organization; Robinson referred to the suit as "a life and death struggle with elements of the socialist propaganda machine."[24]

External links

• Official website
• Stein, Jeff. "Free-for-all at Free Republic: Lucianne Goldberg, Matt Drudge and other friends abandon the Clinton-bashing Web site over its attacks on George W. Bush" Salon, 13 July 1999.
• Lauerman, Kerry. "They're here, they're mad, get used to it." Salon, 24 June 2001.
• York, Anthony. "Free Republic defends Salon." Salon, 18 July 2001.