How long before FR closes its "doors"

[benburch]

Poll question: How long before FR closes its "doors"

Given the repeated failures of FR to mobilize its "troops" to rally to support their "President", the repeated failures in their fundraising drives, and the amount of anti-Bush rhetoric they have had to purge from their site over the last few weeks, how long before "the fat lady sings"?

[bleedingheart]

1. who supports them? Do they rely on donors like DU or do they have

a Scaife funding them????

[SunDrop23]

3. They'll never close, they will get funding from the Armstrong Williams pot

[kcass1954]

22. Which means that our tax dollars helped out... WTF?!? n/t

[ohio_liberal]

4. They have funding drives

I dunno, they might have a Scaife as well.

[benburch]

5. RimJob supports his McMansion with donations.

He is reputed to have taken in $100K a quarter at the site's peak, but at the last drive he never managed to reach the $30K he was aiming for.

Mind you, my own site is having difficulty making the $10K we need, but we don't have the sort of following RimJob has or had for that site.

[ohio_liberal]

7. He has a McMansion?

I always pictured him in a shack in the woods, surrounded by shotguns and huntin' dawgs.

[benburch]

8. Yep! And reportedly several cars.

I think his "Marks" would be appalled to learn how he spends their money.

[ohio_liberal]

13. Amazing

That crappy site can't cost that much to operate. Imagine if people went after Rimjob the way they went after Andy.

[benburch]

18. Rimjob HELPED them go after Andy.

And I have personal correspondence from him that shows just this.

[ohio_liberal]

20. OMG

I had no idea!

[benburch]

21. Nice guy, huh? nt

[benburch]

23. Here is that correspondence.

Received: (qmail 12339 invoked from network); 20 Jun 2005 04:31:51 -0000
Received: from www.whiterosesociety.org (HELO server1.whiterosesociety.org) (<66.135.39.172>)
(envelope-sender <[e-mail]>)
by mail20.sea5.speakeasy.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP
for <[e-mail]>; 20 Jun 2005 04:31:51 -0000
Received: by server1.whiterosesociety.org (Postfix)
id 99BB58A4006; Sun, 19 Jun 2005 23:31:37 -0500 (CDT)
Delivered-To: [e-mail]
Received: from mailman.brandxnet.com (hanford.brandxnet.com <209.107.130.9>)
by server1.whiterosesociety.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 75C5A8A4004
for <[e-mail]>; Sun, 19 Jun 2005 23:31:37 -0500 (CDT)
Received: from psnw.com (c-67-181-238-249.hsd1.ca.comcast.net <67.181.238.249>)
by mailman.brandxnet.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id B09FE4B87EF
for <[e-mail]>; Sun, 19 Jun 2005 21:32:39 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 21:36:28 -0700
From: Jim Robinson <[e-mail]>
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax)
X-Accept-Language: en-us, en
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: webmaster <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: A polite request for moderation of your site content.
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.3 (2005-04-27) on mail20.sea5
X-Spam-Level: *
X-Spam-Status: No, score=1.6 required=8.0 tests=BAYES_50 autolearn=disabled
version=3.0.3

I pulled 117 and 134 based on your complaint, but know nothing of the rest.

Thanks,

Jim

webmaster wrote:

> Jim,
>
> Here are some threads about Andy Stephenson;
>
> Every DUFU thread since April 28th;
>
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;s=dummie
>
> All of the following Chat threads
>
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1425289/posts?q=1&&page=1#1
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1424310/posts
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1423092/posts
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1422536/posts
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1422004/posts
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1421322/posts
>
> My copyright Material;
>
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1425289/posts?q=1&&page=101 -
> Post 117
>
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1425289/posts?q=1&&page=101
> - Post 134
>
> It would really be a good idea for you to get onto this issue
> because, as I said, it is going to make a lot of people look foolish
> rather soon.
>
> Thanks for your time and attention!
>
> -Ben Burch
>
>
> On Jun 19, 2005, at 5:21 PM, Jim Robinson wrote:
>
>> Sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about. To the best of
>> my recollection, I've never heard of Andy Stephenson and wouldn't
>> know him from Adam. If someone has posted some of your material, I
>> will be happy to remove it if you can supply me with the URL where
>> the info is posted.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Jim
>>
>>
>> webmaster wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Gentlemen,
>>>
>>> I think it is now past time that you ask people to stop posting
>>> libel about the Andy Stephenson matter.
>>>
>>> None of the allegations being made by these people are true, and I
>>> am building a site addressing these lies; http://
>>> www.AndyThanksYou.com
>>>
>>> And I will be posting even more information in coming days that
>>> will address *every* question that has been asked.
>>>
>>> Some of the people who have been libeled say they intend to sue,
>>> (I don't presently intend to, BTW) and I would think it wise for
>>> you to get in front of this issue and shut it down.
>>>
>>> In addition, some material has been posted from my site to your
>>> board that is Copyright and which I have explicitly forbidden
>>> adaption or re-posting of. Please remove that material at least.
>>>
>>> Thank you very much!
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>>
>>> Ben Burch
>>> WhiteRoseSociety.org Webmaster
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>

[ohio_liberal]

29. So he sat back and let them use FR to smear Andy

Bastard :mad:

[benburch]

31. I know NOTHING! I hear NOTHING! I see NOTH-ING!

[sui generis]

10. you shore do have a purdy mouf

:evilgrin:

cue theme from deliverance

[ohio_liberal]

12. Squeal like a pig!

:evilgrin:

[Arkana]

16. I thought he was taking that money and gussying up his trailer.

[mntleo2]

24. I Am Poor Benburch

But I can give time and I am an IT person. I love your site! Most freepers are clueless and they are greedy, hate to say it, but it is true. Those people are nuts as well. I share Will's outrage. May they dig Andy;s grave...

Cat In Seattle <---at Andy's funeral and still crying sometimes

[benburch]

35. If you are a photoshop-savvy person, I could use some help!

Email me benburch at pobox.com

Funny thing is, all of the freepers were saying how I created those documents with photoshop! All I know how to do with p-shop is crop, resize, and adjust contrast!!!

And I cry over Andy too, Cat. And Jeff Matson. Only the good die young.

[Kolesar]

2. The FR place is practically unreadable

I have not looked at it in over a year. I think its importance is hugely overstated, anyway.

[nvliberal]

6. They aren't going anywhere.

Granted the design of the site is ancient, but it was one of the first boards out there, and it'll be around for years to come.

[sui generis]

11. but the MSM always refers to DU and FR as "competing blogs"

:wtf:

well the MSM isn't known for its population of rocket scientists or even people with just average intelligence.

[Kolesar]

14. and the MSM apparently spends no time researching stories

or figuring out who the "bloggers" are. They just rely on press releases.

[Arkansas Granny]

15. I started checking in on the Freepers last year before the election.

I was looking for some insight as to how they formed their opinions and how they could support Bush after the fiasco of his first term in office. They had their share of kool-aid drinkers, to be sure, but there were some that seemed to be capable of a serious debate. Lately, it seems that the kool-aid has taken hold and it's mostly the hate-filled spewing of those who think they occupy the moral high ground.

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. I suspect it is less that the kool-aid has taken hold than that

those who are capable of rational thought have abandoned FR.

Not ready to come over here, perhaps, but unable to hang on over there.

That's progress.

[Arkansas Granny]

33. Whatever the reason, there has been a marked difference of tone

and few of the current posters seem capable of rational thought. All they do is defend Bush and repeat the Repub talking points. Woe to anyone who disagrees.

[KingFlorez]

9. I picked never

But if the '06 elections don't go their way they might close up shop.

[Orrin_73]

17. Even if they close there are alternatives

like little green fascists and michelle 'the skank' malkin.

[Mr_Spock]

19. It's a place for mentally ill bigots to spew mindless hate

There will always be people spawned from the Devil who need an outlet. FR is their place of worship.

[paineinthearse]

25. FR will have fewer and fewer participants, eventally becoming a 'read

only' website run by the lunatic fringe.

[frankly_fedup2]

26. During their pro-war rally yesterday, some man got up and spoke and said

he was from a particular website. For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the site. However, he claimed his website had
a 1 million memberships. Yeah right!

I was wondering if anyone else caught the name of this million member website?

[DancingBear]

34. probably grassfire.org

The moran who runs it says things like that all the time.

[deutsey]

27. I thought it was supposed to reign for a thousand years

Oh, wait, that was the Third Reich...it's so easy to get the two confused. :evilgrin:

[natrat]

28. do they really delete anti bush stuff?

thats why i like du -you can bash dems if there is good reason and? -screw you donna brazil

[benburch]

36. In seconds, sometimes!

I posted the Bush Booze Crisis story over there, and it was gone in 30 seconds. Literally. I'm not kidding!

[Brother Buzz]

41. Systematically - and if you want proof....

Try posting this news article over there to see how long it lasts...:

FAMILY DEMANDS THE TRUTH

New inquiry may expose events that led to Pat Tillman’s death

Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, September 25, 2005

<snip>
Yet other Tillman family members are less reluctant to show Tillman’s unique character, which was more complex than the public image of a gung-ho patriotic warrior. He started keeping a journal at 16 and continued the practice on the battlefield, writing in it regularly. (His journal was lost immediately after his death.) Mary Tillman said a friend of Pat’s even arranged a private meeting with Chomsky, the antiwar author, to take place after his return from Afghanistan — a meeting prevented by his death. She said that although he supported the Afghan war, believing it justified by the Sept. 11 attacks, “Pat was very critical of the whole Iraq war.”

Baer, who served with Tillman for more than a year in Iraq and Afghanistan, told one anecdote that took place during the March 2003 invasion as the Rangers moved up through southern Iraq.

“I can see it like a movie screen,” Baer said. “We were outside of (a city in southern Iraq) watching as bombs were dropping on the town. We were at an old air base, me, Kevin and Pat, we weren’t in the fight right then. We were talking. And Pat said, ‘You know, this war is so f— illegal.’ And we all said, ‘Yeah.’ That’s who he was. He totally was against Bush.”

Another soldier in the platoon, who asked not to be identified, said Pat urged him to vote for Bush’s Democratic opponent in the 2004 election, Sen. John Kerry.
<more>

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/25/MNGD7ETMNM1.DTL

[porphyrian]

32. Who cares?

I honestly don't understand everyone's fascination with these stupid pieces of shit. If it weren't for the people here who keep bringing them up, I wouldn't even know they existed.

[benburch]

37. I like making fun of them!

Cool username, BTW!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

38. It doesn't matter if FR is a failure......

......those basement dwellers are failures at everything they do in life and yet they still slog ahead in ther misery. This should be no different.

[graywarrior]

39. Is this the Jimmy of whom we speak?

http://www.psnw.com/~jimrob/resume.htm

[ohio_liberal]

40. Looks like it, yup

So he's the one who designed FR's shitty site. I would not be proud of that.

[benburch]

42. He has even more to be proud of...

He was accused of doing design of a site for an asian "sex tour" operator. Not sure how that one panned out, but if true, it is pretty sleazy.

[ohio_liberal]

44. Couldn't help myself, had to google that one

http://clownposse.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2694

Freeper splinter group?

[benburch]

45. Yep...

That's just what they are.

Can't criticize the FR Mothership or you get banned.

[SaveAmerica]

43. A better poll would be "How many people on FR are freepers and

how many are DU in disguise"? That's what I'd like to know. And then, just to get a feel for it, establish a day when DU'ers and others in disguise don't post at all and see how quiet it is.