Jeepers, FReepers

I have a headache. That tends to happen to me whenever I visit Free Republic. I really shouldn't punish myself like that so often, but it's important to see what the other side is talking about. I'm relatively new to the blogging experience but, from what I can see, Free Republic seems to be more user-driven than other sites when it comes to the articles posted, as opposed to sites where the host posts articles and then encourages discussion. However, there is one trait that Free Republic shares with many Right Wing blogs - they do not take kindly to people who post dissenting opinions and, in fact, practice censorship in the name of defending American freedom of speech. Right out of the Statement by the founder of Free Republic:

We aggressively defend our God-given and first amendment guaranteed rights to free speech, free press, free religion, and freedom of association, as well as our constitutional right to control the use and content of our own personal private property. Despite the wailing of the liberal trolls and other doom & gloom naysayers, we feel no compelling need to allow them a platform to promote their repugnant and obnoxious propaganda from our forum. Free Republic is not a liberal debating society. We are conservative activists dedicated to defending our rights, defending our constitution, defending our republic and defending our traditional American way of life.

If I wanted to make something up to stereotype our Right Wing friends, I couldn't have done a better job than that. And, believe it or not, one of the replies in the comments section after that statement was, "FreeRepublic is the best free speech site on the web." But if you read the entire statement from the site's founder (Jim Robinson), you get an idea of what you're in for on that site. Despite all this, there are a number of thoughtful articles posted there that might otherwise lead to some valuable discourse if the site allowed for a "liberal debating society." But I defy anybody of rational thought to read through the comments after each post and not get a similar headache to what I am experiencing. Everybody toots the same horn and they fall back on the same bigotry of ideas. They mock liberal arguments without engaging in substantive debate. And anybody with a contrarian viewpoint is dismissed as a troll and/or banished, even if they are civil and provide points for rational discussion.

On the other hand, check out the discussion forums in Media Matters. You will see that there is some of the same trash coming from the left, but there are also some pretty civil debates going on. Actual paragraphs, not just smug one-liners. There are plenty of conservatives who post there regularly and provide good input. The only banishments I'm aware of from that site are for leading threads off topic. (Full disclosure: I occasionally post there as DiamondDog.) Another site in which the discussion is usually civil is Daily Kos. The hosts sometimes use spicy language - especially Armando - but the comments that follow are usually substantive. Unlike conservatives who steadfastly follow Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment (Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican), liberals have no qualms about debating amongst themselves. I'm not saying that there aren't any liberal blogs that are in the gutter - there are plenty of them. But I tend to frequent the ones that encourage free thought, and I've yet to come across a major conservative blog like that. Many on the Right disdain intricacy and nuance. There is a lot of irony in the name Free Republic.

In one of my earliest posts I mentioned that when you look at blogs from the Left and Right, it appears that we are living in two separate versions of reality. The only surefire fact is that the world is composed of six billion different realities. Any claim of absolute truth is arrogance of the highest degree, and people of all stripes need to realize that there is a lot to learn from each other, even if you have a God-given right to close your mind. I certainly provide no guarantees that anything I write here is gospel. But if I give you a headache, let me know and I'll send you some Advil.