Why Burning the Flag Matters

[DisgustipatedinCA]

118. What does it matter to me? Where shall I begin?

First, I have no idea about the Old Elm Tree that you've mentioned a couple of times. But yes, I do know how to do my own research. Specifically, I know how to enter the following (without the quotes) in a Google search: "site:freerepublic.com mineralman". I'm using Google, not this elm tree site.

Why does it matter to me? Just look at what you've said yourself in the very post I'm responding to: "I also worked quietly to provoke people into behavior that got them banned at that site. I was acting as a provocateur and disrupter at that site. I was very successful at that."

What does this tell a logically-thinking person? You were a provocateur, a disrupter. You're saying that you basically lived a lie at Free Republic. I realize we're deep into alert territory, so let me explicitly say that I'm not calling you a liar. I'm saying that you, by your own admission, lied to the fine dolts at FR about who you were, what you were about--it's built into the definition of the agent provocateur. Bravo, by the way.

In that same statement, you said, "I also worked quietly to provoke people into behavior that got them banned at that site." This is the same sort of thing you like to do here. I'm not making an accusation; I'm talking about some of the aforementioned 40,000 posts, in which you like to talk about which thread you would have pulled had you been on the jury, and which decisions you thought were good, bad, and so on. That's your right, but you clearly have a head for the rules, and you clearly like to be in the thick of things. You're one of the de facto leaders here, to the extent that there are any non-owner leaders here, and you're aware of that. You like to be in the game, you like to be all over the rules. And this is the same thing you said of your FR experience. You also displayed it in a great many of your posts there. You have

Logically speaking, we know you misrepresented yourself at one of the two websites. For my part, I actually do believe you were just fucking with the freepers. I primarily believe this because I did read a lot of your posts there, and you mostly just seemed to schoolmarm them, correct people, remind them of the proper forum in which to post items, and so on. I'm kind of surprised that they didn't get you before they did. But please understand that thinking people at this site, with an innate distrust of Free Republic and its denizens, have ample reason to approach this sort of thing with caution, especially given your zeal to have the chance to run some of the machinery. I believe that on more than one occasion, I've read your posts warning of trolls, sock puppets, and the like. So no, I don't apologize for checking, and I never would have had you not made the information public (in your old DU2 tag line). I hope you do have an understanding of why this matters to me, even if you don't care for the interrogatory. Whether you believe it or not, I do appreciate you taking the time to fill me in on details.

Finally, maybe you were just playing a role for the simian crowd over there, but yeah, you did some bashing.

In a FR thread called Gay America Finds Its Place in Nashville, you posted:
Man, now we're going to start getting C&W covers of show tunes. I can see it all now, and it's frightening. Dolly Parton Sings Favorites from Sound of Music
…and then you added
I forgot some of the titles, though:

"My Hills are Alive (with the sound of music)
"How Do You Solve A Problem with Vaginas?
"You're a Dear, A Female Deer"
"You are Sixteen, I'm a Lesbian"

Like that.
URL: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1587032/posts


In a thread titled Army Orders Soldiers to Shed Privately Owned Dragon Skin Body Armor, you said:
There's something about this that doesn't sound right. Unless I see the orders, I'm not going to accept this as fact. It's all hearsay and second or third hand. I will consider this a non-story until the orders are produced, in writing.
…and then you said
Yeah. Nobody's identified. Nobody knows who said what, when. If orders were issued, let's see them.
After all, Hillary's saying about the same thing. I don't believe her, either.
URL: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1558527/posts


In a thread titled Whittington Back in ICU (after Vice President Cheney got drunk and shot his brother-in-law in the face with a shotgun), you said:
Man, I hope he doesn't die. The press would have a field day. Even if it wasn't due to the shotgun pellets, it would be a circus.
…and then you said:
"No reasonable person is going to hold this tragic accident against Dick Chaney if Whittington dies." I didn't mention reasonable people, though. Just the press.

In a thread titled Want Some of Those Purple Heart Band-Aids?, you said:
Bub? Whatever. Yes, the issue is Kerry's record. It is not about the Purple Heart medal. So, let's discuss his record. Let's not cheapen the medal by using it in this way. There are other ways to make the point, as the Swift Boat Vets are doing. We do not have to lower ourselves to cheap shots.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1203791/posts
Note: you were defending John Kerry to these people, but in so doing, you recommended the tactics being employed by the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth”. As you must know, this is an organization that was built on lies in order to discredit John Kerry.

Thank you.