Politics on the internet is a many-splendored
thing nowadays. There are conservative forums
affording us a voice like we never had before.

Of course, many of these forums have been
overrun by neo-nazist scribblers, jihadists,
"palestinians" from where the outer fringe left
and the outer fringe right meets, and plain
crazies. Any forum not wishing to degenerate
into a cesspool of sedition, antisemitism and
wild-eyed hate has to wield the moderator's
club pretty ruthlessly.

One of the forums claiming a measure of
"legitimacy" is the Free Republic forum
(www.freerepublic.com), run by Mr. Jim
Robinson et al, out of Fresno, California.

Robinson has been known to portray Free Republic
as a different kind of beast from other webforums
more welcoming to a chorus of antisemitic
voices. I have been reading the place quite
a lot lately.

Now, the official line of Free Republic has
alwys been "antisemitism is not welcome here".
And in many instances, a Stormfronter going
about "making his bones" on Free Republic will
be unceremoniously decanted out of there.
However, in many instances nothing of the kind
will happen. Free Republic has a "stable" of
resident posters who are supplying a constant
background din of antisemitic garbage - and
in many cases they are veteran "Freepers",
having been around for years. And enjoying
Mr. Robinson's seeming waiver of the official
"no antisemitism" admonition.

Some examples. I'm not going to mention
handles or name names. Yet.

A couple of years back there was a poster
equally known for his spirited defense for
the right to possess child pornography and
for his frequent postings from nazi sites
like "hoffman-info" (a practice that flies
squarely in the face of Mr. Robinson's
posting rules). After a number of posters
had complained to the site moderators about
this, I received a message from one of these
same moderators. Saying in effect that only
the owner himself could ban that particular
poster from the forum.

That poster has since been banned, but it
took literally years to get around to.

Another example of a now banned critter
might be the site moderator who had links
to "carolontheweb", another renowned anti-
semite on the internet. Another one would
be the poster whose rants on Free Republic
and "LibertyForum" (a mainly antisemitic site)
against "kikes" and "hymie" dismayed Free
Republic posters for years until Mr. Robinson
kicked him off after a bitter fight where
freepers made it clear that keeping him
there might hurt revenues. And Robinson's
parting shot in that showdown was "We don't
want Nazi-hunters here!"

Today, in a situation where Republicans
absolutely need whatever edge they can get
in the fight to keep America out of the
hands of John Kerry and his strange wife,
Free Republic is still keeping its zoo
of resident antisemites while claiming to
be mainstream conservative.

One (having been a "freeper in good standing"
since 2000), will tell you at every opportunity
that Israel is running al Quaida, that Israel
is an enemy of the US, and other theories
usually found on "Jewwatch".

One, registered in 1998, brings a general
message that Zionism should be stamped out.
Oh, and also seems to lay claim to being an
Admiral, a lawyer, a pilot, a communist, a
Democrat, and Jewish - although he seems to
have only the haziest understanding of what
determines if you're Jewish. Of course, the
"I'm Jewish, so I can say this" has been a
neo-nazi ploy for a generation or so.

Another poster, freeper since 1999, will
jump discussions about Jews or Israel with
exhortations and links to white supremacist
preacher Sheldon Emry, his Christian Identity
organization, and others of the same ilk.

So it seems that while Mr. Robinson wants
some (the most obvious and damaging) antisemite
posters gone, he wants some (the ones not too
obvious to unskilled observers?) there.

Now, why is that, Mr. Robinson?