a hate group called 'The Free Republic.

[2dogs]

Gee, is THR a hate group too? We certainly are armed- but dangerous?





http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7445084p-8362763c.html


Human relations panel in new fray
Autry wants to suspend it for calling a conservative organization 'hate group.'

By Matt Leedy

The Fresno Bee
(Published Sunday, September 14, 2003, 5:16 AM)



Mayor Alan Autry will try to suspend the city's Human Relations Commission after its chairwoman issued a news release labeling a local conservative organization a "hate group."
Autry vowed Saturday to take action against the commission in the latest clash between the group and more conservative members of the Fresno city government.

He was reacting to a news release Chairwoman Debbie Reyes sent Friday that warned, "a rally is being organized by a hate group called 'The Free Republic.' "

The statement was stamped with the city of Fresno's seal.

The Free Republic is a Web site operated by Jim Robinson of Fresno.

On the site, Free Republic is introduced as "an online gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the web."

According to the commission's news release, "The information on this group's website clearly indicates threats of violence toward any minority groups that interfere with their rally or picnic."

Reyes said she wrote the news release, with help from another commissioner, because, "there's a link on the website that refers to this group as anti-gay and anti-immigration. When intolerance comes to the table, we need to answer that call."

Autry said there is no evidence that Free Republic is a hate group, adding that the commission is "using the city of Fresno as a tool to attack people without cause. This is just something that has to stop."

Autry plans to meet with Fresno's city manager and city attorney to discuss suspending the commission "until we find out how this happened, who was involved with the press release and the reason behind it."

Human Relations Commissioner Cary Catalano said it was decided last week that the commission would not issue a news release about Free Republic.

"Due to the nature of this event I will personally be asking Chairwoman Debbie Reyes for her resignation," Catalano said Saturday. "It's just important that the community knows that this is not a reflection of individual members."

In response, Reyes conceded other commissioners should have been told of the release.

"He's right on that," Reyes said. "It happened at the last minute of the midnight hour."

The news release was sent with a city of Fresno cover sheet and stated Free Republic was planning a rally Friday.

About a dozen people met at Shaw and Blackstone avenues Friday. They listened to country music, waved American flags and held signs asking drivers to honk their horns if they support U.S. soldiers.

Those who gathered at the busy intersection said the commission's accusation was ridiculous.

According to the commission's release, "This group has also planned a 'Free Republic Hate Rally Picnic' " Saturday at Woodward Park. However, those who planned to attend said the picnic was a chance for dozens to eat barbecued tri-tip, talk and play.

Autry called the Human Relations Commission "politically intoxicated" and described its news release as "inflammatory, reckless, irresponsible and dangerous."

"These comments are not a reflection of the city of Fresno," he said. "It's one thing to say someone's a jerk or to say someone is off base, but the worst thing you can say is that they're a hate group."

Last month, Autry clashed with Reyes when the commission member accused city officials of making racist remarks. This followed the release of an e-mail message in which City Council Member Jerry Duncan said he wished he had a "dirty bomb" to kill every liberal in Fresno.

Autry also was upset that the commission used city staffers to send the release.

At their meeting Thursday, Nicholas DeGraff warned commissioners that the Free Republic was planning events "that had the potential for violence."

DeGraff, a member of Peace Fresno, said he read messages on the Web site that stated Free Republic members were armed and "extremely violent."

"We wanted the police to be notified that there was a potential conflict," DeGraff said Saturday. "It was my goal to avert any potential violence. That being my goal, it was accomplished."

After listening to DeGraff, the HRC decided to write a letter to police, Catalano said. And Reyes later decided to send the news release, warning of the "hate group."

"We didn't want people getting hurt. Period. That was it," Reyes said. "If the city didn't get any kind of alert we could have been held responsible."

 

[Devonai]

A Hate Group: Any group of people we hate. If you beat somebody to the punch in this way, you reveal your own bias, even if there was never a counter-punch on the way.

 

[Sergeant Bob]

Judging by these people, Liberalism is not a political ideology, it's a mental disorder! If they weren't in governmant, they'd be doing the thorazine shuffle down a hallway in fuzzy slippers.

 

[GSB]

DeGraff, a member of Peace Fresno, said he read messages on the Web site that stated Free Republic members were armed and "extremely violent."

First of all, if Jim Robinson or a mod at FR got even a hint that someone was using the site to actively promote acts of armed violence, they'd be kicked off the site so fast their head would spin. Ditto on anything racist -- the quickest way to get your post pulled is to put a racial slur in it. Sure, some people walk pretty close to the line sometime, and some have crossed it -- that happens in political discourse, but to call FR a hate group is ludicrous.

 

[greyhound]

A Hate Group: Any group of people we hate

My father taught me never to hate a group, but that you can only hate an individual.

Seriously, the old "Hate Group" slur is one the liberals have always used; let's face it, it sounds good in a hyped up news article. OTOH, we could call leftists a "Hate Group" when they shout "Bush = Hitler."

 

[Jim March]

This is potentially a huge opportunity to counter-strike.

Stay tuned.

 

[2dogs]

The leftists in this country are defining the terms, and they will (try) to eliminate those they disagree with.

You own a gun? You are a hater.

You are a strict Constitutionalist. You are a hater.

You don't worship "diversity"? You are a hater.

Below is an exerpt of a review of "The Black Book of Communism" (review written by Claire Wolfe) taken from JPFO website. Pretty interesting.

----------------

Controlling the language

Above all, there are the passages about the Communist's skillful manipulation of language for political purposes.

This manipulation took two forms, both of which are in use in American and Europe today: The first is a demonization and dehumanization of everyone unpopular with the regime. It was not people the Communists killed. It was "capitalists," "running dogs," "enemies of the people," "saboteurs," "the bourgeoise," or "wreckers." Just as Nazis didn't exterminate Jewish human beings but "maggots," "menaces to society," "parasites" "corrosive influences on Aryan culture" and "masters of the lie." Just as today government and the media do not merely disagree with, but demonize and marginalize "militia nuts," "right-wing extremists," "haters" and "religious fanatics." (And just as it might be "fags," "knee-jerk liberals" or "godless humanists" shoved to the fringes if politicians of a different viewpoint got into power.)

Of course no sane person would declare that the political manipulation of words in first world countries has reached Stalinist danger levels. Nevertheless, as Richard W. Stevens has pointed out, official or quasi-official margnialization of groups is an early stage in a deadly process. As the Black Book says:

Terror involves a double mutation. The adversary is first labeled an enemy, and then declared a criminal, which leads to his exclusion from society. Exclusion very quickly turns into extermination. [The] idea [of a purified humanity] is used to prop up a forcible unification - of the Party, of society, of the entire empire - and to weed out anyone who fails to fit into the new world. After a relatively short period, society passes from the logic of political struggle to the process of exclusion, then to the ideology of elimination, and finally to the extermination of impure elements. At the end of the line there are crimes against humanity.
The other form of language manipulation noted in the Black Book is a simple denial - putting a prettier face on ugly realities. Concentration camps become "reeducation" centers. Millions were forced from their farms and livelihoods in a process of "voluntary collectivization" (language reminiscent of the compulsory "volunteerism" forced upon many American students as a graduation requirement). Political opponents receive "therapy" for their "mental illness." (Do you suppose they take Prozac or Ritalin?) Even today, in China political inmates are called "students" in token of the fact that their punishment is designed to force them to accept the ideology of those they oppose.

Related to these forms of manipulation is the institutionalized use of terms that simply by being spoken or written perpetuate political assumptions. For instance, the word "kulak" in the USSR began as an insult; it quickly became the only acceptable word to describe the independent farmers who were fighting for their land and livelihood; thus every time they were spoken of they were implicitly damned. In our own culture we have near-universal (media-inspired) use of the term "gun violence." Simply by speaking the phrase, one perpetuates a set of suppositions: that guns, not people are responsible for crime, that guns are inherently more violent than objects such as hammers or knives; that they are in a special class that must be rigidly controlled. We talk of "hate speech," and thereby convey that the speaker has no legitimacy; he is simply motivated by incomprehensible loathsomeness; everything he believes, says or does should be disregarded or condemned. If you are a "redneck" you are no doubt the epitome of both "gun violence" and "hate speech" and nothing more needs to be said of you. Those whose "self-esteem" is so damaged by your "insensitivity" that they can't function may have to collect their "entitlements" (which is quite unlike the shame of going on welfare, accepting a handout or collecting a dole).

With such loaded terms, no debate is possible. The assumptions have been imposed in the very words.

Another aspect of language control is simply imposing certain terminology upon everyone through social or political pressure - even if the terminology itself is value neutral. One day, you may say "crippled." The next, you're insensitive: the proper term is "handicapped." The next, you're out of the intellectual loop: Everyone knows the politically correct word is "disabled" (then "differently abled," then "physically challenged"). One day your neighbors are "Negro." But the next you're a bigoted rube if you fail to say "Black." Then you can't be sure: Is it "Black" or "Afro-American" or "African-American" and what if your neighbor is from Jamaica, not Rhodesia, is she still "Afro-hyphen"? One day, even Dan Rather says "Red China." The next, suddenly everyone makes an abrupt switch to praise our friend "The People's Republic," as if the term "Red China" had never existed. I'm not speaking of the natural flow and change of language - which in English is rich, abundant and one of our great cultural treasures. I'm not speaking of the clubby, ever-changing jargon of various social groups. I am speaking of imposed language which ensures that only those "in the know" (as defined by an elite group) can ever feel confident discussing, or even thinking about, politically sensitive topics. Common people lose power over political issues because they fear they can't speak safely or astutely about them. They fear they will be ridiculed, that their views won't be taken seriously. Since they aren't sure of the acceptable terminology, they often assume they must also be lacking salient facts. They shut up. They become submissive to the intellectual dictates of interest groups - which is often exactly the intent. Note that such language is nearly always imposed when government is in the process of taking more control in a given area. It does not just happen.

In this latter case, the terms themselves are less important than the fundamental question: Who shapes the language? As Orwell observed so powerfully in more than one of his works, when you control people's language, you control how they think - and ultimately how they behave.



http://www.jpfo.org/wolfe-blackbook.htm

 

[Norm357]

Why hasn't TFR filed a lawsuit for slander? I sure would have.

Norm

 

[Partisan Ranger]

I like how leftists have redefined the concept of 'hate.' Apparently, if I think that other people don't have a right to my income, I am a hater. If I think that people shouldn't receive endless welfare payments, I am a hater. If I think people shouldn't rely on the police for personal protection, I am a hater.

These things seem fairly commonsensical to me, but as I'm a hater, my perspective must be off.

 

[Silver Bullet]

I don't read The Free Republic much anymore, but that is the site that made me aware of The Firing Line, and for that I'm grateful.

 

[SADshooter]

My MIL is a very active member of TFR. Christian? Yes. Conservative? You bet. Violent? Uh-uh. Hateful? I don't think so.

The article has dramatically increased my respect for Bubba, though...

 

[Doctor Wu]

I hate people who hate.
Since that statement is a double negative that means I love those who hate.

 

[Don Gwinn]

You sure that's a double negative, there, Doc?

 

[Doctor Wu]

Not really Don, I seem to have confused myself totally.
Since hate is a negative emotion, then hating those who hate creates a double negative emotional state, or maybe it doesn't.
I think I need to go now and take some little pills.

 

[Standing Wolf]

..."a rally is being organized by a hate group called 'The Free Republic.' "

I'm sure she'd be much happier with a communist dictatorship rather than a free republic.

 

[Moparmike]

An even better one is "I refuse to tolerate intolerance." or something like that. The funny thing is that it is one of the most ardently supported "liberal" ideals in all of existence. Kind of screwy, dont you think?

While I dont read the Free Republic, any group that has the entirety of DU against them will at least get a glance from me every once in a while.

 

[Gray Peterson]

FYI:

Mayor Alan Autry is the same Alan Autry who played Leutenant and later Captain Bubba Skinner in "In the Heat of the Night".

Don't believe it?

Office of Mayor for Fresno, CA

 

[jimpeel]

Doctor Wu

Not really Don, I seem to have confused myself totally.
Since hate is a negative emotion, then hating those who hate creates a double negative emotional state, or maybe it doesn't.
I think I need to go now and take some little pills.

Don't do that not never no more. Ya got that?

 

[BigG]

The whole idea of "hate group" is ludicrous on its face and any person/entity who uses it should be wholly and completely discredited as non compos mentis or dishonest as an Arkansas politician (or a newspaper).

 

[longeyes]

All part of the narcotizing process. If you defend yourself
against the onslaught you are a "hater," or you need "anger
management" or you are "insensitive." I think we are all on
to this game.

The independent mind has been criminalized.

Viva El Desperado!

 

[Silver Bullet]

The independent mind has been criminalized.

We're on our way to Big Brother's group "think".

 

[Ryder]

I hate lots of thing myself...

What balanced person wouldn't hate something?

Ever step on one of your daughters jacks wearing only socks? Yeow! That's a long way from lovin it.

 

[Futo Inu]

As I've said before, the Southern Poverty Law Center is America's number one hate group, because they hate other groups they don't agree with, and after all, it doesn't matter WHAT you hate, in order to be classified a hate group, according to them. For example, they call militias hate groups, even though the only things militias hate are armed foreign invaders and armed domestic tyrants who've seized control of the standing armies.