Author Topic: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)  (Read 146631 times)

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Offline trapeze

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

...there was this place called the "Powerline Forum." It was part of www.powerlineblog.com which some of you may be familiar with. Ah, those were the days, trading verbal punches with left-wing trolls and knocking RINO's at every opportunity.  The PLF was sort of a cleaned up and generally more polite version of Free Republic (with lefty trolls).

(other former PLFers may feel free to reminisce)

Then one day, quite unexpectedly and rudely, the owners of Powerline pulled the plug and that was the end of an era.

A very small portion of the PLF membership regrouped at a forum site that was hosted by an odd person who went by the handle "nanosecondinvestments."  It was, for those of us who found our way there, the path of least resistance and we pretty much hung out there for about a year.

And that's when the great breakup occurred. Things got a little out of hand. The forum owner sort of went limp and allowed the place to be de facto run (in a tyrannical sort of way) by some politically correct types. These overlords were all concerned about a minor god they worshipped, one whom they called, "tone."  Tone was everything to these people and it annoyed several of us to the point where we just couldn't take it anymore.

So one day... IDP created his own forum, announced it to all concerned and jumped ship. And everyone was happy. Well, everyone except the Tone worshippers who remained behind. IDP worked tirelessly to promote the new forum (It's About Freedom) until one day, about a year later, the site owners (you see, it was a "free" forum site) announced that they were pulling the plug on us because of our tone. Seems the site owners were lefties and someone (or several someones) complained enough that there was just too much right wing free speech going on at the IAF forum and that just would not do.

Fortunately this time we had one whole week to gather our things and leave in an orderly fashion.  The result of that move is the It's About Liberty forum that is owned lock, stock and barrel by IDP. It is presided over by him, Pandora and me and we have zero allegiance to the tone god.

We welcome our members to post on darned near anything that interests them (with very few exceptions) and comment on anything else that's already on the wall.

If there are any PLF refugees out there we welcome you to join us and ask you to feel free to let us know if you used to post there.

Okay, now fill in the missing stuff that I left out of this history as you see fit...
« Last Edit: March 08, 2011, 04:48:40 PM by trapeze »
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Offline Janny

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2011, 11:59:34 AM »
Nice to get a little background on you folks! As a refugee from other sites, and a victim of the same type of "forum wars" that you talk about, I can relate to your story. It's nice to be here among fellow conservatives!


Offline Libertas

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2011, 01:55:12 PM »
Hopefully "third time charm" comes into play!  We've been a band of wanderer's roaming the digital playground from watering hole to watering hole, I hope this will be our Promised Land, Good Lord willin' and the river don't rise!   ::thumbsup::
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Offline AmericanPatriot

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2011, 02:29:35 PM »
Trapeze, thanks for sharing this little bit of history.

Although I have arrived on this journey only recently, I am impressed by the brain power here as well as quality of people.

Thanks for allowing me to participate

Offline trapeze

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2011, 02:44:53 PM »
Trapeze, thanks for sharing this little bit of history.

Although I have arrived on this journey only recently, I am impressed by the brain power here as well as quality of people.

Thanks for allowing me to participate

The pleasure is ours.  Invite friends.

EDIT: And just so that we are clear... Democrats, liberals, progressives and leftists are welcome to participate in the discussion here. We will not, however, tolerate troll behavior.

So if you are a lefty and the high end of your debating skill is to invoke Godwin's Law or you feel you must resort to name calling then save yourself the trouble and don't bother posting 'cause Mr. Ban Hammer will be paying you a visit. But if you are interested in mixing it up in a legitimate way then by all means have at it.
« Last Edit: March 08, 2011, 02:52:32 PM by trapeze »
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Online IronDioPriest

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2011, 03:43:30 PM »
As an addendum to Trap's last post re; liberals. I heartily concur with his invitation to liberals wishing to engage in legitimate debate. But I must add that I have come to the conclusion that there is only one brand of liberal who will engage in legitimate debate, and that is a liberal who just thinks they're a liberal, but who is really an unborn conservative.

Committed liberals are inherently disingenuous, lying, backstabbing, immoral, traitorous, selfish, sniveling, illogical, anti-American, Marxist sons-of-bitches who will twist themselves into a pretzel trying to defend the indefensible.

So if you are a committed liberal bothering to come here, know that your host is prejudiced against you to the point of snarling hatred, and rethink what you hope to accomplish. But on the other hand if you have voted for Democrats in the past and you're open to having an epiphany, then welcome.
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Offline trapeze

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2011, 03:53:18 PM »
A reasonable committed liberal is kind of like the Loch Ness Monster. You've heard about it.  Some people claim to have seen it. But they haven't reeled one in yet.

But it could still happen.

In theory.

Maybe.
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Online IronDioPriest

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #7 on: March 08, 2011, 04:34:42 PM »
Powerline had a great vibe for a short period of time. It was my second venture into forum commentary - the first being the Leftist-run digg.com, from which I was repeatedly banned for being too determined in my articulation of the conservative position. (That's my assumption, because I never said anything ban-worthy there.) Powerline was riding the wave after their high-profile exposure during the "Rathergate" scandal, and so conservatives and liberals alike swarmed to the place. For that moment, it was the place to be.

I'd say the conservatives there probably outnumbered the liberals by, oh, Idunno - 5 to 1, something like that? Anyone else have a different recollection? Maybe 10 to 1? Anyhoo, there were enough people there that real-time back-and-forth conversation was often achievable between several people. That's the vision I have for this forum moving into the future. We've had moments of it here and there already. I'd like us to get to the point where people know that when they log on here, something's goin' on. That creates a vibrant dynamic that keeps us all engaged. That's why we're driving for members, and that's why we're going to be very active in encouraging newly registered members to participate.

I don't aim to re-create powerline, but it's instructive to look back at how things were and how things have changed. I'd like something even better than what we had there, with an even greater sense of purpose, enjoyment, and camaraderie. I'm excited at how the new forum seems to facilitate more activity. It seems more user-friendly, and easy to navigate, which in turn seems to keep people checking in.

(/stream of consciousness)
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Online Pandora

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #8 on: March 08, 2011, 05:05:44 PM »
PLF was my first foray into commenting anywhere.  The first time I did so there, someone challenged my veracity, even though I included a link.  The lefty trolls got so bad, because the place was practically unmoderated, that some days I cringed as I logged on (although I kept doing so - that says something about me).  I did learn, and quickly, the vicious flame technique as a result of the continual personal insults and name-calling from them.  I quickly lost interest in the pages and pages long, drawn out arguments over AGW and the like, where the leftist fallback attack was always on misspellings, from whence comes "altard proofed".

Then there was the abrupt cancellation of the place and the refusal to provide any links to the places where the rest of us landed, although that was probably a result of their half-assed idea of a non-anonymous commenting policy when they again opened comments.  That worked out well.  ::snark::

No, I do not miss PLF; I do not miss the trolls; and I do not miss the bullspit at CT either.
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Offline Roy Rogers

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2011, 05:06:29 PM »
Powerline had a great vibe for a short period of time. It was my second venture into forum commentary - the first being the Leftist-run digg.com, from which I was repeatedly banned for being too determined in my articulation of the conservative position. (That's my assumption, because I never said anything ban-worthy there.) Powerline was riding the wave after their high-profile exposure during the "Rathergate" scandal, and so conservatives and liberals alike swarmed to the place. For that moment, it was the place to be.

I'd say the conservatives there probably outnumbered the liberals by, oh, Idunno - 5 to 1, something like that? Anyone else have a different recollection? Maybe 10 to 1? Anyhoo, there were enough people there that real-time back-and-forth conversation was often achievable between several people. That's the vision I have for this forum moving into the future. We've had moments of it here and there already. I'd like us to get to the point where people know that when they log on here, something's goin' on. That creates a vibrant dynamic that keeps us all engaged. That's why we're driving for members, and that's why we're going to be very active in encouraging newly registered members to participate.

I don't aim to re-create powerline, but it's instructive to look back at how things were and how things have changed. I'd like something even better than what we had there, with an even greater sense of purpose, enjoyment, and camaraderie. I'm excited at how the new forum seems to facilitate more activity. It seems more user-friendly, and easy to navigate, which in turn seems to keep people checking in.

(/stream of consciousness)

Get Rocketman back here with his imagery!!! He inspired me!!!

Some days I was hard pressed to keep up!


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Offline John Florida

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2011, 07:13:56 PM »
PLF was my first time too(like a virgin) I have to say I learned a lot and with a lot of the people here supporting me here I are!!I along with Pan was also a shrinking violet unless we were on an immigration thread.

  I like those.


 P.S. I actually found PLF from reading Laura Ingrahams book It was going to be Little green footbals or PLF.
« Last Edit: March 08, 2011, 08:08:03 PM by John Florida »
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hemm

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2011, 07:57:59 PM »
as long as there is no laughter::pokeineye::

.......everything is good.


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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #12 on: March 08, 2011, 08:53:30 PM »

I had never participated either and was directed to Powerline by Michelle Malkin links.  I signed on pretty close to the beginning, thought it would be an opportunity to help those *influential lawyers get right. Really, that's what I thought.

What a door I walked through!

*As said: at that time PL was riding the wave. They were at the top of the hit parade.  They appeared on Fox and other national venues and had the opportunity to become influential.  Alas, they showed themselves to be models of moderation.  Later, with storm clouds on the horizon and rancor at their creation in their belly, they jettisoned their best.

And here we are. 


Offline trapeze

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #13 on: March 08, 2011, 11:37:10 PM »
Hinderaker and Johnson and Mirengoff.

I would have no respect for right wing lawyers if they were all like these guys.

Fortunately there is always Levin.

BTW, funny how Mirengoff made himself a laughingstock on the web. Sure wasn't hard for him to sacrifice his principles for his career. Great trade, putz.
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #14 on: March 09, 2011, 12:38:28 AM »

I had never participated either and was directed to Powerline by Michelle Malkin links.  I signed on pretty close to the beginning, thought it would be an opportunity to help those *influential lawyers get right. Really, that's what I thought.

What a door I walked through!

*As said: at that time PL was riding the wave. They were at the top of the hit parade.  They appeared on Fox and other national venues and had the opportunity to become influential.  Alas, they showed themselves to be models of moderation.  Later, with storm clouds on the horizon and rancor at their creation in their belly, they jettisoned their best.

And here we are. 



Pretty amusing, CO.  I'd just gotten a computer and begun surfing the internet when I happened onto Powerline, with no idea there even was a "hit parade".  Commenting was a new animal for me and I was totally unprepared for the comment-wars.
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Offline Glock32

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2011, 01:41:17 AM »
I was directed to the old digs (IAF) sometime last May or thereabouts. I found the link in a comment left at another site, I think it was Red State. I found this place agreeable because there didn't seem to be a resident RINO contingent like on so many other conservative forums. Though I was not around at Powerline, I had encountered "tone" issues elsewhere, so it's a familiar story.

I will say that activity has already increased since moving into the new accommodations here. I like this forum software better too.
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Offline Roy Rogers

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2011, 10:22:31 AM »

I had never participated either and was directed to Powerline by Michelle Malkin links.  I signed on pretty close to the beginning, thought it would be an opportunity to help those *influential lawyers get right. Really, that's what I thought.

What a door I walked through!

*As said: at that time PL was riding the wave. They were at the top of the hit parade.  They appeared on Fox and other national venues and had the opportunity to become influential.  Alas, they showed themselves to be models of moderation.  Later, with storm clouds on the horizon and rancor at their creation in their belly, they jettisoned their best.

And here we are. 



Pretty amusing, CO.  I'd just gotten a computer and begun surfing the internet when I happened onto Powerline, with no idea there even was a "hit parade".  Commenting was a new animal for me and I was totally unprepared for the comment-wars.

Not so much "war" as much as it was "stick a fork in raptardo or vlad" day.

Liberals displaying their tremendous capacity for disingenuous discussion...

If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven's scenes,
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Online IronDioPriest

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #17 on: March 09, 2011, 10:43:03 AM »
...Liberals displaying their tremendous capacity for disingenuous discussion...

That's why I want to be very judicious and discriminating about any liberals who happen to show up here. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I'm really not interested at this point in wading through their BS unless they demonstrate a genuine curiosity about discovering how misguided they've been all along. That will take a very special kind of liberal.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2011, 10:45:22 AM by IronDioPriest »
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Offline Roy Rogers

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #18 on: March 09, 2011, 10:51:49 AM »
...Liberals displaying their tremendous capacity for disingenuous discussion...

That's why I want to be very judicious and discriminating about any liberals who happen to show up here. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I'm really not interested at this point in wading through their BS unless they demonstrate a genuine curiosity about discovering how misguided they've been all along. That will take a very special kind of liberal.

Not so liberal that their brains have fallen out yet, eh?



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Offline John Florida

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Re: How We Got Here (A Brief History That Others Are Invited To Append)
« Reply #19 on: March 09, 2011, 11:24:49 AM »

I had never participated either and was directed to Powerline by Michelle Malkin links.  I signed on pretty close to the beginning, thought it would be an opportunity to help those *influential lawyers get right. Really, that's what I thought.

What a door I walked through!

*As said: at that time PL was riding the wave. They were at the top of the hit parade.  They appeared on Fox and other national venues and had the opportunity to become influential.  Alas, they showed themselves to be models of moderation.  Later, with storm clouds on the horizon and rancor at their creation in their belly, they jettisoned their best.

And here we are. 



 

Pretty amusing, CO.  I'd just gotten a computer and begun surfing the internet when I happened onto Powerline, with no idea there even was a "hit parade".  Commenting was a new animal for me and I was totally unprepared for the comment-wars.

Not so much "war" as much as it was "stick a fork in raptardo or vlad" day.

Liberals displaying their tremendous capacity for disingenuous discussion...



 AHHH the good old days when the only thing missing at the end of the day was stitches!
All men are created equal"
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