Have you ever met or seen one of the Freepers?

[annm4peace]

I have. I from Fresno, CA and about after 2 or 3 months of protesting on a busy intersection in Fresno with a group that started to call it's self Peace Fresno.. this group started protesting us.
With their webmaster Jim Robinson right their with them.

They would dress up in their Red White and Blues, put up the flag.. play Kate Smith singing God Bless American and then say the Pledge of Allegence.

That were so sad and pathetic. They mostly looked to be dirt poor, mentally impaired, and or have a mental illness. They had signs like "Saddam Lover." "Jew Hater". " Peace sign.. sign of the American Chicken." Jim and his wife or girlfriend are both in wheel chairs.

Once in awhile a fundamentalist christian church would join them.. the women would be in long dress or skirts and the would also hold signs. That was really sad and pathetic.. you could tell many of the teenagers were confused.. we had signs of love and they were holding signs of hate.

It was really bizarre. They would call the police to say we were going in street or trying to stop traffic. The Mayor at the time (TV star Alan Autry, who plays Bubba in the "Heat of the NIght") and several Councilmen would go shake Jim's hand for being a patriotic American.

These are the nutty people who a person isn't quite sure what they would do.. They might run away if you said boo to them. or they might get all psychotic on you and try to hit you with their truck when they went around the protest corner.

Unfortunately the only talk radio station was a Hate Radio KMJ.. the host Ray Appleton often gave them airtime and they talked about the "pinkos" "cowards" who were us. How "we" hated the troops.. and how they wished someone would take us out.


A whole lot of talk and bluster.. but they are really just a bunch of hate-filled, sad, and pathetic people who's got a little self-esteem from posting their bravado on Free Republic.

At first we would see what they posted on their site about our weekly Protests.. it would always include these grandious, deliusional comments and then other would post to them. As you already know they would advocate hate and violence. then have cheerful, prayerful, god bless this and god bless that to each other.

It was kind of like the Igors in the frankenstein movies.

AFter watching them, I knew how KKK could exist, how lynchings could exist, how people could steal the property from the interned Japanese Americans, how Hitler and the Nazis could come to power.

I tried not to go to their site cause they got stimulated by how many hits their site was getting.

I'm sure they have felt pure joy in all their attention their postings are getting.

But they are still sad pathetic people.

[Hello_Kitty]

1. I don't know if I've met an actual Freeper but I'm in AZ so I've definitely met some wingnuts.

You are right, they are pathetic.

[Cleita]

2. Thank you for the interesting first person report.

I hope you, and whomever are with you, keep up the good work of fighting these crazy people in your own backyard. You certainly don't need them making the rest of you in Fresno look bad.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. An acquaintance of mine, he is a freeper, self admitted

He had a few problem with us.

Lib'ruls don't serve, yet hubby retired from the USN, as a Chief, and I did serve (though not in our military branches)

Lib'ruls don't like guns... ditto

And so it goes.

He decided that discussing politics with us was not a good idea.

Hell one day he said he was thinking of getting a gun for self defense. So I put it quite bluntly. Unless you are willing to pull trigger, don't. He looked at me like I lost it. After all as a medic I also recommended a shot gun... kind of, wasn't your job supposed to save lives?

My fave though was when he was going over socialism and health insurance, this was at the height of the bush years. So I pointly asked, what was his problem with the concept of a national health care? After all nobody would be able to refuse his wife the care she needs, and lord knows she could not get it, due to a pre-existing. That was the end of the discussions.

I haven't seen him in a while, but I am proof positive that he is fearful of these ahem... minorities in DC... and still against single payer. Though truth be told I came this close to giving him a DD -4 and driving him to the recruiter. Yes, they are desperate, but for good reasons they would have said no, by the way.

[burning rain]

4. Good eyewitness account.

Thank you for taking the time.

[chatnoir]

5. Sounds like that odd Kristinn spokesperson on Shuster today

was prob the most "normal" looking/acting person amongst them.

[Vektor]

7. How scary and sad at the same time.

What on earth has happened to these people to make them like this?

I almost feel sorry for them, but they are so hateful that the pity quickly turns to disgust.

[orleans]

8. i was gonna say: don't feel too sorry for them--they've allowed/

contributed to a lot of damage in our lives--besides their own.

[Vektor]

10. Not to worry.

Like I said, the fleeting inclination to pity them quickly turned to disgust when I thought about the hate they continue to spread on a constant basis.

All I needed to do was think about 11 year old Malia Obama being called a "whore" and a "piece of ghetto trash" and no urge to pity them remained.

[Greyhound]

6. Yes, Frank Soreitch (I have no idea how to spell his name and don't care to look it up)

He publishes a tiny newspaper in Cave Creek, AZ.

[Hannah Bell]

9. it's not only "pathetic" people at FR. some luminaries of the GOP & Wash. establishment

have been regulars at various times, if i recall correctly.

the folks you see are foot soldiers.

& being in a wheelchair doesn't = "pathetic".

[annm4peace]

15. I do NOT consider having to use a w/c as pathedic

the sad and hatefulness of them is pathedic.

it who to point him out for those who drive by that corner in Fresno. Peace Fresno still protests on that corner although only 1x a month now.. and Free Republic still when counter protest or they have their own specially "rallies" on that corner.


Many think jim was injured in the vietnam because he is in a w/c but he wasn't. He has an illness that came later

[DainBramaged]

11. Any of 'em look like this?

[badgerpup]

20. dear gods...I'd pity that guy...

...but only because that amount of ascites* looks extremely painful.

Probably a snap judgement, but I'm guessing he brought the condition on himself...
facially he looks as though he's got a 12-pack a day habit.







*Main Entry:as·ci·tes
Pronunciation:\ə-ˈsī-tēz\
Function:noun
Inflected Form(s):plural ascites
Etymology:Middle English aschytes, from Late Latin ascites, from Greek askitēs, from askos
Date:14th century
: abnormal accumulation of serous fluid in the spaces between tissues and organs in the cavity of the abdomen

[DainBramaged]

22. ascites, more like assface, period

It's amazing where beer deposits itself.

[gordianot]

12. I have met more than my share including a brother in law.

He does go to that site. I will give him credit he only had 3 deferments. I did offer him the opportunity to back up his tough talk about "liberal traitors" two years ago when he thought he could smear his sister (my wife) and I at a family gathering. Like most chicken-hawks he backed down, my invitation still stands until my last breath and is the only reason I would go to one of his family gatherings.

[KharmaTrain]

13. Around Here They Hide In The Shadows...

Around here I see Paulbots and self avowed "Libertarians"...who I'm sure share many of the same traits as Freepers but know how tarnished the GOOP name is in this state and play the "the rushpublicans aren't true Conservatives" game.

I have a friend of nearly 30 years...known him since he graduated high school. Today he's a fundie. Recently we went out for coffee (at a Starbucks no less...I paid) and he tried spewing how President Obama was a socialist....it didn't take much to talk him into a corner (just ask him how much he paid for his insurance and what type of coverage it really is). I then joked, "you're sounding like a Freeper". At first he looked at me like he didn't know what I was saying...then he then said, yes, he does read and post in Freeperland, but, but, but...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

14. Sounds like them to a tee

I've run into a number of people who I suspect were freepers. A guy I know very well who I sit next to as a season ticket holder may be one. A few nights after the election he almost burst into tears telling me what it was like at 11PM on election night, and the "realization of the socialists coming to power".

[piratefish08]

16. if you want to see a herd of them in one place, check out a gun show.....

they're amazing in their natural habitat.

[alsame]

17. Met some wingnuts this past weekend at a neighbor's party. I

don't know if they were officially Freepers, but they were global warming deniers, Obama haters and Bill Clinton bashers. (Yes, they were still obsessing about Monica).

I pretty much avoided them, but every time I walked by I heard typical rightwing talking points.

[GeorgeGist]

18. I believe I have ...

he's a retired k-9 cop from Florida. He still thinks that America can win the Vietnam War, carries a concealed weapon, patrols our neighborhood at night, sends disinformative emails under the name 'The Shadow' and wears a t-shirt proclaiming "It's a Shame that Stupidity isn't Painful". His adult son lives in his basement.

[Iggo]

19. In the days before the Prop 8 fiasco.

At the corner of Beach Blvd and Imperial Highway in La Habra.

Demonstrations and counter demonstrations. Fistfights and a few arrests.

They knew what a Freeper was, so I assumed they were the real deal.

[Are_grits_groceries]

21. Just under every bridge and toadstool.

I am actually related to some. I don't visit much needless to say.

[Zort]

23. My Boss.

He's an active member of Free Republic and part of the reason I joined DU. His ranting and raving is annoying and I need an outlet. He's even blocked all "liberal" websites, including DU, on company computers. I'm in the department that uses personal computers at work, so I can log on without an issue.

[progressoid]

24. Welcome Zort.

I know the feeling. My former boss was like that. I don't know if he was a freeper or not but had Rush on the radio daily. And never refrained from giving his opinion about how liberals were destroying the world.

You're with friends here. :hug:

[defendandprotect]

25. Thank you for giving us some insight into them . . .

sad as they are . . . they are a help to the r-w ...

[Carni]

26. Thank God never in person but have seen many pics

They are goons-- not as in tough goons...but as in goofy, feeble, weirdo arm chair warrior types with no brains.

They look like they smell and wear special garments in the event that they will have an accident (but due to no physical condition/just abject laziness)

They are indeed a pathetic lot!

[ClayZ]

27. Those are the same ones who show up at...

our Friday Peace Vigil in Everett WA! heh heh heh....

[annm4peace]

28. not that I want to give them more traffic on the site

BUT.. if you go to their website. Free Republic

and then click on Forums then enter "Fresno" in the Search field you can see pictures of some of them. Note the church females in their long skirts sad, sad, sad.

then do a search "Peace Fresno" in that site.