Am I Too Liberal For “Liberaland”?

Pretty much since the thing started I have been a member of Alan Colmes’ website “Liberaland” as the user: EricG.

Both this username and all other usernames I create linked to my email have been deleted, or so it would seem.

Recently, I have tried posting on this website under my Facebook account under different usernames. All these attempts at posting on the this supposedly “come one, come all” political-talk website have been removed by website moderators, or so it would seem.

I seem to be free to access the Alan Colmes' Facebook page, as of now, and comment in that fashion rather than on the original blog post.

I sent an angry email that I already feel bad about. The Alan Colmes Radio Show is one of the few worthwhile programs on all of Fox News Talk, entirely thanks to the primary author of the blog in question. In terms of confronting real social issues and covering politics, I have no issue whatsoever with Alan Colmes or his website.

What I am saying is rather simple: warn me or block me. Don’t let me post my truthful thoughts and then continuously delete all my comments because I expressed opinions you didn’t enjoy. (Not like web-admins give a damn anyway.)

This is very much like my problems with Fox News (that seem to be the real reason I am being moderated while neoconservatives are perfectly welcome) in that it is fine to be exclusionary and rigid in your website / radio show / television show but completely dishonest and completely unethical to claim you have open doors when in fact you close them shut if you see specific issues being brought to the forum.

The Alan Colmes Radio Show is another matter entirely.

If I want to whine in Alan’s ear about this later tonight, nothing is stopping me.

If you call that show, most likely, you will be on Fox News Talk not long thereafter. Alan puts everyone on the air, just about.

I commend his radio efforts, fully.

However, I warn other liberal-bloggers out there that you may be moderated in your comments as I have and fed the round-about in terms of the whole matter.

I am not removing Alan Colmes from my Blogroll, but I might suggest only that the website is not as much as an open-forum on politics & issues as my own blog is. Which is a shame because it is an excellent website in every other respect.

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The unspoken big rule here is:

Don’t talk about the network.

Hush child.

Didn’t you hear? Fox News and Fox News Talk are not held accountable to the public like the rest. They get a special pass to spread misinformation, misquote former-presidents, spread hatred and race bait.

Here is what disturbs me:

Liberalism is about speaking truth to power.

So what does one do when that power is wielded by the network?

I’m supposed to ignore that, am I?

No thanks. I love this country and love the truth too much to stand silent as a radical right-wing lobby disguised as a news network lies to public in every promo, in every slogan, and in any possible clever way they can.

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It is always possible I am mistaken, but I believe “Liberaland” has become one more Fox News Apologist Hotbed. You are welcome to come and chat stream or comment on a post, but if you want to talk about Fox News or any version of it you will be pulled without notice.

I suppose I am making a Net-Neutrality argument more than I am trying to drive anyone away from a fun blog. Hardcore Net-Neutrality, though, it most certainly is not.

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I cannot control another’s work nor would I want to, but my weblog is entirely open-forum and I practice Net-Neutrality. The only thing I truly moderate would be spam and the incitement of violence against others. As you may or may not have noticed, I have comments of all types of opinions other than my own approved. I leave them open as long as possible and try to reply to everyone.

I can claim the “come one, come all” were I ever to promote this website the way Alan Colmes does on his Fox Radio time-slot.

This is also true of his radio show as well.

But my experiences with his website are more like: “come here, go away.”

Perhaps they should re-name it: “Don‘tTalkAboutFoxLand”

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It just rings to me of this Fox-Conservative way of politics and dealing with people:

You came come in the tent and even not fawn all over me too, but if you say certain things I believe are not true with stern conviction then you are banned.

And like I’ve said before many times: you just hear people out and if they have nothing but flames to share they have nothing to say and the people who are making fact-based arguments that you don’t like are very, and obviously, different from screaming nut-jobs.

Anyway, that’s my beef. I feel it to be a very dishonest thing to do.

Some people do need to be called out when they have the facts plain wrong and refuse to even address the matter rationally, but they are merely misinformed and adamant about remaining as such.

None of this involves throwing them out of the tent. It’s more about addressing matters like Joe Wilson’s unpatriotic outburst and venomous tongue, and the blind-hatred stewed up for liberals everywhere than it is about whatever the tea-baggers have to say.

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This is just my little internet-tale of woe.

It is a minor one, at that.

Chances are they want me transferred to the Facebook section of his internet handiwork because I am a self-admitted “radical.”

Radical peace and radical disarmament.

So all this label-bashing coming from the people that Alan Colmes sits across the table from on Fox News applies to me just fine.

Here I am destroying his whole point about “liberals are not radicals.”

I realized long ago there are many definitions and degrees of liberalism.

I guess I am just too liberal for Liberaland these days.

So be it.

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UPDATE:

Joel, the moderator who "could give a damn" according to me, has sent me an email that closes the matter for me.

If anyone reads my comments you'll see this was what I was asking for the moment they started treating me differently than the other users of the website.

Joel is a good man. I wish him well.

Here are his words to me:

Eric, You’re not helping your case by falsely claiming that you were banned because of comments about Fox. That claim is easily disproven by countless posts that have been allowed – and continue to be allowed – on Alan.com by people of all views about the network. You were warned that you were crossing the line
on a post that had absolutely nothing to do with Fox. When another commenter mentioned that to you on another post, after you again went overboard, your response – instead of considering whether your own behavior was appropriate – was to make a personal insult about me. Obviously you have no interest in civil discourse, so your comments are no longer welcome.

Joel

We see here that he is stating that I am indeed banned but I have posted recently and admitted to my bad behavior.

Essentially I forgot that it wasn't time to impersonate Glenn Beck and I should reserve such banter for this website.

The truth is I was out of line in the first place, but I have also endured vicious attacks on that same website.

One does not negate the other any more than my feelings of justification only in my anger over the hate I allowed myself to spew forth.

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So am I too liberal for "Liberaland"?

We'll see ... looks like "no" but maybe not.