"I Will FReep No More Forever"

[troublemaker]

Okay, call me a mean-spited prick, but I can't stop laughing at this.

For some mysterious reason this free republic poster picked last night to have the epiphany that manipulating public opinion by crashing online polls is wrong. So very, very wrong...

There are many people here (including me) who recognize polls as valuable tools. There are other people (including me) who recognize that polls can be used to manipulate public opinion. Why else would we FReep unscientific polls? Who else would possibly care what a poll says? Polls don't elect anyone, but votes do, yet we get into a frenzy to discredit those polls that don't agree with us, and we trumpet those that do.

We're in the midst of a battle against terrorists. This battle will take strong values and rational thinking to win. But in order to persuade others to utilize their brains, we appeal to their emotional sense of belonging by manipulating these polls. What does that say about us? What does that say about the voting population that can be manipulated in this way? What credibility do elections have if the difference between the votes candidates receive is based on that manipulation?

I'm of the opinion that polls are virtually never reported responsibly (doing so would take too much space for a regular paper). I also have come to realize that manipulating voters with polls is never right, even if it is in favor of the candidate I support; it does an injustice to our system of government. We are no longer self-governed, but we instead make choices based on what others can manipulate us to do or what we can manipulate others to do. Can that result even be considered self-government?

Therefore, I will never FReep another poll that deals with the candidates of a pending election again. I will, when the situation arises (and there are plenty of these available) reason with those who wish to entertain rational discussions, but I'm done with polls.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1232593/posts

[LoZoccolo]

1. Seems like a radical opinion for that place.

I really very rarely see people posting exhortations to stuff the box on polls over here, and even exhortations to not do it.

[LoZoccolo]

3. That having been said...

...look at the treatment he's getting.

[pagerbear]

2. OMG! The colors!

Serious cognitive dissonance--a thinking freeper?!

[Hello_Kitty]

4. Uh oh....Karl Rove's gonna be mad!! n/t