Moderators and conservative commenters took a distasteful, authoritarian glee in threatening to expel non-conservatives. (Conservative commenters, unsurprisingly, were free to sling playground insults and repeat "right-wing talking points" ad nauseum.) RedState wanted liberals on the site the way Sean Hannity used to have Alan Colmes on his show: as a cowed, domesticated pseudo-opposition that would effectively undermine their own cause. The few liberals who did persevere gradually learned to censor themselves, becoming increasingly tame, tentative and uninteresting. Most liberal commenters were banned rather quickly. They would then issue warnings to the liberal commenters to police their speech more tightly, lest they be banned from the site. Offenses included being overly "snarky", insulting, or reiterating "left-wing talking points". In practice, the site's moderators would track liberals' comments with a hawkish eye, waiting for posts that could be construed to violate the site's posting policy. Technically, allowed liberals to comment. At RedState, they dispensed with the "self-" part. People have been worried for years that the internet increases partisanship because discussion groups tend to self-segregate. As I recall, I initially saw a post somewhere referring to the "excitement around RedState" as a conservative forum where liberals could actually participate as well, so I headed over to check it out. BACK IN 2005, I spent some time as a member of, the pro-Republican discussion forum on which new CNN hire Erick Erickson is a moderator and leading contributor.
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