Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Why "Geeks On Caffeine" Disappeared...

That's the obvious question that has been in my e-mail box from readers since the onset of the new year. Well, since y’all have asked, I’ll break it down for you.

The main motivation for me walking away from “GOC” has been the overwhelming amount of negativity that’s been cast my way from those in online forums.  “GOC” cartoons, thanks to the dedication of my various online friends, has had links posted to it   in reddit.com, freerepublic.com, mixx, stumbleupon, and so on.  For their efforts, I thank them and apologize for not doing so earlier.  Occasionally, I visit these sites to see how the cartoon is faring and what I find is interesting. 

Readers of the cartoon have nothing to say but insulting, demeaning and nasty things about “GOC”.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big boy and can handle it.  I’m not crying in the least since that’s pretty much what I expected from critics of conservative viewpoints.

No you don't!
Reddit.com, for example, features the following “critical commentary”:

“Isn't this the nutty right wing propaganda comic where the guy projects his opinions through his characters in a pretty blatant way?” - Aleitheo

“I just checked out that...comic that the one Freeper was hawking, and...Holy shit is that a stupid and near-racist webcomic!” - jnjs

How something can be “near racist” is beyond me.  You’re either “racist” or your not!  Talk about a moronic criticism!  But wait, there’s more...

“I don't hate this guy because he is conservative/republican/what have you I hate this guy because his comic is one of the worst I have ever seen... and there are some bad ones out there. I think he thinks that because he thinks it is funny that others will find it funny but really it just shows that he has almost no sense of humor whatsoever and a mediocre drawing ability.” - warmpita

“Wow....these are really bad...horribly unfunny and bigoted shit.” - rstraigh

“It's not even ironically funny except on a meta level. You have to go through and pick out every lazy trope the creator hits and realize that the product and its message compare unfavorably even with comedy black holes like Prickly City. Everyone he disagrees with is ugly and shrill. Everyone he agrees with always gets the last word. There is no possibility that his politics, religion, ideology, or musical preferences are wrong. It's a clumsy trainwreck of Mary-Sue fantasy that the author probably sees as high satire.” - mindbleach

Wow...my poor, widdle feelings are hurt.  These examples of pseudo intellectual chicken scratch have brought tears to my eyes!  My ego is bruised beyond repair, and I shall now spend the rest of my life hiding from these bullies and sucking my thumb. 

Riiiight....

I sure wish just one of them would have taken the time to release themselves from their forum anonymity and e-mail me to refute points I made in the comics.  I’m asking too much perhaps, from those emboldened by the fact that they can hide behind some screen name and rant an opinion they do not back up with facts.  Such is life, but honestly, I’m sick and tired of being hit with the “name calling card” by these children disguised as adults.  One can only be labeled as a “racist”, “homophobe”, “xenophobe” and so on before it becomes tedious.  As a result, I have told the guy who posts my stuff to quit.  Why bother passing on links to my site to those who have nothing better to do than bash it because they are hard-left hive-minders?  It’s a profound waste of his time.

Interestingly on freerepublic.com, a forum many would consider a haven for a right-wing viewpoint, the reaction to “GOC” has been...well...just weird.  For the most part, “GOC” has been received well by those who roam its virtual halls, however, there are a few dictatorial posters and forum administrators with an oversized concept of self importance lurking on this site as well.  In their world, if someone posts a link to a “GOC” comic, it’s obviously moi “pimping my blog”.  Apparently, this is an impeachable offense on FR, and laughingly, one I’m not guilty of.  In their world, however, this fact means less than nothing.

With draconian posting rules!
Even more bizarre, freerepublic.com has a section called “Bloggers and Personal”.  Okay, that makes sense.  It’s a place to express personal opinions and link to blogs that spread a conservative message.  Right?  WRONG!  According to a post to the dude linking my stuff in, the FR admin writes:

 “Got a news flash for you, sport. FR does not exist for the purpose of driving traffic (read: revenue generation) to your, or anybody elses, blog. What we can do is pull threads from this blog if that will help.” - Admin

In a random sampling of links on the FR “Bloggers and Personal” section, I have found links for donations, google word ads, and banner ads for various goods and services.  So WTF are they coming down on links to “GOC” for?  They are chastising my friend for doing WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING!!  Talk about an incredible level of intellectual dishonesty! 

How about another example of draconian freerepublic nonsense? “Pookie 18”, one of the freepers who posted my toons, has run into problems with administrators at FR.  So much so, he has taken his daily cartoon postings elsewhere.  According to FR, he was posting copy written material, and in doing so, he was in violation of FR posting policy.  Pookie got permission from the authors of all these cartoons, including myself, to post the strips!  This act of respect for cartoonists means nothing to the FR admin numbskulls.  Nope.  Not a whit.  He was forced to take his postings to another site and THEN post to FR.  Apparently, this is OK with the FR admins, and is further evidence of their fractured, mindless posting rules. 

Interestingly, this policy they lord over Pookie has affected me directly, but the FR dopes are unwilling to do anything about it.  As I mentioned earlier, a friend of mine is posting “GOC” links to free republic, but with one caveat: I do not want the cartoons directly hotlinked through FR.  If people want to read the cartoon, I would prefer to have them click through to the site because yes, I try to make a couple of bucks off of it (AGAIN like all the OTHER bloggers in that freakin’ section!!).  One obnoxious freeper named “humblegunner” has decided to take it upon himself to hotlink in the cartoon.  Not because he particularly like what I offer, but because he has decided that what I asked for isn’t worthy of respecting. Others have joined in on this campaign.  These folks stand in direct contrast to Pookie, and really are nothing more than FR thugs. 

So what now?

I’m doubling down and pushing back on those jerks!

More on that NEXT week!!

UPDATE: 
As of today, freerepublic.com has eliminated the posting privileges of my friend.  It seems they are hypersensitive about being called out on their inconsistent posting policies.  What's more, after reading the comments associated with a post about this very article, it seems that the freepers cannot take criticism either.  

"The few cartoons that I saw were not funny or poignant and certainly not worthy of discussion.
It is funny to watch you and your buddy get your widdle feelings hurt though." - Eaker

"Case in point. The cartoons pimped by brycemax on this forum are the lamest crap you could ever imagine and bring no credit to the conservative cause or FreeRepublic." - shibumi

 Funniest of all, a cliche masquerading as cleverness:

"If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen." - mlocher

WOW! You dazzled me with your wit on that one!   Breathe through your mouth much?

Being able to stand the heat is not the issue at FR.  I can take what you dish out and more.  The removal of brymax's posting ability show that FR's "kitchen" is only for those who belong to a particular clique.  Here, only ONE recipe is followed, and any deviation from that in an attempt to do something different results in expulsion.

Oh, in fairness, I did make one error in the blog, and thanks to CharlesWayneCT for pointing that out.  Yep, I used the word "laud" instead of "lord" and he is correct in pointing that out.  Interesting that he does not refute the content of the article.  For your correction, I thank you.  For your lack of anything else in the way of a counter point, I find that typical.

One more thing, thanks also to icwhatudo for this post.:

"It is somewhat strange that a homosexual pro-hillary clinton website is welcomed at FR (hillbuzz) but blogs created by conservatives, properly posted in the blogger forum, get grief.
We all have to start somewhere. Drudge was just a blog. Malkin was just a blog. I wonder if they got the “stop pimping” warning back in the day."

Truth be told, icwhatudo is representative of the majority of people at freerepublic.  It is only a small, closed-minded minority that makes this forum disagreeable.  Thanks to those who have offered support in the past and who continue to do so outside of FR.

You know, the simplest thing all of you could have done is simply ignore the strip postings if "GOC" isn't your thing.  No harm no foul.  But the FR admin and thug freepers have revealed their true nature: they're hypocrites to the core!  You want everyone to march to your drumbeat, you are intellectually dishonest and you are just like liberals who believe that if you disagree with something, you should eliminate it.  
Freerepublic..."Protecting free speech"?  Seriously?  Not a chance.
Pathetic...

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Admins on FR really suck. A lot of the people who "lurk" there think that they own the place. I fart in their general direction.

GeronL said...

I am a FReeper, I find it hard to believe that anyone with permission would be given a hard time. Then again, the site has been sued before.

Scott Maxim said...

Both y'all are on the same page. FR really does bite!

Weird how they're the big dog...

Blog Pimp said...

Let me attempt to enlighten you about
the objection to excerpting material
on FR when no copyright impediment exists.

Those who do so in order to drive traffic to their own blog are pimping.
Blogpimping.

USING FR as an advertising platform.
We users support the site financially
and do NOT provide it as a business model for blogpimps.

Cheese & Peanuts.

Ranten N. Raven said...

Wise words said to me once: "Just ignore the idiots." So Reddit and Free Republic have idiots? Surprise! As you point out through your cartoons, the world is filled with idiots. So, do a cartoon making fun of the idiots and move on, dot org!

King Zotty said...

Stop Global Whining.
Dude, you were told over and over and over about FR's site standards and you chose to ignore them. You wanted to use the site for free advertising and you got called on it. Those who stay don't abuse the privilege like you did. How would you like it if I cam and posted hundreds and hundreds of links in your comments sections on your blog? I think an ED pill link would be swell.

Quit whining and grow up. Respect private property.

Scott Maxim said...

Hey King Zotty,

I told you FR idiots over and over that I'm not the one "pimping" my stuff on FR. Other folks like it and post it, so with all due respect, suck on that!

As far as you wanting to post "hundreds" of comments in the blog, go for it. It would just go to prove what an ass you are and the type of sanctimonious jerk offs that can be found on FR.

Whining? I think not. That site got called out by me and the thin skinned lurkers like you don't like having a mirror held up to your face to expose what clowns you are.

If there are any whiners to be found, it's in the ranks of FR. This one little blog post has so many of you gnashing your teeth in outrage. How DARE I expose FR for what it is! And what exactly is it? Precisely what I outlined in the blog post.

The real tragedy here is that "GOC" was met with far more positive response than negative. FR punks like you are in the minority, but your over-inflated sense of "righteousness" regarding whose posts should or should not be allowed has worked to the detriment of FR. I'm not speaking about just myself. I'm not that much of an egomaniac. Instead, I'm speaking up for guys like Pookie 18 and numerous others whom I'm sure were booted because they, in your opinion, did not adhere to your dictatorial policies.

In closing, I would invite you, and those who share your mindset to, in your own words, "quit whining and grow up". I don't expect you to do that though, since you,like your fellow FR children, are fond of taking your toys away if someone violates your "sensibilities".

kPg said...

I thought my blog disappeared because someone hacked my account and deleted everything, but it turned out that there was just some temporary glitch in Blogger's system. Do you think that's what really happened? Read my story and tell me what you think. It might just happen to you too. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Scott continue to do your comic. everyone has an opinion rather positive or negative. Move on. They have 2 choices. Read it, or dont read it. plain and simple. Oh yea, They are in line for the sit down and shut the Fu*k up award also.

ConservativeMarine said...

Personally, I like your cartoons - I think they appeal to a large majority of REAL people.

There are functional idiots in all walks of life, especially on the supposedly more-tolerant side. If any of those types give your grief about your cartoon, your blog, or your views, tell them to sit back, chill out, have a nice big cup of STFU, and then ignore them.

Scott Maxim said...

HOO RAH MARINE!! 'Preciate the sentiments!

Anonymous said...

Sorry Scott about your relationship with FR. It's still one of my favorite places to visit for news, etc., but then I'm a regular here, too. Thanks for all your hard work, and don't let it get you down, you're still doing the Lord's work.

Anonymous said...

Keep producing comics. Live on The Wild Side.

e

Ranten N. Raven said...

Really miss the toons! Hope you restart in the new year. Having an "Occupy" crowd near the coffee shop would have been awesome....