Government is only as good as the people who make it up and the restraints we free men agree to put on it. When a confluence of the bad makes both untenable, we do something about it. We don't "hate government"---that is, if we want to be taken seriously.
I think this site's mission statement is pretty damn clear: conservatism. Rolling back government largesse. Returning to a constitutional form of federal government. A return to individual sovereignty---when "don't tread on me" meant something---when good, honest, law-abiding, productive American citizens had nothing to fear from their government---no matter what their skin color, no matter whom they choose to sleep with, no matter what they eat, drink, smoke, read, listen to, or watch. When Americans could be proud of America both at home and abroad.
It sounds to me like your beef with FR is an offshoot of factionalism, and in my opinion, factions arise when people put issue before ideology, and that happens on Free Republic all the time (check out any Drug War thread). If I were emperor of FR, I'd challenge everyone here to start with conservative ideology and work outwards. We may come to different conclusions, but at least we'd be starting from the same basic givens. We must never lose sight of the fact that by posting here, except for the obvious disruptors, moles, and detractors, we're self-identified conservatives concerned with America. This shouldn't be a 1980s clique-ridden high school.
It was a badge of honor to Germans who hated Nazism. It was a badge of honor to Italians who hated Fascism. It was a badge of honor to Russians who hated Stalinism and Communism. It was a badge of honor to Cambodians who hated Pol Pot.
Finally, it was a badge of honor to American Colonists who hated England.