Posted on 04/25/2007 4:32:34 AM PDT by Chairman_December_19th_Society
STOP IT!
I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!
I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!
The squabbling here has gone on long enough, well, too long, actually.
There were posts complaining about certain parties lecturing other parties. Well, advance warning, here comes a lecture. I will not call anyone out in this diatribe, but if it makes you uncomfortable all the same, you are free to hit that white "X" in the red square up to the upper right of your browser window. It won't pain me any. You are also free to announce to the whole world what you have done by attempting to defend yourself when I point to a given transgression.
Let's start with the basics. This is a PG-rated thread. We have had folks--you know who you are--tell other's to head to the home of the Devil. This is not acceptable here. I do not care what the reason or rationalle is, it is just not acceptable. Period. (But, wait, Chairman, you used "hell" above. Yes, I did, but as a reference to how "I" feel, not attempting to slam someone else!)
Then there were those who took ill of others who were nasty, obnoxious individuals on other threads, but took to being pleasant here. You know what? I don't care how these folks behave elsewhere, that's immaterial. As long as those folks behave themselves here, they are welcome. The rules of the game are simple--those who advance the Cause are welcome. Advancing the Cause means treating others with respect. The individual in question behaved correctly here, and that's all that matters. It is ill-behaved to then slam such an individual, in public, for what was done or said elsewhere.
Then there are those of you who lament and decry what has happened to FR in other threads on other forums. Criticisms of the denegration of the quality of debate was a common theme. Right behind that were statements of gratitude there was this haven on FreeRepublic called ATRW--right before the abhorent behavior invaded this home. That's unacceptable and it must stop.
Collectively, we like to think we are better than the leftists. Part of our claim comes from our belief they are emotional at heart, and we are logical. We believe our thoughts and ideas are superior, and we have always attempted to engage the opponent in the arena of ideas.
Well, right now the left is laughing, and laughing heartily, at us! We are coming across in cyberspace, for the entire world to see (and don't forget, this is a WORLD stage!) as a bunch of petulant children. This must end. And end--NOW!
There are those who have been critical of Jim Robinson and how he runs this web site, insofar as he has banned some folks that we have liked, and have not appreicated some of Jim's remarks to others. Well, I'm sorry. It's his forum. He sets the rules. And don't whine "well I contribute so I should have a say." It doesn't work that way. We are contributing because we like what Jim is doing, or at least that's the premise. There's nothing that says if you don't like it, you can't start your own website portal. Go on. The Web is your oyster. If you stay, understand the situation, and knock off the criticism.
This is not the time to come unglued. Yes, the current slate of candidates in the Republican party is less than wonderful, and there is nothing wrong with saying that is the case. That doesn't mean that we start taking pot-shots at each other. No--it means we sit down, assess the problem calmly, LISTEN (in cyber mode) to others, and provide constructive input. Tearing others down, simply because you don't like (which usually means don't understand) someone else's idea means we close the door on a possible solution to the Party's woes.
Now, I'm dead serious about all this. I will not be party to providing the instrumentality for bashing Jim Robinson, for denegrating others, and for undermining rather than helping the Party. I, too, have a big white "X" on a red square in the upper right of my browser window.
What does that mean?
If the abhorent behavior doesn't stop, and right now, this is it. This will be the last ATRW thread, and you folks can go take your wining and bickering somewhere else--because it won't occur here.
Heck, Jim Robinson thought about the fact there are issues that cause us to get passionate. Read the FAQ page of FR again--there is the "back room". Take the matter into FReepMail--that's private, and you can "have it out". That's where those matters need to be settled. If you feel the temperature rising, go "off line" folks.
President Reagan said the first commandment of Republicans is not to speak ill of another Republican. That doesn't mean that you cannot provide constructive debate of the ideas presented--in fact, that's encouraged. It does mean you don't make personal attacks.
President Reagan's statement is the heart of the Cause. We have to get our act together. We cannot attack and defeat the enemy if we are busy attacking each other. Save our anger for "them".
I do hope I will start the thread tomorrow--but it really is up to you.
For AMERICA - The Right Way, I remain yours in the Cause, the Chairman.
That is PRICELESS!
That’s a good sign. What kind of week-end did you say was coming up? I hope it’s not too strenuous for him.
I agree. I scrolled down and came across the picture of him and Elizabeth (?). Oh my, oh my, oh my...
Ain’t it though?... LOL... Poor guy really got trapped.
I suspect that even at DUh, where I’ve seen major support for him, they will really dump him hard for this type of mis-step... WAY too high profile, and too clear.
It is his Order of the Arrow Ordeal Weekend. It will be strenuous.
I was sick a month ago with an intestinal bug, and the worst was about 3 days...it happened, and has happened before: my system got so out-of-whack that that became the problem. Once I got some Gatorade in me, recovery began...
There are a variety of items you can get at the drugstore which fix the electrolyte problem. Have you thought of this?
No....all that partying was pre-the Big Mess Up. We’re safe.:-)
Prager's interviewing Max Boot, just returned from Iraq, and he says that JT's AO is much, much better than it was just a few months ago. Much improvement...young Iraqis joining up to fight the foreign troublemakers...
Way to Go, JT!!
Oh dear, that’s something he can’t postpone. I really hope he is much better by Friday. I’ll say a little extra prayer for him.
Hi Molly,
I took note of the book you spoke about the other day, The Lost Gardens by Anthony Eglin, and got it at the library yesterday. I started reading it last night and I know I will enjoy it. It mentions gardens I was able to visit when in England. I especially enjoyed Sissinghurst and look forward to the rest of the book.
Thank you for recommending this book.
I enjoyed that article also. Milbank has a wry sense of humor, though it is often aimed at our side.
Hi the belle! Thanks for letting me know...It’s just light, pleasant reading. Glad you were able to find it...I would have enjoyed more gardening stuff than it ended up having, actually...
Here's another title: The Pacific by Mark Helprin...if you're looking for the antidote to the kind of story yesterday about the abandonment of St.George as England's proud symbol, this book may be the answer.
Helprin has produced an amazing collection of short stories. They span the world and decades, but are united by the same overarching theme: honor...a code of behavior & belief which like such things begin externally, and then become the heart and soul of the character.
So these stories become fable-like, but they are beautifully written, and Helprin's love for his creations comes thru unmistakably..
Here are a couple excerpts from one of my favorites, "Charlotte of the Utrechtseweg"...
Moments after landing, a British paratrooper...a Major.. is dying just West of Arnhem..It's Sept. 1944.
There was no comfort. That was the trick at the end, to understand finally that every comfort was in vain, and then to understand that comfort was unneeded, and thus somehow to rise into death reassured.
Then this...later...
How the holy and the profane mix in the light of day and at the end of life is sometimes the most beautiful thing in this world and a compassionate entry into the next. After failure and defeat, a concentration upon certain beauties, though forever lost and unretrievable, can lift the wounded past woundedness and the dying past dying, protecting them with an image, still and bright, that will ride with them on their long ride, never to fade and never to retreat.
The whole work reminded me of the music I sang some days ago and wrote about here: Choose Something Like a Star.
Again, if you want comfirmation that some still appreciate the immutable, this book may be for you.
You may remember that my hometown is where Auburn University is located. Last year one of our retired physics professors told me of how one of her colleagues recently had to have some surgery. The young med professonal explained the procedure as utilizing some of the laser technology. She began to say, “Now don’t worry about lasers. This is entirely safe...” and she started to explain how the light was focused, etc. The colleague and my friend who had accompanied him started laughing and laughing. The med person was confused and stopped with the explanation. When the two stopped laughing my friend said, “he has written x number of books on lasers!”
Molly, it sounds wonderful. Thanks, HOB
Hello I'm right here
Behave yourself, I’m at work and cannot mess up the monitor....
Sorry I try to act human it is so hard sometimes though
Is the Clock About to Strike Midnight for McCain-Feingold? [Andy McCarthy]
From Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog on today's oral argument before the Supreme Court in the Wisconsin Right to Life cases challenging McCain-Feingold's pre-election blackout on "issue ads":
With Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justice Antonin Scalia leading an aggressive assault on a key provision of federal campaign finance law, Congress' latest attempt to reduce the flow of corporate and union money into federal politics appeared to be in trouble in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. While that attempt had an energetic defense from Justices Stephen G. Breyer and David H. Souter, it seemed apparent at the end of an hour of argument that the "blackout" period for "electioneering" ads on radio and TV if it survived at all would have far less effect in restraining such ads.
While both Roberts and Scalia seemed quite tempted to vote to overrule a decision of just three years ago upholding the "blackout" provisions on their face, they might well find a way to narrow its scope so significantly that overruling would not be necessary as a practical matter....
Scalia was clearly the commander of the assault on the "blackout." He commented to Solicitor General Paul D. Clement, who was defending that restriction: "This is the First Amendment. We don't make people guess when Big Brother is going to cut off their speech; we need a clear First Amendment line, and you're not giving us one." Roberts, confronting attorney Seth P. Waxman, representing lawmakers who helped create the "blackout," soon echoed Scalia by asking rhetorically: "Do we usually place the burden on speakers to prove their speech is allowed?"
I’ve been a bit disappointed in Dubya, but I can’t fault him for the judges he picked. Thinking about Roberts and Alito always boosts him 10 points IMO.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.