Cowboyway Opus

4/28/2016 | Cowboyway

[cowboyway]

The year was 2012. Zero was running for reelection and the Repubs desperately needed a better candidate than they fielded in 2008 if they were going to regain the White House.

As usual, Freepers were posting articles and comments about the upcoming election, the candidates running for the Republican nomination, how to defeat Zero, etc. During the primary season of 2012 Free Republics owner enthusiastically campaigned against one of the candidates, Mitt Romney. If the only information that you had about Romney was what FR's owner posted you would have had to conclude that Romney was pure evil concentrated. However, when Romney was nominated to run against Zero, FR's owner reversed course and got behind the nominee.

I became disappointed in what I perceived as extreme hypocrisy from the head of the premier conservative forum on the internet and quietly left the site for several years.

With the 2016 campaign season being free of Zero and shaping up to be one of the more interesting campaigns of our maturing republic I found my password and logged back in hoping to engage in interesting, civil and conservative dialog. Everything looked the same but there was a different feel to the place. A lot of anger, a lot of fear and a lot of hatred of conservatives for conservatives.

I do not particularly like Mr. Trump and expressed my opinion on the subject. Of course that resulted in being attacked with reckless abandon by the Trump faithful. When I retaliated I quickly earned a couple of timeouts and limited posting privileges, in other words, second class membership, while those who attacked me continued posting their vicious slanders against anybody and everybody that wasn't on board the Trump Train. The double standard couldn't be more obvious.

Then, on 4/23/16, the owner of the site pledged total support to Mr. Trump believing that Trump is the only path to victory over the presumed democommie candidate, Hillary Clinton, regardless of the fact that Trump is not a conservative. Freepers who openly refused to pledge their support for Mr. Trump were quickly purged with Trump's exuberant peanut gallery fearlessly and gleefully shouting insults and catcalls for all non-Trump supporters to 'ride the lightning'.

Welcome to Trump Republic.

Opus over.

Cowboyway out.

[uncitizen]

So people who change their mind or decide to support the winner instead of foolishly remaining behind the loser are hypocrites?

Sheesh get over yourself and get real. And get on board with the only guy who is willing to take on the corrupt system. If not, your loss.

[Lazamataz]

I thought you’d never leave.

You sucked back then and you suck now.

[Lazamataz]

I wish you the best in all your future endeavors.

I don't.

[CodeToad]

“regardless of the fact that Trump is not a conservative”

But neither is anyone you support because there isn’t a true conservative running.

I’ll take Trump who supports America! Cruz support foreigners with amnesty and wanting more foreign H-1B tech workers. Sorry, but that isn’t conservative. Not to mention Cruz is a Canadian and foreign born to a foreign father, not exactly a natural born citizen.

[CodeToad]

[rockrr]

Thanks pokie - I needed something to brighten my morning.
Back from your hiatus it wasn’t two days before you were back to your old belligerent self. You never showed interest in conversing with people as much as you enjoyed barking at them. You made no friends, forged no allies, had no confidants. You never added an ounce to any conversation - but you sure were fun to kick around. That much I’ll miss, the rest I’ve forgotten already.

Happy trails buckaroo

[Tax-chick]

Oh, well.

[Sans-Culotte]

Jim Rob stayed pretty neutral this year, stating that he'd go for Cruz or Trump (which was also my position). In 2012, he seemed to be behind Newt, but when Mittens locked up the nomination, he (grudgingly) supported him. Now, Cruz is basically eliminated, and Trump is the last man standing. The sensible thing to do is stand behind the presumptive nominee at this point, which is what Jim is advocating. Whining that you wanted someone else is pointless now.

Enjoy your self-imposed FR exile and your write-in vote for your loser of choice.

[Harpotoo]

Cowboy way!-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcrZeDGNOIc

[anton]

“Fact is...GOP disunity kept a couple f million of people home in 2012 and Romney lost as a result...and as a result of his not taking the fight to Obama. We simply CANNOT afford that to happen again.”

---

Uh, correction. Romney was a wuss. An elitist with a bad backstory. And, unwilling to take the fight to BO.

This had nothing to do with disunity. It had to do with a bad candidate. Second in a row.

[SZonian]

You GPH, are completely missing the point...and trying to explain it to you since you promptly erected a strawman in opposition to the observation by wwfb would be a complete waste of time.

[Bob434]

[[Bob, you’re factually incorrect.]]

We’re not taking about posts being deleted- I’m discussing people begin banned- the scenario i explained is factual- you can check it out yourself- I am making nothing up-

The fact is that there has developed an atmosphere of intimidation in this website- where if you don’t tow the trump line, you are not welcome- and the excuse being made for jumping all over everyone who thinks a different candidate would be a better choice is that ‘they are undermining the republican party and deserve what they get’-

I have noticed a definite change in the forums these last few weeks- regular posters are no longer posting regularly- people who have been staples for posting threads are no longer doing so, discussions that involve the candidates people who support Cruz no longer even contribute any longer- and this site has turned into a “Cruz is an A@#$$@#hole” slamfest in many threads-

The owner claism ot want to unite the party- and ‘won’t tolorate devisiveness’ yet intimidating peopel into silence because they aren’t trump supporters isn’t the way to unite a party-

Make the case fro trum- make the point that a no vote means hillary becomes president- that should be the goal of this site, not a continual network of intimidation

I have seen several posters in threads who don’t regularly post jump in and ask for calm, only to be handed their butts on a platter for attempting to ask for civility in the ‘cruz is an A$##hole’ threads—

bullying peopel into silence and pushign htem into a lurker mode because they are sick of beign piled on for not thinking Trump is the right candidate isn’t how you unify a party-

[[Bottom line is, if Jim zots you, it was very very likely that it was deserved.]]

That is contrary to what i witnessed on his comments page- Yuo keep suggesting ‘they deserve it’ but I’ve already explained i saw nothing that should warrant a zot- strong opinions about a Cruz run shouldn’t warrant a zot in my opinion- like i said- I can’t stand kasich and think he would be a disastrous candidate- very bad for this ocutnry- but I would certainly understand that some people would support him- knowing that most people don’t understand just how liberal he really is- I would try to point out the facts- and try to tell the person they are wasting their vote- but in the end this ocutnry is a democracy and we need to work together DESPITE our differences- not simply ban those that we dont’ agree with because we don’t like that htey are saying-

Many people genuinely felt before their zot that Cruz was the best candidate- and they found out the hard way that this belief isn’t welcome here unfortunately- even long time posters- who have contributed much both financial and verbal to the success of this forum site— Adn this isn’t the first time such purges have taken place I’ve learned-

As i said- Yep- it’s the3 owner’s absoltue right to do this- it’s hisw site- he can do whatever he wishes- however, in my opinion- drivign peopel into silence by threatenign to ban those who don’t supprot trump durign hte primariesw- isn’t unifyign hte party-

While you and others can claim that he ‘only bans nevertrumps’ I have found that this isn’t true, and I have witnessed many posters go into the shadows for fear that any support for anyone else but trump will reign down hell fire and damnation o n their souls- that is a fact- I’ve noticed a very definite change in the forums the last few weeks as people witness one cruz supporter after antoehr being banned- Yout keep insisting it isn’t happening- the facts say otherwise-

[nutmeg]

Well, bye.

[Gil4]

"...has consistently argued that Cruz is not a natural born citizen." /// Wait. Hasn't Trump said Cruz was eligible many times? (As well as saying he was ineligible sometimes.

That's the way I remember it, too, although I the closest I remember him getting to saying Cruz was ineligible was something like "there may be a problem." I don't remember a firm pronouncement from Trump that Cruz was ineligible, just a walking back of the original firm pronouncement that he is eligible.

The first part of that sentence is getting tougher to deny, however: "Trump is defeating Cruz..." I'm still supporting Cruz, although he hasn't been as good as I hoped. I think I'm going to be stuck hoping that Trump isn't as bad as I fear he will be.

[Bob434]

[[Now I’ve been here a long time, so I feel quite comfortable analyzing trends, and the trend I’ve seen among Cruz supporters is to call for civility while fighting with everything they have to “win.”]]

I’ve been here a long time too lurking- reading threads- posting for awhile- As I mentioned in my previous psot- I have definitely seen an atmosphere of intimidation and pile ons that are solely intended to shut up the opposition- not discuss matters-

There is nothing wrong with passionate discussions and passionately defending one’s position- however, that is not what is happening here lately- and it seems ot be tolerated and ifnact perhaps even encouraged by the leadership- Things are getting very nasty around here lately- and while this odes happen msot election cycles- people usually can weather the storm and wait for election day or soon after till things calm down a bit- but when you throw banning into the fray to silence the opposition - pushing many into the shadows- while claiming it is ‘for the good of the party’ it’s not, in my opinion, an atmosphere of unity-

[[Furthermore, only the delusional imagine they are being “agreeable” when the will not RESPECT “disagreement,” nor will they concede.]]

Absolutely- you just made my point- when people are being banned, and when people scream for their banning consistently, it shows that don’t care a whit about respecting other people’s opinions, and just want ot shut those opinions down- like i said previously- it’s like this site seems to be becoming berkely or something- shout down the opponent till they either remain silent, or ban them if they don’t

[NormsRevenge]

Uhhhh,, bye.

[Gil4]

this is your mistake.. no one here believes that Trump is not a conservative.. nor do they believe by a long shot that Cruz is more conservative

There are plenty here that have serious doubts about Trump being a conservative. There are also plenty of people who are so behind him on immigration that other issues are of secondary importance.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

"because that is what responsible adults who love their country do...they make the hard decisions to fend off even worse times..."

A case can be made that a RINO is always better than a DEM, but I think that case can only be made for the short run. In the long run it might be better for Americans to get thrown directly into a pot of boiling water rather than simmered into a gelatinous goo.

Obama's presidency has been pretty close to throwing America directly into a pot of boiling water: he's decimated military morale and totally confused its mission. He's destroyed our image abroad and created a mess of the Middle East that's turned into a migrant crisis swamping Western Europe and soon the US. He's wreaked havoc on our long-held beliefs and traditions. He has succeeded (or nearly so) in turning America from an exceptional nation into a mediocre one.

But what that says to me is not that DEM-lite(GOP) is still better than DEM, or even that we need to elect Bernie to finally get something through the thick skulls of our fellow "Americans". Instead it tells me its time to stick a fork in US.

I was leaning in favor of an Article V convention, but I'm tending to lean against it. It seems that the forces of ignorance are now swamping the forces of intelligence and decency. If/when an Article V convention is convened it is now more than likely in my mind that the end result will be a Constitution that looks more like the EU convention than our founding documents.

Trump, if successful, will stem the flow of illegal immigration. He may improve the economy, and send a clear message that we are no longer going to be squandering people and resources policing the world. Those are all good things. But we're still going to have gay "marriage", tranny perverts in our bathrooms, a military turned into a branch of the Peace Corps, abortion, increasing police state, increase in hate speech laws, decrease in privacy, increase in government snooping, and an increase in government/business collusion.

The best Trump can do is slow the decline a bit. Most people won't notice either way because the techies will have gotten Virtual Reality technology to a level that most people will be spending most of their waking hours in paradises of their own choosing while the real world crumbles around them.

[sargon]

Your observations are faulty. I saw with my own eyes, zottees saying that they were "NeverTrump", that they'd never vote for Trump under any circumstances, calling Jim Rob a "son of a b----", etc.

Obviously your criteria and Jim Robinson's must differ, but that's your problem, not his. When you become the owner of one of the premier conservative sites on the internet, then you can sit back and have people second guesss your moderation skills.

I can tell you from personal experience that those who get zotted generally go out of their way to do so.

So, as I said before, if you want to go case by case with any specific "injustice" you perceive, then you will be indulged.

If instead you want to make generalizations which don't pass the smell test, then you're wasting your time.

Vote Trump

[papertyger]

...when people are being banned, and when people scream for their banning consistently, it shows that don’t care a whit about respecting other people’s opinions, and just want ot shut those opinions down-

Nonsense.

That is NOT what has been happening. What HAS happened is patience for "half-arguments" (Trump is not a Conservative,Trump funded liberals, Trump supports Planned Parenthood, Trump supporters won't listen, etc...) delivered with no small amount of insult, has run out.

I speak for no one but myself, but I can assure you I have nothing but disdain for the puling of the Cruz supporters based SOLELY on their behavior towards all who have drifted into the Trump camp.

Like JimRob himself, the overwhelming majority of FReepers originally supported Cruz, but moved into the Trump camp based on his performance as a candidate. That we did so based on his performance as a candidate, and NOT on whatever those who stayed with Cruz chose to hold "irrefutable" is something those supporters could not allow to pass without offering acrimony.

Now one might chose to comfort themselves with the assertion that this is all very subjective, but then one is bound to answer the question "did those persuaded by Trump's fresh, new initiatives turn and reject their former conservative positions, or did those who rejected Trump also reject his supporters?"

I think the answer is quite obvious as no one here is calling for "rethinking" gun control, abortion, capitalism, or traditional marriage. You may not agree, but with the petulance demonstrated throughout this cycle by the Cruz faction, I just can't bring myself to care.