Posted on 06/06/2002 9:57:11 PM PDT by Big Guy and Rusty 99
Dear Mr. Robinson,
I have been a loyal member of the Free Republic since before the 2000 election. I have been a Conservative since the early days of Clinton. When I found this site, I thought "Thank God, people who think like me." I have continued to think this until the more recent days. Now, it seems that there are threads left and right bashing our President.
Why? There are things the President has done which I don't agree with but my loyality still lies with him. I am not sure if these "Bush-Bashers" fail to see the reality that with politics comes comprimise or it is something worse. I feel there is a cancer in the Free Republic. Some are eating their own.
I feel that some of these people are members of the dreaded democratic underground disguised as disgruntled conservatives. They are only here to stir up trouble. What's worse, they are doing just that. I am not sure what I think you should do.
As a conservative, I believe in our moral code but I also realize the reality of politics. I back our President but if he were doing something unsavory (like lying under oath,) I could not support him. This is unlike the left's clintonista dogma. What President Bush is doing is not betraying the conservative cause. He is using politics to confound the left. Those who do not understand this are either leftists themself or unable to separate themselves from their zealousness.
This is your show. You choose who gets to be a member and who does not. Those who break your rules are banished from the kingdom. I am not discouraging free speech, but this is free speech in your forum. These Bush-Bashers are brining us down. When this infighting happened in 1992, Bill Clinton got elected. let's not let that happen again.
Yours,
Big Guy and Rusty 99
Interesting statement. I only supported Bush about 60% when he ran for office and today I am still about the same.
I can see how disapointed someone would be if they supported him 100% from the outset. I also wonder if the 100%'ers only have an on/off switch and nothing in between.
I'm not even going to bother reading the whole thread. I'm not a Bush Basher, but I'm not blindly following either. We worked our butts off to get him in office. And on many fronts, he's betrayed us.
I was one of the strongest on these threads arguing that he was our best choice and that the third parties were hopeless and could only bring us down. I still believe that. But Bush needs to remember who put him in office. Bush needs to remember who showed up in Florida on the front lines.
Given two choices again in 2004 (Bush/Gore, Bush/Hillary, Bush/Any rat), I'll still vote for Bush. But he's got some work to do if he expects me to be enthusiastic.
And for the record, George H.W. Bush didn't lose in 1992 because of infighting. He lost because of an inept campaign run largely by snotty-nosed rich kids who wouldn't listen to anyone. I encountered several of them.
Perhaps FR has become a propaganda organ for the corporazi? ;o)
The place ain't what it was. Moderators will be the death of Free Republic.
Hmmmmm.... this is a surprise....
Are you gearing up to write an opus???
Not that I'm encouraging that, but you've been around long enough to know that those who do often appear quite sheepish and embarrassed when they come crawling back.
This is a CONSERVATIVE forum, not a BUSH forum.
I voted for him in 2000. My vote in 2004 is up for grabs. If he signs a freedom grab like the Patriot Act, I can't attack him? I'll attack him for his refusal to support armed pilots. I'll slam him for his CFR cave. I'll slam him for his vagueness. I'll praise him when he's right too, like his tax cut.
I call them as I see them. Period.
Thank you for putting it so succinctly, could not have written it better myself. I have never, ever been one of the *when it's my guy, it's okay* types -- if that makes me a Bush Basher, then I'll wear the moniker proudly.
It shouldn't be. There is a pendulum swing in moderation around here, and right now we are in an oppressive Kill-Everything-In-Sight-Questionable-Or-Not mode.
Should be:
They even reinstated several long-time banned freepers so they could come back and vent a little
Yet another Moderator fan! You guys are making friends left and right today!
I don't think he's leading the way to liberalism. I think he is getting bad advice. At times, his administration seems out of touch with the rest of us. I do think some of the things he has done (that some of us think are left-leaning) were unnecesary, and I think that's something to think about. Also, the votes he gains by moving leftward, do they really offset the potential votes that goto a another Conservative candidate? He's got some very sharp people around him, some of whom are concerned with the next election, and who measure his actions versus how they will impact the election. You have to wonder what advice he's getting.
The number of folks with faux sincere opinions is on the rise and heading toward an epidemic. We don't need seminar posters to keep draging down each thread to a name calling contest.
That's the worst of it. We had this unity, and this justifiable anger (I say outrage, same thing). Good things could have come out of it, we could have secured ourselves a little more security against those who would do us harm for a few generations to come. Then they tell us "welp too bad, something will happen, nothing we can do, sorry". Yes, hearing them did make me think about (and I gotta correct you :-) Clayton Williams telling a group of reporters when a storm came up, "Rain is like rape, there's nothing you can do about it, so you might as well lay back and enjoy it." Cost him the election here in Texas and set the GOP back a few years.
The last thing anybody wants to hear from the Secretary of Defense, or VP or FBI Chief is there is nothing we can do. If this was an election year, you can be dang sure nobody from the administration would be saying we are helpless. The only reason I can think of for them saying that, is to justify this super homeland department.
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