Hey, it must be Comedy Day on FR...wait, what, it isn't?
Posted on 11/08/2006 2:53:58 PM PST by landeraepi
Full disclosure, I'm a democrat, so get over it. I'm not here to insult you, and I'm certainly not here to gloat. I'm not here to trade barbs, undermine Free Republic, or infiltrate your ranks. I'll be honest — I disagree with most FReepers on almost every issue.
So, why am I posting a new thread?
Because I — we — need you. We at Democratic Underground and Daily Kos, and all of the lefty blogs you love to hate, and who love to hate you. We need you to acknowledge that if there's one thing we're learning about our country's political system, it's that there's way too much corruption. Too much greed. Cronyism. Lying. It's on both sides, folks — I'm no apologist.
Yes, the Democrats won. Yes, we're very happy about that. It means we get to put the emergency brake on what we see as runaway irresponsibility in our government. Some of you FReepers see it, too — the Bush administration is spending like Paris Hilton on a bender and Harry Reid is spending his afternoons thinking about how to double his real estate money instead of how to lead his minority majority. Result? America's losing its ethical center.
Indulge me for a moment: we at Daily Kos and Democratic Underground are ecstatic for one particular reason that it may be difficult for FReepers to understand. Candidates like Jon Tester, Jerry McNerney, Paul Hodes, and Jim Webb were all relative political unknowns — guys with great ideas who just had no "street cred" at all. The lefty blogs — dKos and DU, chiefly, coordinated the fundraising and did the canvassing, calling, and late-night video posting on YouTube.
We wanted this one like rabid dogs, and we got it. You guys will win again, and win big, but this time it was the democrats. If Jon Tester and Jerry McNerney begin taking money from lobbyists and accepting flights on Learjets, do you know what we'd do?
We'd castrate them. We'd end them. Ask a DUer — if these guys let Washington's corruption get under their skin, we'll vote against them.
But the truth is that they won't. I know this because that's why we picked them. They're committed to bringing some civility and dignity back to our country's political system — and so am I.
And, hopefully, so are you.
So, today, I'm reaching across the aisle, in earnest, and in what I hope you will realize is good faith. America isn't America without all of us, and I'm not about to let this election force us to self-segregate and turn into the epitome of what we hate. This country wasn't founded on ideological differences. America was founded as a place for people with unpopular beliefs. That's why the Puritans came here — and why everyone else followed.
Disagreement is no justification for acrimony.
If Free Republic joined with Daily Kos and DU to denounce corruption, cronyism, and dishonesty in government — regardless of our political stripes — we'll all be better for it.
I'm cross-posting a similar thread to dKos and DU in the hopes that the netroots on both sides can come together to reorient our government's ethical compass. Let's agree to disagree, but let's do it in an American way — in a way that helps all of us. We can (and should!) continue to fight for our personal morals, beliefs, and ideas — but we must ensure that our government, no matter which party controls it, is still a government of, by, and for the people.
So, come on, FReepers. Let's fix this country. Concentrate on common ground instead of ideological divisions. What do we all believe, and how can we leverage the immense power and respect of the blogosphere to do the most good?
I wish you all the best, and I'm sorry if I've ruined your day.
I love that!
Hey, it must be Comedy Day on FR...wait, what, it isn't?
Thanks for the Winston Churchill post, Ivan. IMHO, Curchill was the best leader the world has seen in over 1000 years.
My point was not that we should not work with freedom loving Americans, my point was that Joshua is wrong to think he has a bunch of them on his side. Most of his fellows love dictators, treat patriotism as a disease and hate Christians like Joan Crawford hates wire hangers. I will not hate such people, but I will not pretend I have common ground with them.
Josh sounds like the kind of guy I was when i was a couple of years younger than him, right before I started to catch on to the hate on my side of the aisle. I wish him well (and if you read my original post to him you'll find that I did not insult him at all. I hope he read my post and realized that his side has become so virulently hateful that calling oneself pro-American while associating them is like calling yourself a pro-choicer while running with Operation Rescue.
I love your Lincoln quote, and let me say this: When many--not all, not even most, just many--of Josh's fellows have the same desire for mutual respect and national unity that was exhibited by Lee and Grant and Sherman and Johnston, then we will find common ground. Until then, there can be no unity and they are the ones preventing it.
Stout hearts, dear. We'll get through this. Please let me know how things are going there, I'm interested to see how Rummy's resignation is being taken in the Pentagon.
Yeah...I've heard a couple people talking about it and they were really surprised. (Obviously.) I'll be going to a luncheon later so it's likely it'll come up.
A political system that promotes the idea that murdering the unborn is a "right" is neither civilized nor dignified. Start with that one.
Lets see where your "good faith" is.
What will you do about the William Jefferson corruption?
Will you hold Ted Kennedy accountable for murdering a young woman?
Will you question Robert Byrd's past affiliations?
Will you ask for Harry Reid's resignation for his corruption?
Take care of these four starter issues, then we'll talk.
See what I mean, DII? They can't even tell the truth when they offer a hand in friendship. They are without honor. Here's Joshua's recant, after being bashed by the DU gaystapo for awhile:
I will.
Both of them.
At the wrist.
Little hard for you to vote against my country then, huh jerk?
Thanks for the ping.
Like most delusional DUmmies, it appears that poor Josh has a disconnect between what he believes and what he thinks he should believe.
I, and probably many other Freepers, are always happy to hear from a reasonable, civil Democrat. I haven't read the whole thread, so I don't know why you were banned. But it would be wrong to ban you just because you're a Dem. Also, I'm kind of surprised at the nasty retorts of some fellow Freepers here. I thought we were mostly above that.
Walmart is also heading up the effort to bring back "Merry Christmas" instead of "Seasons Greetings". In my opinion, that's a big step in the right direction for them!!
Hi zook...see post 131 for the true nature of this guys offer.
How is that possible when your moral and ethical beliefs are diametrically opposed to ours?
Puncturing your eardrums out with an icepick is cool too.
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