Comments from an Obama voter (not trolling ) You've had your fun, ZOT!

Your comments in red.

Hi there. I voted for Obama, but have been reading a lot of Freerepublic lately to see how the other side is reacting. I'm not trying to troll here - honestly - but if you feel I am, that's understandable. I just wanted to offer a perspective on this that I think may be interesting to some of you. Oh, and this is much longer than I intended. And I'm fairly certain I'm not posting this the right way...for which I apologize.

First, let's ask why you felt the need to post here? You have forums elsewhere. Buyer's remorse setting in a bit? Or are you a Dem operative? Just a naif? Either way, you're wasting your time. We don't have any illusions about 0bama. Unlike you, we actually pay attention to the things people say and do.

When Bush was elected in 2000, I was upset. And yes, I whined about him "stealing" the election. I don't really think that's true anymore - it was just a painful way to lose. Sure, we can whine about the popular vote vs. the electoral vote, but you can't change the rules in the middle of the game. Then I watched the movie Recount and realized just how awful the democrats were at trying to win the damn thing. Gore seemed like he didn't really want it.

Oh Good Lord. You watched a fictional movie and made up your mind of the basis of some nonsense that Democrats didn't want to win? What Gore did in 2000 was unprecedented and dangerous in American history: he lost an election and immediately sent a swarm of lawyers into Florida to try to get a State Court to overturn an election in violation of the Constitution of the United States -- and you think he "wasn't trying to win?" Please open your eyes.

When Bush won in 2004, I was absolutely devastated. I thought the world was going to end. I didn't think we should be in Iraq, I agreed with Kerry that we had to finish the fight in Afganistan. I was worried about the courts. And frankly - I just didn't like Bush. I didn't like the way he governed, the way he spoke, and the way he talked as if we on the left were less American.

Please cite for me chapter and verse where the President ever said anything of that nature. One quote. One quote is all I ask for. You can't, because like most of what you apparently believe, this is pure unadulterated horsesh!t. Bush's problem, if anything, is that he's too nice of a person: he "reached across the aisle" to "set a new tone" and your people gave him the back of your hand. You've made a claim. If you aren't a troll, come back here and back it up with a citation.

On 9/11 I happened to be in Toronto on business. When the towers fell, I knew I had to get home. A colleague and I wanted to go to New York, to help in some way. But we were told nobody was getting anywhere close. Our next instinct was to get home - to California. We didn't just want to be with our families, we desperately wanted to be in our country. That day was rough because my colleague thought his wife might have been on one of the planes - her travel plans were very similar. It took hours of agony before we, thank God, found out she was safe.

Some of us had friends on planes, many of us had friends in the Pentagon who weren't.

So we rented a car in Toronto and drove across the country. It took a couple hours to get across the border in the middle of the night. We stopped in Omaha, and then Colorado. I can't even tell you how much I loved my country driving across its beauty in those days after the attacks. And there were no jokes about "we're in enemy territory" because we were in "red states." We were in America. Everywhere we went people said "How are you? Is everyone safe?"

Congratulations. You've enjoyed an experience that many of us can't: because we're decent people we're accepting of strangers who show up in "our territory." It'd be nice if conservatives could feel the same way when we show up in "your territory." But of course, we can't. The vitriol and hatred spewing from your side is palpable. Go over to Democrat Underground, or KOS and read what they think about us over here. There are serious people on those sites who would put us all in gas chambers if they could. Read the posts. You will never find anything like that on FR. On the rare occasions when it does go up, it's removed.

I know everyone has similar stories of those days. And certainly many, many people have stories of real loss - not just "we thought we lost someone, but it was a happy ending." Then, fairly quickly, I felt my patriotism coming under attack because I had a difference of opinion about how to fight back. I didn't think Iraq was the right choice - it made no sense to me, and I certainly wasn't alone. But people questioned my love of my country. And that was very, very hard to forgive.

What bilge. Nobody questioned anybody's patriotism if they disputed the need to go into Iraq. You are manufacturing a history that doesn't exist. You might be able to get away with this revisionism with your uninformed Lefty friends, but you won't get away with it here. The decision to go to war in Iraq was nearly unanimous. Even most of the very far left Senators went along with it. Regime change was the standing policy of every US administration since 1988. Go back and actually READ what Bill Clinton and other Democrats actually said at the time. If your patriotism was implicitly questioned, it was also being questioned by Democrats.

When 2008 came up, more than anything, I wanted to win the White House back. I wanted to punish the Bush administration for what I felt was not just a failure to be competent, but a failure to keep the country united. I inititally supported Hilary, but I had this feeling in my gut that she was just going to be Bush - but for our side. She'd be a partisan warrior, a polarizing figure (which Bush wasn't when he started, but Hilary already was...). It made me sick to my stomach.

If you want to punish somebody for a failure to keep the country united, you need to look at the politicians and commentators on your own side. You are aware, are you not, that 40% of Democrats believe 9/11 was an inside job? Where do you think they got this pathetic fantasy? From Bush? Grow up.

I wanted to go back to feeling like an American in those days after the attack - where our disagreements were things we laughed about over a beer and the real threat was far, far more serious.

That feeling will never return again. During Vietnam, all you people told us that "I'm against the war because America hasn't been attacked, but if America herself were under fire, I'd join up in a second." Now we know that was just rationalization: America was attacked on 9/11, and you people managed to desert her just as quickly as you got an excuse and a critical mass that would stick to your laughable bumper sticker lines: "Bush lied, people died."

Umm, no. You conveniently forget that Bill Clinton "lied" about the same thing, and you very conveniently forget that two independent commissions in the US and one in the UK found that there was no manipulation of US intelligence in the run-up to the war.

You trashed a perfectly decent man for the sake of your politics, and we aren't EVER going to forget it.

You're antiwar. Your party is antiwar. Even if all the intelligence services of the West say that a madman who hates us has weapons of mass destruction and is defying the UN weapons inspectors, you find some way to chicken out. Embrace your inner coward. It's your nature. Stop pretending to be something you're not.

I'd written Obama's candidacy off as a dry run for 2016 or later. Or maybe he was running for VP. I thought - hey, dude, at least finish a term in the Senate. Then when he said "we're not a collection of red states and blue states, we're the United States of America" it hit me like lightning.

D00d, you must be about nine years old.

ALL politicians say that stuff. Bush said it. Clinton said it. Bush Sr. said it. It isn't new. It's boilerplate political speak and it doesn't mean a thing.

The truth is you were looking for an excuse to connect with Yerboy emotionally, and you found it.

It had nothing to do with him - it had to do with the country, and my love for it and this feeling deep down in my gut that we were fighting over the placement of the deck chairs while the ship was sinking.

If the ship is sinking, it's because of what's been done to the country since the 1930's. Socially, culturally, economically, and most of all politically, we've been drifting in your direction for almost 80 years and now you finally realize the ship is sinking!

Jeeziz.

If you want to start bailing, please stop voting for people like Barack 0bama. Take a look at where he lives: it's a hellhole. So are all the places where liberals have control of things. More people are murdered in Chicago than NY and LA, both of which are much bigger. Look at the poverty. Look at the gangs. That city has been run by liberal Democrats since time immemorial, and just please take a look at the place. It's the capitol of the damned.

Wow, this got really rambly. Sorry about that. Here's why I posted initially. I saw this thing on here about Obama's "national defense force" and some posters commenting about the coming civil war or some such. I'm pretty sure Obama was just talking about funding for police. I mean - are you guys really worried he's going to do this?

Well, since he's promised to do it, yes, we are. And he's made it clear he isn't talking about the police.

Please go to his web site and actually read what he plans: there is going to be mandatory government service for children as young as sixth grade. That's right chump: kids in middle school will be required to perform mandatory government service for 50 hours. Conscription. Forced labor. For college students it'll be 100 hours per year. At prevailing wages and benefits, (for minimum wage) that's $1000 of uncompensated work per year for the government WITH NO CHOICE TO OPT OUT. It's required.

Eventually, retiress will also be expected to "volunteer."

There was a rumor on the left that Bush was bringing a military brigade trained in "riot control" home from Iraq before the elections. People were convinced Bush was going to take over the country in a military coup. I'm sure you think that's laughable - as do I.

The difference is, Bush didn't promise to do that. 0bama has. Obama is not going to raise a civilian force of brown coats.

Go to his web site. He IS. READ WHAT YOU'VE VOTED FOR.

First of all there's no money for it, nobody would go for it, and he'd be laughed out of the White House.

Go to his web site. He IS. READ WHAT YOU'VE VOTED FOR. Money isn't going to be an issue: you aren't going to be compensated for it.

He's also not a socialist. And he's not coming for your guns. If he did either of this things, he can basically just go home now. Those are not realistic positions for any president to have. He will likely appoint liberals - at least too liberal for you guys - to the courts.

Please go and look at the things that were done to Hillary's people during the nomination process. Please look at the threats and attacks made by 0bama's peopel, threatening to take away the FCC licenses of stattions who carried anti-0bama 527 messages. He has a history of free speach suppression. And he isn't going to institute his hideous ideology overnight.

We are ONE VOTE on the SCOTUS from losing the right to keep and bear arms. Please start paying attention to the news. FOUR Supreme Court justices believe that the 2nd Amendment doesn't say what it actually says.

And by the way, so does Yerboy: Up until the day when Antonin Scalia smacked him down, 0bama said that the Second Amendment was consistent with a complete ban on guns. After the decision, he suddenly said he agreed with an individual right.

But here's the thing. He's going to try and be a good president. I think they all do. And Obama ran on uniting the country, on being bipartisan. That's sort of ALL he ran on. It's how he won 60% of independent and brought home so many of the Clinton voters. So if he doesn't deliver on this - I imagine he'll be fairly easy to beat in 2012.

Geez, again with the childish naivete. McCain ran on the same thing. The difference is, 0bama has no history of ever trying to work with anyone he doesn't agree with. Go and read his acceptance speech. People who disagree with him were NOT invited to participate. All he said was "You may not have voted for me, but I'm still your President." That aint reaching across the aisle: it's just gloating, politely.

So that's my two cents. Obama was always going to get my vote as the nominee because I'm a lifelong democrat and a liberal.

And because of you, millions of people have lived and died in poverty, squalor, and disease, and instead of blaming the culture of dependency you've created, they blame America. And because of you, America is on the brink of being wiped out economically by an entitlement time-bomb that your side has demagogued since the 1930's. Tell me, when the unfunded liability of $52 trillion in entitlements created by liberals finally unravels and the economy completely implodes, will you have enough ammo? Think I'm kidding? Social Security becomes insolvent in 9 years. What do think is going to happen to our currency when we monetize that debt? Welcome to the United States of Zimbabwe in 2017. Bush tried to do something about that, an independent commission tried to do something about it, and your side lied.

But I'm not a socialist or a pacifist. I believe in the 2nd amendment and favor the idea of most issues being decided by the states. I'm not a religious man, but I respect those who are and I think the Dems over reach in pushing religion out of the public square. I believe global warming is a serious problem, but I also think Al Gore enjoys it WAY too much.

Congratulations. You aren't completely delusional. I guess we should thank God for the smallest favors.

And here's another caveat. I know it's easier to be bipartisan and talk about "togetherness" when my guy won. I was where you guys are now in 2000 and 2004. I mean, my party ALMOST ran Howard Dean and then said "No wait! John Kerry is a much better idea!" Or in this election to have a friend say "You've GOT to read Alec Baldwin's latest piece on HuffPo." I mean...really? He doesn't count as an "Obamacon" you know, he only plays a republican on TV... (you guys ever notice that our most annoying Hollywood liberals end up playing republicans? what's with that?)

It's a caricature. It's all your "creative" people are capable of rendering when it comes to our image.

So yeah - we've all spent some time in the woods. I just hope we can all agree that we're just as American as the other, and we're passionate about what we believe to be the right path to take. There are real problems with the economy, and Islamic Terrorists aren't going to take a vacation for four years.

0bama is deserving of, and is going to get as much respect and cooperation from us as Bush got from you. This is the law from which no one escapes: what you reap, you have sown. It's the Law of Karma.

That's about it I guess. Sorry you guys lost.

Not as sorry as you're going to be if you're willing to be honest with yourself.

What I’ve read is that it was in the 2006 election season that he pushed pro-RKBA candidates. Maybe his experiences in 2005 helped convinced him this was a bad issue to run with. Like I said, it’s not that I think he has any personal scruples one way or the other. He’s a hard-core Clintonite, after all. But his most recent activities suggest that he’s far from devoted to intensifying gun control. Very different, for example, from Mike Bloomberg, who clearly really believes all his gun-grabbing antics are good for society.

roses of sharon, your post #111 is a hit. Let me add my full support and understanding of what you said. It is the truth.

The left declared war on conservatives and promised the destruction of America as their means. They have exceeded, by far, what I thought was possible socially or legal Constitutionally in pressing their war. The left has held little back. They are at war with the founding principles of the republic and they mean it. As their actions amply demonstrate. As their words daily reiterate.

Islamic Terrorists aren’t going to take a vacation for four years.

Exactly and Obama won’t protect us.

A nice little essay on FDR's abominations:

The Revolution Was

It’s not going to end, we are too divided. There is going to be another civil war at some point.

Actually, I mis-spoke. The Democrats and their Marxist Operatives have spent DECADES dividing this nation along the lines of race, class, gender, age, religion and everything else under the sun. A divided nation they wanted - a divided nation they now have. As they have sown, so shall they now reap. Guess that divide and conquer plan didn't work out so well after all, eh?

It’s not going to end, we are too divided. There is going to be another civil war at some point.

Actually, I mis-spoke.

The Democrats and their Marxist Operatives have spent DECADES dividing this nation along the lines of race, class, gender, age, religion and everything else under the sun.

A divided nation they wanted - a divided nation they now have.

As they have sown, so shall they now reap.

Guess that divide and conquer plan didn't work out so well after all, eh?

Travis,

I appreciate your post. Maybe not everyone here will, but you said what you had to say and you said it nicely. You’re exactly right, we feel like you did in 2000 and 2004. It’s nice to hear from someone on the “other side” that understands that.

Don’t let the people here that will jump on you drive you away. We need your type to remind us that it’s not the end of the world. Thank you.

Yes, but I like it just the same.

Excellent, excellent post, FRiend. Thank you so much.

The question I have is this: if, in a couple of years, our capitalist economy is recovering and we still have our guns, are you or any of the people who said things like this going to feel at all stupid about having said them?

That's a big "if", isn't it?

If our capitalist economy is recovering due to the efforts of a socialist, I'll sure be surprised.

As far as the gun issue, we'll probably have a renewed AWB in less than a year. I'm sure we'll also have some "reasonable restrictions" on other guns as well as ammunition.

You sure sound like an Obama supporter. Are you one?

I blush....:-)

Here here! Love those point by point rebuttals and eviscerations!

I know what you mean.

They're like a yeast infection that just won't go away.

Actually, it worked out pretty well for them.

Most Americans are still asleep.

Can they wake up in time? God only knows.

Wow, for Mr. Know It All, you sure are uninformed.p> Sadaam was the first to use gas chambers and gas attacks since Hitler. Thanks for making Nazi Germany a comparison, as it's exactly my point... are you familiar with the Kurdish genocide? At all?

Name one. (as in terrorist in Baghdad)

Okay... here's a snip, since apparently you haven't bothered to base your statement on anything aside from rampant, innaccurate Lib talking points

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda in Iraq leader who led a brutal insurgency that included homicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings, was killed in an airstrike on a building north of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials announced Thursday.

How about Abdul Yasin, a pointman of the '93 WTC bombings? How about Tariq Azziz going to the former UNSCOM founder with "massive information" on many known and suspected terrorists living in Iraq? He was going to provide these leads in exchange for lifted sanctions.

Honest to God, I've only recently began posting on FR, but lurked for a very long time, and your response was easily the dumbest thing I've yet read. Touche, sir

That was pragmatism. This is now. I don’t want to hear from any left-wing socialist who is pretending to sympathize with us only to really be soaking in the self-righteous enjoyment of our misery.

I noticed as well, but to cut the guy some slack. Just reading through the responses would take all evening.