IBTZ.
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Posted on 11/07/2008 10:40:35 AM PST by Traviswf
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?"
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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? 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. Obama is not going to raise a civilian force of brown coats. First of all there's no money for it, nobody would go for it, and he'd be laughed out of the White House.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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?)
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.
That's about it I guess. Sorry you guys lost.
No, these arroganty know-it-alls think they have learned from the mistakes of their predecessors in the Soviet Union and China, and they can now deploy "REAL" Utopia on earth. They are post-modern, post-marxists, or neo-marxist, if you prefer, and they cleverly call themselves 'progressive', because, after all, who in his right mind is against 'progress'. But to those of us with our eyes open, these 'progressives' are in fact reactionaries wanting to take us back to the failed and murderous experiments of the last century. And they are all, you can't deny, red diaper babies, like Country Joe McDonald, like the sons of the Rosenbergs, every one of them a communist extremist to this day.
Obama is a stealth candidate. Have you read Saul Alinksy's "Rules For Radicals", the interview with the FBI informant who exposed Bill Ayer's Weather Underground plans, or this article: Yes, Barack Obama really is a Manchurian Candidate ? Those are the kind of things you should be reading if you really want to know the truth. I'm glad you came back to respond. You are a rare Obama supporter who is actually willing to discuss issues.
It’s #1, although I actually don’t think he is truly stupid, just extremely misinformed and perhaps a bit naive.
“As for falling in love with a politician. I don’t have to be in love with him to love what he’s trying to do.”
What specifically do you love that he’s (supposedly) trying to do?
Incoherent, but a response nonetheless.
I can’t believe I’m reading this.
It’s as though a gang of nasty bullies have been beating the shit out of a small group of smaller weaker kids for years, and now a couple of them are saying - “let’s try to work together now”.
It’s not only false, smarmy and lying, it’s downright disgusting.
Commie democrat leftists deserve nothing but searing defeat and scorn. The only hand extended to them should have a weapon in it. I am not advocating actual violence, I am advocating a ho holds barred political war against them. ALL of them - the big zeros as well as the small whining zeros.
Meaning a couple of the nasty dirty fighting gang members are saying “let’s work together now.”
Come on - the Repubs have been the cowering, grovelling, reach across the aisle guys for years. And where has it gotten us? It got us Hussein!
"How we got here" is precisely how we understand the "reality of today."
The Messiah said it didn't he? Please, you tell me what his intent was.......you voted for him.
Funding for police is already intact at the state and local level but your guy is talking about Federal funding.......What color coats will they be wearing?
And he's not coming for your guns. If he did either of this things, he can basically just go home now.
Are you aware of his on the record stance on firearms? Are you aware of how many Democrats also are on record for their stances on firearms restrictions/confiscation? Are you aware of the all out assault on the 2nd Amendment that was implemented under the Clinton administration that was ultimately thwarted by a majority of the house and senate elected in 1994?
Are you also aware of the outcry from the then minority democrats when the bogus "Assault Weapons Ban" was allowed to fall by the wayside?
Sorry homie but I do not share your optimism on this socialist guy nor his equally devious members of the house and senate..........
No they aren't.
They're trying to disrupt conservative forums, period.
Hoe-Lee-Sheet!
Upon further inspection, I believe that you are correct and I was mistaken.
From your question - it seems like you've been gone & only skimmed through the reply posts.
I suggest you go back through the posts & check the links & videos of Obama's own words to see if you come to the same conclusions.
Don't miscontrue our intent. We are not afraid! Good people that say nothing - stand for nothing & we are not willing to do that.
We have made a commitment & we are not backing down.
Were Abu Abbas, Abu Nidal and Abu Zarqawi also fictional characters that Hussein gave sanctuary to?
Or doesn't it bother you when governments give sanctuary to terrorists who murdered your fellow Americans?
You want to pay my share of *spreading the wealth*, traitor?
IBTZ.
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Thanks!
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