Sic Semper Tyrannis*!
* Thus Always to Tyrants
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.
You are in for a big surprise.
Sic Semper Tyrannis*!
* Thus Always to Tyrants
The Obama cult is what got him elected. Remember Jim Jones?
Travis, I lived it... you have no idea. You’ve made a huge mistake.
You don’t see it yet, I have. I suggest you do the homework you didn’t do before voting. Prepare yourself.
I’m serious.
Bookmark.
Socialist he is.
You need to thoroughly understand the concept.
Socialism is NOT what this country was founded on.
He is not what we need.
We shall suffer through his time in power, pick up the pieces and attempt to repair the damage done.
Just like Clinton.
Just like Carter.
obamalobotomized.
Say that 5 times fast! ;)
The obamalobotomized can’t understand their own leadership was sqealing something be done about so-damn insane. Long before Bush. Demanding it. But when Bush actually did do something, they pretended like it was the “wrong war”.
Also, the left will never ever learn tons of yellow cake was just recently moved out if Iraq because the drive-bys won’t inform them.
Insufferably stupid.
Posting to yourself is a sign of impending mental collapse.
Also a sign of possibly being one certain repeat troll who gets off on posting to himself.
Your argument for Rahm is really comical or you’re seeking hope where little exists. If the RATS in Congress want gun control, they have the POTUS to make it happen. Rahm is the instrument, hired for his tactics - not his policy.
Reference your last paragraph:
As far as I am concerned, you can have him.
A far as you stating that you will not compromise your values and beliefs for him.
That tells me that you and him share the same value and belief system . Else why would he be your President.
So the sat imagery was faked?
The terrorist training caps that our soldiers walked through weren’t there?
Wow, you’re heavily drinking coolaid.
Above all Mr. Know It All believes that if you repeat a lie enough it will become the truth. It used to be that here on FR a poster was expected to provide some attempt at substantiating a claim when called on it. That meant something more than “I will say this one more time...” LOL
Source? Links? The source known as "Curveball" certainly did not create the claims about "Salman Pak" as a terrorist training center, for those claims long pre-date the emergence of "Curveball" as a source. What "Curveball" was mainly assoicated with was the supposed intel on mobile bio weapons labs. I have never seen a reference to "Curveball" even discussing Salman Pak and terrorist training there, although of course it is possible that he picked it up from reports that have been all over the Internet and in articles, books etc. since the mid-90s.
As a fabricating source he may have tried to make use of "reports" that were already out there, but I recall reading such reports long before "Curveball" even became a source, however bad, talking to German intel.
Anyway, you are certainly wrong to ascribe the origin of all reports of terrorist training at Salman Pak to the "Curveball" character.
From a cursory web search just now I find that the only places making such assertions are far-left crap sites. Surely you are not relying upon those places for your "facts"??
I think more of us are going to be sorry than not. Too many people have imbued this guy with powers he is simply not capable of posessing. He really is Chance the gardener.
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