Posted on 12/30/2011 11:20:08 AM PST by exit82
FRiends, another new year is about to dawn. As 2011 fades into the sunset, I celebrate the completion of one more year on FreeRepublic. Thirteen years have gone by since I signed up. I had been lurking here since the summer of 1998, and answered the call to attend the March for Justice on October 30, 1998 in Washington, DC. I came there on my own all the way from NJ, not knowing how many people might be there, and not really caring if I was the only one who showed up. What mattered was that a President was breaking the law and he had to be held accountable, and there was a man, Jim Robinson, and a website, FreeRepublic, that intended to do just that.
When the history of the impeachment of William Blythe Jefferson Clinton is written, the activities of FreeRepublic will stand out. In the very first Internet call to arms, over 4,000 Freepers came to DC to protest President Clinton and to call on the House to do its job and to impeach the President. The power of the Internet to act as a “Paul Revere” was demonstrated convincingly. What a sight it was to walk from the Metro station to the Washington Monument and to see as I came over a rise, the flags of all 50 states and thousands of patriots of all ages, sizes and shapes—all good hearted folks who were not afraid to wear their love of America on their sleeves! What an inspiration!
By December 18th, the House had impeached Clinton. A treacherous Trent Lott torpedoed the deserved removal of a law breaking President, along with RINO Senators, on February 12, 1999, many of whom still infect the institution of the Senate today.
Since then we slogged through the aftermath of the 2000 campaign, with Freepers staking out the VP’s home and telling Gore “to get out of Cheney’s house!”, and the infamous “Sore-Loserman 2000” bumper sticker by Freeper Registered.Florida Freepers helped to ensure that compromised ballots were counted in the open.
Freepers were right there on Sept. 11, 2001, when the tragedies in New York City, Washington, and Shanksville, PA unfolded before our shocked and unbelieving eyes, with up to the moment reporting and pictures unequaled in any newsroom around the country that day.
The 2004 Presidential campaign brought our support of the SwiftBoat Vets against the traitor John Horseface Kerry, even though President Bush and Tokyo Rove called them “vigilantes”. But it was Freeper Buckhead who unmasked the nefarious plotting of CBS News’ Mary Mapes and Dan Rather in a scheme involving a faked letter from the Air National Guard casting aspersions on the record of President Buash.
Then we watched in utter dismay as President Bush threw away his political capital from 2005 onward, in a four year declining spiral, with Harry Reid calling the Iraq War lost, the Dems winning the 2006 mid term elections, the 2007 war on Amnesty with McCain-Kennedy, the abomination known as McCain-Feingold, the rise of Barack Obama. The 2008 Presidential campaign gave us a glimmer of hope after the absurdity of John McCain being the Presidential nominee occurred, with the selection of Sarah Palin as his VP running mate.
Once again we saw our hopes dashed as McCain and the GOP ran a horrid, tepid campaign, unwilling to take on the biggest threat to the Republic since the end of the Cold War. Coupled with the financial collapse of September, 2008 and TARP and the GM bailout ,then the coronation of Obama as President, it did not seem as if the fortunes of America-loving conservatives could sink any lower. The beginning of 2009 was spent in a morose state of shock as we could see where America was headed, but felt powerless to correct the course of the ship of state. Then came Rick Santelli’s rant on CNBC and the rise of the Tea Party, resulting in a historic reversal of Democrat fortunes and the re-taking of the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections. For that we can thank the tireless efforts of citizen leaders and one Sarah Palin, who rallied the people from coast to coast to vote for candidates who believed in the promise of a free America.
The year 2011 has been marked by a confusing situation regarding the political future of the GOP and conservatives. A bruising run-up to the primary season saw conservative candidates such as Sarah Palin and Herman Cain removed from the competition, and the rise of Willard Romney, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich. Conservative candidates such as Michelle Bachmann and Rick Santorum and Rick Perry held their own in the many debates, and the first few upcoming primaries will decide their political fate.
After posting 20 threads and over 18,100 replies, there is one thread of which I am most proud. It is this one, where in early February 2008, I gave my take on the what was happening in the GOP concerning conservatives:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963918/posts
That reflection proved to be true. In a way, we are poised for a repeat of what happened in February, 2008, the foisting upon us of a candidate no one here believes in, Willard Romney. What is clear right now, almost four years later is that we are in a fight on two fronts: one, for the very soul of America, whether it will be a Constitutional Republic or a Socialist Entitlement Democracy run by elites, and two, whether the GOP will survive the 2012 elections as a major party. As conservatives we have been the redheaded stepchild, needed by the GOP to win, but not allowed to rule. Those days will end on November 5, 2012.
And they will end one of two ways: either the GOP will have a resounding victory in the House Senate and White House because of the work of conservatives, or the GOP will imperil the country by allowing the re-election of Obama, because conservatives will have been purposely marginalized in the fight.
Either way, the future of the GOP is in doubt. The former will result in the ascendancy of the Tea Partiers within the GOP, changing it radically and for the better. The latter will result in conservatives forming a new political party and leaving the GOP to go the way of the Whigs in 1856.
I do not know who the Republican nominee will be in 2012. Romney is two-faced weak reed, and Ron Paul is touched in the head. Gingrich and Perry have shown they have some fight in them, and that backbone is needed to take on Obama in what promises to be a brutal election season. Michelle Bachmann and Rick SAntorum, good conservatives, are letting all know thsat they are still in the fray.
Once a nominee is selected,as conservatives, we have one mission in 2012: defeat Obama and the Dems, keep the House and take back the Senate. That is the Prime Directive. We can fix the GOP and the RINOS later. Until then, let’s fight the good fight for the candidate of our choice.
Our nation’s future,and the future of our families will be defined by what occurs on November 5, 2012. We will know the winners and losers, and which direction the country will be led. We will also know by the end of June the decision on the individual mandate in Obamacare when the Supreme Court renders its decision. The year 2012 will be a watershed in American history, similar to 1776, 1812, 1860, 1917, 1941, 1985 and 2001.
As we enter into this momentous year, I wish all of you my very best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year for you and your families. Thank you for your friendship, your insights, your humor and your political acumen over these last 13 years. There is no site like FreeRepublic in quality, nor are there any better group of people who have loved and served this great land of ours.Perhaps some here can add to this history of FreeRepublic by relating some activites that I have not mentioned.
May God bless you and may He continue to bless our beloved country, the United States of America, the last beacon of freedom and hope for all mankind.
Love your Home Page bend over let me plant one
Don;t believe everything you hear! Happy New Year, Revolting cat--good to hear from you!
Good posters like you and others on this thread were what got me addicted in early 98. It took to the spring of the following year for MS chat room denizens like Towanda, Yellow Rose of Texas, amom, Two Thirds Vote Aye, Frogmom, and RAH finally got me to register and work around the firewall issues I had during the day at lunch time.
I hope Frogmom counted me in her 17 as she and her old man have actually met me and know I am not imaginary. All the KC crowd then got me really hooked as we were pretty active in the 99 to 2000 era.
The forum was very interesting back then — debate with disagreement but not malice.
Yes, my screenname is from Exit 82 on the Garden State Parkway, which is for Toms River, NJ, where I lived at the time.
In Joisey, people don’t ask you where you live, they ask you “What exit?”, a reference to the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike exits that locate you.
Giant Chilean SeaBass to be exact
Always good to hear from you, e, congrats and Happy New Year to you and Yours.
The forum was very interesting back then — debate with disagreement but not malice.
That is very true, and there were very intelligent posters then. Let's hope we can emulate them--we could use with less malice around here. Happy New Year to you!
You more than tried, FRiend. Outstanding job! You really have a talent for bringing things into focus in a very objective way. Great historical synopsis of Free Republic.
Happy New Year to everyone!!!
The same powers that pulled that crap (dare I say "Principalities and Powers"?), should they want Dear Leader to remain in office, are already starting with the drumbeat "Things are Getting Better", and I expect that drumbeat to get louder and louder as next November approaches.
Principalities and Powers will bank on the Gullibility of the American Voter. Too many believe what they're told. Send me a plate of crow if I'm wrong, I'll be happy to eat it.
The other problem is, the quality of Obama's opponents. I see no superstar there, they are all too human.
Heck, Reagan was the best president I ever voted for, but I'm afraid he was all too human, and would be all too human for these times. He made some horrible mistakes. Around the time he took office is when the deficit spending went out of control. Amnesty for Illegals, trusting the Democrats (same kind of people who threatened his life in Hollywood, and he didn't see it). The Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, in which they were not allowed to be loaded and locked, because they were "peacekeepers", and that would look too "offensive".
Examples off the top of my head. He was the best, yet in some ways not good enough. The job is too big, because FedGov tries to do too much.
The wisdom of the Founders and their Constitution looms larger every day. If only we can, God help us, wake up and SEE it.
This is the biggest difference I've noticed. The debates, for the most part, were kept at a civil level, due mainly to peer pressure and the fact that many people actually knew each other. It's hard to slip into Keyboard-Cowboy mode when you aren't anonymous.
There was also more emphasis on promoting your own favorite primary candidate and less emphasis on tearing down the other conservative candidates. It seems that's the norm here nowadays. What's up with that? It detracts immensely from the intelligent discussions that would/could develop if there weren't so much vitriol floating around. Just my 2 cents. I still love seeing all these familiar names, though. :)
It is important that we had a forum where we knew when posters changed their screen names or their political positions and why. Now it is just look up the posting history of someone a poster wants to slam and back-biting.
Tiresome to find the worthwhile takes hours rather than minutes.
Agreed. (...looking for the “Like” button... ;)
I know I check it often that and I read the obits in the paper everyday Im kinda sick I guess
You called?
Celebrating an anniversary on FR is gosh. Braggart.
5.56mm
“Before that, I was a much-attacked conservative on Salon.com(which I believe is now defunct.)”
Funny you mention that. I was on the Foxnews’ forum until it shut down just before I joined FreeRepublic. At that time I did not know what a vanity post was since everything I did was a vanity up to that point.
Needless to say I learned very quickly to shut up and listen. :)
Happy Anniversaries newbies.
Newbie
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