Has FreeRepublic Jumped The Shark With Trump?

2/14/16 | OV

[OneVike]

I have been a member of FreeRepublic since February 1998, and in all my years I have ever seen so many Freepers support, and defend such a leftist candidate as Donald Trump. In the old days, any candidate that spouted the rhetoric coming out of his mouth would have been received with unanimous hatred from Freepers.

Mitt Romney was met with scorn when he claimed to have changed and was more conservative than his record showed. However, The Donald says the same thing and he is allowed to wear his liberal record as badge of honor, because he has been born again. Never mind that his fruit smells like Skubala. Any Republican candidate in the past who supported partial birth abortion was considered dead on arrival with 99.9% of Freepers. Yet a vast number of Freepers today look at Trump's defense of PP, and attack the candidate who dares to bring it up at a debate.

Thinking I have stumbled in some black hole of Bizzaro World, I decided to spend most the night, after the debate yesterday, researching past posts and comments of many Freepers who support Trump. I must admit that I wasn't too shocked to see that not all, but the vast majority, of his supporters have joined FR within the last 8 years. However I pretty much only searched the opinions of his most ardent supporters.

Interestingly enough, the ones I researched, all demanded that both Houses of Congress go after Planned Parenthood for selling baby parts. Many of them even demanded that the House use their power of the purse to defund PP. Yet these very same individuals defend, and make excuse for Trump's defense of said abortion factory, or at least claim it's bothersome but will still support him. These same individuals, however, were demanding McConnell resign for failing to pass legislation in the senate defunding PP. I did similar searches on their opinions of various other topics that Trump defends which would normally be cause of revulsion from these supporters had it been any other politician.

Well, I must admit that I am rather stunned by the way they have so easily changed their stances.

Who would have known that those who accused Jimmy Carter of never meeting a dictator and communist he didn't like, would now tout that his endorsement of Trump is not Trumps problem, and some even claim it will help him with Democrat voters in November. So we are now to welcome a politician that will get votes from leftists?

I thought the idea was to win them over to conservatism, not to abandon our beliefs just to get them to vote for our guy. So when will Freepers decide we need to change our stances on topics like "Black Lives Matter" to get more blacks to vote for our guy, or maybe we can find a good Muslim candidate who has made billions and talks a good game. Hey, so what if he may support Sharia law, just think of all those Muslim votes we can get from refugees Obama shipped in and we could actually own Dearborn Michigan. There has got to be some great female politicians who support PP that we could get behind, After all, we do have a problem with the female vote, right?

Yea, I'm just an old timer with old time values from the days when The Donald was still giving money to the Clintons and laughing at Republicans for making such a big deal over BJs in the Oval Office. Yup, just a geezer who remembers the wall of separation set up by Jamie Gorelick to keep Clinton from being prosecuted over Witewater which led to the attack on 9/11.

I guess I'm a conspiracy believer who thinks 9/11 was Clinton's fault, not GW's, and that the Weapons of Mass Destruction the NY Times finally admitted existed were originally sold to the public by the Clinton's to help get the Democrats on board for the war on Iraq.

Those were the good old days when we used to rip apart fake politicians for trying too hard to fit into our club, instead of ripping the messengers for noticing a fake when we see one.

Yea, that was before FreeRepublic jumped the Shark.

[A Conservative Thinker]

Building a wall on our southern border was part of his Senate campaign and his presidential campaign. I am totally against Trump’s touchback amnesty proposal just as I was against it when Kay Bailey Hutchinson introduced it.

[BlueDragon]

Catholic or not, it was the idea of the clergy using the Bible as a way to protect themselves (or the despot) from the law, or scrutiny.

True enough, it not matter who attempted hiding their own duplicity was what Jefferson appears to had been driving at.

Truth can stand by itself, it does not need a bible or scripture or a priest in any case to intervene on it's behalf.

Careful now, lest in too tight adherence to the above way of thinking one end up arbitrarily trashing what Truth there is within Judeao-Christian Holy Writ, and can be uttered also from the mouth of a priest, both those I had previously mentioned -- Anglican, and the more Romanist sort of Catholic, so-called "priest".

Those both can recognize and speak truth upon occasion, at the very least, the question there being -- how to determine when they are, and when they are not.

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

Yeah. I don’t get it. FR used to be conservative, used to care about policy.

Yes, that's true, but I think we are now in desperate times. Beating the Democrats seems to be the most important element of this campaign, and Trump seems to be as equally passionate about beating the Democrats as he is about pointing out shortcomings of the RNC.

I am conservative, and I care about policy; but if Trump is the GOP nominee I will probably vote for him.

[A Conservative Thinker]

Modern Liberalism is the ideological failure, not Conservatism, and I challenge you to defend that position in a debate here or on another thread. As far as Trump is concerned, you’re talking about an ideological liberal that has masqueraded in an opportunistic ploy to win the Republican nomination despite his registration with the Democrat Party and his years of political contributions to the far left. Your claim to desire “logical solutions” is hereby challenged and I can quickly offer your candidate’s total lack of solutions or substance venturing no further than a healthcare “plan” that he only described as “something great.” When pushed on 60 Minutes for specifics he only offered that it was “unRepublican,” entailed universal coverage of everyone, and was a responsibility for government. So, far from some mythical pragmatic non-ideological “solution” we are left with the failed progressive ideology. There’s nothing refreshing about an ideological chameleon, even one as bad as Trump, running as Republican only to cut deals with Democrats to accomplish progressive ends. I extend my challenge for you to defend this position.

[Balding_Eagle]

Building a wall on our southern border was part of his Senate campaign and his presidential campaign.

I'll take your word for it.

The reason The Wall made such a big splash with Trump, and nobody knows about Cruz's plans, is that everyone knew Cruz wouldn't/couldn't do it.

Trump, on the other hand, has a long history of not only getting those kinds of things done, but getting them done ahead of schedule, and under budget.

And where was Cruz last summer? He was noticeable silent, standing by with his finger in the wind as the hurricane attempted to destroy Trump.

He foolishly allowed Trump to own The Wall.

The best Cruz can do now is ran along behind saying 'Me too!, me too!'.

[Bubba Gump Shrimp]

how to determine when they are, and when they are not.

and thus we have checks and balance, and a jury of our peers in the most desperate of situations

one man, one priest, one written scripture cannot or will not have prejudice over the common good of the republic

if not, we would be no better than Iran

[Captain Peter Blood]

Here you go, after reading this and my own research Conservatism is a failure and has been for years:

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/02/laurence-m-vance/candidate-x-real-conservative/

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/10/gary-north/conservatism-is-a-total-flop/

[norwaypinesavage]

"why bother trying to reason with those who are unteachable, know-it-alls?"

You're so right on that one. I should never have posted to you.

[Slyfox]

I have also heard him say that he will keep Common Core. Hmmm. He must be one of those fellas who tends to talk out of both sides of his mouth. Has he done that before? Why yes he has.

[Stand Watch Listen]

I'm Jim Thompson! _{I'm Jim Thompson!}

..................................

_{I'm Jim Thompson!}..........................................I'm Jim Thompson!

I'm Jim Thompson!

.....................I'm Jim Thompson! ....................._{I'm Jim Thompson!} I'm Jim Thompson! I'm Jim Thompson!I'm Jim Thompson!
................................... I'm Jim Thompson!
I'm Jim Thompson!...........I'm Jim Thompson!
I'm Jim Thompson! .......................... ^{I'm Jim Thompson!}
I'm Jim Thompson! I'm Jim Thompson!

_{I'm Jim Thompson!}..........................................I'm Jim Thompson!

I'm Jim Thompson!

I'm Jim Thompson! ....................._{I'm Jim Thompson!}

[Slyfox]

While I watched the movie, I jotted down things that people said about him. The one thing that sort of encapsulated things for me was: ''Behind every facade is another facade.''

So, we need to ask what is behind the final facade?

Will we find out that he is in the process of pulling a Ross Perot on us?

Is Trump running a false flag campaign for Hillary?

[marygam]

Oh iscool I could go on for hours, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears.
I’m done.

[ironman]

Under Trump a deported illegal does not automatically gain a right to return under a visa or immigration program. So I do not agree that Trump supports touch back amnesty. If the illegals want back in they can be denied.

[entropy12]

Life, liberty and PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
requires one to be able to provide for the family.

It does not get any more basic than that.
If you can not understand that, I have no hope for you.
Those 94 million Americans without jobs, and millions more working 2 and 3 part time jobs, need more and better jobs to achieve more liberty and more happiness. WIthout a good job, one is very limited where they can live, which house they can buy, where they can send their kids to college, on and on.

[entropy12]

We are LEGALLY importing 1 to 2 million immigrants every year! If some of the illegals are above average productive people, it would be stupid not to have them come back LEGALLY, as part of the routinely approved immigrants every year.

[BlueDragon]

if not, we would be no better than Iran

If it came down to the narrowest as you described, if the "one written scripture" we relied upon was from the Judaeo-Christian tradition, we'd still stand a good chance of being "better off than Iran" since we wouldn't be relying upon a book full of distortions of what is within what I myself recognize as Holy Writ, but instead, being from within that book (rather than the Koran, Hadith, Sunnah, or other Islamic writings) be much closer to that exact book of writings (the Bible) which has long served as a significant influence towards Western civilization's entire outlook of what is Truth.

I have it on highest authority (not simply my own opinion, or just what some man or group/organization of men have said) that what I know to be, and what is widely & generally recognized as "the Bible" is true.

The book contains truth.

That does not mean it need be taken entirely literally in wooden two-dimensional fashion throughout. For example; such as what we know as "the world" having been as it is written created in six days does not necessarily equate to that meaning only six 24 hour calendar days, as we otherwise think of "days" to consist of.

There are other ways to grasp the meaning there, without changing or else losing the meaning, yet setting aside counting those six days from merely human perspective. There is another perspective involved, which place of perspective belongs to the One who it is alleged was doing the talking.

I'll give you three guesses whose perspective that is -- but the first two guesses don't count. :^')

[Iscool]

Furthermore, stop being dishonest about the fact that ThinkProgress and other progressive rags praise Trump for his “progressive values” with respect to the fact that he has stated that he will not reform entitlements and...and his support for universal healthcare coverage<.p>

I'd say you're the one being dishonest...

What you are referring to as 'progressive values' is Social Security benefits and Medicare...And when you say 'reform' these entitlements you mean diminish and demolish these programs...

First off, I can't say if you are being dishonest or just plain ignorant...Social Security benefits are NOT entitlements...That money belongs to us...We earned it and paid it in...

And Cruz and the rest of the GOPe and obviously you relish the thought of stealing our Social Security savings just just as you have been all along...And granted...Trump wants to save OUR Social Security...Guess that's not very conservative, eh???

And universal healthcare for those who can't afford insurance policies...That's a terrible thing, eh??? That's another of the reasons I will be voting for Trump...

otherwise known as the federal government confiscating the entire industry to establish a government monopoly to ration care for over 320 million Americans plus the millions of new “citizens” added through amnesty.

I hate to call you a liar but the shoe does seem to fit...Trump never proposed anything remotely close to what you accuse him of...

[conservativejoy]

Self proclaimed, "I can change rapidly to anything I want to change to".

[Albion Wilde]

It will be my pleasure to do so.

[Iscool]

It is my fear that Cruz is the real deal and Trump is the evil foil to give election to democrats. Certainly hope I’m wrong on that.

That makes no sense to me...Trump is bringing to the forefront the issues that the Democrats and the GOPe are trying to hide under the rug...Trump talks about the things that are crucial for our survival as a Nation...In my view Trump is not a Republican nor a Democrat...Trump is an American Patriot...

Trump talks like a high school drop out (at times) but the guy is brilliant...There's no doubt in my mind that Trump could have run as a democrat and cleaned house over there as well...

If all the Democrats vote Democrat and all the Republicans vote Republican, the Democrats will win in a landslide...Trump is bringing many Democrats to our side...No one else running against Trump can do that...