Posted on 02/17/2016 12:49:08 AM PST by OldSaltUSN
Unfortunately, I was "bounced" off FR by Jim in 2005. I made a single post stating that "I'll never vote for Schwarzenegger" because he had betrayed the conservative movement and was by the time of his reelection, clearly running policies to the left of his Democrat predecessor. My post was not bombastic, and I didn't attack anyone. I simply stated that I wasn't going to go along with the GOP-e bandwagon, much as some Trump supporters are doing now. Jim replied: "You're not being helpful" in the cause, and ZOT, I was gone. I've stayed away since (reading, but not posting), because I felt that since this was Jim's forum, if he didn't want me here, I'd respect his wishes and leave.
Why change that now? Because FR is not FR anymore. It's morphed into some sort of alternative Democrat Underground universe, with personal attacks on the character and intentions of other conservatives, supported by half-truths and wholesale lies. I hope folks can regain their sense of common purpose and values. The discord is damaging FR, and I believe, hurting the conservative movement. Your attitude and words here are influential, reflecting on every conservative.
In JIMROB's own words, "you're not being helpful" to the conservative movement, nor respectful to the honorable institution that FR has become, when you imitate Alinsky's disciples.
With that, Jim, you can ZOT me again, and **poof**, I'll be gone again for ... ah ... at least ten years if I'm still alive. Best wishes, and FReegards (note: I was the first, actually, to coin that term in maybe my 3rd post back in the 1990's.). PS: Jim, I was still right about Arnie. Hope no hard feelings remain.
OldSaltUSN will become OldZotUSN!
Hear, hear! If you get zotted for this post, then I might as well go, too.
That is an excellent post but ...
This is the age of the death of reason!
No candidate yet. A lot can happen in 9 months’ time.
Ping
Exactly.
This is a well-reasoned piece, but why set up Rules of Engagement for a Steel Cage Death Match?
I am not going down with the ship.
Great post
I think this is constructive criticism and very much needed. If we become little more than a mirror image of the Alinsky crowd, then all is lost.
Excellent post!
Thank you for your post. Like many around here, I had decided on my candidate, but knew I’d gladly support “the other guy” if mine didn’t get the nomination. I felt like those two candidates would be best for the country. Once the gloves came off between Cruz and Trump (about the time Cruz starting gaining on Trump in the polls), however, the gloves seemed to come off around FR, too. It’s been almost unbearable lately, but like a train wreck, I can’t help but watch. You are right that Trump and his supporters have driven away plenty who would have voted for him should Cruz lose the nomination (I’m sure the reverse is true, too). I now have no more enthusiasm to support him in the general election than I do Clinton or Sanders.
When typing a post on FR, there is a message under the text box that says “Please: NO profanity, NO personal attacks, No racism or violence in posts.” Those guidelines for decorum have really gone out the window lately. It’s not that I’ve never heard coarse language before, it’s just that it’s disappointing to see such vulgarity here, of all places. Posts that would have been deleted before now sit proudly diplayed. Last night I saw G*D* (spelled out) in someone’s post for the first time. That, on top of other words that have shown up this election cycle for the first time, have made FR look bad. It isn’t that I am too “Christian/uptight/girlie” to appreciate the language of the fed up conservative electorate; it’s that I hate sounding more and more like DU.
Thanks again for your reasonable post and the reminder that we have to pull together NOW or there will be nothing worth getting out to vote for in November.
Okay, except the post, which you endorse, is essentially a hit piece against Trump. IOW, it can only be taken as "we have to pull together NOW against Trump."
At this point in the campaign, that is a divisive message, not a uniting one.
Well, come back again sometime, when you can't stay so long...
"The number is 100."
Response: "But you're nasty, fat, and ugly!"
Logical result: Number is still 100. (The response was illogical, meaningless.)
Good people say and write stupid things. We can all do better, and gently encourage our conservative brothers and sisters to do better as well.
As I've pointed out in my original post, we have many decent conservative, and in a pinch, acceptable candidates. We don't need to destroy each other, or FR, to elect "The Donald" or any of the other GOP candidates.
FReegards.
It is 2016.
I skipped the irrelevant wall of text because one hundred percent of candidates running are devisive.
I disagree with you, Trump can’t win in the end, his negatives are two high.
He is only winning now due to the split field.
Not sure what point you're disagreeing with me, exactly. I'm not currently a Trump supporter.
As another FReeper pointed out, there's nine months left (but really, only a couple before a candidate has too many delegates, or no candidate will be able to obtain enough delegates resulting in a brokered convention, but I digress). The game is still young, not static. Trump COULD change, garner new support, and win both the primary and election.
The "he can't win" argument is logically unprovable from where we stand now. We know no such thing, and when a candidate uses "I can win; the others can't" as primary election plank, he's arguing from a position of weakness.
I suggest we FReepers focus on what we can logically debate and evidentially prove. We're less likely to find ourselves supporting a lemon candidate. Heck, if we can't articulate what a "conservative President" should look like, how the heck are we going to be able to elect one of those rare critters?
FReegards.
Don't blame you. I can't stand to read my own crap. I'm out of practice, but will try to improve.
However, I'm not sure what point you intended to make.
The observation: "100% of candidates running are divisive". It's the nature of the beast, it's what an election is all about. However, it's one thing to point out your opponents record vis-a-vis your own, or his own advertising, and it's a whole nuther thing altogether to say:
He's a liar - he's the worse liar I ever met.
He's lying about my record (i.e. without clarifying the falsehood - usually the "lie" is not made up of whole cloth").
... and etc.
This is not a "normal" election. What's going on in the FReeper's blogs is not "normal" argumentation. My point is that we're better reset the tone and tenor of civil discussion back to evidence and logical argumentation, REGARDLESS OF WHAT OUR CHOSEN CANDIDATE is emitting, or conservatives and FR are ... um ... lightbulb, turned, around ... screwing? ..ed. (We're all gonna lose again, big time!)
The standards out on the Trump campaign, for example, are not those we conservatives tolerate, on this forum OR in real life. We need to be "consistent conservatives" ourselves before we start harranging our fellow conservatives about policy or candidates.
FReegards, my friend.
Well, thanks.
Kinda-sorta thanks. I’ll assume you meant well. Best to you as well.
From successful Governor's like Walker, Jindal, and Jeb Bush, to Cruz, Rubio, Carsen, on down the line.
Then came along, Donald Trump.
I simply stated that I wasn't going to go along with the GOP-e bandwagon, much as some Trump supporters are doing now.
So Trump and his supporters are the GOPe...And his presence wrecked everything... Could have been a nice, quiet election like we are used to where the most liberal candidate wins...
Because FR is not FR anymore. It's morphed into some sort of alternative Democrat Underground universe, with personal attacks on the character and intentions of other conservatives, supported by half-truths and wholesale lies.
Hear, hear! If you get zotted for this post, then I might as well go, too.
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