Posted on 03/27/2018 1:00:28 PM PDT by The Citizen Soldier
My journey with Free Republic began in late 1998. It was near the end of the Clinton Presidency, and there seemed to be a new wave of hope and a sense of renewed patriotism as we gathered to defeat Al Gore and elect George W. Bush. But, on the whole, we lacked a platform, a vehicle, whereby we could gather together and speak with a common voice.
Jim Robinson provided that platform, utterly unique at the time, a place for conservative voices to sing out, to proclaim their views, to unite, and to encourage one another that we were not battling alone.
I would meet FRiends when I traveled to Washington D.C. in January 2001 to attend the inauguration of George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States. I’ll never forget the joy and the celebration of that day; a new day, a new hope, a new opportunity.
Along the way I lost my Free Republic password, and there was no way to recover it. And so I started anew as The Citizen Soldier on November 26, 2002. Over the past twenty years, Free Republic has been my go to site to confirm conservative stories, to read thoughtful and insightful conservative comment, and generally “lurk.” Actually, evidenced by my relatively few posts over the years, I would categorize myself as a life-time lurker at Free Republic.
In 2016, in the run-up to the election of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States, I began to detect the seeds of dissension and disharmony at Free Republic, ala the “Never Trump” crowd that emerged. Less and less, I frequented the site because it seemed that every thread was a mini-battle, not with liberals and socialists—I would have welcomed that—but with ourselves; conservatives and libertarians taking off the gloves, continually entering the battle royal.
Oh, I participated now and then, but I tired of fighting our own side, and found new online homes where I could find more consistent support for our new President. Through it all, Free Republic has remained bookmarked and like a magnet it has continually drawn me back. I lurk again and again. But lately it has all become too much. Every move our President makes is scrutinized and criticized, often with the reminder, “I’ve always been a never-Trumper,” either voiced or implied. The thought of a Hillary Clinton Presidency, and the CERTAIN destruction of our great nation that would have brought, makes me cringe to this day, now into the second year of the Donald Trump's Presidency. But I feel like a voice in the wilderness, as the criticism of Donald Trump and his administration escalates week by week.
I’m not leaving. I’m 70 years old now, and I’ve moved from California to Arizona to enjoy the “sunshine years” of my life. Recently my 46 year-old son visited and before he left he said, “Dad, please don’t ever stop fighting.” And I won’t. But, my dear FRiends, Free Republic must recapture the spirit of independence and conservatism.
As a Christian, I end my comments with a paraphrase from Bob George’s, “Classic Christianity.”
“The answer is not simply calling someone wrong or proving yourself right. The real issue is what answer can we give to those who desperately need to hear the message of conservatism?”
I left the libertarian party because of open borders, abortion and nonpreemptive stress I long ago advocated we do a regime change in Iran and leave saddam to keep his people in line by raping and touring them.
The “tolerance” for gays and such is not tolerance. you can abhor it and call it an abomination. They just believe in freedom and that includes people you can’t stand.
The Buchanan threads were a lot of fun!
One arrest in the biggest scandal in US history should not be too much to ask.
Yes, your last paragraph says sort of what my last paragraph says.
I forgot about the abortion issue. They insist that you can be a libertarian and be either for or against abortion.
I think that is the reason for most people’s criticism, that you end up not being against things that are wrong. In a funny way, it’s similar to liberalism, or libertinism, if there is such a word, except that today’s liberals would love to take certain people’s freedom away.
“Conservatism is going through a metamorphosis.”
3/4 of this site, me included, thought neo-con was suitable conservatism when Bush was elected.
Boy, was I dumb.
(Doughnuts to the first response of “you still are”)
I can’t read the name “Bircher” without the lyric from Charlie Daniels Uneasy Rider going through my brain.
I think there is a distinction. I can say you have the freedom to smoke pot, but I can’t stand the stuff. This two positions are not mutually exclusive. you can dislike something and not put people in jail for it.
The libertarians always said if your behavior doesn’t harm anyone then you should be able to do ti. but abortion is a big example of “harm” and they support the right. That conflict drove me away.
Yes way. Mostly from states that at the time hadn’t experienced the locust plague. A lot of hearts were changed as the plague spread.
Trump changed my mind, I thought he would be stronger and better as a candidate than Cruz. I wasn't (yet) angry at Cruz, but his supporters were so condescending, so awful, and so monstrous, it was difficult to be here for a while.
Jim began the purge only after Trump won the necessary delegates, and only because the Cruz supporters were so seriously incapable of realizing we had one awful, corrupt harridan to defeat, and we had to stop beating up on each other.
Many of those have never returned from #nevertrumpism. Many became Trump's most ardent supporters, and still are today.
Tis an interesting history.
And conservatives, most of them (except for the paleos), don’t seem to have much use for the Constitution.
I personally have no use for libertarian ideas on borders, abortion, other social issues, patent/copyright.
But on guns, limited government, personal liberty, and general non-aggression towards others, they are spot on.
I think we would be hard pressed to name a President who had less personal reason to run for the office and more love for country since Washington than Trump.
I supported Ted Cruz up until the moment he dropped out then, I jumped right on the Trump band wagon for this reason, his concern and love is for my beloved country, not his damn legacy.
I could care less if somebody wants to call me an idiot for supporting Cruz and, nobody owes me an apology either.
Let’s engage the enemy and not worry about labels and butt hurt. The only thing I see that has happened of freerepublic.com is that we are now all from Queens.
Sticks and stones may break my bones but Leftists can kiss my ass. Gitouttahere!
Not sure, but we ended getting a full slate of Goldman-Sachs appointments from President Trump. And to think some people were worried about Ted’s wife!! Water under the bridge my friend...time to move beyond “Never Trumpers” and “Trumpista’s”. Most people are more like me I think...”Supporting President Trump and wishing him well in draining the swamp & shaking up D.C., but he is far from “perfect” and can be criticized when needed”.
It means the whole premise is wrong.
Our laws express our ethics and morals. If you allow them to start to vanish, they will eventually all go away. They are not arbitrary; they are there for a purpose, proved by tradition. It’s just easiest to see the problem in the case of abortion. Right now. But it gets harder and harder to see the problem, and more and more laws become more likely to be seen as arbitrary.
It is really anarchy in disguise.
The big difference, goldmansacks trump appointments worked for US. Cruz and his woman worked for goldmansacks. Special loans and all.
I agree.
I can depend upon a nasty, ill-informed insult from you. Calling me a “libertarian” is the ultimate insult.
When I answer a question I get abuse.
An explanation is not the same thing as agreement, hard as that may be for you to grasp.
Your screed about Smith is wrong from the first sentence. Smith’s philosophy is, in fact, to show the superiority of allowing a free choice in the free market place.
Marx was no more a ideological ally of Smith than he was of Ricardo who provided the base of his economic system. Marx had comprehensively studied Western history, and examined the economic system and produced a system which withstood refutations for fifty years.
You can forget the ad valorem tax. There will be no other taxes than progressive on a nationwide basis. Tell me how you are going to convince 50% of the voters to vote to get rid of the progressive income tax when they benefit from that system. May as well try and repeal female suffrage or institute a monarchy. A waste of time.
All correct but we haven’t been in control since 11/22/1963.
What is standing in the way of progress is Senate Rules. Changing them is critical to implement Trump’s agenda.
His Farewell Address was actually more a warning about the dangers of secession than foreign policies. He knew the necessity and meaning of a strong union. It came first or all is lost.
People were hoping that Cruz was running a clean campaign to angle for the VP spot on Trump's ticket, but Chicago ended that pipe dream, and hope changed to anger.
-PJ
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