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?”
You are always going to have more unity when the person in power is against conservative principles (read opposition party is in control). However, when it comes to selecting & electing the person with conservative principles (read the party you identify with most) there is always going to be infighting. Those nattering nay bombs of negativity are merely those who are looking for excuses to trounce and say I told you so. They are best ignored, or if you prefer, point out where they are short-sighted. 8>)
LOL, I pop in there a couple of times a day just to see what they are up to. You wouldn’t believe the fake news. They will take an actual article, twist the headline, and make it whatever they want it to be if it suits their agenda.
Seriously though, they are certifiably insane. It’s scary.
OK, I tried to post this once and got an error. If it double posts that is why.
Don’t forget the LaRouchies and Raimondosaurs
There is not a damn thing a Libertarian is going to “teach” me.
You must FR mail Dolly Cali. She is the keeper of the list.
I wasn’t happy about the bump stocks but it isn’t because I care about bump stocks, I just don’t want to give them an inch. At the same time, I see the tactical utility of doing this. Now they can’t say we didn’t do anything. I would like to see concealed carry reciprocity but I’m not blaming Trump for that, I’m 100% blaming Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell for that. They’re using the 2A as a hostage to keep us in line. They’ll never let that hostage free and I want to punish them for it, not Trump. But it has to be a smart punishment or the hostage could end up killed.
Well, now we know the official position of the AFL-CIO.
Haven’t you made the statement, in the past on this forum, “I’m not a Conservative?”
Sigh. I know.
I used to feel like I could go into just about any thread and participate.
Now, I see certain threads, and just bypass them. Don’t even bother, because I know the same people will be in there lashing out at the same people.
There are a few posters I simply won’t even read their posts because they are so irascible, irritable, hostile, and often irrational that it is easier just not to interact.
I used to try to discuss things with some people rationally and try to bring things down to a manageable level of discourse, but some people don’t want that. They are angry and spoiling for a fight with anyone.
It would be one thing if there was someone with a sore spot, and you know if that sore spot is poked,they will lash out viciously, and you just avoid the subject.
But it seems that on any given day, something seemingly innocent can result in a heated discussion replete with ad hominem attacks. It is unpredictable.
I chalk it up to a lot of anger (God knows I have plenty of that in reserve) but I try to avoid (when I can) directing it undeservingly at other conservatives.
I love FR, but the negativity can be deep on some days.
By my reckoning 2012 was even worse than 2008. FAR worse! I've not really been much of a fan of FR since then and I even went a few years without an account. This after having been a donor back around 2000, attending various FReeps, etc. It was no surprise to me how ugly 2016 got after what happened in 2012. It is a deep-seated flaw of this site.
Libertarians are not Conservative by a long shot.
Conservatives and Libertarians share about ninety percent of the same platform.
Conservatives and the AFL-CIO share about ten percent.
Agreed. Leftists take any concession or surrender and immediately go for the next large blood-bearing vessel, like a one-way ratchet. They are the crocodile Winston Churchill referred to.
Mainly I see Trump as a reprieve for conservative Christians who are this country's only hope. I don't think we have many options left. We, as a country, have fallen morally from 2008 to the present. Trump's MAGA is mainly economic and I think it will help. But we need to MAGA spiritually.
That's maybe painting with too broad a brush. I was a Trump supporter. I had no problem with anyone supporting someone else.
I had a HUGE problem when someone couldn't support their candidate without trashing Trump.
Fun days!
Take Mark Levin. You'd agree he is a Libertarian right?
He spends a great deal of time talking about he US Constitution and how great the founding father were. But somehow he fails to mention that EVERY FOUNDING FATHER WAS A PROTECTIONIST AND ANTI FREE TRADE. I guess he just likes to ignore that one because it doesn't fit the fairly tale he professes(shouts about Free Trade like a mad man) or just simple cognitive dissonance. This is a great disservice to the historical record/truth. That is just one example. Thank me.
PS: Same with Rush.
People that are left and thrive here know one major thing. We are fighting to save what is left of the USA. We know that if the left wins, all is over. We are not going back to the Constitution or the USA as we know it.
We also know that we have to learn to take what is most important at this time to move to save this country. We still have principles, but we know our principles are not a death sentence either.
Gotta disagree with you there...the anti-Cruz rhetoric at FR got pretty hot & widespread...anyone not worshipping at the feet of DJT was suspect. What ever did happen to all those supposed Cruz mistresses anyway? ;-) Kind of ironic now! Anyway, I supported President Trump financially after the primary and of course voted for him, but the “Mr. Trump can do no wrong” crowd did lead me to create an account at “TOS” and I spend about a 1/3 of my “forum time” over there now.
I lurk far more than I post. I use FR to see what headlines are trending among us. I joined probably in my early 20’s which was after 9/11. Didn’t really feel like I fit in due to age disparity compared to most here, but as years went by it’s still one of my most visited sites. being self-funded it’s nice there is a conservative site that doesn’t have to bend to advertisers will, or worry about shutdown from Google pulling adsense revenue.
It was very enlightening.
FR has always been filled with brawls and name-calling so that is nothing new. Better passionate believers than dispirited posters.
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