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’ve loved Free Republic for 20 years. It has always been the place I go to for insight on issues, and is a refuge for those of us who despise and distrust the liberal media. Is it perfect? Of course not, but it beats anything else out there. Freepers are also some of the funniest people I know! I don’t like the infighting, but I know that we share the same core values.
It was loads of fun toying with these fools.
My take on that period is this...
There was a high amount of distrust of the GOPe at the time, including delegate fixing (where Trump won the primary but Cruz got all the delegates locked up) and RNC convention organizers making "rules" pronouncements suggesting that Trump could be disqualified on the floor.
People were reaching the point of wanting such an overwhelming victory that the "establishment" couldn't overturn it with disqualified delegates and floor fights, that talk of Cruz or Rubio or Kasich hanging on despite no path to victory in the hopes of a convention "Hail Mary" was seen as splitting the remaining primaries or depressing late state turnout to deny Trump a mandate going into the convention.
People wanted a unified party going into the general election against Hillary Clinton, and expected the likes of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan to go wobbly and limp in support of Trump. People thought that Cruz was being played by the GOPe to be the convention spoiler, after he was Public Enemy #1 in the Senate just the year before. Cruz didn't disappoint, when he refused to endorse Trump on the convention stage after graciously being given a speaking slot. Trump was seen in the wings, just in case Cruz chose to bury the hatchet and unite the party. It didn't happen.
So the anger towards Cruz lingered throughout the general election, much of it self-inflicted in my opinion. It was very touch and go right up to 9:00pm on election night. Many of us here who studied the polls daily knew that the MSM was cooking the samples and that things were much closer than they appeared, but we would have liked a more unified Republican effort after the convention.
-PJ
It is good to know that there are people like you in this forum who know everything already.
The book of Proverbs has a word for people who are not prepared to learn from others, in this instance because of a party or philosophical label.
I’d love to see the poll results of FReepers who were adamantly pro-Iraq war and pro-Bush ten years ago, vs now. LOL!
They were given cover by Rush’s ranting. I stopped listening to him for a few days and still find him tedious.
I was never big on Trump. I liked Cruz. However, I was/am a never ever Hillary.
I’ll criticize Trump. Don’t like the omnibus. Really don’t like that he’s been unfaithful, but I’m pleased with many of his actions as president.
And every day I am thankful that Hillary was not elected. We dodged a bullet.
Guiliani would have been a great president, his faults then would be tolerated now. We were warned about McCain.
A logical and analytical summary! Excellent, thank you.
I subscribed to The New American for some time. After reading about a year’s worth, I found it to be very repetitive in content. I let it lapse several years back. No interest in joining them. I have no reason to believe that the grassroots members were anything but old-fashioned patriots, though.
The idea of “Free Trade” did not get stated until 1776. It wasn’t an alternative theory to live by. The Founders also knew that tariffs were a tax paid by the taxpayers.
Agree. I was accused of being an ISIS/AQ supporter for not accepting the official Newtown narrative.
I have been here 20 years in November after lurking for six months.
things have changed.
Seems like we lose more than we gain.
but am glad you are here.
I find myself skimming TOS also.
I see nothing different at all. There was a lot of contention over Bush, a lot of contention over McCain and a lot of contention over Romney. The nature of politics is contentious.
As do I.
If there is no discussion, NOTHING is learned or absorbed.
Today’s world is not conducive to these any longer. At some point in time we’ve forgotten how to communicate in agreement as well as disagreements.
JM2c
Guilty. I was critical for not telling the people it would take 25 yrs to finish the task. But expediency won out.
I just responded to one a few minutes ago
Glad you’re sticking around even if only to lurk
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