Prior to that, there had been considerable support for Rudy on FR. A few months earlier, Rudy had actually placed second in a straw poll on FR. The "Rudybots" as they were termed, were actively posting pro Giuliani threads pretty much 24/7.
What finally led Jim Robinson to take this step were Giuliani's comments in support of the Roe v. Wade decision at the May 3rd GOP presidential debate.
Prior to that, Rudy had increasingly come under the microscope at FR. The "Giuliani Truth File" was a stand alone category on the FR home page. There was an ongoing “STOP RUDY NOW News & Information Thread” that was featured.
Now let me state a few things for the record.
1. Jim Robinson is absolutely correct that a pro-choice position is anathema to FReepers. We may disagree on other topics, but this is our hill, on which we will all stand and die together. Rudy could not be the GOP nominee for that reason alone.
2. Many questioned whether Jim Rob should take such a drastic course of action..banning hundreds of people. Some felt that it would be better to engage in ongoing debate and discussion among ourselves. That was never the question. Indeed, it was never up for debate. I lost several good friends, of many years standing, that day, but I never questioned his absolute right to take that course of action. It is his website; he is free to run it as he sees fit, and those who can't abide with his decisions have the freedom to go elsewhere.
Now that we have that out of the way, let us turn our attention to "The Donald."
Trump is NOT a conservative.
He is not even a Republican. He was a registered Democrat from 2001-2009.
He has given far more to Democrats than to Republicans.
For most of his life, he was strongly, and proudly pro-choice. IOW, he was OK with killing babies.
He will NOT pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, and will not promise to NOT run a third-party race.
What Trump IS, is a narcissistic, megalomaniacal, bloviating asshole. It is beyond me how so many self-proclaimed conservatives here at FR could be supporting this clown. He is utterly unfit to serve as NYC Sanitation Commissioner, let alone as President.
That is of course their absolute right to do so.
But what I fail to understand is why Jim Robinson has not as yet banished all the "Trumpsters" from FR? What, pray tell, makes "the Donald" acceptable here, whereas Giuliani was not?
There are for certain some troubling points concerning Trump but a lot of folks are hoping that his change is authentic and not just a stunt to sell Trump.
You know all those Wounded Warriors commercials you see on TV?
Most of them would not be on if Trump had not financially supported the group. Those TV spots are very expensive.
Rudy was pro-establishment. Trump anti-establishment. Big difference. People cheer Trump for sticking his finger in the eye of Karl Rove types who try to control us and succeed (except for Reagan).
Freepers know there is little chance of Trump winning the primaries. We know we disagree on more issues than 9 other candidates.
now. People,
We learn from this what we should already know. We are inconsistent. We support the person who seems to be on our side and oppose the person who appears to be on the other side, regardless of ideology.
Cristiada Hispanics and Conservative Blacks do this also. They see us as angry and hateful towards them, even though they agree with us on the issues. Thus they vote for the person with whom they disagree on the issues because he appears to be on their side.
*Cristiada Hispanics? See movie FOR GREATER GLORY (Andy Garcia Eva Longoria) now on DVD.
From my vantage point, it is obvious Jim Robinson has good instincts on whom to support and whom to oppose.
JimRob can do whatever he wants since he wants donations from FReepers, then the tent should be as big as possible.
My observation is that Jim R. has been more than fair to Trump — even supportive. Maybe I’m wrong.
I”m embarrassed for you. Takes a person of minimal class to publically call out someone the way you did, when you could have emailed him to ask him. Take your skirt off and man up.
“He is not even a Republican.
1. Boehner is a Republican
2. McConnell is a Republican
3. Scalise is a Republican
4. Cornyn is a Republican
This getting tedious, but you get my drift.
I support Trump...
I support Trump calling out the gop-E as the complicit conspirators that they are...
I support Trump calling out the VA...
I support Trump causing the gop-E to wet their panties because they can’t control him...
I support Trump because the liberals have their knickers tied in knots trying to find something, anything to shut him up...
I support Trump because he is causing RINOs to expose themselves as the traitors to conservatism that they are...(Niki Haley comes to mind)
I support Trump calling out the PC nonsense in this Nation...
I support him because he’s forcing people to rethink what they’ve been told, taught, led to believe, and probably most importantly, how the government in DC has become one against the people...
I support WHAT he is doing, but he’s not my preferred candidate...
If we turn our backs to a man who is willing to expose himself to the kind of retribution he has, who then will be willing to stand up and fight for many of the things we believe in?
I’m really surprised at you ken!!!!!!!
Yours was an unkind post.....and you hit and run with it.
At least give the courtesy of an answer to your long time friends here!!!!!!
FWIW, I like TRUMP!.....and you know where my social agenda lies.
I’m willing to give the man a window to see what he’s going to do.....and so far he’s doing plenty .....and it’s good!!!
I liked Giuliani and still do. I would have supported him if he had been the nominee. He’s pro law and order and would have been light years above Obama. I couldn’t voice that much here at the time as I would have been attacked and maybe banned. I loved his attack not too long ago against Obama. It was very Trumpesque in its honesty. It was disappointing that even he felt he had to back peddle to some extent in the days after. He shouldn’t have done that, IMO.
I’m not particularly pro-Trump as I’m pro-Trump not taking any crap. We’ve watched the Repub politicians play nice for far too long and it’s gotten us nothing. We reward the lousy paintywaists with good mid-terms and even good Presidential year races (2004), and they stab us in the back each time, but it’s all we had.
I think it’s very wrong to ask for purges. I think FR was hurt greatly by doing that. It limited creativity, interest, and thought here. I would never ask for that against someone unless they were obviously a Dem.
I voted for McCain in 2008...mostly because of the threat of Obama and for the introduction of Palin. I like her and still do even though I think her time has passed as a viable political candidate...at least as far as president. I voted for Romney in 2012. I’d gladly vote for a Scott Walker or Ted Cruz in 2016. We need a real fighter this time, though. Not a talker. Not a backstabber. Not a reach across the aisle type. We also need a communicator. Bush was terrible at that and it hurt us greatly. What it comes down to is that the country is too far gone. Obama has completely destroyed and demoralized. And that is why Trump is doing well. He’s giving it back to people and people are attracted to that. We need someone to fight because there is much urgency at this point in time.
So far he is not supportive, but he is also supportive.
What is the point of picking on JR?
“But what I fail to understand is why Jim Robinson has not as yet banished all the “Trumpsters” from FR? What, pray tell, makes “the Donald” acceptable here, whereas Giuliani was not?”
Jim Robinson likes Trump, I believe. Trump is a fighter, a doer, not a sit on your hands and do nothing but talk politician. Trump built a real estate empire worth 6 billion dollars plus. He’s worked hard all his life. He does what he says he wants to do. His last move is in creating a website for Vets to go to, to vent their spleen on how they have been treated. A Vet hotline, as it were, that Trump plans on following up on what they say.
Many Freepers were once more liberal than they are now as was Trump, and Trump was in a very politically delicate position for many years if he didn’t want to have his business empire destroyed by Dem politicians, especially in NYC where he operates out of. An example of what would have happened to him if he were overt in his political opinions back then is what is happening to him now that he has come out squarely on the conservative side. Trump is voicing loudly and clearly for conservative principals and policies. Dem politicians are thus, as he knew they would, trying to destroy his businesses (see Mayor deBlasio from NYC for the prime example of this). Trump’s no dummy. He knew what to expect and the Dems are acting true to character (or should I say from the lack thereof).
One of my oldest friends was pro-choice and voted for Clinton the first time around. She adopted two children, I worked on her for years; she is innately very intelligent and overcame the brainwashing she had received while at college to adopt a stance on abortion now that is a bit to the right of Attila the Hun. Life is not static. People change. I believe that after 6 plus years of the Obama regime, Trump has gotten an eyeful. He has changed for the better because Trump is basically a nationalist, part populist, pure capitalist and loves his country.
He’s figured it out because he has that somewhat rare quality these days, common sense, and because he has built his business empire well and can now devote his time and turn his attention to politics on a full-time basis. He is older and wiser, and his adult children are now taking over the reins of power. The Donald is freed up, in the best sense of the word free, and has come down hard on the side of conservatism.
Trump’s change philosophically has all been to the good, not to the dark side of Dem beliefs. Why would you knock that? Trump, like many of us, improved with age. And Trump is beholden to no one. He’s rich. This is our party’s chance to have the best of both worlds, an inside the Republican tent outsider, because Trump is a businessman, a doer, not a politician all talker as a career choice.
Trump leaves the door open slighly for a third party run as a threat mechanism, because he has most of the Repubican RINO establishment types attacking him relentlessly at the moment, and it’s one way of obliquely telling them to mind their P’s and Q’s and not take it too far. A smart political move by one who is not a politician, wouldn’t you say? I would do the same. Let the threat hang out there. We all know why he is doing this. He’d be stupid not to.
But Trump doesn’t have any need to go third party, does he? He’s number one in the Republican polls. A whole lot of people don’t believe as you do right now. I accept that could all change, as politics are one of the most fluid of the arts. I highly respect your opinions here on FR, and even on this topic. I just believe you are plain wrong. One of the two of us is off kilter here, and time will tell. I hope it’s you that is wrong, lol. Just sayin......
Guiliani, by the way, held his liberal beliefs throughout his run for President. He did not retract or modify his beliefs on gay marriage, abortion, etc. He came into his campaign with those beliefs. He has kept those beliefs to this very day. He has not have an epiphany at any point in time in his life, he has stayed hardfast in those beliefs to this very moment. Guiliani has a true liberal streak.
Trump does not. Trump has eschewed his earlier more liberal positions over the years, they have dropped one by one, like flies, and as with my good friend I referenced above, Trump has “evolved” into someone who now is very much a conservative.
You can claim he is lying I suppose. I maintain a whole lot of our 16, soon to be 17 Republican candidates are lying in one way or the other on a variety of topics. Prove me wrong here just as I ask you to prove that Trump is somehow lying to the whole nation in what he is saying to us. We can’t be sure about any of them, and they all have said or done things policy-wise that would not be considered purely conservative. All have fallen short of the glory of God. But we must choose one of them. I choose the one I think could actually win.
I trust a businessman outside of the system more than a politician within it, that when they get into office they don’t start backtracking on the issues they espoused during their campaigns. This, as we all know, has happened all too frequently. Take a look at some of the current crop of Pubs (not all of them) in Congress. In particular the leadership, such as the likes of Boehner and McConnell. What a disappointment. Life, just as in picking candidates, is a crap shoot. You never really know until they are in office what you actually bought at the ballot box.
By the way, I agree with you about purges; I’m not for them in general, lol, as I was one of the victims of the purge, although it was what I said about Gingrich, not about Guiliani. But, a purge is a purge. I treat it as a blip on the screen of Freeper life, and here I am, still around for the last 17 years on this website. I believe purges should not be for supporting a particular Republican candidate that can be sorted out through hopefully intelligent debate on this site, and may the best man or woman candidate win our support, but for egregious behavior such as being an overt troll. No infiltrators are needed.
I assume you are being tongue in cheek about wanting purges of those that support Trump, which are the majority of people now posting on this site. You are making a point about what happened to Guiliani supporters (and over other candidates too, as I well know) when many were purged. But I am also assuming you want that same free debate over candidates you wanted back then to take place now, including debate about Trump.
I believe that is what is happening, as I have seen no zot’s taking place because of who supports a particular candidate this time around. As that is the case, I am a bit suprised at your rant as there is no overt proof of a repetition of the “purges” era taking place now (keeping our collective fingers crossed). You have a long memory and I’ll bet you’ve been holding this grudge in for quite a while, lol, and not without merit. Things are as they are though, and Jim Robinson is indeed the owner of this site, as we both know.
Trump is a fighter, a doer, and I openly support the one man who is out there actually sticking up for Main Street as opposed to K Street and Wall Street. The old silent majority, and there are many. Trump will bring in what used to be referred to as the Reagan Democrats also. Just look at the polls. And this is after the MSM, the Dems, and the RINO establishment GOP talking heads have done everything within their power to derail and do in Donald Trump. He’s still standing, bless his soul. Takes the punches, doubles and triples down, and carries on to accomplish what he considers his political and ideological goals.
Trump is the Patton of Politics, and that is why the mainstream folk are flocking to him. They feel he is one of the few people on their side and speaking to what they are all thinking. If he is snookering all of us, he will pay for it one day, in heaven or on earth, and Trump has always been a Christian, but we take our chances with all of these politicians, don’t we. With the exception of Cruz, whom I trust the most out of the lot, I trust few others. That is because Cruz follows up on what he says he will do. And Cruz, by the way, is on Trump’s side.
May I ask who you favor in this primary race, and why?
Where did rooty get his money and where does Trump get his money? You may find part of your answer there.
Its JR’s site, I guess he can do what he wants.
If that happens he can start with me first!
Trump is not my first, second, or even third choice, but if he wins the nomination I have no problem voting for him.
Nobody will ever tell me who to vote for again, especially if the choice is an effin’ rino.
ken, as a fellow Class of ‘98er, I still love you man.
This could have been done differently.
No need for a screed and calling out Jim for this.
I am giving Trump a fresh slate.
Right now, Cruz is my number one pick; Trump 2nd; Walker a tenuous third.
The President is not supposed to bring hope and change, or to heal the oceans.
He is the CEO of America.
His job is to protect and defend the Constitution, uphold the laws, and run the government.
Trump could do all of that blindfolded.
I have been involved in construction of buildings in major cities, and to make things happen on time and under budget, there are plenty of challenges. You have to be on the top of your game to play in that league.
So I respect Trump for his accomplishments.
I also respect him for loving my country like I do.
I also respect him for taking on anybody and everybody and for saying the very same things I say each night yelling at my TV.
If he is the nominee, I have no qualms about voting for him.
If Jeb is the nominee, he will not get my vote.
If that means Hillary becomes the President, oh well, as there is not a dime’s bit of difference between the two.
We have been played by the Dems and the GOP-E for the last 20 years.
They are two sides of the same coin.
There are only two men right now that are fighting the DC Cartel—that is Cruz and Trump.
No candidate is perfect, and no candidate is going to be a perfect match to our personal preferences grid.
But America loves a fighter, and I want a fighter, so give me Trump, Cruz or any combination of the two, and I am happy.
I don’t get it. Why do Free Republic subscribers mention banning posts and people. Isn’t the whole idea behind Free Republic to freely express all thoughts and ideas.
Hate to tell you this, Ken, but even JimRob supports Trump’s attacks against the GOPe.
Have you been living in a cave?