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The immigration issue has been ignored the past couple years. President Bush laid out ideas to get the ball rolling. Many of his ideas are just that, ideas. Yet, there are many here at Free Republic who think the laws have been written.

There are lots of people posting daily. And it’s probably a safe bet to say, the majority of them avoid these threads, such as myself. Why is that? Because if we express one opinion that doesn’t mesh with the crowd, we are automatically told to go drink kool aid, are a Bush-bot, to lick the nazi boots, etc. It’s not that we agree with the proposal, we are questioning what is the best way to address this issue. Would you prefer that President Bush did not bring this issue up for debate?

You won’t win people to your way of thinking using that tactic. Your point can be made using logic and facts. If you have facts about the immigration proposal, post them and discuss them. Maybe you will win more to your way of thinking, maybe you can concede some of their points. The attack mode is turning off many would be supporters. United, we will achieve more than the current division running rampant on these threads.

Just for fun, post a thread, ask, ‘How many Freepers do not post on the immigration threads because of the flame wars?’ It would be interesting to see the type of responses you get.

My political memory goes back a fair ways so I think a have a modest barometer of experience to confirm what I believe ideologically and what I deduce from history.

It has taken us over 70 years to get to the state of socialism that we are at today. It will take time to reverse political trends and none of it will be accomplished in one or two election cycles. The alternatives, like it or not, are much worse.

Conversely, if real change is not possible, we may come to a place where revolution may occur again. However, the kind of petulant factionalism rooted in impulse gratification I see from many here is no recipe for reform in the short or long-term.

In any event, the left in this country has never been so clearly knocked off of their game. On top of that, they have unquestionably lost the moral high-ground and are fighting for their political lives. I don't care where you go, the left is defensive, defensive, defensive. Inroads on a score of fronts have been made and they, of all people, are the most aware of the damage inflicted.

Like the apogee at the top of a curve, some slowing of the ascent, the zenith and the beginning of the descent are almost indistinguishable from one another. To my mind, transitions are never periods of clarity or satisfaction.

Hold tight, but shooting yourself in the foot makes no sense whatsoever. Are you working for local conservatives, or do you just spend time worrying because the national scene isn't draconian enough for you?