Time to part company

myself | 4/1/05 | hchutch

[hchutch]

Six months ago, Free Republic was riding high, and I was proud to be a part of it. It was coming off having blown the cover off of Dan Rather’s use of forged memos against the President. The President was well on his way to winning re-election. It was a great time to be a Freeper.

However, things have changed. It started with the justifiable removal of ALIPAC. I supported that move by Jim Robinson, but the ugliness directed towards Alberto Gonzales. He was accused of everything under the sun, and Senator Mel Martinez was viciously attacked for speaking Spanish on the Senate floor. The tone and outright viciousness (terms like FROBL and traitor were fired off at anyone who did not toe the line established by Michelle Malkin and Tom Tancredo) on immigration threads had concerned me, but I had concluded it was an isolated incident. After ALIPAC was removed from FR, I had hoped the tone there would improve. But it only got worse. I was point-blank called a traitor because my views on immigration differ from those of Michelle Malkin’s groupies. On immigration threads, questioning the questionable is not allowed. One must accept the unacceptable and allow folks to defend the indefensible. Never mind that VDARE, American Renaissance, and other sites are racist or have no problem hanging out with those that are racists (I’m just going to call a spade a spade here).

There were folks who had the long knives out for Senator Rick Santorum, one of the strongest pro-life members of the United States Senate. Why? Because he endorsed Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey. It was stunning to see these long knives out for a conservative. And all it would accomplish would be his replacement by a Democrat. How in the world replacing Rick Santorum with a Democrat would aid conservatism is beyond me, but it was demanded because Santorum endorsed Specter. The long knives were out, and I suppose it was a sign of what was to come.

The whole Terri Schiavo case has changed everything for me. A mob mentality took over the first few days after the order to pull the tube was given. Anyone who did not toe the line was attacked. I saw a dedicated active-duty member of our armed forces called a “Maine liberal” for simply asking why troops in harm’s way did not get the same sort of “all-nighter” attention that Terri Schiavo got. It was a reasonable question – we have 40-year-old P-3s still out there. We have a war on terrorism still going on, in case folks have not noticed. We have to get Social Security fixed. I say this as a person who believes that at best, Michael Schiavo’s relationship with a woman (and having two kids with her) meant he had a conflict of interest – and that he had decided that Terri was inconvenient. I cannot take his word alone that Terri would have wanted this. I also believe that George Felos is a supporter of euthanasia, and that he is using this case for his own ends. Those folks give me the creeps, and I think that Jim Robinson was on the right side of this issue. However, I also got a very bad feeling when the Schindlers embraced the likes of Randall Terry and Bo Gritz. I had to wonder what has happened to the conservative movement when the threads were allowed to spiral so out of control. The concept of euthanasia is repulsive and disgusting, but it does not excuse allowing the threads to spin out of control.

I have seen the President of the United States, George W. Bush, and the Governor of Florida, John Ellis Bush, take huge political risks in an effort to save Terri’s life. I believe they were doing their best to do the right thing, and that the original law passed in 2003 was a reasonable one that was wrongly stuck down by Judge Greer and the Florida Supreme Court. I think that the Republican Party has taken a huge risk to give Terri a chance at life, and I am disgusted with those who seek a pretext that will justify leaving the GOP in the lurch. I’m sick of the way the Terri threads spun out of control, and the vicious attacks launched at reasonable people who came to a different conclusions about the situation or who pointed out facts that certain people found inconvenient. This is not what I signed on here for.

I believe in a strong national defense, cutting taxes, and in general trying to keep government involvement as minimal as possible (there are times when the best one can do is to limit government involvement in a situation). I am pro-life (with exceptions for rape, incest, and to protect the life of the mother) and pro-Second Amendment. However, I do NOT want the federal government to be involved in any culture war. “Culture” was never mentioned in the constitution, thus I believe it is left to the States or TO THE PEOPLE (see the Tenth Amendment). I do NOT think immigration is a problem, but I believe some mistakes were made along the way (like eliminating the bracero program). I also think that the President of the United States has proposed a sensible plan that will go a long way towards solving the problems on our border with Mexico and do much to alleviate the problems surrounding illegal immigration. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me and Free Republic to part company, because Free Republic has left this limited-government neoconservative. In the process of Free Republic leaving me, I now find that I fear the social conservatives as much as I fear the loony left. As a result of coming to this conclusion, I ask that my account be deleted and all posts I have made, save for this opus and the ping to my friends be removed.

I do this with regret, since I will miss some of those who I have met here, but I feel no other choice. So long.

[american spirit]

"Immigration is not a problem".......probably one of the most ignorant statements I've seen posted here. Why not ask the Americans who've had loved ones raped, robbed and murdered by cretins who would not be here if we had a coherent immigration policy?.......bet you might get a different outlook on things. Anyone with half a brain knows we need the continuing lifeblood of immigrants who want to work (& not collect welfare), who want to assimilate (& not colonize), who respect America (& do not want to create Aztlan), etc. Current immigration policy (or lackof) has been the greatest corproate welfare scheme ever devised and I hope you're at least smart enough to figure out why.....if not, you do need to go.

[peyton randolph]

Holier Than Thou Syndrome

a.k.a.

Taking one's marbles and going home

 

Here's a quarter

Call someone who cares

[sonserae]

I agree with you. The Terri case made me realize that this has become a forum of wackos who refuse to look at both sides of an issue and attack anyone with another opinion. I mean...after reading that "Terri died for our sins, Let's employ Terri to the Vatican, Terri is just like Jesus, Terri was choked instead of having an eating disorder (despite having a very low potassium level), Let's make Terri a "saint", let's call 911 for Terri", I am literally disgusted with how low this site has sunk.

People can be conservative but they also should use the intelligence and common sense that God gave them to be open to ALL the facts, not just the ones they want to believe in.

[prairiebreeze]

Please just take a break and come back. And ignore the mean-spiritedness of some on this thread. Says way more about them.

[wyattearp]

Name one thing social conservatives have done.

"Call other social conservatives "Nazis" on Free Republic."

I too have seen an increase in the frequency of people calling anybody that disagrees with them a "Nazi", a "Marxist", a "Communist", a "Democrat", etc. It's pretty apalling, but it isn't something that would cause me to cut and run. I can understand why somebody would get sick of it, however.

[Chad Fairbanks]

But many have chosen to stay silent lately, to avoid all the nastiness. Try the smoky backroom!!

And therein lies the problem - when you have to go to the Smokey Backroom to avoid the nastiness...

[MACVSOG68]

Sorry to see you go. I also took a different approach than most here in the Schiavo case, not siding with Michael, but simply criticizing the extremism, such as Randall Terry, Bo Gritz, desecrating American flags and crucifixes, cursing the governor and President, threatening the lives of the Schiavo families, etc, and was severely flamed.

It goes with the territory. You seem to have a pretty good slant on things, and I for one, would hate to see such folks disappear leaving only the mindless extremist automatons. You will not find a better site anywhere in spite of it all.

[rdb3]

Aight. Cool out. Take a deep breath and strengthen your resolve. For better or worse, FReepin' is a full contact sport.

In order to maintain your sanity here, you just have to know with who and who not to converse. Some are simply not worth getting jazzed over.

You are an adult. Do as you wish. I'd advise you just chill. Yeah, knees, elbows, and knuckles will be scraped and bruised along the way. Some of us can tussle and still look oh, so good. But it's one hell of a ride!

If not, then, go easy my man. No worries. It's all good.

[Not A Snowbird]

I pull out that pic every time someone posts an opus. It's one of my favorite cartoon strips!

I'd put that pic as my wallpaper, but my boss would be less than amused, I'm afraid.

[mdittmar]

I disagree.

[proud American in Canada]

You're absolutely right.

By the way, I'm glad you posted! I hope you continue to do so. :)

[dead]

Call other social conservatives "Nazis" on Free Republic.

The Internet Codicil to the Andy Warhol dictum:

"In the future, everyone will be a Nazi for fifteen minutes."

[Billthedrill]

Emotions run high during an issue like this, and people often post words that are harsher than they mean. Some who do so are new FReepers drawn here by that issue who do not understand the value of civil discourse. Some are simply jerks.

You do get one-issue zealots here, and we all know what topics are likely to draw packs of them: any evolution or ID thread, the U.S. civil war, any thread mentioning gays that does not conclude that they are sons of Satan, etc, etc. The Elian days were misery. This kind of stuff happens, and you just have to deal with it...or leave.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Not only that, but if more Conservatives leave the Republican party, that will give the DEMS/LIBS are free ride to elections, and may give Hillary a free pass to the White House.

[cripplecreek]

Here's mine

[sonserae]

ping

[lilmsdangrus]

No kidding!! If I get tired of the name-calling and such here, or anywhere else for that matter, I just STAY AWAY for awhile-- I am not so self-important that I must write a critique of something I don't like, and expect all to somehow make it better for me.

[kesg]

[rdb3]

Don't take chat forums so seriously. People will always say radical things online that they'd never utter in person.

You got that right, especially if they like their front teeth!

[Always Right]

I disagree.

Well, I have to agree with you on that point.