Posted on 05/17/2006 7:47:58 AM PDT by Pukin Dog
Edited on 05/17/2006 8:30:59 AM PDT by Lead Moderator. [history]
"A house divided against itself cannot stand." – Abraham Lincoln, 1858
It is getting somewhat strange around these parts when not only the President, but yesterday the First Lady was personally attacked by someone claiming to be a ‘Conservative’. Can there be any doubt that there are forces among us looking to drive a wedge between us?
A few weeks ago, this forum’s owner attempted to remind all of us of the big picture, that regardless of any personal animosity towards the President or Republican Party over their adherence to Conservative principles, that they are still a clear choice over the alternative Democrat Party rule. At that time, I assumed that FReeper-sanity had been restored, and that some of the negative rhetoric aimed at those in Washington D.C. would be dialed back.
Free Republic is a political forum with a proud history and vision, responsible for dragging Dan Rather from his post, and providing countless radio-talk shows with their daily talking points. FReepers are unique in their determination and energy towards protecting and defending the goals of our Founding Fathers.
We are also quite a powder keg of emotion and anticipation, expecting our Republican majorities to take advantage of this opportunity to make permanent gains in our Conservative agenda. Some might argue that this opportunity has been squandered, but those persons would be ignorant of history, lacking understanding that change cannot occur overnight in Washington, and that this is the way our Founders designed our Republic.
In frustration, impatience, and ignorance, we have allowed this forum to become a haven for those who do not share our Conservative goals. I do not blame our enemies anymore then I would blame a scorpion for stinging me. If anger and stupidity were one’s nature, I would expect the trolls that infect this forum to be angry and stupid consistently, which also makes them somewhat easy to detect.
The trolls are not the problem, though. The problem is that so many of us are allowing ourselves to be taken in by those who seek only to prevent us from going to the polls in November to keep their stinking hands off our government for another term. There can be no doubt, that no matter how disappointing our current government has been in promoting the Conservative agenda, that the alternative, enabled by our staying home will be MUCH worse.
The way to deal with Republicans who have actively worked against our goals is to defeat them in Primary elections. We do not even have to defeat them all, only enough of them to send the message that we will indeed target them if they work against our agenda. It should be the goal of EVERY conservative to see that Lincoln Chaffee is defeated in November. His seat is one we can afford to lose. Were I a Rhode Island resident, I would vote for the Democrat if only to send a message to Snowe, Hagel, Collins, Graham, and especially that bastard Specter that their primaries just got a lot tougher.
We only need to get one of them, and Chaffee is the one to get. It does not really matter if a Democrat takes his seat; he will be junior and mute as long as we maintain our overall majority in the Senate.
The one thing that bothers me here like nothing else, is the simple disrespect of the President. Am I am Bush-Bot? Damn straight I am. If you want to know why, click on my handle to read Southack’s excellent list of Bush’s accomplishments in office. But if Bush had done almost nothing in office, it would be no excuse for some of the slights and disrespect he has received from some of us on this forum.
Some of the things I have read here this past week match in tone what one can find on our favorite Democrat sewer site. Someone calling himself or herself a FReeper was promoting shooting aliens at the border until they stopped coming. Is that what we are about? Obviously not, and that so-called Conservative has been eliminated from this forum.
I think it is important to remember that you and I have just as much responsibility as George Bush does in changing our culture to better reflect Conservative values. Right now, this very moment, Conservatives have the government they deserve. We put them there. They are not our mommies and daddies sent out to bring home our Conservative bread. That responsibility lies with all of us. These Republicans represent us, they don’t serve us. Our job is to pick the best individual and send him/her to Washington in the hope that their CHARACTER will see them through.
This is why it is such a nutty thing to consider punishing the Republican party, when we should be letting them know that we’ve got their back, but if they cant do the job, we will replace them with ANOTHER Republican, instead of handing the reigns of government to the party of anger, hopelessness and despair. We sometimes like to think that those people we send to Washington are different from us, that they are capable of meeting our every need and desire.
I want every one of you to think about what you would consider to be your perfect mate. Maybe some of you think you have found that person. If you are married and totally in love with another person, that is great. Now I want to ask you to think about the last time that person you love, who is PERFECT for you, completely pissed you off. Remember, this is your perfect mate, your one true love. Do they do everything you want them to do? Obey your every desire? If you answer yes, I am going to put you on my troll list.
Those people in Washington do not even cut your lawn, yet you expect perfection. Get over it.
I am issuing a challenge to every person who considers him or her to be a Conservative; why don’t we all commit to a return to HONOR? Do we honor our Conservative agenda when we comport ourselves in disgraceful ways? Is it an honorable thing to suggest that our President is a moron, as I read here a few days ago? Is it honorable to attack Laura Bush or any other person representing true Conservative values?
Some of you might argue that George Bush is not representing Conservative values to your liking. I would remind you that the first thing Bush said upon taking office, is that he was going to be President of ALL the people, not just some. You know that if you followed Bush from the beginning that he campaigned of the very immigration platform he is defending right now. Did you vote for him? Yeah?
If you have ever had a steak at a Ruth’s Chris restaurant, you know that sometimes they bring that wonderful steak to your table with a sprig of parsley on it. I hate parsley. Hate it. If I were to treat my steak the way some of us want to treat our President, I would have to throw out the steak, due to that nasty parsley that comes with it. I can deal with the parsley to get the steak, and that is what I am asking FReepers to do.
Expecting perfection from any person, group or team is a recipe for disaster. George W. Bush is my president. You can disagree with him, you can blame him for your problems if that is your desire. If you disrespect his office, his service, his risking his life to be with our troops in Iraq, his steadfast desire to bring a new tone to Washington, or if you just like the way he keeps Democrats so pissed off they lose their minds on a regular basis, I ask you to treat him and his wife with respect and cut the personal attacks. If you call him ‘Shrub’ or ‘Jorge’ consider yourself my enemy.
Right now, our real enemy are the Main Stream Media, the Democrat Party, and all who follow and support them. If you want to jump-ugly on someone, why not start with those leaky bastards and give our side a break?
Do it for Pukin.
I knew that you could.
I am jumping into all of this very late, but what was stupid or dishonest about his comments? I am not asking that rhetorically, I really do want to know.
Immigration is obviously a very heated issue, but no more heated than a lot of issues that have been productively addressed here. And as tempting as it is to do, when folks start throwing around pejorative comments, they draw a reponse and eventually somebody gets banned. And many of the folks getting banned do not seem to be trolls but folks (on both sides) who are letting the heat of these arguments get the best of them and then put the Mods in the spot of deciding who to kick. We shouldn't be putting them in that position and we shouldn't be losing these people. PD has a point when he says the style of this argument is important, as is the substance.
Off my soapbox now, and for what it is worth I think landmines are a terrible idea from both PR and humanitarian perspectives. But I do not think the very notion is so far beyond the pale that it warrants calling out a person for merely brining it up and from an international law perspective it might actually be legal.
I heard on a news documentary I saw, that there are about 6,000 illegals coming across the border a night. It was actually a documentary on the border towns in Mexico and how rampant they are with crime/drug lords/you name it.
Now, how accurate the numbers are, I don't know, this is the "news" were talking about. And whether this accounts for the "day time" numbers as well, the story did not say. But still, if there numbers are any where close, you gotta figure 6,000 a day x 365 days = 133225, over how many years?
That's absurdly false. So are you lying or simply incorrect?
I have a copy of the post too, and, at least IMO, it's not merely the issue of the language, but what was said.
The poster in question basically accused Jim Robinson of scamming monthly donors (or donaters as the poster spelled it) out of money. IOW, the quarterly fund drives are a scam based on inflated cost claims, and a large portion of the $60,000+ raised each quarter just goes into his pocket. An old accusation that many on the left have accused him (Jim Robinson) of for ages, at least for as long as I've been here.
So, I believe it's quite accurate to label such a post as "like a liberal". That said, I've never seen this poster say anything a-typical of a conservative before, so it's quite possible they may have simply said something out of haste and anger, specifically the charge of fraud may have simply been inserted as something to really hurt or injure.
Regardless, the post itself was quite typical of liberal, separate from and above the issue of vulgar language. Whether or not the poster is/was a liberal is irrelevant to the discussion of the post itself. It's quite fair to qualify the individual post in that manner, IOW. Speaking for myself, I would not qualify the poster in that manner, as I don't know him that well, and again, have never seen him say anything "unconservative" before.
Hey, you are the one tossin insults at me, not the other way around. ;o)
And that is very good news.
You must have been light.
I notice that you have been here since 1999. Wasn't the illegal alien problem occurring then? did you post about it?
I understand that's what you believe.
Inside joke?
you know, if I never stepped out of my comfort zone I'd feel the same way as admin mod...but I did and have started noticing some differences.
Millee is another fine freeper.
way too much sarcasm on todays thread
Unless the Senate and President goes along, the House cant do squat. If the Dems shut down the government by linking an immediate withdrawal from Iraq to budget bills etc, dont you think they will get zapped the same way Newt and the boys did when government shut down back in'95 or whatever.
Impeachment will just make the Dems look stupid.
Nice speech...it needed to be said.
I've seen posts like that. The ones I've seen are pulled and the posters banned. Why oh why do they always ban the "best" posters. Wail, whine, cry, sob. Can't even criticize the president on FR, Sob, sob. Sniffle.
"This thread is moving along very fast and is highly entertaining."
Agreed and one of the reasons I like FR. On one thread, you have a spirited debate on issues of the day, and at the same time, you can have a thread titled "Did Humans And Chimps Once Interbreed?" - see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1633885/posts
FR is the first web-site I check in the morning.
We'll have to disagree. I think it's dishonest to compare the Korean border with the use of landmines on our Southern border, which is a STUPID idea.
Not all border intruders are coming here for jobs. They don't care about IDs or whether an employer hires them or not. Many are gang members, pure and simple, or just plain criminals who come here to engage in criminal activity. 35% of the inmate population in U.S. prisons are illegal aliens. 35%! By most estimates, illegal aliens make up less than 5% of our overall population while they disproportionately make up 35% of our prison population. And they're not in there for immigration-related crimes.
A few supporting facts might keep you from troll status, otherwise, that sentence is just silly, Luke.
Oops ;)
You're right,
I started it....
And dang,
It felt GOOD!
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