"A HOUSE DIVIDED" - Pukin's FReeperversary Rant

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?

Thank you, Pukin Dog, for saying exactly what needed to be said. Yes, we should criticize shortcomings in our leaders, and you are right that there are responsible ways of doing this, such as throwing out duds in the primaries. I suppose there are some people out there who genuinely believe the Democratic Party's platform on immigration, Iraq, judicial activism, and a host of other issues are a better alternative. Reasonable people do change their minds. However, I have a very hard time that most of the people on this forum bashing Bush for not supporting every point of the conservative agenda actually have changed their values in the course of half a presidential term. By pledging their votes to a party that stands for the exact opposite of their values, they are essentially doing nothing more than throwing a temper tantrum. Yet, they criticize Bush and his party for abandoning their principles. If that isn't a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black...

Kudos also for compiling your list of our president's MANY accomplishments. It certainly refutes the notion that Bush has done absolutely nothing while in office.

Yes, everyone is getting tired of hearing about terrorism and national security as a justification for policies they disagree with. The simple fact of the matter, however, is that we are at WAR. That doesn't mean we should foreclose all criticism of bad policy. However, our MAIN GOAL needs to be national security.

It is indisputable that there have been no further acts of terror on his watch that compare with September 11. Does anyone really think September 11 was intended as a grand finale? Of course not, it intended as a harbinger of atrocities to come. Al Queda most certainly plans further acts of bloodshed.

One fact is undeniable: the Democrats still have NO coherent national security plan. Just last week I read an article quoting Senator Feingold (my own senator). The character of his remarks were that the Dems needed a game plan in this arena if they wanted to make electoral strides. NEED a plan? Why don't they HAVE one already. September 11 occurred almost FIVE YEARS ago. I understand that as a minority party, they might fairly expect that where their plan diverged from that of the Republicans, they would not be able to implement it. But is that an excuse for waiting nearly FIVE YEARS to THINK about the most important issue on the national agenda? Do we really want them to take both houses because Republicans are throwing a temper tantrum and then just sort of "wing it" in coming up with something once they're there? Because that is exactly where this country is headed.

Not everyone agrees with Bush's national security policies. (I have a separate post on why the allegations of a phone database do NOT violate civil liberties on another thread - I think the thread name starts out "Second Phone Company..." or the like; exposing another MISREPRESENTATION by Bush's critics - but I won't repeat it here in the interests of staying on point. I invite you to check it out). However, I highly doubt that Al Queda has voluntarily waited almost FIVE YEARS after beginning an attack for another "skirmish." Although, I doubt given the nature of our enemy that any administration could promise to avert every catastrophic attack, the fact that no new violence has occurred is most likely because under President Bush's watch, attempts thus far have been THWARTED.

During my third year of law school, I had to fly for job interviews. My flight date was September 12, 2002. You can imagine how well I slept the night before. But a strange thing happened. Nothing happened. Someone was doing his job to protect our country.

I am not a party zealot. I've voted for Dems before. I'll probably vote for other Dems in my lifetime, depending on whether they choose to focus on issues other than institutionalizing moral bankruptcy and debauchery. The first two times I voted for president, I chose Clinton and Gore. But I changed my mind in 2004 because President Bush EARNED my admiration and respect. I feel safer with him in the Oval Office than with anyone else.

Followers don't take unpopular stands, particularly when their party commands obedience (e.g., "do everything we want, or we'll vote for other people who most certainly won't"). They constantly monitor public opinion polls and leave all the controversial issues and hard decisions for better men. I don't want a yes man in the Oval Office. I want a leader, and whether you like what Bush is doing or not, he's sticking his neck out.

I think a lot of Republicans spewing Bush-hating rhetoric are angry at him for not being a party goon. They thought since he occasionally says cute, unsophisticated, and (to be perfectly honest) occasionally unstatesmanlike words like "misunderestimated" and "Decider" that he was some kind of man-child puppet they could push around. Instead they got a man with Truman's decisiveness who does what HE thinks is best for the country.

Bush does not want to represent just the Republican Party. He wants to represent all of America. Pukin Dog is absolutely right. The idea that by reaching across party lines on a few issues he is nothing but a people pleaser is ridiculous. His position on many others has not even flinched since his election (e.g. abortion, gay marriage, capital punishment). For people to imply that he deserves NO respect for what he's done for our country is a great disservice to a greater man.

I would love that also. Get down to the nuts and bolts of just what Trade Zone means, and it's impact on the individual, American citizens in particular, the economy, and the nation state.

I am in no way saying this about you, but when I see avid, unquestioning, slavish devotion for any leader or party it scares the livin daylights out of me. Had I lived in the time of George Washington, I would still have been watching him like a hawk, listening as much to what isn't said as what is, and weighing the truth of everything and the direction we are being led to.

A good place for you to start would be to go to the FTAA web site and study not only it, but the comments and suggestions of those promoting it. They seem to feel so good about themselves and their vision for our lives, that anyone who would dare to remind them that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, are seen as ignorant xenophobes whose human right to object and hang onto the old principles of nationhood, should be left to be dealt with by Judges with the power to issue harsh sentences.

On the face of it, it means that a woman weaving rugs and blankets in Peru, for example, should be able to take her goods to the USofA to market, unimpeded by borders and questions regarding her intentions to ever return to Peru.

The assumption being the economy and life in general will be so good in Peru because of Free Trade that naturally she will want to go home.

The reality of Free Trade is that there are going to be winners and losers and some may be sore losers. Sore losers who can file a suit or a complaint to an appointed board who decides such differences, and can be counted on to find against the USofA as they have done so far in every lawsuit against us. From Canada's suit regarding fuel oil additives, to Mexico suit over Mexican trucking into the USofA, to the coming suit Mexico threatens to file over our posting National Guard at the border.

It's proven so far to be an entangling mess that the U.S. avoids, stalls, and appeals. But the time is coming when these tactics will no longer be effective and we will be laid bare to the full brunt of these international treaties we have signed onto. Globalists would call me an unenlightened spoil sport, ignorant to the core as to the coming benefits. I say if these coming benefits are so great that I may faint with joy, they shouldn't be so hesitant to fill all of us in on the details. Like why I should be delighted to know that American wages are going to drop to meet Mexico's rising wages, does that mean the cost of goods will be going down? Will the middle class be in the money and living the good life? Will there be a middle class?

What will international law allow me to have as human rights since it trumps the Constitution and Bill of Rights? What effect will it have on my business?

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