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 understand you desire to be true to principal in this, and I will not slam anyone making a stand on principal. But if a vote against moderate Republicans gets a democRAT elected, then you've hurt America. The current condition is too tenuous to allow for the left to even gain a temporary foothold in control of his country. We need to guard against short term damage that could throw us completely and irrevocably off course. A RINO is still better than a democRAT, IMHO.
"But if a vote against moderate Republicans gets a democRAT elected, then you've hurt America."
Perhaps.
But then again, perhaps it is the "RINO" who has hurt America, and the vote against him excised the rot.
Yes, it means a Democrat, in the short term, but it may also mean a more conservative Republican Party, in the long term. If conservative values really are minoritarian in America, then they can't win in the end anyway, because America is at root a democracy. But if conservative values really are the majority view, then the vicissitudes of political fortunes will not prevent the return of conservatives to power.
The better solution is for the RINOs to cave here, and not inflict a defeat on the Republican Party and the Republic.
Criminal activity and accidents are not comparable to terrorist warfare except to the Clintons.
Anti-Illegals uber alles have no judgment.
There was nothing to fear from having Miers as Justice. Not one objection of substance was ever raised.
Your belief that the Unappeasables can be appeased is what I do not believe and why I do not pretend that they can be. They want a total deportation with the border shut down so tight that a fly won't get across unimpeded. They do not care if it destroys the business relations between countries. They want Mexico considered as an ENEMY. They do not care if it ruins thousands of American businesses.
Aren't you reading some of these threads? How does the sheer hatred eminating from some of these posters escape your notice?
Conservativism is NOT defined by the 2% Ultras in the GOP or pretending to be in the GOP.
I guess optimism is good even if I do not share it.
Such a statement is as fatuous as children screaming "you missed" when playing Cowboys and Indians.
At best, Miers was a stealth nomininee when stealth was actually cowardice. At worst, Miers was another Harry Blackmun inferiority complex waiting to happen.
Translation: Let them eat cake!
So be it, Marie...
"Aren't you reading some of these threads? How does the sheer hatred eminating from some of these posters escape your notice?"
Sure, I'm reading it.
But I also read these same posters, who are mad as hornets, when they respond to my direct question about whether a FENCE enacted this year without any amnesty or guest worker enacted this year would be enough for them to come back and vote Republican.
And their answer has INVARIABLY been "Yes". Often it has been an extremely sour "Yes", as in "Yes, but they're still skunks and I don't trust them", but the important thing is that it is Yes, and that means we keep the majority.
You see them as unappeasable.
I see them as having a legitimate point that really can't be gainsayed: the current laws of the USA are being openly flouted, and neither party is lifting a finger to enforce them. The BorderBots DO have the law on their side, which is a very hefty thing, not to be taken lightly. They are angry because they have gotten nothing and think they see the country going to Hell in a handbasket. And they have become worked up into a titanic rage by the purposeful blind eye the Republican leadership is giving them right now. They are being COMPLETELY disregarded by the President and the GOP Senate leadership.
OF COURSE this makes them incandescent, and if it is not fixed, OF COURSE they are going to pull the roof in on all of our heads. When I just focus on policy options that are DOABLE - agreeing to a fence and kicking the can of amnesty and guest worker upstairs into a commission to study it and present a report next year - they all have told me that this wouldn't be enough to make them HAPPY, but it's a key START, and they would trudge to the polls to vote to keep their victory.
That's what I have keyed on. The angriest, most incandescent, most rabid BorderBots here, when I have asked them directly, personally, point blank, have ALL, to a MAN, said that a real fence and no amnesty this year would be enough to bring them into the fold for this election cycle. Not happily. Not fully satisfied. But it's ENOUGH.
I want to WIN.
And to WIN that's what we're going to have to do.
In other words, they say they're unappeasable without everything, and you're believing it, but it's not true. They are emoting from the position of having been slapped in the face and had their pocket picked, and they are balling up their fists and getting ready to bury them in our faces. We have got to blink here and give them the KEY things they want. THEY say it's enough.
YOU go ahead and do the experiment. You are out there bearding the lion with these folks all the time. So just ask them, calmly and point blank: "IF we give you your fence and we agree to postpone a decision on guest worker and amnesty until a commission gives us a full report sometime in a year or two, will that be enough for you to vote GOP this year?"
They will all answer you "Yes". They may spit when they do it, because they're mad as hornets, but they are neither insane nor stupid. And they're not completely unappeasable either.
Try it.
You'll see.
And then you'll understand why I am more optimistic than you are that we CAN keep the party base together if we just cave and give these people what they want.
I don't think so. This is incremental, slow, long term change rather than sudden short term change, of both the nation and the GOP.
Voted in the last poll yet?
Which one?
Happy trails to you...
McCain vs. Hillary. Oooo...I'm a bad boy....replying during working hours...shhhh!! Don't tell anyone.
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