I've always thought that you have been fair and your posts are well reasoned. Even when I disagree with you, I have always found you to be a thoughtful and thought provoking Freeper.
"...nor have I questioned your right to make these judgements."
My statements weren't intended to seem like judgements, I was making observations.
Since this whole "Pro-Rudy vs. Anti-Rudy" conflict started here, I have seen a great many things that disturbed and surprised me. I even avoided the pro-Rudy threads for a while, because I found myself saying things that were out of character for me.
But the fighting was even on the other threads too, and soon every thread, whether political or not, started becoming a battleground.
For better or worse, Jim made a decision only he could make. Now we all must deal with it and move forward, or move on.
I too would like to see a Republican in the White House, but I want more than just someone with an (R) next to his name. I want more than a man with a name that the uninformed man on the street recognizes. I want us to choose someone on the basis of his record, not on how much money he can raise or how well he does in the latest media polls.
I want a conservative who has the same basic moral principles as I do. Who has a past that my kids can look at and see as an example.
And I have always found FreeRepublic a place that I could come (until lately) and find people with the same hopes and dreams for our Party and our nation.
Now, with everything that's happened, we'll get back to supporting a candidate we can be proud of.
That sums it up beautifully.
Clearly, individuals who do not share conservatives' hopes and dreams are out of place on FR---like a slab of Spam in a 5-star restaurant.
Let's keep in mind that FR is NOT a debating forum. Since its inception, FR has been a haven for conservatives, a place to get away from liberal rantings. FR is a news-oriented forum where conservatives discuss current events---mostly agreeing, sometimes disagreeing.
JimRob has outlined the FR mission to which all conservatives subscribe. Conservatives agree unequivocally that FR is NOT the place to promote liberals, socialists, socialism, abortionism, feminism, homosexualism, gun control, illegal aliens, etc.
Jim has decried the conservative-trashing some individuals have engaged in, and has acted accordingly.
It is extraordinarily offensive when individuals come on FR with a hidden agenda.
When individuals continually denigrate FR conservatives and diminish our strongly-held beliefs.
When individuals use FR to flack liberals like Giuliani and engage in revisionist history vis a vis Rooty's positions (as a way to dupe conservatives into thinking Rooty is one of them).
When individuals suggest FR conservatives are a meaningless insignificant group that they, and Rooty, plan to dump off the Repub party lifeboat.
When individuals suggest FR conservatives are "in the way" of Rooty's political ambitions.
When individuals suggest FR conservatives should bug off and sit idly by while the US government is turned over to Rooty-liberals, heralding the political destruction of our Nation, and the loss of our freedoms.
Individuals who do not, or cannot, abide by FR protocols should not waste our time, or our bandwidth.