Bush to give farewell address Thursday night

AP ^ | 1-12-09 | Ben Feller

[STARWISE]

President George W. Bush will give a farewell address to the nation Thursday night, billed by the administration as a chance to reflect on his tenure and welcome Barack Obama without fighting old battles one last time.

Bush will deliver the speech, expected to run 10 to 15 minutes, from the ornate East Room of the White House. He will have a small audience of people in the room, chosen for their stories of personal courage.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Monday that Bush will "uphold the tradition of presidents using farewell addresses to look forward — ....

*snip*

Perino said the speech will be the last scheduled public event for Bush as president until he appears on the North Portico to greet Obama on Inauguration Day, which is Jan. 20.

[mkjessup]

My sincere condolences on your posts #279 and 280 being nuked, you vulgar person you.

Looks like there’s been some retroactive nuking going on further up the thread too, I hope they don’t overlook Miss Marple’s posts from last night when she was telling folks to ‘pound sand’, know what I mean there Fieldmarshall?

It’s just vulgar.

[bronxboy]

I did thanks! I’m going to read the post.

[mkjessup]

Read it quick, they seem to be disappearing for no reason at all now. Make a comment about “getting a clue”, *POOF*, post disappears. Make a comment expressing condolences to a poster whose post was nuked? *POOF* that’s gone too.

Fortunately I’ve saved those posts for JimRob to take a look at. We’ll see what he thinks about this over-the-top censorship going on.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Ja, anywho... So... dude, what DO you think about our outgoing Prez George W. Bush anyway ? Inquiring minds wanna know. It’s gonna be going out all over the newswires. Blogs, internet, The Daily Planet, you’re gonna be big. The biggest. Totally hugh and manatee. So sock it to me and stune my beeber.

[AmericanInTokyo]

I agree too, overall, Dick Cheney was pretty good. Glad we could agree on something.

[mkjessup]

Ja, anywho... So... dude, what DO you think about our outgoing Prez George W. Bush anyway ? Inquiring minds wanna know. It’s gonna be going out all over the newswires. Blogs, internet, The Daily Planet, you’re gonna be big. The biggest. Totally hugh and manatee. So sock it to me and stune my beeber.

Well before I get into what I think about GWB, I'll tell you what I think about what I call an "FR Thread Gone Wild" (as in this one):

Last night, poster STARWISE started this thread about GWB making his big farewell address, and comments began to be posted which were not entirely complimentary of our illustrious Commander-in-Chief. As I see it, that's quite ok, this isn't a religion thread, there isn't any ban on debate, although at post #14, STARWISE asked that everyone NOT make any derogatory comments about GWB, but that request is just that: a request. Bottom line? You start a thread that isn't constrained by Religion thread limitations, you better be prepared for any and all posters to express their opinion, and I'm not the only one who began to do so.

Now the BushBots and apologists predictably got up in arms, horrified that anyone would have anything except praise for their hero, and as we have come to expect on FR, those Bush-idolizers can dish it out, but they sure can't take it.

Fast forward to the latter part of this thread (the parts that are still there).

Miss Marple, dsutah, and others who know who they are, became highly incensed at what they termed 'vulgar' posts from yours truly, and now on the NEXT night, we see selective censorship going on with certain posts being nuked, but funny thing: I see NO nuking of the agitated rants from the BushBots being nuked, which leads one to the conclusion that someone with AdminMod privileges is using a heavy hand in this thread to squelch anything that isn't positive about George W. Bush, especially if it doesn't conform to Miss Marples' Rules of Order and Proper Behaviour.

As to what I think of George W. Bush?

I speak as someone who supported GWB in the 2000 primaries, in the 2000 general election, and certainly in 2004 against the traitor John F'in Kerry. (oops, is "f'in" ok here anymore, just checking ok?)

Other posters (assuming they have not been nuked) have made powerful statements as to why the past eight years of GWB have been less than spectacular, in fact the net result is pretty bloody disasterous when you consider that GWB's failure to defend himself and his administration is what became the instrumental factor in the hard left 0bamunists seizing all three branches of government, and it's Jimmy Carter's Second Term, you can take that to the bank, as long as it's a bank that got bailed out by GWB's Administration. What GWB did not seem to grasp (as simple a concept as it ought to be) is that if one does not defend themselves, refute the lies of your adversaries, and call them by their proper names, the lies they speak become perceived as truth.

We can see that principle being played out in this thread with the selective editing of posts that's been going on tonight, by eliminating critical posts of GWB, or posts that take issue with the Bush-apologists, the thread takes on a different character, which is of course what the BushBots want, they are no different than the dearly departed RudyBots who would tolerate no criticism of their little tin idol either.

I'm going to stop here and post this, and we'll see how long the life expectancy is for this response to your #284. Depending on how busy I get later on, I may post a follow up but either way, we're going to get this crap (is that word still allowed?) straightened out one way or the other.

[AmericanInTokyo]

"Dear President Bush,

Daddy would have said thank you for being President.

But he's no longer here. So he can't say so. He was a Republican. He and big sister were killed by a very very bad man, a drunk man, who was from Mexico who wasn't supposed even to be here (that's what mommy told me), who was driving a car real fast when Daddy was coming down our street. We heard there were lots of other mommies and daddies like that, that were like in my family.

Anyways, thank you President Bush, for keeping us safe...I think.

-Melissa"

[mkjessup]

Look out FRiend, your post may be on shaky ground, see my #286 (assuming it will still be there by morning, lol)

[bronxboy]

I’ve seen this on many threads lately. People pinging Jim or the moderator over perfectly reasonable posts. Why do they come to this forum if they don’t want a spirited discussion? Some started political threads in the religious threads so they could whine about how people were not supposed to argue. They are panting for purges and why? Suddenly anyone who disagrees is a ‘troll’ or a Democrat. Free Republic is a site you can discuss any issue pretty much...you and I have had er heated discussions before, but I certainly respect you and against my will sometimes I am forced to admit...you might be right! LOL The point is I enjoy arguing...as 1rudeboy (pinging you 1rudeboy because I mentioned something you said) otherwise I might as well play video games.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Then I will simply resign my nearly 10 years with Free Republic if need be if they cannot objectively face the truth of the human toil of illegal immigration over the last eight years (and years before that under Democrats White House as well). Nothing I said was vulgar, nor an incorrect reflection of the reality of the situation for thousands of American families, nor directed toward any particular poster here on FR as a personal attack per se. It is what it is.

[editor-surveyor]

"but either way, we're going to get this crap (is that word still allowed?) straightened out one way or the other."

Sounds like a tall order to me.

I say that because I don't think that Jim has the energy to keep up with all the quibbles on this forum. I think that a number of the mods are actively subverting FR, and trying to turn it into a RINO-Humanist haven.

Looking back 8 or 10 years ago, Jim was active for hours on end in the hot threads, and that was mostly a good thing. This is his creation, and it has no equal, but it is also fragile, and needs constant love and attention.

Time will tell, but I suspect that we will soon settle for diminished expectations.

[Stentor]

Every man for himself.

Amen.

[woofie]

Do you think maybe John McCaine had anything to do with losing the election?

[mkjessup]

Does a bear go in the woods? Absolutely McRINO was a major reason the GOP lost.

And so was Lyndon Baines Bush.

[bronxboy]

Great post-very true. I have noticed there is a group that shows up on more than a few posts...and threatens everyone who disagrees with the mods, calls those who disagree ‘troll’ or Dem or whatever...and they ping Jim as well...implied threat. I do not report posters who disagree with me...as this is not nor should it be against the rules of Free Republic. I want to have sometimes heated and always interesting discussions. Isn’t this the point?

[mkjessup]

Isn't this the point?

It is indeed. You are absolutely right.

[Will88]

Will not be watching.

[bronxboy]

Don’t do that...this is what they want. We need you on Free Republic...don’t let the ‘bastids’ win...oops was that a naughty word?

[fieldmarshaldj]

Well, for awhile, I played the good soldier and avoided particularly sharp criticism of the President to the point of being termed a BushBot... partly because I didn’t want to provide ammo to the media whose criticisms of Dubya were best described as deranged (so much so that if he had come out for banning nukes, they’d have been for dropping them everywhere - or if he stood for sunshine and lollipops, they’d wanted tornadoes and crapsicles).

Sadly, while he achieved a fairly good amount with the War on Terror overseas, he lost the battle on so many other fronts, especially the Illegals War Against America... a battle that has been quite literally been brought to my house. In 8 years, I’m most assuredly as far worse off than at any other point in my 3+ decades on this planet. Is it all his fault ? No. But he could’ve changed the equation if he had wanted to ? Absolutely. We could’ve gotten tens of millions of illegals out of this country or stopped them from coming in at all with swift and decisive action... and we need not have to deport them all, making it hostile for them to come by targeting employers and those that sell real estate to them could’ve had them self-deport in a matter of a few years, and the problem would be a fraction of what it is now. He chose not to. For that, I am profoundly disappointed in him.

[STARWISE]