You had said: "...If you find that “creepy” that we go after a man..."
In the time I have spent on FR, I do think it is a little unusual that keywords would so numerous and virulent that they would nearly overshadow the content of the thread.
I find it unhealthy the way some obsess over certain subject matters, but in this particular case it crossed the line from being unhealthy to "creepy". And it wasn't just the attack on something or someone unrelated to the subject matter at hand in the thread (the fact that it was unrelated just made it seem even more strange) it was the way that it was done.
In a forum like FR, one cannot normally have an issue per se with the negative opinion people harbor about certain politicians, celebrities or even other freepers, because we all have those viewpoints and come here to express some of them.
And I readily admit there is a degree of relativism (as much as I dislike relativism) and that there are some who would say I have an unhealthy animosity for liberalism. I say that because I make it a habit to collect political imagery, cartoons, photoshops, images and such. I am sure that anyone who is non-political or apolitical would be puzzled looking at my collection of images from the Internet, wondering why I have such unflattering and downright derogatory images, cartoons and Photoshops concerning people like Obama, the Clintons, Shumer, Murtha and so on.
But when I went into a thread titled "Schimidt: Palin has trouble with the truth", at some point *someone* went in and spent some time and effort to fill the keywords section with anti-Romney keywords.
The author of the thread didn't put them there and said so, and someone must have contacted an Admin Mod to remove them, because when I went back to get them and paste them in here as an example, they were gone.
An Admin Mod apparently examined them at some point and determined they were inappropriate with respect to either decency or the content of the thread and removed them (I make the assumption Admin Mods are the only ones who have permission to do so, though I could be wrong)
I do not disagree with your interpretation that politicians who present themselves as conservatives to voters in order to get into office and vote liberally have a special hazard associated with them because they not only vote to advance a liberal agenda but also cause additional damage by imparting the veneer of bipartisanship to the actions of legislators. That is an absolute problem faced by conservatives, that they can be co-opted and watered down by people like Romney. I think one can argue that this is true of many legislators on both sides of the aisle on many different issues. Liberals have their DINOS, too. But I do not think that is the most critical and imminent threat to our republic at this time.
For years, I haven't got particularly involved in any Romney threads, either pro or con, because I don't view them as relevant. It is like tilting at windmills for me, since I am not voting for him and he isn't running for any office I am interested in.
However, what is going on with Scott Brown right now DOES affect ME. What I take particular issue with at this point in time is people who tear down a candidate in the process of fighting an uphill battle against an entrenched and corrupt political environment, when this candidate needs every encouragement he can get, verbally, financially and ideologically. Every $20 sent by a freeper who lives in Wisconsin or Texas is a pebble that can turn into an avalanche if not stopped. Due to FR, I have contributed to candidates all over the country, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Texas and so on, because FR is a place where many of us can see the ramifications of "the bigger picture". I have contributed to guys like Jesse Kelly, Bill Russell and others. Before I became a member on FR, I never sent money to a House or Senate candidate in another state. And it is one of the reasons I appreciate FR so much and am grateful to Jim Robinson for making the continuing effort to keep it going.
That is why I get involved in these threads now, because they directly affect ME and my life. When people are trying to talk up a candidate, get some momentum, hopefully get another freeper who DOESN'T live in my area to take the time to donate $20 to this candidate in my area, and someone inserts themselves into the thread to dampen that momentum and suppress that enthusiasm, it makes me angry because that is $20 less that will never develop into an avalanche. We need all the help we can get up here, because any candidate up here is abandoned by the RNC and any other organization around the country because we are viewed as a black hole where good money is only thrown after bad.
We need this candidate to win for a minimum of two reasons, and we should be throwing our unhesitating support behind him: First, he can be that single vote that may make a crucial difference in the upcoming health care legislation vote. That is the all-overriding priority right now, because once socialized healthcare gets its nose in the tent, it is never, ever going to leave us.
Secondly, in the same way that General Armistead was at the high water tide of the confederacy and pushed back in Pickett's Charge, I hope that is the position Coakley will involve in the liberal movement. (with my sincere apologies to the South for making this analogy) If we are going to turn the tide on Liberalism, this could be the place we can plant the pike in the earth and shout "IT STOPS HERE!"
I will hope against hope that even folks like you can wrap your hands around that pike and help those of us in Massachusetts shove it in the ground. I would like to think there is a possibility that can happen.
Great post! I will be sending a donation this morning.
You of all people, as a resident of the Commonwealth, and one who at least claims to be a Conservative, ought to be the angriest against Democrat agents like Slick Willard (or William Weld, for that matter). The reason why MA is in the condition that it is in is not because of openly-serving Democrats, it’s because the Socialist/Elitist element who differed virtually not one iota from the national Democrats infested the MA GOP and obliterated it, giving the Dems the hypermajorities they have now, well and beyond the real demographics. Yup, that’s right, kids. RINOs made these states a bright shade of Socialist Red (forget that media newsspeak color crap).
I may not be a resident there, but having written about the place for years, MA serves as the ultimate warning to the Republican Party and Conservative movement what happens when Socialists hijack a state party and run out Conservatives... it dies. Again, if you cannot comprehend that and why all of us who can see that as plain as day wish to avoid having that cancer spread nationally (as it has already spread to far too many states already beyond the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific Coast), you’re either naive, or you DO understand what’s happening and fully support it.
Other than that, with respect to Scott Brown, my points were well made in my prior post and no need to copy and paste them again.