Yesterday was a sad day for Free Republic

May 3, 2011 | Huck

[Huck]

Yesterday should have been a glorious day around here. There should have been fireworks and celebration. There should have been somber remembrances. There should have been patriotic tributes. There should have been shared joy at the news that our guys had finally gotten Bin Laden.

Instead, when I visited the site, what I found was a lot of carping. I found people focused more on the political spin than on the great news. I found people transferring their birther mentality onto this event, talking about Obama faking this news, photoshopping information, etc. It wasn't everybody, but it was a LOT of people. It made me sick.

Yesterday Free Republic seemed like DU. It makes me wonder what the hell is going on. Are Freepers getting younger? I always assume that DU is so pathetically immature because they must be younger. Free Republic has always been a place dominated by great class, and wit, and decency. Not this time. What I saw yesterday was a pathetic embarrassment and totally unworthy of this great forum.

As some of you may know, I was in lower Manhattan on 9-11. I was just across the street from the WTC when the first plane hit. I still remember the beautiful clear blue sky that day. I remember walking in between the towers just a minute or so before 8:46am, on my normal route to work. I remember my co-workers screaming in panic when they watched from an office window as the second plane hit the south tower. I remember women crying and screaming hysterically. I remember not being able to contact my wife to tell her I was OK. I remember people jumping to their deaths. I remember seeing the north tower go down with my own eyes, hearing it with my own ears. I remember fleeing Manhattan. I remember it was a Tuesday.

I remember returning to work the following Monday, riding the ferry passed the site, noxious smoke still billowing from the wreckage. I remember armed troops on the sidewalks. I remember wearing a breathing mask inside my building because the foul odor was seeping in through the ventilation system. I remember thinking we'd really gotten kicked in the teeth. They had killed innocent people, they had traumatized our women and children, and I really wanted revenge. I hung a picture on my wall of the American eagle sharpening his talons.

It has been a long time since that day. It's hard to believe how fast time flies. Then again, if you lost your loved one, I imagine time hasn't gone so fast. I love my wife so much, I can empathize with anyone who has lost the one they love. I can't imagine how that would be, and don't want to know, but I can cry for those people because I know what it is like to find your one true love.

I'm not an Obama fan. I hate socialism. But I am so happy that Bin Laden is killed, and that we have exacted some real revenge. It's about time. The politics don't even play into it for me. I still have the little flag, now tattered, that I flew on my car antenna after 9-11. I want to take it out of storage and put it on my car. I want to see American flags on cars like we saw back then. But it's not going to happen, and partially because the normally patriotic conservatives such as the ones here on Free Republic are instead focused on the politics and the fact that a socialist Democrat was president and will get some of the credit.

I guess you all would have been pissed on D-Day too. FDR was as big a socialist as anyone. I guess VE day and VJ day would have chapped your hides, since Truman was a DEM. I don't mean to paint with a broad brush. I know it wasn't every Freeper acting this way. But when I went on the board, that was the general impression, and it was really disappointing. It should have been a great day here. Instead, I saw a lack of patriotism and a lack of class. Free Republic should be better than this. If conservatives lose their patriotism and class, then what will happen to those virtues? I hope we can get them back soon. In the meantime, thanks for reading.

Respectfully,

Huck

[Jim Noble]

Been here since May 1998. I agree with you.

Thanks for posting.

[mom4melody]

Believe, but verify.

As for celebrations, I can only speak personally. Being a Christian, I cannot “celebrate” the death of a man who most certainly will spend eternity in Hell.

I believe in justice and that evil deeds require punishment.

I also strongly support the death penelty.

I just take no pleasure in it.

That, and I believe Obama is a lying cur dog who would lie to his own mother.

[miss marmelstein]

I, for one, was excited and pleased by his death. I give credit to the current administration for taking him out - although the prior administration must get a great deal of credit as well. So please don’t be too disheartened by some freepers who are unable to see a good thing or believe in conspiracy theories because they hate the current president.

Maybe we are of like mind because I, too, lost acquiantances on 9/11 and watched the sky turn black and had to close all the windows because of the stench of burning building material.

[JacksonCalhoun]

Part of the problem too is that some of the real class acts of this site over the years are no longer with us. I would have loved to see John Armor’s (Congressman Billybob) thoughts.

[panthermom]

Yes, this man has brought out such raw emotion that it is very hard to celebrate ANYTHING he does short of resigning.

[RobertClark]

For what it is worth, I very much agree with you. On a lot of occasions, a small percentage of ‘The Right’ earn the cliche remarks which are pointed in the direction of us all.

[Brett66]

Agreement Bump.

[Check6]

Huck, the worm OBL should have disappeared from the face of the earth within a few weeks of 9-11. Snuffing his miserable existence at this point does nothing to retard the continued decline of the USA. Celebration is highly misguided.

[GQuagmire]

Hat tip to you sir. The sniping by the birthers(some of them) at everyone who disagrees with them is out of control.

[Scotswife]

I did not know any 9-11 victims, but there were certain stories that captured me back then.
They were on my mind all day yesterday - and I can imagine the sense of relief their families felt.

I’ve always taught my kids it isn’t good to celebrate the death of another person - so when one of my youngest seem confused yesterday with the smiles and scenes of celebration on the news I said to him “well - there are exceptions to every rule”
We can celebrate this man will not continue his acts of terror against innocents - as our brave soldiers continue to pursue others like him.

[laweeks]

Sorry, but we still have an anti-American, anti-Semetic, illegal alien in our White House. I find absolutely no reason to celebrate anything. And now we’re getting major conflicting stories about how OBL was killed from a totally incompetent White House. You’d think that Kucinich was running the joint like he ran Cleveland with a gaggle of high school bums and losers.

I’m very proud of our Navy Seals, but they’re commanded by someone who holds them in total contempt. In fact, everybody in that room photo where Obozo was wearing his golfing outfit hates the military with a passion.

That’s why Obambi’s speech was full of I, I, I, I, I, instead of We. What a fool!

[Miss Conservative]

...and a lack of class.

I agree. Despite what my sign-on date says, I've been on FR for more than 10 years. It once was a great community of clear thought, good ideas and good-natured ribbing. The last couple of years have seen the community decend to just a collection of belly-aching conspiracy theories about Obama. It's become very boring and I find myself visiting less and less.

[Sacajaweau]

The Media has already turned this into a Bush bashing. The first report I heard was Couric and I quote: "Obama did in 28 months what Bush could not do in 8 years."

And we should just sit back and let the Media write history?

P.S. My son was living in NYC on 2001. I waited patiently for the call.

Freepers are good people. We have a lot of different feelings and we're entitled to them.

[weezel]

IF killing osama gets uhhbama re elected, it’ll be worse for America than anything that osama ever did to us while living.

[RabidBartender]

"There were some who were unhappy with the way Bambi took the credit, and how the MSM were spinning this to make him God like once again. I still am unhappy with that part. "

This, and the next two years of hearing "Obama got Osama, Bush didn't, nyah nyah". I swear, it's difficult to hold back the urge to want to pop Andrea Mitchell in her ubernasal shnozz.

[mad_as_he$$]

Don’t let the door hit ya!!!!

[joe fonebone]

I have observed the same thing...my guess is we are being infiltrated by dem operatives...we got some who signed up years ago, that only show up around election time...this time they are going for broke......these people want to make us look as bad as DU.....once you realize what you are dealing with, just disengage them

[carton253]

I totally agree with your sentiments. I was appalled by what I read (and have been reading for a while).

[Daisyjane69]

While I’m glad we got the bastard (and I’m grateful that the big dummy in the White House didn’t interfere), it doesn’t change the basic facts laid before us:

We have a compulsive liar and fascist in the White Hut.

Listen, I’m a grown up. I know that ALL presidents shade and guide their words to present things most favorable to THEM. I get that. But this is the first time in my entire life that I’ve had to live under a president who LIES constantly and no media person finds a reason to fact-check. It’s quite stunning. I feel like I’m living in some 3rd world banana republic. Good grief, we have a Justice Department to whom “justice” is an afterthought. I continue to remember the hue & cry that GWB’s justice department was becoming “political.” This bunch makes them look like pikers.

Of course we’re glad that OBL is dead.

But it doesn’t excuse the conduct at Fort Hood, the underwear bomber or all the rest of the smaller terror incidents that this Justice Department has decided to simply ignore, for PC reasons. That OBL is dead does not excuse the people POURING over our southern border, many of whom are OTM (Other Than Mexican). Plenty are from the middle east.

I’m sorry that we’re not “cheerleading” enough for you. But why should we? FReepers tend to be people who are sober, operating on facts. This isn’t DU, after all. The wingnuts are already saying that since OBL is dead, that we should reduce our defence budget; proving they haven’t learned a thing.

But Obama had NO choice. NO person sitting in the Oval Office would have done anything else, had they hoped to be reelected. What he did was not noble; it was essential.

Let me finish by saying this one thing:

As we look over that last two years of Obama’s “reign” (and I call it that because I believe that is how HE views it) and all the things he’s done to completely inflame the American people, imagine this. He has done those things knowing he would have to face the public again, asking for their vote.

Imagine what he’d do with a second term, knowing he would never have to answer to voters again.

Sobering & scary.

[VAFreedom]

i agree with you.

taking all the information that was given to us. and the pictures that i saw. (for example, what appears to be an us chopper that was blown up by us in the compound). we know the name of the ship where the ‘burial’ took place. which would not be hard to find someone here who know of someone from that ship.

I can conclude that pretty much that some raid did take place. and the president took a MAJOR risk to go with this. he could’ve just use a drone to take out the building for an easy way out, to avoid a carter outcome.

would people be satisfy with just a drone strike that flatten the building? or risk the lives of the seal team for a big pay off on al-q intelligence and possibility of bin laden. i don’t know what i would do.