Frank discussion re our loss to Obama/Romney and the future direction of FR and tea party movement

My FRiends, we might as well face the reality that we the combined pro-life conservative movement and tea party coalition have lost this round (the presidential election) in the larger battle to reclaim our constitution and our inalienable rights. Rove, Romney and the GOP-e have successfully destroyed and driven off each and every pro-life conservative tea party candidate from the race and all have surrendered to the Romney camp. It is no secret that Romney is not one of us. There is absolutely no doubt that he has never accomplished a single conservative thing in his entire political career (one term as liberal governor of liberal Massachusetts and six years campaigning for president). In Massachusetts, he undeniably championed abortion, gay rights, global warming, gun control, big government statist mandated/socialized health care programs, liberal judges, TARP, bailouts, stimulus spending, debt limit increases, etc, and even though he's recently claimed a complete reversal in political beliefs and no longer despises pro-life conservatives or the time of Reagan-Bush, I still don't trust him. He still stubbornly holds on to some of his statist beliefs, like global warming, gays in the military, RomneyCare, stimulus spending, etc, so there is no way I can vote for him or join Cain, Perry, Bachmann, Newt or any others who are endorsing him. But I will not act on my prior promises that I would actively campaign against him if he wins the nomination. Our combined movement is already torn and splintered and is going to have to be mended if we're going to have any impact whatsoever against the liberal/progressives and statists after the election. To that end I propose a TRUCE among our conservative forces during the remainder of this election cycle.

We conservatives have already lost the presidency to either the Dems or the GOP-e, and if we tear the tea party apart, if we tear the pro-life movement apart, if we tear FR apart then we lose it all. It's far more important that we re-unite and live to fight another day. Even if we can't vote for a true conservative for the presidency, it's doubly important that we all turn out on election day or sooner and drag our friends, neighbors, relatives, co-workers, etc, to the polls to vote straight conservative for every slot on our ballots. The only way we can win our freedom back is to vote out the liberal progressives and vote in as many liberty loving conservatives as is humanly possible into every elected office at every level of government all across this great land. To prevent a total loss to the dems or GOP-e, we must continue the tea party rebellion into November and beyond. Whatever else you may do, you must turn out and vote straight tea party conservative down ticket!!

We must continue expanding our inroads into the state houses and into every elective office in the land. We must continue building on our majority in the house and we must retake the senate!! We must help the conservative governors and state legislatures to fully restore the ninth and tenth amendments and reclaim the real political power away from the federal usurpers and return it to the states and the people per the constitution!! This way, regardless of who wins the presidency, we can cut his unconstitutional expansionist movements off at the knees. And if any executive, civil officer or judge dares commit impeachable offenses, we must hold the majorities so we can impeach and remove them from office!!

And we must salvage and rebuild and continue strengthening our conservative pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun, pro-borders, pro-constitution, pro-small government, pro-defense, pro-liberty movements and our tea party coalition. And we must stop ripping each other apart!!

As far as FR's finances go, we're in the same boat as the rest of the economy and will have to make do with what we can raise. Fortunately, the big debts we ran up a couple years ago have been paid off. We borrowed approx $20,000 a few years ago from two FReepers to fund our national convention, plus we ran up another $20,000 in legal fees during the last couple of years fighting off Righthaven. But those are now behind us and paid off. We also did quite a bit of traveling each year for the last three years on cross country tea party tours, but I think we can now cut that back and remove it from our budget requirements. If we're fortunate enough to not incur any additional legal costs or equipment costs (other than what we've already planned), and cut the travel and a few other areas, we should be able to tighten our belts enough to weather the storm even if we fail to reach our short term fundraising goals.

Whatever the outcome of the elections, we are prepared to roar into 2013 with the tea party chewing up liberal/progressives and RINOs and raising hell in our never ending fight for liberty!!

Well this is an interesting turn of events.

I must thank Mr. Robinson for what had to be a painful look at the bad facts and the honesty of the financial situation.

I don’t normally post in these longish threads for getting lost in the noise but I’ve for quite a while been pondering a political path, if for no one but myself, in the event that another crap sandwich, this time named Romney, would be shoved down our throat.

And I’ve come to some conclusions, thoughts, opinions and analyses and FreeRepublic is just the forum to hear me out.

First, we all know there’s an establishment GOP, an establishment GOP that gave us Gerald Ford, Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Every time they tell us that we need moderates, middle-of-the-road types, that “extreme” right-wingers can’t win the “Independents”.

Under that guise they’ve managed to settle in real comfy like in a political class that is quite to their liking. Now we must “reach across the aisle” and they’ve learned the political ways of their Democratic colleagues.

I am from Delaware and remember Mike Castle, who is now gone and I thank God every day, every damn day. I know a thing or two about how the establishment GOP will reach across that aisle with polished nails but will rip off your head and crap down your neck should you threaten their power.

We are to believe that all those years the Democrats were manipulating our banking system giving a mortgage to anyone with a pulse, a practice that eventually collapsed our home market and all that is monumental to the middle class….we are to believe that the Republicans….let’s use John McCain for a moment….KNEW NOTHING?

NO WAIT! McCain was all busy reaching across the aisle to Feingold making that stupid Campaign Finance Reform law and don’t we all go to bed every night thanking God that this law that had us all so worried is now the unconstitutional law of the land? Meanwhile Crystal and her pimp get a mortgage and can’t pay it, of course, but they live in their socially manipulated home gift awaiting government bailouts. It’s hard to be working so hard on meaningless laws that are for naught but getting our name on legislation to make us look good for our election to the presidency and pay proper mind to the governing job we are really supposed to be doing.

We are to believe that as illegal aliens were pouring into our country with no bother of fences and other mandatory federal frou frou, we are to believe the Republicans knew nothing?

No need to go on. I know that yon reader knows all this. You would also know that of late us natives have had the audacity to get restless, to begin to ponder why our representatives don’t represent US, that they seem more intent in being Democrat lite for cocktail party invites and a vote for more pork money to keep them in power.

Now we are in a position of having to vote for yet another Democrat Lite. I do not believe for a minute that Romney will trash Obamacare completely, that he’ll throw that Dream Act out the window, that he’ll make those mortgage freeloaders pay their bill or get out the door.

Oh he’ll do something to look like he’s tossing us crumbs, to appear as if here he is here to save the day, to pour drops of water down our parched throats that yearn for the America we had, to appease us and shut us up but will end on the same path as Obamer, albeit slowly we go over the cliff.

Here’s what I think we’ll happen. And I speculate here and must warn I am right about as often as Dick Morris.

Folks like us will suffer Romney (yeah most of will vote for him, the alternative is too horrific.) If we’re lucky we will slow our destiny with that cliff and in the four years of Romney’s presidency (I really DO think he will win)we will see the light. Unless the world turns upside down and Romney becomes a genuine leader who steers the helm of the ship of state to a right course, gets rid of the travesty of death panels in any form, begins defending our borders….the stuff of a free and vibrant leadership is what I’m saying here, then we will spend the first four years of Romney frustrated and gritting our collecting teeth.

As one who spent eight plus years getting spit upon by Mike Castle, trust that you can mistreat people for so long before they go ballistic.

THEN WE WILL START OUR THIRD PARTY AND THEN IT WILL WORK!

I really believe this.

We will have four years to watch Romney govern with Democrat lite. We have the Internet. We will have collectively decided that the warning about third parties and how they just disrupt, well by this time we will know the Blue Blood GOP just means that forming a third party, say, a Tea Party, only endangers their hold on power.

Every year Castle was up for election, every year we were told to hold on, just wait, this time he’s really means it, he’s going to retire, we need his vote for committee chairmanships…..on and on the Blue Bloods lied and lied and finally we kicked him out. Not only was it NEVER his final term as we were promised, this past term he actually WANTED A PROMOTION!

So it will be, as I predict, with President Romney. Nationally folks like us, we who took to marching in DC, holding angry town halls across the country….we will get like those Delawarians who threw down the gauntlet and decided better to have the enemy we know than the enemy who pretends to be our friend. The end result is always the same.

The RINOS will continue on in their own party but I predict they will go the way of the Whigs. They will be cut and carved out of that political class and send packing.

THAT is the only good thing I see about this Romney guy. He will serve as catalyst to turn the collective will of the people who carry this country on our backs.

And who knows, maybe the guy will do a good job.

Either way I see this as the final chance for the Blue Bloods.

We’re the ones who fight the wars and raise the citizens and soldiers of tomorrow. We will be the ones who will set this country straight, whatever it takes.

I really believe this.

I disagree there. Some might even wish it to be irreversible, but I've been reading a little FR history. There's been all kinds of drama in the past, and breathless obituaries written for FR, but it always comes back.

Maybe we disagree and that is okay. But this is not a breathless obituary. I am sure FR is not going anywhere anytime soon. It will continue to exist in some form. However, the wounds are deep and the scars will be permanent in that so many long-time posters are now gone. Posters with sign-up dates of 1998, even 1997, have been culled from the herd. Some have been among the most insightful posters FR ever had and perhaps ever will.
In my view, the most harmful participants are those who gang up and encircle a person, drive them to the ground and then claim they failed the purity test of the moment. All while professing to speak on behalf of the owner.
And then what do they do? They send sappy, glittering pictures to one another with expressions of friendship.

Well put. I haven't had the energy or the seemingly suicidal impulse to respond to any of the recent (past year) drama, but I will say I'm one of those who has seen one purge too many around here... And that was three, maybe four purges ago.

This place used to be really important to me, and I used to donate every month. It was a place I was happy to support, where you had to be smart and learn to form an argument that could hold up, or not, under vigorous debate. Beyond that it was a place where I met many good friends and even my husband. I still have those, but I have left this place, for now.

Debate here has given way to tattletales with ping lists and I'm a little too independent to want to live according to the whims of increasingly capricious "purity tests of the moment".

This is a forum, which means it's only as good as it's people. I want to meet, debate and learn from people, not just be told what to think 'or else' by them. Life's too short and there are already too many people trying to control me and my thoughts, to willingly look for more on my free time.

This place has to become a fertile ground for free and intelligent conservative thinking, not just threats and pesky swarming bullies, before it becomes again what it once was. We'll see. As Lando said... Many are already gone.

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