Posted on 09/13/2001 11:54:38 PM PDT by kristinn
Recently, some well known posters on FR have stated that criticism of the Bush administration is treasonous and cause for those critics to be arrested under martial law. Those comments have been cheered by dozens of other active FReepers.
I am watching Free Republic turn into a totalitarian groupthink of the kind that the left used to unjustly smear us with when we criticized the Clinton administration.
Good people like Alan Keyes and Larry Klayman who stood tall and faithful with FR for years, and posters who supported them, have been crucified as heretics and run out of the FR family for daring to criticize the Bush administration.
The forum is now dominated by vicious Bush supporters with an 'Us versus Them' mentality against fellow conservatives. The desire to root out government corruption and advance conservative causes has been replaced with a bloodlust and blacklisting for those who don't worship the Bush administration like they do. This situation has been going on for awhile, but it has gotten out of hand with this week's terrorist attacks.
Now, with regards to the present situation, I'd like to pose some questions: Why were all passenger flights grounded for almost three days since the attacks so that new security procedures could be put in place? If our air traffic safety was so secure before, why is there a perceived problem now ? Could it be that it wasn't really that safe ?
Where were our intelligence services ? Why did we have Clinton holdover DCI, George Tenent, doing the work of the Secretary of State in the Middle East instead of cleaning up the wreckage of the past eight years ?
How is it that foreign terrorists can go to flight school in the U.S., plot and carry out a complicated, coordinated massive assault involving several dozen conspirators against two vital American facilities without being detected ?
How is it that four hijacked planes flew unmolested and unchallenged by neither our air traffic control system or our military ?
We have experienced a massive failure of our almighty-two-trillion-dollar-peacekeeper-of-everywhere-but-home-bipartisan-protection-racket-federal government.
Thousands upon thousands of our fellow citizens are dead because of this failure to detect or intercept these heinous terrorist acts during either the months before or the hours of their execution.
The federal government lulled us into thinking that those silly questions (is this your luggage ?) and an ID check at the gate made flying safe. All the while there were gaping holes in our defenses.
They let us down.
The purpose; the job; the responsibility of the federal government is set forth in the preamble to the Constitution:
WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The eight corrupt years of President Clinton accompanied by four corrupt, compromised Congresses followed by nine months of a Bush administration that chose to sweep the rot of those years under the rug rather than clean it up has cost us dearly.
For those who say nine months is too short to change things in the government, remember this was the return of the grown-ups to Washington; this was the return of wise, experienced old hands such as Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, John Ashcroft and former President Bush; this was the era of the rising stars like Condi Rice, Karl Rove, and Karen Hughes. They chose to 'move on', not clean up.
In the aftermath of the attacks, it appears that the Executive and Legislative branches of our constitutional republic are finally bearing their responsibilties as they should. Except that while they call this attack an act of war, they are refusing to actually declare war.
The terrorists and those who aided and abetted them bear full responsibilty for the deaths and destruction and should pay with their lives and their cities.
But the federal government bears responsibility for leaving this nation and its citizens so vulnerable. Saying that is not treasonous--it is said out of patriotism and borne of a love of this Great Nation and a desire to see it survive.
One of Free Republic's greatest strengths has been the freedom to ask the hard questions of our government. It would be a crime to lose this freedom to any mob of posters, especially in this time of crisis.
I support President Bush, but I reserve the right to criticize him without my patriotism being called into doubt.
Well spoken, my friend. I'm saddened that some people who want to constantly tout their supposed superior understanding are not reasoned enough to know "not this......not now". They serve no useful purpose at this moment and, as you point out, offer nothing constructive.
While the fire is blazing, some people run for buckets, while others stand still and complain that the water isn't flowing fast enough.
I hate FR. I really do. The whole place is filled with people who really just hate America. America can never do enough for you. Never be good enough or perfect enough. As if you lived lives of misery and squalor. Bunch of Freeping ingrates, whiners and cranks and kooks. We have not even buried the dead yet and half of you people are pissing and moaning about your own little personal agenda or point of paranoia about the CIA or some politician or other. People are still looking for dead relatives and half of you people can only see your own hatred for your own country because it is not perfect and the people who run it are not perfect. Half of you think America is your enemy,and pin your hopes on a little tin horn nobody prick like Larry Klayman. That man cannot do one damm thing for you right now.
Your timing to critcise Bush sucks Kristinn. Do you mind if we mourn the dead first?
Why not pause from your all-out campaign of negativity and put yourself in Bush's shoes? This is a good man who is presently carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Who among you would be up to that test? Which of you has all the answers and believes with certainty that you could have done better? Shame on you !!!! Shame on all of you. Save your arguments for a different time. At this moment America is a family and needs to act like one. You may not approve of every action your brother or sister takes, but he or she is still family.
That simply shows the fallacy of "defensive" thinking. Our intelligence services have neutralized literally dozens to hundreds of terrorist attacks before they ever happened. But all it takes is a single "success" by the enemy to hurt us badly. The nation-states that sponsor these terrorist scumbags have waged war (and some have even declared war) upon us, and we have failed to follow basic laws of warfare in response -- a "defensive" war is a losing proposition, yielding initiative to the enemy is suicide.
But it was so easy to allow ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security -- it could never happen here, right? Wrong. But as a nation, we have responded to the incident with an overwhelming clarity of thought -- we must go on the offensive and eliminate future threats at the source.
Thank God for the leadership shown by President Bush. His initial response was dead-on-target, we have to go after the terrorist support structure. In one statement, one instant, the U.S. policy toward these cowards was changed from a defensive, timid position, to an offenseive, proactive position. And the American public, with the exception of the lunatic fringe on all sides, has responded with overwhelming support.
It is a time for resolve. What we need to do will not be easy, and it will not come cheaply. There will be casualties to our soldiers. There will be civilian casualties in the areas where our soldiers will be sent. There will be further attempts at terror inside the U.S. to weaken our resolve and demoralize us. We must remain strong, knowing that to yield now leaves us vulnerable forever, but to stay the course and follow through onto victory will virtually eliminate the threat of state-sponsored terrorism, as we will show that the cost for such support will be more than any nation-state can bear.
I certainly agree. This is not the time. I see FReepers whom I have long admired posting some unbelievably petty and hateful remarks. Very sad.
Please, let's all pull together behind our President for the good of our country and in memory of the victims and their families.
It has long been a standard at FR for the worst insults to be reserved to Republican posters.
"Thousands upon thousands of our citizens have been murdered because" a stinking bunch of anti-American, anti-Christian monsters killed them and for no other reason. If people are determined and sick enough, they will find a way to do anything.
But thanks for putting yourself in the tent with Larry Klayman and Alan Keyes. The three of you give political opportunism a bad name.
Way to pull together, though.
No one I know of the Bush supporters has put up this statement. And I, for one, would never cheer such a statement. I would like a link to those comments as I have been on all the pro-Bush threads, started one myself last night, and I have seen no one refer to people that critize Pres Bush as committing treason and arrested under martial law.
You all still don't get it, we are not talking about the fact you shouldn't criticize President Bush's policies, we are asking everyone to put a lid on at this time when our Nation was attacked and also to not attack President Bush personally. We are asking freepers to stand united behind this President and present that united front to the world that reads FR.
This editorial shows how little you know about a lot of us that supported President Bush. We are Americans first and put our country ahead of our politics. I supported President Bush because I believed he was the best man at this time to be President and I starting believing that in 1994 when I first supported him for Governor. Yet, I and others have been ridiculed and called names and told if we voted our conscience we wouldn't have voted for Pres Bush. Then you wonder why we got so mad?
You should have researched your facts a little more to find out why we felt it necessary to become vocal -- our President and our own integrity have been questioned, we have been called names, and trashed for our position and yet we are to take it. Give us a break!
A lot of Keyes people have come on board to support the President and I sincerely appreciate them -- they were the ones that had honest disagreements with us but didn't resort to calling us names. That speaks volumes IMO!
War is entered in great patriotic hopes founded on righteous anger, rah rah rah! The boys march off under the peacetime generals. Then, War the Critic, strikes them down, and down, and down.
Finally, if fortunate, the generalship passes to men with the very kind of attitudes Theresa hates about FR. These men slug it out, no matter what spirit they feel, bitter, hopeless, despair. But one spirit overwhlems them all, all the other less resolute spirits. That is the spirit of simple dogged persistance.
The heart of FR is that simple dogged unremitting persistance to justice and truth. In peace it is scoffed at ... fancier spirits in men and women are preferred.
Simple persistance is the only spirit that survives when all the rest are torn off, broken, demolished. It is based on trust in G-d and the duties he sets before us.
Personally I don't care what he thinks of me. I've been called or told that I remind them of an ignorant SOB by some on this forum that he's trying to defend. So his little rant doesn't make it any worse nor bother me one bit.
I hope, pray and wish God's blessings for him and the country at this time. May the ones impacted with lost family members be given the strength to survive and over come the tragedies they are enduring.
Thank you for your character and generous spirit.
Calling yourself "principled" because you shoot to kill at both sides, doesn't make you so.
What it shows is that you spend your time swatting at gnats while being devoured by a rabid beast. It's smarter to kill the beast first.
What is this bloviated nonsense? Gag.
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