Is Free Republic too "Republican?"

Jim Robinson

[Jim Robinson]

Is Free Republic too "Republican?" I've been receiving a lot of complaints lately that FR is not really conservative, it's Republican. Is that a bad thing?

When I started FR (see the wayback machine) I don't think I even used the labels conservative or Republican. But, even though I was a registered Democrat at the time (I registered when I was very young), I was definitely anti-Democrat. And definitely anti-big government, anti-government corruption, anti-government abuse, anti-liberalism, etc. And I still am.

As FR became more and more popular, people started referring to it as a "conservative" web site and so eventually I posted the label to the front page. If it no longer applies, big deal. What's in a label? I'll change it to "Republican" if demand warrants.

I'm still anti-big government, anti-government corruption, anti-Democrat and anti-liberalism. I just happen to believe that in the current political environment we stand a better chance of defeating the left (liberalism/socialism/marxism, etc) by using the Republican Party to defeat the Democrats. The organization is there. The platform is there. The winning candidates are there. The dollars to run winning campaigns are there. The momentum is there. And the vast majority of the conservative voters are there.

Makes perfect sense to me. I want to defeat the left, and I want to do it as quickly as possible. I'll go with the organization that can get the job done.

My current goal is to defeat liberalism by defeating the Democrat Party. If that labels me a Republican, then so be it. If the vast majority of the FReepers want it so, then Free Republic will officially become the newest "Republican wing" of the Republican Party.

Long live Republicanism. Long live the Republic!'

What say you, FReepers?

[jwalsh07]

I'm a conservative, socially and fiscally. I donate my money to causes I support and those who will vote to support my causes. They are invariably Republican which is why I am a registered Republican and proud of it.

Not all Republicans are good conservatives and not all conservatives are good Republicans. I understand that and since many of us conservatives are maverick's by birth I also understand the reticence of some to be identified with any group.

Hell, the only club I ever joined,aside from registering as a Republican, is FR. That's a testament to what you created here Jim.

[Churchill Gomez]

Peewee, you are insisting that I change the MEANING of my sentence?

I note the threads where you hang mostly pertain to illegal drugs and your posts contain many errors, e.g., "But if I was [sic] to suffer from joint-pain [sic], I might try it."

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

I vote nay. Affiliating yourself with the Republican party means swallowing any liberal socialist swill they dish out. And yes they can and have served it up. Keep FR conservative independent as corruption in government does not know party bounds.

[mafree]

After reading all of the previous replies, let me add my penny's worth.

I definitely wouldn't want to see FR become a wing of the GOP, though I lean more that way. This is not just because I happen to associate myself with no political party at this time- it's because party labels too often shut down debates over principle, which are necessary in civil discourse. Someone has to take a stand for principles, and on the whole, conservative principles are better, which is why I spend more time here and none on any liberal site.

If this were a Republican site I wouldn't spend any real time on it or support it financially. Therefore, my vote is "nay."

[CyberCowboy777]

OLD VERSION:


The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!


MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?


Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing "It's Not Easy Being Green." Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Tom Daschle and Walter Mondale exclaim in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share".

Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act", retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire an aroportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up
the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Vote Republican

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

Oh right there's an idea. Instead of replacing conservative with republican just put "war party" on the banner page, or why not change the name from FreeRepublic to FreeEmpire. :-P

[Churchill Gomez]

I'd hate to have Hillary making Supreme Court appointments.

Or serving as Commander in Chief, U.S. Armed Forces.

[Tempest]

"Keep the "independent" label - and the Republican spirit."

Agreed

[deport]

bttt

[Consort]

Well, that's all very well and fine in theory, however, if you don't mind, I'm hoping the Republicans keep control of the White House and the Senate at least until we have some turnover in the courts. I'd hate to have Hillary making Supreme Court appointments. Thank you all the same.

Very well put, very practical, and very achievable if we keep that goal in mind. Strange as it seems and hard for us to imagine, but if Hillary makes it to the nomination, she will probably have coat tails and the fragile GOP control of Congress and the White House can be on the line. We have to prepare for a worse case scenario.

The Left is going to use both our Ideological Correctness and their Political Correctness to their advantage and the Leftist media will drive it home. The Hollywood elite will get into it, as well, at least financially, if not in person.

[sayfer bullets]

What an interesting response. I was just thinking..

"Conservative" is portrayed as far right wing, while in truth the term communicates minimal change.

"Republican" is increasingly as meaningless as "Moderate" as a descriptive ideological term.

What we need the most, IMHO, and I agree with those who want this site NOT to reflect a party affiliation....is a movement that INITIATES change rather than only fights to prevent further erosion of freedom.

What would we call it? Conservatism is not enough, yet it's not easy to leap from there to tin foil-status.

my...my ...my.

[budwiesest]

Oh, if that were only true. Great goal....but hardly the reality.

Hardly? Bush just knocked the snot out of a dictator whose pastimes included torturing fellow citizens. Next time you're facing an IRS audit or having the door to your home kicked in by some overzealous, address misimformed crew, you may look to the Republicans to put an end to such tactics.

That they include people capable of understanding limited government, in practice they sometimes come up short. When it comes to Liberty and our Republic, short doesn't cut it. The divide between what was envisioned and what has expired grows each year. I'm interested in supporting those dedicated toward closing this gap. Our grandchildren will thank us.

[MJY1288]

Ignore the complaints, your site is the best and count me in for a franklin every quarter :-)

[tpaine]

The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Vote Republican
485 -777-


Far to many have, even though this does not alter the outcome..
- Moral? -- Vote principle, not politics.

[Sabertooth]

Afraid of posting the truth, boy?

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[Jhoffa_]

Hello Mr. Robinson.. Hope you are well.

Since you asked, I would vote "Absolutely not"

Sure the Republican label is the only vehicle to defeat the democrats for the time being. No argument.

The victory will be temporary however, because bad ideas have a way of re-incarnating themselves and being re-intorduced again and again, over and over. History repeats itself, and we will have liberalism to deal with, in some form, for as long as we have politics.

That said, principled Conservatism is the heart of FR. It's the most attractive part, imo. It's morally superior and intellectually honest. As such I think it's got a wide appeal and Conservative principles are easy to defend.

I consider "Republicanism" to be the same blind, lock step partisanship we witnessed from the Democrats in the Rose Garden.

If that's what it takes to "win" Then why would you want to? Who in their right mind would be attracted to that?

How can we sell people on the moral superiority and inherent righousness of Conservatism if we toss these things overboard and refuse to be objective about politics?

Heck, anyone can be a blind partisan.. but there's no honor in that. IMVHO.

[budwiesest]

Hey Paine, it just occurred to me that two battles are raging. The first to defeat socialism (which I applaude), the other to reatore America to it's traditional freedoms. In this last effort I believe Free Republic is indipensible. Defeating socialists will be the larger of the two battles as it has become so ingrained. Please pass my prescription meds.

[I got the rope]

Long live the Free Republic!

Conservative by nature ... Republican by spirit ... Patriot by heart ... AND ... ANTI-Liberal by GOD!

Amen to that brother. Now let's go for the jugular, and put these rat bast@rds out of their misery.

Notice to all demonrat lurkers...we are gathering the posse!

[Jhoffa_]

..the nays have it. The notion of changing the label to suit the whiners is hereby, forthwith, and forever burned and forgotten.

good..

[Mr. Mojo]

Is Free Republic too "Republican?"

Before 9/11 the answer was a definite NO. But in the months (up to a year) immediately following that date, after you made your "the game has now changed" (or something to that effect) speech, I would say that yes, FR was way too partisan. Nowadays, we seem to be back to relative normalcy, and conservatives of all stripes (and political parties) are free to express themselves (politely) without worrying about getting the boot.