Posted on 05/17/2006 7:47:58 AM PDT by Pukin Dog
Edited on 05/17/2006 8:30:59 AM PDT by Lead Moderator. [history]
"A house divided against itself cannot stand." – Abraham Lincoln, 1858
It is getting somewhat strange around these parts when not only the President, but yesterday the First Lady was personally attacked by someone claiming to be a ‘Conservative’. Can there be any doubt that there are forces among us looking to drive a wedge between us?
A few weeks ago, this forum’s owner attempted to remind all of us of the big picture, that regardless of any personal animosity towards the President or Republican Party over their adherence to Conservative principles, that they are still a clear choice over the alternative Democrat Party rule. At that time, I assumed that FReeper-sanity had been restored, and that some of the negative rhetoric aimed at those in Washington D.C. would be dialed back.
Free Republic is a political forum with a proud history and vision, responsible for dragging Dan Rather from his post, and providing countless radio-talk shows with their daily talking points. FReepers are unique in their determination and energy towards protecting and defending the goals of our Founding Fathers.
We are also quite a powder keg of emotion and anticipation, expecting our Republican majorities to take advantage of this opportunity to make permanent gains in our Conservative agenda. Some might argue that this opportunity has been squandered, but those persons would be ignorant of history, lacking understanding that change cannot occur overnight in Washington, and that this is the way our Founders designed our Republic.
In frustration, impatience, and ignorance, we have allowed this forum to become a haven for those who do not share our Conservative goals. I do not blame our enemies anymore then I would blame a scorpion for stinging me. If anger and stupidity were one’s nature, I would expect the trolls that infect this forum to be angry and stupid consistently, which also makes them somewhat easy to detect.
The trolls are not the problem, though. The problem is that so many of us are allowing ourselves to be taken in by those who seek only to prevent us from going to the polls in November to keep their stinking hands off our government for another term. There can be no doubt, that no matter how disappointing our current government has been in promoting the Conservative agenda, that the alternative, enabled by our staying home will be MUCH worse.
The way to deal with Republicans who have actively worked against our goals is to defeat them in Primary elections. We do not even have to defeat them all, only enough of them to send the message that we will indeed target them if they work against our agenda. It should be the goal of EVERY conservative to see that Lincoln Chaffee is defeated in November. His seat is one we can afford to lose. Were I a Rhode Island resident, I would vote for the Democrat if only to send a message to Snowe, Hagel, Collins, Graham, and especially that bastard Specter that their primaries just got a lot tougher.
We only need to get one of them, and Chaffee is the one to get. It does not really matter if a Democrat takes his seat; he will be junior and mute as long as we maintain our overall majority in the Senate.
The one thing that bothers me here like nothing else, is the simple disrespect of the President. Am I am Bush-Bot? Damn straight I am. If you want to know why, click on my handle to read Southack’s excellent list of Bush’s accomplishments in office. But if Bush had done almost nothing in office, it would be no excuse for some of the slights and disrespect he has received from some of us on this forum.
Some of the things I have read here this past week match in tone what one can find on our favorite Democrat sewer site. Someone calling himself or herself a FReeper was promoting shooting aliens at the border until they stopped coming. Is that what we are about? Obviously not, and that so-called Conservative has been eliminated from this forum.
I think it is important to remember that you and I have just as much responsibility as George Bush does in changing our culture to better reflect Conservative values. Right now, this very moment, Conservatives have the government they deserve. We put them there. They are not our mommies and daddies sent out to bring home our Conservative bread. That responsibility lies with all of us. These Republicans represent us, they don’t serve us. Our job is to pick the best individual and send him/her to Washington in the hope that their CHARACTER will see them through.
This is why it is such a nutty thing to consider punishing the Republican party, when we should be letting them know that we’ve got their back, but if they cant do the job, we will replace them with ANOTHER Republican, instead of handing the reigns of government to the party of anger, hopelessness and despair. We sometimes like to think that those people we send to Washington are different from us, that they are capable of meeting our every need and desire.
I want every one of you to think about what you would consider to be your perfect mate. Maybe some of you think you have found that person. If you are married and totally in love with another person, that is great. Now I want to ask you to think about the last time that person you love, who is PERFECT for you, completely pissed you off. Remember, this is your perfect mate, your one true love. Do they do everything you want them to do? Obey your every desire? If you answer yes, I am going to put you on my troll list.
Those people in Washington do not even cut your lawn, yet you expect perfection. Get over it.
I am issuing a challenge to every person who considers him or her to be a Conservative; why don’t we all commit to a return to HONOR? Do we honor our Conservative agenda when we comport ourselves in disgraceful ways? Is it an honorable thing to suggest that our President is a moron, as I read here a few days ago? Is it honorable to attack Laura Bush or any other person representing true Conservative values?
Some of you might argue that George Bush is not representing Conservative values to your liking. I would remind you that the first thing Bush said upon taking office, is that he was going to be President of ALL the people, not just some. You know that if you followed Bush from the beginning that he campaigned of the very immigration platform he is defending right now. Did you vote for him? Yeah?
If you have ever had a steak at a Ruth’s Chris restaurant, you know that sometimes they bring that wonderful steak to your table with a sprig of parsley on it. I hate parsley. Hate it. If I were to treat my steak the way some of us want to treat our President, I would have to throw out the steak, due to that nasty parsley that comes with it. I can deal with the parsley to get the steak, and that is what I am asking FReepers to do.
Expecting perfection from any person, group or team is a recipe for disaster. George W. Bush is my president. You can disagree with him, you can blame him for your problems if that is your desire. If you disrespect his office, his service, his risking his life to be with our troops in Iraq, his steadfast desire to bring a new tone to Washington, or if you just like the way he keeps Democrats so pissed off they lose their minds on a regular basis, I ask you to treat him and his wife with respect and cut the personal attacks. If you call him ‘Shrub’ or ‘Jorge’ consider yourself my enemy.
Right now, our real enemy are the Main Stream Media, the Democrat Party, and all who follow and support them. If you want to jump-ugly on someone, why not start with those leaky bastards and give our side a break?
Do it for Pukin.
I knew that you could.
This must be confusing the crap out of the extremists in North Vancouver, BC and Windsor, ON. Maybe they'll just think it's a trick.
I figured out my confusion
Vitter has another amenment
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1624709/posts?page=648#648
(snip)
To: Mo1; Bahbah
Vitter has another amendment...not sure what it is.
I wasn't aware the good Senator had abandoned his aspirations to be the Republican nominee.
And what in tarnation is wrong with Brownback?
Sure, crowded classrooms, lower level of learning since most resources have to go to ESL, crushing health care system, crushing medicade costs.
One wonders just what it is they do bring to Blooming-idiot that gives him so much pleasure.
Yep, a fiscal and social conservative is bashed. Meanwhile, a president who has spent money hand over fist, who has overseen massive government growth, and who does not wish to learn from Reagan's mistake with amnesty, is defended by bashing conservatives who wish to learn from that mistake.
And Rush would be on the enemies list if he posted here, as you noted.
Seems like we're in the bad Spock parallel universe.
That is a gracious way of describing what happened when Bush first brought up his proposal....LOL:-)
I recall being up to my neck in exchanges with Sabertooth and it was not pretty. The premise of a guest worker program was slammed unmercifully, as well as the proposer, the president.
The day the amnesty word was used, the spikes in crossings began and that was about two years ago IIRC.
It is still being used, the program is still being slammed, as is the president, and you blame the extra crossings on him as well........hmmmmmmmmmm.....
Just thought I would do my best to set that matter straight.
It's most certainly a great deal of cabbage.
Thanks. I'll keep an ear out when that fat blow hard swimmer isn't talking.
If GWB cannot get a majority of the Senate GOP to join him and the Democrats in endorsing his guest worker amnesty, then I'd say there's no chance this'll pass in the House unless the leadership abandons the unspoken 'majority of the majority' rule (that they don't bring measures for a vote unless a majority of Republicans are in support). If they do that, all hell will break loose..
I hate to tell you this, but any guest worker program will fail by design, leaving the illegals still here clamoring for amnesty. And it will end up as a de facto amnesty.
I would actually prefer increased border security coupled with more legal immigration and expedited processing. That, IMO, would cut the demand for illegals.
except to architects
'Cuz them's bastids!
Unless a few RINOs peel off and join the Dems.
If Bush gets his way by getting Dems to vote with him, that alone should show he is on the wrong side of the issue here.
>>Has Chafee ever been seen in the same room with Hillary!?<<
You know, I've never seen them photographed together.... :)
It's just when the the BIG MAN suggests the label of troll has credibility...tell the truth...the spincter tightened a bit...didn't it? ;^)
Fun thread, though I've got nothing substantive to add...
I'll say I've never seen such a bizarre political discussion as there has been on this issue in the media.
..that said, carry on!
I especially like this metaphor: I can deal with the parsley to get the steak
I also think this is the crux of the issue: Our job is to pick the best individual and send him/her to Washington in the hope that their CHARACTER will see them through
I do have several questions about your strategy however.
In regard to Snowe/Chaffee/Collins/Graham. If we lose those seats, we lose control. As much as I want to send them packing, I wonder if the message we want to send would be clear (ie. we want you to be MORE conservative not less) not to mention my deep suspicion as to our ability to elect anyone more conservative. In some of those cases, I think we are really lucky to just have a seat in our column.
As far as Specter goes...what a double edged sword. He came through in the end on judges, but recently he has become a shrill tool of the anti-Bush brigade. Whenever that affects our ability to "connect the dots" I get spectacularly irritated. I don't know that kicking him out serves our best interests, but I have to admit it is a VERY murky situation.
Anyway, enjoyed the rant. Agree with the sentiment. Have some strategic questions. (That would have been a lot shorter way to respond to it, huh? Points deducted for being too female and having to use as many as possible.)
"A lot of FReepers never seem to understand. Most people don't make 100K a year and don't give a damn about the capital gains cut or a balanced budget."
That's certainly true of the pro-life base.
Specter's chair of judiciary rankled them, the Schiavo disaster infuriated them, but with Miers they were headed out the door.
The GOP leadership saw it, and after some macho posturing (and too much nasty namecalling), they caved and gave the clearly Catholic and pro-life Alito. Which brought back the pro-lifers as snug as a bug in a rug.
Pro-lifers are mostly religious, and mostly not very rich, and many are almost indifferent to economic issues.
Border Conservatives, many of them, are in the middle class or the blue collar class - these are the people feeling direct economic pressure and insecurity from illegals, because they're the folks who want the jobs employers won't give them, because illegals cost a ;ot less.
Bush and the Senate Republicans have very clearly sided with the business conservatives, who want that cheap labor. Thus, Bush's speech ignored the issue of employer crackdown, but focused on the employer's paradise of guest worker: illegal prices without any legal risk! Woo-hoo!...IF you're a big employer.
If you're a blue collar Republican, this is a threat to you - never mind the principle of the border or the terror threat or anything else.
Some compromise had to be found that would appease Border Conservatives without blowing up the business conservatives and cutting the contribution gravy train...and the way to thread that needle is to start a wall on the border.
That takes time - everybody can adjust.
It really cuts the flow, which allows for eventual assimilation. BorderBots, many of them, also want deportation, but even if that never happens, the problem won't keep getting worse. There will be illegal attitrion, on this side of the wall, and assimilation. The problem will eventually take care of itself.
In the short term, the fact OF a wall being built will give the BorderBots something they have GOT to protect...by returning Republican majorities to keep the wall construction going. By the time the long term hits, many BorderBots will have seen the illegal PRESSURE diminish (but the cutting off of the flood) and many will feel less threatened and more inclined to accept a gradual regularization.
But you can never get to square one if the flood continues.
Put up the wall, but DON'T unleash legions of prosecutors on employers, and the biggest thing that would piss off the business base will be avoided. They're using illegals now, and they'll have time to adjust to the gradual titration down of new illegals.
NO wall AND guest worker AND no stepped-up enforcement against business was what Bush presented, and that's piggish in favor of one interest. It won't stand, because it CAN'T.
The only real question is whether the Republican House can coax the Senate in off the ledge and add in the wall as the irreducible part of ITS compromise bill in committee. Do that, and you probably keep Congress in November.
Do less than that, and the wall becomes part of the Republican Platform in 2007 as they put themselves back together and try to take Congress back and keep the White House in 2008.
"Did you hear his speech? IMO, he's come around about as much as he's going to."
That is defeatist.. everyone is capable of some improvement if they care to listen. There is nothing wrong with trying to encourage the President to "come around" a little more.. as long as it's done in a civil and sane manner.
"I take heart today, that Senator Sessions' amendment passed!"
That was good news. Which is why we need to encourage the GOP.. since some of them don't seem to be too sure of what they are supposed to stand for.. Americans.
But the question is whether the leadership of the House will call for a vote at all. The practice since 1994 has been that the GOP leadership doesn't even call for a floor vote unless a majority of Republicans are in support. The exceptions you might recall, such as CFR, were forced by petition.
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