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.
Count me in. Great post.
There is no white flag of surrender to choose from.
If the GOP has to learn through losing elections - then we have no party to begin with.
Because, losing is furthering the other side and is not acceptable. Unless you are working for the other side which apparently is true of many here now.
People fail to realize that RINOS "vote."
No, I voted for George Bush because he is a Republican and because of who his opponent was. I agree with the President on his WOT, but not about immigration. As far as I know, I'm still free to have an opinion but since this is the first thread I've read this morning, I'm not sure.
Quite simply..............Thank you.
Thanks for that sane post.
Your post and response is exactly the attitude I'm talking about.
You are part of the problem.
Have a nice day
The federal judiciary is the instrument the left has used for decades to enact their godless, anti-family, anti-life agenda.
Friends, we are on the verge of victory in the courts.
That alone will keep me from "sitting out" this election.
Well said. Yes sir, well said.
*** Perhaps I am too generous,... maybe not....***
Believe me, you ARE too generous. The democrats are, whether they all know it or not, COMMUNISTS. This country is fighting for its freedom from communism which is using the WOT to take over this country.
Well said Dog!
It's reassuring and hopeful to read this thread with so many supportive comments. There is hope, and we must make it so. The president and the first lady are outstanding people, and his leadership has been the best in my lifetime.
I suspect the '04's with no state flag, live in red states and use FR to vent, demoralize and suggest the "GOP be taught a lesson" in other states and nationally. Misery likes company.
Who was he listening to?
His Republican base and the majority of Americans have stated their preference for increased border security. Fine, he's finally listened and appears to have moved a ways in that direction.
Who else was he listening to?
Well, we had millions of marxist-organized illegal aliens marching in our streets since March 25th, culminating with their nation wide temper tantrum on May Day. They were demanding the right to work, amnesty, and citizenship. And the President has said that is what he wants to give them.
Why is he listening to illegal aliens? These are foreign nationals who are criminals, who have violated our sovereign borders, who do untold amounts of economic damage to our towns, states, and nation, who are responsible for over 9,000 American deaths per year, who are responsible for sexually abusing 3,000 American children per year. But they are who the President is listening to when he sets half of his immigration reform and border security plan to provide them legal work, a way to avoid the legal penalty (deportation) for their crime of being here illegally (ie. amnesty), and a path to citizenship. That is what the illegal aliens demand and that is what the President is working to give them.
You say that the President said that he was the President of all Americans, not just Republicans and those who voted for him. Now, besides the fact that the Democrats never try to be the President or representatives of "all" Americans and fight only for their side while Republicans tend to try to be the President or representatives of "all" Americans (even liberals, leftists, and Democrats) and tend to give far too much ground to the other side, I have an issue with the President being the President of the foreign nationals who are making demands. He is not the President of the illegal aliens and their demands do not deserve to be considered - at all - by the President. Yet there he is capitulating to those demands.
Now, when someone points this out or are otherwise critical of the President's plan - as long as they do it somewhat rationally and respectfully - they are not a "troll" here, nor are they advocating throwing everything to the Democrats. These people have a legitimate complaint that does not deserve to be derided and they don't deserve to be called names and told to shut up.
The President has actually come a LONG way from his original position on immigration reform and border security. He needs to be given credit for that. He's still got a ways to go until his proposal is acceptable and will not serve to damage the country, but he's made a lot of progress from even a year ago. I have to credit those who have been critical of the President's position and also credit the Minuteman Project for so deftly calling national attention to the problems at the border. Just like the Harriet Meiers episode, the President has proven that he can be forced to listen to his base. He's got some more listening to do, however, but I have to recognize how far he's actually come on this issue. There's still work for us to do though.
Trying to affect political change of a conservative nature is what this site is all about. The criticism of the President, as long as it is somewhat respectful, is healthy and should be welcome here. We may be able to nudge him and the Senate far enough that they'll put together and adopt an acceptable plan. Or we may be able to defeat the current unacceptable plan because, at this point, no bill at all is better than the bill being debated in the Senate.
We could all tone it down a bit. The bitter rancor here has been a bit high lately. Passions are running high on this issue, but we're all grown ups I think and we should be capable of a little more self control. It isn't constructive to accuse someone of racism or intolerance just because they want the border secured and our laws enforced. It also isn't helpful to call the President a traitor or call for his impeachment. We FReepers agree on 90% of political issues as we all tend to be conservatives. We should act like it. Yes, even on the immigration reform/border security issue. We could all do a lot more "turning the other cheek" here, applying the Golden Rule, and remembering that holding a grudge against someone or deciding to hate them is like taking poison and then expecting that someone to die from it. And, yes, I can stand to take some of my own medicine on this.
And that's just my two cents.
Thanks pukin!! Might want to send this to the hostile radio talking heads as they are fueling the rhetoric against this wonderful president.
We'll have them to thank if there is a dem takeover!
You're a defeatist "teach the GOP a lesson" poster.
You're going against the purpose of FR, which is to defeat democrats and never give them control of Congress or the White House.
I am NOT surprised you are an '04 sign-on with no state flag.
As I said in #176, I think there is blame on all sides for the present ugliness.
I must say, though, that I think you post (in its entirety in italics above) is an excellent example of the ferocious and nasty ad hominem style that is unfortunately practiced by you and your chums who constitute the crowd often referred to as "bots."
"encouragement from Pukin Dog" to be civil does that? My my, what a thin skin you have.
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