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.
"Better yet force them to agree with the War. It exposes them pretty well."
Some of them were the first to post so called Quagmire threads, then they were first on board with the no WMDS, then they have yelled for Rummy's scalp. They agree with the worthless 6 or so retired liberal generals about firing Rummy and how the war goes. Most of them are an absolute waste of air.
AP Today, YUMA, Ariz. - President Bush said Thursday it makes sense to put up fencing along parts of the U.S.-Mexico border but not to block off the entire 2,000-mile length to keep out illegal immigrants.
During a visit to one of the busiest crossing sectors, Bush did not declare his support for either of two competing proposals in Congress — one approved by the House that would build 700 miles of fencing and one in the Senate that would build half that. Instead, he said the Border Patrol should guide the decisions.
They have morphed from ginned up issue after issue since GW anounced he was running for president.
You Bots are so easy...lol...from a Vandy study....
An estimated 95,000 illegal immigrants, mostly Hispanic, settled in Tennessee by 2004, compared to roughly 10,000 in 1990. Demographers believe the number has further increased over the past two years. Since 1990, illegal immigration into Tennessee has surged tenfold as thousands of foreign-born workers are drawn to the robust job market in the nation's interior.
Try to justshutupandbepolite.....
"Elitists who seek the best are precisely those we need more of not those kowtowing to the rabble."
Precisely, my good fellow, and that is why you should defer to me.
There has always been as much hatred for the Bush family in the GOP as there is in the DNC, if not more.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Amazing isn't it!
" . . . please just shoot me for being too stupid to live."
Put the gun down, friend. No one wants to see anything bad happen here.
One point about the insane on FR: I think people's expectations of what Tony Snow can do by himself against the MSM may be, say, outsized a bit?
Link just in case Mr Happy asks for it.
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/VirtualSchool/programs/immigration.htm
Yes, we do have good Mex restaurants....El Palenque at Green Hills for real Mole....and they stayed open during the Great May Day Boycott.....that place out at OHB and 70 is good too.
The best are the mom and pop joints in outlying hamlets.
Possibly, and the odds increase exponentially if the thermostat isn't turned down a notch and people start THINKING. Look at what we did when Algore tried stealing the 2000 election....we depended on emotion yes, but tempered by COLD, HARD, CALM, REASONED FACT. We DID NOT lose control.
A little of that would help now, or we'll all get screwed.
Despite the desires of some on both sides, the only chance a third party has at this time is right down the middle.
Ross Perot's Reform Party was very centrist, playing to both moderate Democrat and Republic voters (albeit more Republican) who weren't tied to any issues other then how ineffectual the two parties were in getting anything accomplished because of politics.
Strange as it seems, I think a national Mundane Party (just get the damned job done without politics or agenda) would appeal to a lot of people at this point in time.
The president doesn't represent the people who voted for him. That's not the "We" the Constitution references. "W" doesn't stand for "We" either.
The Constitution doesn't allow for the tyranny of the majority over the minority. Bush only got half of the vote. Heck, Clinton never even got that. Even if both had won Reagan landslides, they would still have to answer to the Constitution, not the wishes of the American people.
That is why we are a Republic, not a democracy. The House of Representatives is the "people's" direct voice in government, not the President.
With that I agree 100 percent.
However, President Bush is not, never has been and did not campaign as a "conservative". He's a moderate and never pretended to be anything else. He's extremely conservative only on SOME issues, pretty conservative on some others and middle of the road on all the rest, which is probably most. Being in line with the core conservatives is not tantamount to him announcing "I am a conservative, vote for me"
I did not vote for Ears. I voted for Daddy and Dole.
I think Ear's appeal was that he could take care of business but when he got weak after the GOP hit him on family stuff...he looked...well weak.
He for sure gave Toon the first election....maybe even the second.
I'm forced to vote GOP. I will be enthusiastic for some like my Rep Marsha Blackburn but less so for others.
That's not really all that different for me. I usually only donated outta state to serious folks ...like DeLay or if they are in a big race like that guy that beat Daschle or the one who got Wellstone.
There is no telling where it all goes from here. This is all Brave New World for my 48 years.
"Elitists who seek the best are precisely those we need more of not those kowtowing to the rabble."
So what you are really saying is that the rest of us should justbendoverandtakeit?
Should the day come, "We" still have the second amendment to protect the rabble from elitists who think they know best against our will.
The statement that there is "no" fence is incorrect. There IS a fence, and the debate is over how large. Since the President went to Yuma today, it is my understanding that he is supporting a longer fence, a la the House.
You're right... in fact, I think I remember his campaign slogan: "Commpassionate moderate"...
No, that's not it; help me out here.
Could you be any more disrespectful? You may hate the man but he is still President of the United States. At least respect the office and the nation. You do love this Country don't you?
Pray for W and Our Troops
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.