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.
You haven't been on the threads I have.
I don't think we need to deal with these folks like they're precious and fragile. They have no problem calling people "Jorge" or "Bushbot" or "Kool-Aid drinker" or "open border lovers"--they're really good at that, but not so good at the less-exciting work of talking to representatives and RNC members and pushing their position with facts and real life details.
I see no reason why their disruption of this forum should be handled with compassion and understanding. They talk tough but have been whining about being labelled vigilantes a year ago. Get over it. (I happen to think it's a good and accurate label--I would be proud to be labelled one if I were watching out for illegals.)
Thanks for the rant! I too have been slipping of late, had to bang my head against the wall to clear it some. Our common enemy is the scum - we all know who they are! Thanks again for the pep talk.
Your words to God's Ear!
Definitely! And it's so stupid that it really makes me wonder if there's truth to the old addage about Republicans -- that we're the stupid party.
I think a lot of DU types signed up during Clinton's impeachment.
They surface occasionally.
>>I shouldn't have to "Get over it". You're supposed to be impartial. How can you moderate a board fairly when you have clearly supported one side over the other?<<
Would you really want moderators who don't have opinions about politics?
The worst thing we can do in the modern age is have a democrat in charge of the war on terror. Neither party has the gravitas to take the real responsible actions needed for illegal immigration in this country out of fear of insulting Hispanic voters...and that is a shame.
But when all is said and done...we need to keep score on the positives that Republicans and Bush have done and keep check of the bad as well and call them out on it. Balance is the key.
I for one am not jumping ship by any means. I would rather live in an igloo in Alaska for 4 years than deal with Hillary as president.
Your post made me realize something.
We do not reveal what the democrats are - we use this site to chastise Bush or protect Bush.
Another reason the dems love FR - we make the conservatives spend all their time defending or attacking their own man and leave the antics of the liberals free to wreck havoc.
Thanks for the eye opener. How many times do you read a post that reveals the real actions of the democrats? Not many for a conservative site. How many times do you see rants against Bush, rants for Bush?
I didn't check for who was suspended or banned, I don't have the time. Give it a rest (even though you're proving my point).
Thank you so much PD!
The dishonorable conservatism that you rightly condemn is the conservative distortion of utopia. In a way it mirrors the socialist error that Thomas Sowell wrote about in The Quest for Cosmic Justice.
Proud to stand with you for honor.
I am a conservative. I sill support conservative candidates. My one vote is intended to represent me and my thoughts and ideals, not the wants of a party that does not reflect my values.
I've been going back over his/her post looking for a violation. If you could point out to me what I missed, I'd appreciate.
>>Loads of antagonistic '98 and '99 Freepers show up during very contentious times
I think a lot of DU types signed up during Clinton's impeachment.
They surface occasionally.<<
Interesting. As a newcomer I tend to assume that anybody with a '98 signup date is a battle hardened proven conservative Freeper.
Interesting. Some see name calling, key word abuse as "objectionable."
Just my own ping list, but thanks, maybe we can help one another.
...Hmmm, where to begin. Firstly, I don't want anyone for an enemy especially not you!
However, I'm more of a conservative-leaning Libertarian than a dyed-in-the-wool conservative Republican, so I hope that you take that into consideration, at least in my case.
I voted for George Bush (twice); but surely you've noticed from our previous correspondence that he's not my first choice to hold the office he holds. My hero is Ronald Reagan and he more represents that top grade ribeye from Ruth Crisp you described, only without the parsley. In comparison "Dubyah," to me, is more like a cubed hamburger--That said, I do respect him, because Al Gore was like hog's liver, and John Kerry like tripe from a cow's stomach. Both are supposedly palatable, but barely so! (Bill Clinton, OTOH, is like something that my dog deposits on the lawn each morning).
What I'm trying to point out is that my country comes before anything else, before immigration, before abortion issues, before gay marriage issues, and especially before any so-called "Christian" conservative philosophy...and, IMHO, my country RIGHT NOW is in a life-or-death Global War on Terror. And although I feel that the Bush administration is doing a better job of fighting the war than either Gore or Kerry would have, I do not feel that this war is being as well-managed as it could and should be. (I would have preferred that there were more troops for the initial invasion of Iraq; I would have preferred that there would still be more troops on the ground today; I would have preferred the president didn't (at first) put an incompetent ambassador in Iran; and I would have preferred that the president would have allowed some of the Iraqi army swear an revoke their oath to Saddam and swear it to their country--thereby reducing the need to rebuild it from scratch.)
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