Posted on 03/04/2007 4:46:35 PM PST by johniegrad
Even though we are still almost two years out from the presidential election, it is clear that the candidates are campaigning in earnest. This has led to some acromonious discussions with accusations flying about posters' motives and dedication to the principles of conservatism. While these frank discussions could be healthy for pounding out the details in a primary, some here are indicating their unequivocal refusal to support some candidates if they are nominated after the primaries. Furthermore, valuable posters have discussed their disatisfaction with the website as a forum for discussing conservatism and some have threatened to leave.
Given these observations, I'd like to republish the posting of the website owner from a few years ago.
Statement by the founder of Free Republic:
In our continuing fight for freedom, for America and our constitution and against totalitarianism, socialism, tyranny, terrorism, etc., Free Republic stands firmly on the side of right, i.e., the conservative side. Believing that the best defense is a strong offense, we (myself and those whom I'm trying to attract to FR) support the strategy of taking the fight to the enemy as opposed to allowing the enemy the luxury of conducting their attacks on us at home on their terms and on their schedule.
Therefore, we wholeheartedly support the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive strikes on known terrorist states and organizations that are believed to present a clear threat to our freedom or national security. We support our military, our troops and our Commander-in-Chief and we oppose turning control of our government back over to the liberals and socialists who favor appeasement, weakness, and subserviency. We do not believe in surrendering to the terrorists as France, Germany, Russia and Spain have done and as Kerry, Kennedy, Clinton and the Democrats, et al, are proposing.
As a conservative site, Free Republic is pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, pro-Constitution, pro-Bill of Rights, pro-gun, pro-limited government, pro-private property rights, pro-limited taxes, pro-capitalism, pro-national defense, pro-freedom, and-pro America. We oppose all forms of liberalism, socialism, fascism, pacifism, totalitarianism, anarchism, government enforced atheism, abortionism, feminism, homosexualism, racism, wacko environmentalism, judicial activism, etc. We also oppose the United Nations or any other world government body that may attempt to impose its will or rule over our sovereign nation and sovereign people. We believe in defending our borders, our constitution and our national sovereignty.
Free Republic is private property. It is not a government project, nor is it funded by government or taxpayer money. We are not a publicly owned entity nor are we an IRS tax-free non-profit organization. We pay all applicable taxes on our income. We are not connected to or funded by any political party, news agency, or any other entity. We sell no merchandise, product or service, and we offer no subscriptions or paid memberships. We accept no paid advertising or promotions. We are funded solely by donations (non tax deductible gifts) from our readers and participants.
We aggressively defend our God-given and first amendment guaranteed rights to free speech, free press, free religion, and freedom of association, as well as our constitutional right to control the use and content of our own personal private property. Despite the wailing of the liberal trolls and other doom & gloom naysayers, we feel no compelling need to allow them a platform to promote their repugnant and obnoxious propaganda from our forum. Free Republic is not a liberal debating society. We are conservative activists dedicated to defending our rights, defending our constitution, defending our republic and defending our traditional American way of life.
Our God-given liberty and freedoms are not negotiable.
May God bless and protect our men and women in uniform fighting for our freedom and may God continue to bless America.
Jim Robinson
BTTT
Here is the comparison of the Republican choices and several evaluations of their lifetime voting records in Congress. Notice that the highest scores in each category are green and the lowest scores are red. Given that Hunter had the lowest score in five of the six, that says something about his lack of conservative credentials on fiscal matters:
| Tancredo | Paul | Brownback | Gingrich | Hagel | McCain | Allen | Hunter | ||
| ACU: | 99% | 83% | 95% | 90% | 86% | 83% | 92% | 92% | |
| CAGW: | 92% | 81% | 83% | 77% | 87% | 71% | 70% | ||
| NTU: | 78% | 89% | 77% | 79% | 76% | 77% | 72% | 63% | |
| Club For Growth: | 88% | 82% | 88% | 99% | 76% | 84% | 49% | ||
| Average: | 89% | 84% | 86% | 85% | 85% | 81% | 80% | 69% | |
| Pork Reduction | 89% | 100% | 0% | ||||||
Notice that the American Conservative Union rated him in 120th place among active Congressmen in Lifetime Score In 2005 he rated 92% and in 2004, a 87%. Those are not particularly high scores considering the number of RINOs in Congress.
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW): 109th: 71%, 108th: 51%, Lifetime: 70%, 2% below the Republican House Average Lifetime Score of 73%
National Taxpayers Union (NTU): 2005: 56%, 2004: 56%, Lifetime: 63%, 1% below the Republican House Average of 64%, Average of 130th place among Representatives.
Club For Growth: 2005: 49%, 187th place out of roughly 230 Republicans: Here are some of the more troubling votes: YES on No Child Left Behind, YES on Sarbanes-Oxley, YES on the 2003 Medicare Drug Benefit, YES on 2005 Highway Bill, YES on the 527 bill. Hunter also went 0 for 19 on the Flake anti-pork amendments. Despite being a member of the Republican Study Committee, Hunter frequently votes NO on their fiscally conservative annual budgets.
Face facts, Hunter may be a big supporter of the military, church-going family man, anti-Choice, but fiscally he is in favor of Congressional earmarks for things like the Bridge to Nowhere, the Teapot Museum in Sparta SC, virtual rainforests in Iowa, and moving railroads so the casinos can expand in MS. If fact, he's a worse spender than the average Republican in Congress. No, Hunter is no conservative, at least by the judgement of the five respected groups listed above, he's just another neo-Con RINO.
If I'm complaining that Hunter isn't conservativive enough, do you think I'm going to vote for Rudy? People are portraying Hunter as a conservative and compared to Rudy, I suppose he is, but there is no way I'd support either of them, or McCain, or Hagel, or any of the rest of the RINOs that are infecting the party.
I agree. I called the campaign today. I have not gotten a return phone call yet.
I think Hunter needs an ambassador to free republic. I'm afraid I may not have the time for it. So I'm going to ping the Duncan Hunter list and ask if anyone is willing to take that task on. The pay is likely to be very low, and after all the flames headed that ambassador's way, it's going to be kinda crispy. But DH needs this.
If anyone does accept the job (assuming the offer is made from the Hunter campaign), they need to be forthcoming about their links to the DH campaign.
Well, let's think about that. Who would greatly benefit if the Republican vote was split? Who stands to gain the most if they can successfully divide our side on ideological issues, much as we saw in 1996?
BUT, considering the nature of this forum and the compostion of its membership, the number of postings bumping Giuliani is nothing short of amazing. The man is as much a Republican as is Liberman, and far less attractive on a personal level. Yet the postings and messages keep coming. It very hard for me to believe his support here isn't being directed by an organization outside this forum.
***It is impressive to watch. However, by judging how many crickets there are on rudy threads, the support is an inch deep. These are bandwagon jumpers. Also, there are a lot of freepers who've wandered in here from other places on the web after being mistreated, found freepers to be very nice people and started to think of themselves as freepers/conservatives without ever checking the mission statement. Then they're surprised that these freepers who've been so friendly won't just give up a couple of issues in order to vote for their so-called frontrunner candidate.
I also have an idea that I'd like to run past you & others. Rudy may not be running for president at all. That would explain why he's not getting resistance from the GOP top-liners. His plan could be to get his name out early, rise in the polls, let the media attack him once they decide to do so, all of his laundry gets aired out but he'd still have some popularity, and then he transfers his popularity to the VP ticket for whichever socon candidate takes the helm. If that is his plan, to take the heat early and provide cover for a socon candidate, it's a GREAT plan. It would explain why he's getting some high profile endorsements. And why he doesn't see the need to court the socon vote -- aint his job. We could be witnessing the most effective run for VP slot in history, by a guy who's basically a hero in an empty suit and nowhere else to go.
Glad to see you on Hunter's team, then. We need to support our socon in this race.
What amazes me is how tolerant Jim has been by allowing this forum to be used to spew out this liberal propaganda 24/7. I can't imagine this going on day in and day out for the next twelve months or so. Seems to me these people should go set up their own website for liberal republicans who support Rudy. They could called it RINOSforRudy.com. Just a thought.
***I agree. See an earlier comment where I made a similar statement. Perhaps JimRob got the call from GOP HQ that rudy is only running for VP and that he will be used to energize the base?
Posted by Kevmo to nopardons
On Bloggers & Personal 02/09/2007 4:13:45 PM PST · 54 of 70
***Why? Is this a GOP site? Did I stumble onto a Republican Party backroom and forgot that I signed my name in blood for 9 years? This is a CONSERVATIVE site and Duncan is a CONSERVATIVE candidate. Maybe you could get more traction going to a RINO site and pushing your favorite RINO candidate. Unfortunately, I have no burden to help you in finding such a website.
Yup, Hunter isn't looking so good on the pork angle. It's more of an indictment of the republican party than it is of Duncan Hunter. But did you just sign up recently in order to bash a socon candidate over a single issue?
If I'm complaining that Hunter isn't conservativive enough,
***Isn't SOCON enough or isn't Econ Conserv enough or isn't Politic Con enough? Who would be the candidate who is "conservative enough" for you? And if you don't have one, maybe that's a sign that there ain't gonna be one.
Yup. I would presume it to be something along the lines of a login we could all have as freepers. Only regular posting Hunter fans need apply. I would leave it to Antoninus, SeanMerc, and Pissant to choose the right person. It would be perfect for a retiree.
That's one possibility. I just thought of one recently that puts rudy in a better light.
Rudy may not be running for president at all. That would explain why he's not getting resistance from the GOP top-liners. His plan could be to get his name out early, rise in the polls, let the media attack him once they decide to do so, all of his laundry gets aired out but he'd still have some popularity, and then he transfers his popularity to the VP ticket for whichever socon candidate takes the helm. If that is his plan, to take the heat early and provide cover for a socon candidate, it's a GREAT plan. It would explain why he's getting some high profile endorsements. And why he doesn't see the need to court the socon vote -- aint his job. We could be witnessing the most effective run for VP slot in history, by a guy who's basically a hero in an empty suit and nowhere else to go.
Unlike other congresscritters, Hunter has stated what his earmarks are for - and they are defense-related.
oops, didn't ping you guys on prior post when I mentioned you, my bad.
I disagree. Rudy's in this to win the nomination for himself.
And I'm in this to see he gets nowhere near the nomination.
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