Drell, I've been following your argument here, and feel that I need to finally comment on your point of view with one of my own.
When I first came to FR, it was from lower grade political forums. They were very good for someone who was just beginning to dip his toe into the world of online political discourse, and I learned a great deal while there.
Our good friend Josh Painter was a regular at one of those forums, and used to post new threads which linked back to FR, quite frequently. Naturally, I followed some of those threads here, and spent much time exploring the place.
What struck me was the sense that this place was of a caliber that was far above those places where I hung my hat at the time. The level of discourse here was of a quality that seemed to me to be akin to the discussions of political scientists. I was very impressed, but didn't dare attempt to swim with the crowd here, at that time.
I lurked here for probably two years before finally signing up two years ago. It took me that long to learn enough in these pages to speak at the same level as the forum average.
The point that I want to stress here, is that when I first came to these pages, I was a conservative-leaning Republican. It hadn't been all that long since I'd given my vote to Arnold Schwarzenneger. I wasn't nearly the staunch conservative then, that I am today. I credit FR with sharpening my edge.
Instead of being turned off by the strident conservative views, and unapologetic patriotism of the members here, I was invigorated by it. Like Ronald Reagan said many times, "conservatism works wherever it's tried." Well, it works at FR, and every other place where unadulterated conservatism is spoken. People respond to it well, because it is the political philosophy which most closely aligns with our Founding American Ideals.
If strident conservatism turns people off on this forum, then it will not work as public policy, either - but we both know that it works whenever it's tried, and that it's actually what the people want.
I don't believe that allowing non-conservative views into the mix here will help us to attract more members at all. On the contrary, I believe that people will respond better to this community if there is a consistent, and persistent conservative message being communicated here.
I know of political forums where there mission is to allow all views, but those communities don't actually stand for anything, because they allow everything. I don't want to see the same thing happen to FR. It's the most popular conservative meeting place in cyberspace for a reason, and that is because it is unabashedly conservative.
Windflier:
I said in my last post that I would now let this rest, but you have written a long and thoughtful response, for which I am grateful.
I stand by what I have written, but I truly do resonate with much of what you write. Thank you.
You need to get out more.
In your very eloquent words about FR,
you just described what could have been the GOP.
Do you realize that?