Posted on 05/03/2011 4:46:53 AM PDT by Huck
Yesterday should have been a glorious day around here. There should have been fireworks and celebration. There should have been somber remembrances. There should have been patriotic tributes. There should have been shared joy at the news that our guys had finally gotten Bin Laden.
Instead, when I visited the site, what I found was a lot of carping. I found people focused more on the political spin than on the great news. I found people transferring their birther mentality onto this event, talking about Obama faking this news, photoshopping information, etc. It wasn't everybody, but it was a LOT of people. It made me sick.
Yesterday Free Republic seemed like DU. It makes me wonder what the hell is going on. Are Freepers getting younger? I always assume that DU is so pathetically immature because they must be younger. Free Republic has always been a place dominated by great class, and wit, and decency. Not this time. What I saw yesterday was a pathetic embarrassment and totally unworthy of this great forum.
As some of you may know, I was in lower Manhattan on 9-11. I was just across the street from the WTC when the first plane hit. I still remember the beautiful clear blue sky that day. I remember walking in between the towers just a minute or so before 8:46am, on my normal route to work. I remember my co-workers screaming in panic when they watched from an office window as the second plane hit the south tower. I remember women crying and screaming hysterically. I remember not being able to contact my wife to tell her I was OK. I remember people jumping to their deaths. I remember seeing the north tower go down with my own eyes, hearing it with my own ears. I remember fleeing Manhattan. I remember it was a Tuesday.
I remember returning to work the following Monday, riding the ferry passed the site, noxious smoke still billowing from the wreckage. I remember armed troops on the sidewalks. I remember wearing a breathing mask inside my building because the foul odor was seeping in through the ventilation system. I remember thinking we'd really gotten kicked in the teeth. They had killed innocent people, they had traumatized our women and children, and I really wanted revenge. I hung a picture on my wall of the American eagle sharpening his talons.
It has been a long time since that day. It's hard to believe how fast time flies. Then again, if you lost your loved one, I imagine time hasn't gone so fast. I love my wife so much, I can empathize with anyone who has lost the one they love. I can't imagine how that would be, and don't want to know, but I can cry for those people because I know what it is like to find your one true love.
I'm not an Obama fan. I hate socialism. But I am so happy that Bin Laden is killed, and that we have exacted some real revenge. It's about time. The politics don't even play into it for me. I still have the little flag, now tattered, that I flew on my car antenna after 9-11. I want to take it out of storage and put it on my car. I want to see American flags on cars like we saw back then. But it's not going to happen, and partially because the normally patriotic conservatives such as the ones here on Free Republic are instead focused on the politics and the fact that a socialist Democrat was president and will get some of the credit.
I guess you all would have been pissed on D-Day too. FDR was as big a socialist as anyone. I guess VE day and VJ day would have chapped your hides, since Truman was a DEM. I don't mean to paint with a broad brush. I know it wasn't every Freeper acting this way. But when I went on the board, that was the general impression, and it was really disappointing. It should have been a great day here. Instead, I saw a lack of patriotism and a lack of class. Free Republic should be better than this. If conservatives lose their patriotism and class, then what will happen to those virtues? I hope we can get them back soon. In the meantime, thanks for reading.
Respectfully,
Huck
That’s very cool.
Your post should not have and will not be zotted...it was just not on target....even the Washington Post (not Fox News, not Beck, not Palin, not Free Republic) took note of the soiling of the day by Obama:
“Any joy one might feel in the intelligence of our analysts and the bravery of our door kickers was significantly diminished by Obamas malignant narcissism. The first part of the announcement, evoking 9/11, was vulgarly overwritten as per Obamas view of himself as some kind of gifted orator. The adjective bloated compote was unworthy of the subject, banal and self-indulgent.”
This quote says what so many at FR felt.
who are we talking about?
outpostinmass is the DU troll. Says he knows all about DU.
He must be one of those people we were warned about the other day.
if you ever find yourself rooting against a U.S. military success,
_________________________________
I said NOTHING that implied I was rooting against a military success. I don’t think OBL was a threat. Bush neutered him. IF they did take him out, kudos to the Seals and a big, fat FUBO to the sissy boy king wannabe squatting in the WH...
KMA
well gents, that was a fine pair of back-to-back rants...
Was it campaigning
______________
Of course it was.
These are the kind of things that cause frustration amongst FReepers. Someone posted the pictures knowing they were fakes ask why? To mess with your heads, that's why. MISINFORMATION is a well understood tool by the enemy.
TRUST but VERIFY!
Well, yes and no.
I've been around here about 13years and I have seen great and passionate argument. And, as with all political sites dedicated to defeating it's political enemies...sometime a little kooky stuff.
Throughout it all the site has been able to maintain a level of dignity in it's discourse to hold close the claim as the most rational site on the internet.
However, I think you are right about one thing...from the time of Obama we have no been as good as we used to be. The passions...even hatred...is bringing onboard a new crew that hasn't been properly chastised when over the line. In the old days, the old-timers were known and respected. When they offered counsel they were listened to and respected.
Now the newbies don't bother to check the history and treat a comment from an old-timer just like a comment from somebody who signed up yesterday. Of course all the old-timers enjoy a good fight as always. But things were done more civilly and the subject matter typically had some basis in fact.
Now conjecture runs rampant and personal attacks are the norm.
I'd like to see more pressure from the Admin mods to go after the personal stuff...and a concerted effort by all the old-times to mentor the newbies in our once classy ways.
Without very tight controls on who can post, and what they can post, it’s impossible to prevent lots of disagreeable stuff from appearing.
Nor is it possible for wide and broad consensus on every issue and topic regarding what is and is not “disagreeable.”
It goes with the territory.
Oh, and enough with the FR/DU comparisons. I went to DU yesterday, and read until I couldn’t control my gag reflex any longer. They were in full Obama-worship mode: ‘Obama is the greatest president/military commander in US history’. Just like their hero, they gave all the credit to him, NONE to Bush’s policies, and precious little (if any—I certainly saw none) to the brave SEALS. So before you compare FR to DU, it would behoove you to find out just what DU is up to.
I don’t agree that by criticizing Obama that freepers are attacking the military at the very same time. After all Obama is the Commander in Chief, and is why he is held accountable. The military just follows orders.
Yes the military can challenge the President based off the UCMJ, but it does not work. For instance, the military personal that challenged Obama on his birth certificate. The few that have end up in prison.
The other day when Obama re released his long form Certificate of Live Birth. People can’t help to wonder why did Obama fight the release of this form? There are men sitting in prison over this! Thus, why many people think it’s fake.
Nonetheless, I do believe OBL was killed by Seal Team 6. The execution (when) of the operation is suspect, and may explain why we have no picture of the full dead body. Remember when we killed Saddam’s sons the photos were released almost immediately? Furthermore, the release of the fake photo did not help things. Perhaps it’s just a SNAFU situation?
:)
I can see your points; even agree with you somewhat. However ... war is ugly — and we are battling to save our country. Even to the point where exposing fraudulent behavior is necessary.
If everyone on this site who complains about tone would light a candle instead of cursing the darkness, there would be less darkness.
One of the greatest freepers to ever live agrees with Huck and has posted so on this thread.
People like you and your ilk have brought this site down to DUmpster level.
I always assume that DU is so pathetically immature because they must be younger.
How has it not occurred to you that (a) they are vicous and immature because they are libs and (b) that site is full of old hippes, for Pete's sake.
I may have missed this in the comments section, but did you bother to post some examples of quotes from profiles? If there are a few bad apples, point them out so that they can be banned or at least focused on.
All credit for my post goes to fr_freak, I was quoting him! It is the absolute truth.
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