Here’s the deal, Man... Not everyone with a differing opinion is a Leftist troll. Hell, I even got flamed off FR back in the day for speaking against the party line - even though I was proven right and never got a single apology, everyone involved knows who was right.
Now in this case, one definite bit of proof is the simplest: both Stepsister and FYC did not just leave a stinkbomb on the thread, then leave. They hung around and backed up their statements. Trolls don’t do that; you’ve seen that trollish attack profile all too often.
The Big Green Machine taught me you never sugarcoat the enemy’s capabilities. Blowing rectal-smoke to the commander about what he’s facing in battle gets people killed. Stepsister and FYC both get it: by whatever euphemism you choose (the Rubicon, the event horizon, the edge-of-the-cliff, or Alea Iacta Est), this nation has arrived. Great Ghod, I wish more people would get it, but normalcy bias and Pollyanna dreams is what folks cloak their eyes with.
That’s the thing I will always love about Freerepublic: it’s likely the last bastion of the Interwebs where you get unvarnished thought. People aren’t afraid to put out their convictions in more than 140-character tweets. There’s actual DISCUSSION. And that translates into ANALYSIS. And from that begets WISDOM.
Keep it going, guys and dolls. We need all of you.
I’m not of a mindset to call them all trolls, Sarge. Some might be, sure, but I think a lot of them are simply newbies that are just as disgusted as we are and looking for a place to vent.
We were ALL newbies once, learning the ropes here.
I believe everyone has a right to their opinion and to speak their mind, and I’d fight to the death to preserve it - even though I may vehemently disagree with them and will call them on it.
My issue, as I’ve said before, is that I’m simply SICK of hearing the “We’re finished! We’re DONE! It’s OVER”! litany.
You know our history - places like Lexington .... Bunker Hill .... Valley Forge ... Fort McHenry ... Pearl Harbor .... Bataan ... Corregidor ... Pusan ... Khe Sanh... and a hundred other seemingly “hopeless” situations through our history.
Hell, if our people ALWAYS thought that way, we wouldn’t even BE a people. I’m not saying the attitude didn’t exist then, but it seems so much more prevalent now.
So yes, I might have come off like a Pr*ck to some, and that’s not intentional; it’s just increased frustration at hearing the same whiny defeatist BS over and over again from multiple sources.
So if someone wants to discuss valid solutions, I’m all ears. Solid plans, coordinated efforts, and ideas for solving our myriad problems - hell, I’m yer huckleberry. But the Frenchy surrender monkey stuff... not so much, ever. That just helps the other side and gives them a chubby.
So there’s my case on it.
Don't they? They do if their mission is to undermine our resolve. Their defeatist attitudes, right off the bat, smells like a dead fish. Don't put anything past our enemies.
"The Big Green Machine taught me you never sugarcoat the enemy’s capabilities."
My point exactly.
"Blowing rectal-smoke to the commander about what he’s facing in battle gets people killed. Stepsister and FYC both get it: by whatever euphemism you choose (the Rubicon, the event horizon, the edge-of-the-cliff, or Alea Iacta Est), this nation has arrived. Great Ghod, I wish more people would get it, but normalcy bias and Pollyanna dreams is what folks cloak their eyes with."
That's where you and I don't agree. I don't think we're at that point yet. There are a helluva lot of steps we need to take between waving the white lag and fixing bayonets. At the risk of pi**ing off the FReeper blog police, I'll pimp my own blog, where I just wrote a (lengthy) article about what we can do before loading magazines. Anyone who cares to read it can find it here:
How to save the American Republic without having to fire a shot (hopefully)
We can still fix things if we a) get busy, right freakin' now, and b) give the "surrender or fight" talk a rest. By all means, let's be ready to roll if all else fails, but let's pull out all the stops first. If we don't do everything we can before the shooting starts, people will die that don't have to. It will be our collective fault, too.
I'm not a Pollyanna, and I bristle at the suggestion that I am, whether intended or not. I am a realist, but I'm not a fatalist or a defeatist. There are things we can do, if we'd just do them, and do them right the frack now! The problem is that I believe too many of us either want a shooting war, or are so afraid of that happening that they're willing to throw up their hands in surrender. Compounding the problem is that Leftist cyber guerrillas, aka trolls, are busy disrupting on fora like FReep and TB2K. So no, I don't trust newbies, especially those who come right out of the newbie gates urging us to give up on our Republic.
Yes, we need everyone, but we need them to be strong and resolute. Defeatism hurts us. Everyone who spouts the "America is finished" line creates more doubt among our more sheepish and fearful, and makes them doubt our cause. We don't need more of that, as we have too much already. Alex is bad enough, but at least he's been around here long enough to have established himself (as a lying coward). Newbies who echo that whiny, wimpy, "America is not worth saving" line are highly suspicious.
Which reminds me, Alex...where's the quote, you lying worm?
Dawg soldiers up! Woof, woof!
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!