How'd I get here from there? (I don't think I'm a 'bot...)

Ramblings' Journal ^ | 9.26.02 | Michael King

[William McKinley]

You rock.

Those who throw around the "bot" label are the biggest bunch of hypocrites. They tolerate no dissent from their lockstep march, and squeal like pigs when their methods are turned back on them.

They are perfect examples of "projection".

[Just another Joe]

Some would call me a "libertarian" - little "L"

I consider myself a conservative with libertarian - little "L" - leanings.
You sound like much the same.

[Hugin]

Does that make me a "Bush-bot?"

Nope. Those who throw that epiphet at anyone who supports the president are the type who are what I have coined "Conservatively Correct". They demand that conservatives only support people who agree with them 100% even if it means that instead of someone who they might agree with 65% of the time they get a Democrat that they will disagree with 100%. Anyone who dares support a candidate with less than Conservatively Correct credentials is therefore a hypocrite or a mind numbed robot. They OTOH revel in their moral superiority of never compromising, despite the fact that they only help the Democrats by doing so.

[Fred Mertz]

When you become a 'bot, I'll be the first to let you know it.

[blam]

BRAVO! Proud to be a fellow FReeper.

[Slip18]

What a wonderful essay.

xsmommy linked it to WFTD for all of us to read.

Thanks, xs!

[VaBthang4]

Right on Target!

"Repeat for effect"

[mhking]

xsmommy linked it to WFTD for all of us to read.

WFTD?

[gcruse]

 I've found that the independant thought that goes into
that doesn't do much to support the conservative cause.

I see libertarianism as being a direction, rather than
a destination.  We will never reach a point of federal
government being restricted to defending the country
and delivering the mail.  However, pursuing
smaller government is necessary, and the last
I looked that was part of the conservative cause.
The gulf between conservatism and the Republican
party leads, IMO, to the bot characterization.
That is, throwing out conservative principles to
defend whatever line the Party is taking today
is the mark of unanchored partisanship.

The steel tariffs are a good example.  When
criticized for this attempt to buy votes, the
hardliners defended it a being necessary to
defeat Democrats.  Now that the administration
is watering down and pulling back from these price
supports the bots are hard pressed to
shift principles fast enough to keep some
sort of fig leaf in place.  Don't be a bot.
Think and vote what you really believe.
That is the essence of democracy.

[Gabz]

FABULOUS!!!!!!

[Damocles]

Excellent!

The labels serve only to divide.

Bush-bot or Bash-bot.

[mhking]

Think and vote what you really believe. That is the essence of democracy.

That is who I am. That is who we are. That is how we will survive and succeed.

[OldFriend]

First I was accused of being a member of the christian coalition....by dint of my unjewish last name! Then I was referred to as a member of the vast right wing, then a vast right wing thug.......now I am PROUD to be called a Bush-bot!!!!!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Word for the Day thread.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Outstanding piece. Thank you for sharing it.

[dubyagee]

Excellent bump!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Appreciated your perspective on many threads.

Nice to finally "meet" you.

[dpa5923]

My core beliefs are just as simple. We all have rights. I don't have any more, nor any less rights just because I'm black. I believe that we must have financial accountability in government. I believe that individuals must also be accountable for their own actions. We must have a strong defense in order to secure our freedoms, and a small government allows us to hold and keep those freedoms. A large, bureaucratic mess does nothing but benefit a small number of people, and those are the ones in power.

Pure gold!

[Bahbah]

I like this guy, and I am grateful to his parents.

[.38sw]

Thank you, sir, for your well-thought out and articulate essay. May I tell you a story about a black man I met in San Leandro, California, at a voter registration table? A little background: My husband and I are just as white-skinned as can be. I have red hair, green eyes, and easily fried skin. My husband has dark hair, blue eyes, and even more easily fried skin. We were talking with an NRA member who was manning a voter registration table in front of a sporting goods store (I had just purchased my first-ever firearm - a .38 revolver). This was prior to the 2000 elections. This man had come out of the store, stopped, and listened to us talk for a few minutes. He chimed in, and he was an angry man. He was beginning to see what the liberals have done - he didn't want to have to explain homosexuality to his 6-year-old son, but was now forced into doing so because of the openness of it all now. He and his wife were now making more money than ever before, but were being hammered by taxes. He didn't want his 2nd amendment rights being eroded. He was beginning to see the conservative viewpoint more and more. But, he said, he had other "issues". He didn't specify, but I suspect that they were along the lines of affirmative action and civil rights.

I will never forget that man, and his anger and pain. I wonder how his viewpoints have evolved since that day.