Posted on 04/05/2007 8:46:45 PM PDT by Pistolshot
I came here in 1998 looking for conservative, logical, thoughtful conversation and debate on the things that matter to us the most. I was a Reagan Republican. One of those who had watched in horror as our embassy staff in Tehran was taken by fanatics. The answer should have been overwhelming force, but it was Carter, that limp-wristed, can’t-we-just talk-this-out, weakling who had made the military a shambles, and stripped it of its soul because of VietNam. I knew from the beginning that there was no room in this world for weakness and that was the beginning of my road to conservatism.
Now here we are, in the beginnings of a campaign to deny the Democrats not only the White House, but the two houses of Congress. It is extremely early in this race, the leading candidates that have announced are far from acceptable to a large majority of us. Yet, day after day on this site we have the Rudy machine, the McCain people, Mitt’s people, and every other supported candidate backer posting missives about their guy. Some are repeated vitriol that has no debatable content, and only begs to be ignored. Some of it is the adage of ‘Don’t like it, too bad. He will be our candidate.’ In the past I’ve seen posters here who were thoughtful, logical, literally passionate about impeaching Clinton, but with a HUGE degree of civility.
What is taking place here, and I am guilty of it too, so don’t think I am pointing fingers here, is the destruction of what is good about this site. WE ARE CONSERVATIVES, first and foremost. We have our passions that lead us to the candidates we have running. Debate is the give and take of ideas to reach a consensus about a direction. A direction we should all look at for the country, not because of the ‘he can beat Hillary’ dogma, but because the candidate we choose is THE one to carry what our hopes and dreams are for this great nation. I have seen posters here demean others, insult integrities, bash people they DON’T EVEN KNOW ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, and generally look like some of the slime that lurks on DU.
We are supposed to be better than that. It’s time we stop acting like we cannot debate without insult, stop treating each other as if our opinions don’t matter or our vote. It’s time that Jim starts looking around and suspending or closing some accounts for this type of behavior until it gets under control.
We are not DU here. The candidate we vote to carry the platform will be the one who reaches out to the most diverse among us. If that doesn’t happen for your candidate, I’m sorry. But to stoop to some of the tactics I’ve seen here based on a persons opinion or religion is despicable and speaks poorly for all of us.
I might be wrong...but the title of this site is "FREE Republic."
IBTZ
Finely said sir. I agree totally.
ping
Sorry, it is called FreeRepublic, it doesn’t mean free-for-all and it is controlled debate.
Bump.
But this thread will probably devolve into a napalm-hot flame war like the one posted by Reaganesque yesterday.
That one is now Down the Memory Hole.
See you tomorrow sometime,
CD
You are right in that the MSM hammers forcefully away at any schism between Republicans/Conservatives. That’s how they raised that ruckus over the “ports issue” — until we all found out it was Chuck Schumer behind the scenes manipulating the mess — and how they set us against each other in ‘06, to the point where “protest voters” felt righteous in sitting out the election.
You’d think you wouldn’t have to warn FReepers by this time to look out for media manipulation, but many of us seem to fall for it, every single time.
Go ahead and name names...I'm sure your list and my list would look completely different.
It’s time that Jim starts looking around and suspending or closing some accounts for this type of behavior until it gets under control.
And that, my friends, is what has become of FR...not with a bang, but with a whimper....
1) Short posts: These have the advantage of being easy and quick to type in between real world activities. They have the disadvantage of encouraging the poster to be flippant and also guaranteeing that they will be misinterpreted by at least one other poster leading to a vitriol filled flame war, or
2) Long posts: These have the advantage of allowing you to fully explain yourself. However, the disadvantage is that it will go unread, or even worse, only part of it will be read out-of-context leading once again to a vitriol filled flame war.
So you either need to go to one of those "happy" meaningless threads where everybody agrees with one another or discusses non-confrontational topics, or you go into battle with people who can't read, can't understand, or purposely misstate your post just to start a flame war.
I used to post longer posts, but I have recently limited myself to snarky comebacks.
Less work for the same result!
You first ;’}
Thank you, you are a wise fellow. But being able to beat Hillorat is still job #1. Why? Just look at what the Rats have tried to do so far and it`s early April. Now, put Hillorat in the White House with this Congress for 4/8 years and we`ll wish Jimma was back.
Precisely.
No more posts needed.
That is THE number one issue; without that one, nobody else’s “principles” will be worth a damn.
Today's rough and tumble is kiddie stuff compared to what the ole Spirit of '76 guys could dish out.
Just ask Aaron Burr.
Control...control...control.....
If a Hunter disagrees with a Rudy....control
If a Mitt disagrees with a Thompson...control
If a McCain disagrees with a Tancredo...control
Jim...is that what you want?
They've already done that to each Republican that they've interviewed. They have asked Romney & Rudy the "gotcha" questions just to divide the Republicans. They softball interviews with Democrats. But our Republicans take the que and run with it blasting each of our candidates that they don't like.
I’m with you. Reasoned debate seems to be taking a beating these days. Not just here but everywhere in society.
Maybe I'm just an optimist;).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.