Time to part company

myself | 4/1/05 | hchutch

[hchutch]

Six months ago, Free Republic was riding high, and I was proud to be a part of it. It was coming off having blown the cover off of Dan Rather’s use of forged memos against the President. The President was well on his way to winning re-election. It was a great time to be a Freeper.

However, things have changed. It started with the justifiable removal of ALIPAC. I supported that move by Jim Robinson, but the ugliness directed towards Alberto Gonzales. He was accused of everything under the sun, and Senator Mel Martinez was viciously attacked for speaking Spanish on the Senate floor. The tone and outright viciousness (terms like FROBL and traitor were fired off at anyone who did not toe the line established by Michelle Malkin and Tom Tancredo) on immigration threads had concerned me, but I had concluded it was an isolated incident. After ALIPAC was removed from FR, I had hoped the tone there would improve. But it only got worse. I was point-blank called a traitor because my views on immigration differ from those of Michelle Malkin’s groupies. On immigration threads, questioning the questionable is not allowed. One must accept the unacceptable and allow folks to defend the indefensible. Never mind that VDARE, American Renaissance, and other sites are racist or have no problem hanging out with those that are racists (I’m just going to call a spade a spade here).

There were folks who had the long knives out for Senator Rick Santorum, one of the strongest pro-life members of the United States Senate. Why? Because he endorsed Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey. It was stunning to see these long knives out for a conservative. And all it would accomplish would be his replacement by a Democrat. How in the world replacing Rick Santorum with a Democrat would aid conservatism is beyond me, but it was demanded because Santorum endorsed Specter. The long knives were out, and I suppose it was a sign of what was to come.

The whole Terri Schiavo case has changed everything for me. A mob mentality took over the first few days after the order to pull the tube was given. Anyone who did not toe the line was attacked. I saw a dedicated active-duty member of our armed forces called a “Maine liberal” for simply asking why troops in harm’s way did not get the same sort of “all-nighter” attention that Terri Schiavo got. It was a reasonable question – we have 40-year-old P-3s still out there. We have a war on terrorism still going on, in case folks have not noticed. We have to get Social Security fixed. I say this as a person who believes that at best, Michael Schiavo’s relationship with a woman (and having two kids with her) meant he had a conflict of interest – and that he had decided that Terri was inconvenient. I cannot take his word alone that Terri would have wanted this. I also believe that George Felos is a supporter of euthanasia, and that he is using this case for his own ends. Those folks give me the creeps, and I think that Jim Robinson was on the right side of this issue. However, I also got a very bad feeling when the Schindlers embraced the likes of Randall Terry and Bo Gritz. I had to wonder what has happened to the conservative movement when the threads were allowed to spiral so out of control. The concept of euthanasia is repulsive and disgusting, but it does not excuse allowing the threads to spin out of control.

I have seen the President of the United States, George W. Bush, and the Governor of Florida, John Ellis Bush, take huge political risks in an effort to save Terri’s life. I believe they were doing their best to do the right thing, and that the original law passed in 2003 was a reasonable one that was wrongly stuck down by Judge Greer and the Florida Supreme Court. I think that the Republican Party has taken a huge risk to give Terri a chance at life, and I am disgusted with those who seek a pretext that will justify leaving the GOP in the lurch. I’m sick of the way the Terri threads spun out of control, and the vicious attacks launched at reasonable people who came to a different conclusions about the situation or who pointed out facts that certain people found inconvenient. This is not what I signed on here for.

I believe in a strong national defense, cutting taxes, and in general trying to keep government involvement as minimal as possible (there are times when the best one can do is to limit government involvement in a situation). I am pro-life (with exceptions for rape, incest, and to protect the life of the mother) and pro-Second Amendment. However, I do NOT want the federal government to be involved in any culture war. “Culture” was never mentioned in the constitution, thus I believe it is left to the States or TO THE PEOPLE (see the Tenth Amendment). I do NOT think immigration is a problem, but I believe some mistakes were made along the way (like eliminating the bracero program). I also think that the President of the United States has proposed a sensible plan that will go a long way towards solving the problems on our border with Mexico and do much to alleviate the problems surrounding illegal immigration. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me and Free Republic to part company, because Free Republic has left this limited-government neoconservative. In the process of Free Republic leaving me, I now find that I fear the social conservatives as much as I fear the loony left. As a result of coming to this conclusion, I ask that my account be deleted and all posts I have made, save for this opus and the ping to my friends be removed.

I do this with regret, since I will miss some of those who I have met here, but I feel no other choice. So long.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

If so many people are leaving, who gets their stuff?

[TheForceOfOne]

Some of the things you mention I wasn't here for such as Gonzales, I consider myself a loner on the site with no ties to anyone. I see it and speak my mind about it but not so much at a feverish pitch. The ability of the Internet to create town hall meetings in cyberspace in the some what anonymous atmosphere allows anyone to speak their mind or just disrupt the board for whatever reason. Everyone has different experiences in life, some tragic, some of great joy, and finding outlets like this to ventilate their feelings or frustrations can lead to pack mentality when others can find a correlation to their own desires, problems, or anger. There is also an age range that affects to way we get into flame wars. I would guess the younger you are the more inclined you are to do real battle. The Terri Schiavo case and now the Pope drives those who see their religion as the sword they must carry in their battle above all else and in some cases excluding all else. My feeling is she should have had a will but like most people that haven't reached middle age didn't give it a thought and why would she. I believe her husband is a liar and may have abused her which created the rest of the tragic story. I believe the courts need drastic changes and put all the founding documents of this country at risk and us in the process. I think seeing jugglers and people carrying chickens around outside Terri's hospital is over the line and makes religion look stupid. I personally do not wish to be kept alive artificially when my body has expired and medical science cannot return me to a quality of life I could live with. I do not wish to cause the lives of the ones I love to suffer because of me. I am in the middle between religion and science and I keep my mind open to both and see good in both and find both essential. I am pro military, anti gay, for SS reform, and believe that religion provides the guidelines to a better life. I marvel at science and what we will find. I am all for smaller government and less pilfering of may paycheck each week. We need a court that will not deal with frivolous lawsuits. We need to end Affirmative Action, and stop race baiting on both sides. I don't like the presidents current plan on immigration and support the Minuteman Project, but I will not attack him like an animal for it, I will work to change to the current position he holds by writing my Congressman or Governor, or whoever will listen. I work way to much to stand around in the streets with a sign in my hands but I appreciate those who do in a peaceful manner and a reason beyond hate. Last, I think the most important thing happening on this site is the support of our military, those serving and those who have served and share their wisdom of what is happening. The ability of the Internet to allow families to stay in close contact is a far cry over the letters of WWII as the most common form of communication with them to boost their moral. We all owe them our deepest appreciation for their sacrifice to bring peace to the world and protect us from a world that is not near as civilized as it claims to be. I may leave also, or just turn off my PC when I can't stand it. It depends mostly on how volatile it gets. If I have ever offended anyone on the board please except my apology.

[B4Ranch]

Other than the Presidents plan for immigration, we agree on quite lot of things.

Why not take a week or two time out and then come back for the fight to keep our America in the Northern hemisphere where English is still considered a fine language for patriots?

[johnb838]

They don't give us a chance to love Mexico! They've always been a thorn in our side, and a problem.

Bella Italia, ti amo!

[John Jorsett]

If I had left the first time somebody called me a name on FR, I'd have been here about a day. Good luck in finding whatever online utopia it is that you seek.

[nopardons]

You can't guarantee ANYTHING, newbie, so don't even pretend that you can.

[johnb838]

Oh yeah, she's lucky. You're not. I'm not going anywhere.

[monkeyshine]

Sure people will leave if they feel they are not growing spiritually or intellectually, or if they think they have nothing to contribute.

But in the 5 years I've been here it has always been, at times, a nasty place. And yes, good people who only want to share ideas and thoughts do try to avoid confrontation and do feel drowned out.

I have noticed a lot more deleted posts of late. Not sure what that is all about.

But one thing that could make the site better would be if posts that were abusive towards others (i.e. namecalling) were deleted more often.

But people with minority opinions should not shrink in the face of the majority. That is just life and it will be the same on any chatboard. I for one do not want to hang out solely among like minded people. What a bore that would be.

[johnb838]

whatever. I'm an angry man. He's juvenile, inconsiderate, and hateful. I stand by my post.

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

Case in point. Take a look at the thread in this post linked above. Click on some of the names. How many have been banned? How many haven't posted in forever? Yet, according to you, this argument will cause people to leave FR? Whatever. They come, they go... only JimRob is eternal (or close enough)...

[A CA Guy]

So many? What two?

I think their stuff goes to the "Run Forest Run" portion of the FR museum.

[Walkin Man]

The whole Terri Schiavo case has changed everything for me. A mob mentality took over the first few days after the order to pull the tube was given. Anyone who did not toe the line was attacked.

And still is being attacked. I don't know how much we would agree with each other on politics but I am sorry to see another freeper driven out by the crazies.

I suppose the DU is throwing a party right about now over the massive damage that this case has done to Christians, the right-wing and the repub's.

And oh yes, Free Republic.

Take care.

[clamper1797]

How do you know who cares or not? You haven't been here long enough to make that determination

You are right about that ... it appears a lot of newbies are jumping on the "good riddance wagon" ... though I'm pretty sure that Peyton is a stright up guy ... I'm not so sure about some of the other newbies ... divide and conquer comes to mind.

In any case .. my opinion is that the newbies should bow out of the Opus threads at least till they get a little more time under their belts

[AlbionGirl]

Pretty good!

Ti amo, anche io!

[nopardons]

Look,newbie, it is YOU who wouldn't be missed; unlike the OPUS poster.

And it would behoove you and ALL other newbies to learn the history of FR and ALL that entails. OPUSES are part of our history. Sometimes, as with this one, they make a LOT of sense and needed to be said; other times, they're just whinging garbage from people who were fringers and most people are happy to see the end of.

[bobzeetwin]

so....One of my daughters went to college and leans a little liberal. The other one is a hard core conservative. Any suggestions on how to handle holidays? Should I remove one from my "A" list? If one should be gay, what do I do?

[silent_jonny]

I tremble in the presence of your 1998 sign-up date.

[johnb838]

nice reply

[G32]

Chill, jeez.

[johnb838]

dam right. thanks. i'm getting flamed again.