Posted on 05/02/2012 5:23:35 AM PDT by xzins
We are the Free Republic Pre-War on Terror Class of Freepers.
Having been a freeper for over a decade, and having experienced both a pre 9/11 presence here and a post 9/11 presence, having experienced the Hanging Chad Wars of GW's first election, Sore Loserman and all, what stands out for you regarding the growth of Free Republic over the years.
What are your thoughts on the independence of Free Republic, and Jim Robinson's decision to go advertisement free all these years. My first thought is that his financial independence is what has freed him to tell the GOP-E to stick it in their ear this year.
If he had to worry about sponsors dropping him, or well-heeled pubbies supporting him, that might have intimidated a lesser man.
We've been blessed these many years. What stands out for you in your decades plus experience on Free Republic?
BUMP
“What stands out for you in your decades plus experience on Free Republic?”
Jim Robinson sticking with it and fighting the good fight all of these years.
KeyLargo
Since Sep 9, 2001
Newbie.
;-)
I remember the 2000 election well. All the polls showing Gore neck and neck with Bush were Poo pooed here as having Zogby Sauce on them. Turns out they were right. Sore Loserman was a classic. I printed a copy of the bumper sticker off and put it in the window of my truck. It was funny to watch the people walking by in the parking lot take a double take when they read it. I also had a sticker in 2004 that said 10 out of 10 terrorists agree, Anybody but Bush. That was good for at least one universal hi sigh from a Kerry supporter.
Well.. back in the day there weren’t any accursed blogs.
So my peculiar fixation lay dormant. Waiting. Watching.
Jan 23, 2001
I was going to say “In before newbie whining”, but too late.
Anyway, I love the fact Jim has stood by his principles.
Original join date was 30 Aug 98 under the name shannond. Computer crashed and I couldn’t remember old e-mail address so I registered under csmusaret on 6 Jan 01.
I remember the first DUmmie FUnnies. And being able to express opposing opinions on any thread.
I also had fun in DC!
Have you ever thought of blogging about it?
I’ve been here since 1998 but not with this id.
I turned a ton of people on to FR when 9/11 happened. Everyone in my large office was using it as the primary source of info after the event.
Regarding Ad-free: I’ve never donated a penny. The reason: I’ve never spent money on the internet except for items I seek out specifically, and then only a couple, and in the same vein as one would use a mail order catalog before the web. I also never donated to NPR or any other “listener supported” organization. If they go away, well, they go away. I’ve just never even thought about actually giving to a web site. It doesn’t cross my mind.
The thing is, “ad free” is supposed to mean there is no bias brought in due to wanting to please advertisers. But this site is PLENTY biased. I fit in with the general bias (and learned the hard way to just avoid threads where I might not fit in), but I see it for what it is.
I’ve also never, EVER donated to a political cause. I donate to charity and religious organizations only, or sometimes a local cause/activity. I’ll volunteer time or resources to a politician, but that is about it.
I think the site needs ads.
I never expected that to be the first post, but,...sigh...they probably resent high school reunions from classes earlier than their own.
One thing that really struck me on 9/11 was the ability to share with like-minded conservative military and military-friendly freepers ideas on the attack and its source.
This is a great place to come for ideas in the midst of huge events.
I've relied on FR to get breaking news since I've been here. I first heard about the 9/11 attacks on FR because I was trapped in a cubicle.
/johnny
Joined in January 1998 and caught up on all the Clinton & Monica news that was slowly seeping out.
I was a member before windows became the defacto os.
I remember “The Adults are back in charge!”
I was here well before the indicated “join” date, due to a computer crash, back when.
The most recent disappointment is loss of members and reduced quality of posts and comments, due to the purge of Romney supporters.
It doesn’t matter whether their support was luke warm or simply getting behind the obvious nominee, they weren’t welcome here.
History has vindicated that view point. Especially when I was castigated for questioning Bush's stance on RKBA. I was right.
I do that a lot and it appears to really piss some people off.
Always prevent your Italians from running...
Also, remember what would happen when people forgot to close their html tags, and all subsequent posts were formatted the same way until someone added the appropriate closing tag.
Do you remember Alamo-girl’s cataloguing of Clinton....was it Downside Legacy??? Clinton Chronicles??? I forget.
A-G, can you help?
I miss
Quidam
Still here since Dec. 1997.
7/16/98
That FR gives so much to so many who collectively give back so little in return.
HTML! Who can forget?
I learned a lot html I never would have specifically because of Free Republic.
It’s like being able to drive a standard transmission. You can get by without it, but it’s nice to know when you need it.
And FR is one of the very, very few places where it can be used.
Among other things at this website, that is what makes it the best discussion forum anyplace!
...the next thing was the continual "moose bit my sister" and other nonsense threads by Dighton. They would go a long way to relieving tension in those days ...
Checking in. Don’t know what I’ll talk about yet, but I’ll click in from time to time to see what develops on the thread...
Can we go back and buy vast amounts of silver?
Joined 2000 during the election fiasco. I guess the thing I remember most is 9/11 here, that day would have been pretty lonely without FR.
PS: The class of ‘98 produced some great FReepers, although they scare me. ;)
Lurker Since Oct 1, 2004 checking in!
yep. wish I knew then what I know now.
My history is that I found a link to this site while reading The Drudge Report about a White House intern scandal. Thanks Matt.
It's sad that this election primary has taken such a toll on our FR family.
Whatever he wants to do is fine.
I miss Non-Sequitor.
How about CLASSYGREENEYEDBLONDE?
Some of my favorite times on FR were the live stream commenting while watching “24”... I can’t count the number of times I laughed so hard, I had to clean bourbon from my laptop screen! :-)
I also remember the Alamo-Girls LONG list of Clinton’s disgusting legacy. Also, when Doug from Upland was a caller on the Rush Limbaugh show! :-)
As mentioned earlier... I FIRST learned about 9/11 here on FR... and, for the first several hours, it was the ONLY PLACE on the web that was working at all... The FR crowd understood, quickly... the significance of the event.
I’ve ALWAYS found FR to be the best place to find breaking news. Anything interesting anywhere, can be found here. And, sometimes... with interesting commentary to go with it..... sometimes! ;-)
Twenty years from now, I’ll be saying the “greatest thing” was Homer Simpson’s DAILY postings from WWII era newspapers.... it’s been fascinating reading for several years now.
Now... if I can just keep from getting zotted before the Official Friday Silliness thread!
LIVE LONG and PROSPER, FR!
My brother turned me on to FP during the Whitewater/Campaign Finance probe that led to Monica. The rest is history.
Me too... That's how I first got here.
The old threads than ran into the hundreds, all on one page, and if ya was on dialup, like I was back then it would take several minutes to refresh for new comments, aspecialy if there was any pics.
Instead of increasing taxes (advertising),
reduce costs.
I highly recommend some sort of cloud server over a piece of physical equipment. Let someone else admin the hardware, and pay per use is really cheap compared to hardware & rackspace.
I’m drawing a blank on that one :)
ScottinSacto
Since Jun 9, 1999
Huh, CGEB, and that see through white dress on his/her profile page
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