What an unfortunate (and IMO worthless) comment. Seriously.
There are a bazillion groovier-looking websites for you to choose from, why are you here? Maybe it has to do with content, not glitz?
Personally I like the simple, clean, easy-to-navigate, fast-loading FR interface a whole cubic ton better than the fancy, cluttered, hard-to-navigate, slow-loading sites that would seem to be what you're looking for.
Since you're so knowledgeable about such things, tell ya what, why not write a groovy browser front end for FreeRepublic in your spare time, and make it available for free? You know, a flashy interface for IE and Firefox and Chrome that calls freerepublic.com to post queries and harvest results. Right? You're an ace, just do it.
IMO, it speaks highly of JimRob's patience and tolerance that your 2-year-old account is still active. I suppose Jim suffers fools more gladly than I would.
I have donated already, but am going to donate $10.00 more right now. If everyone who clicks on FreeRepublic would also do so, the goal would be set in no time. So, here's a tener....can a few of you reading this match it even if you have previously donated? Let's do this. We need FreeRepublic now more than ever!