I’ve been here a very long time, as have you. And we all have our stories of being piled on by ping brigades and smarmy, nasty liberals and Rino’s. It has always been somewhat nasty here. The only change is with the bots and paid saboteurs, it is harder to find people we can be congenial with. My agreement/disagreement ratio used to be about 50-50, whereas now I disagree with ten times the posters I agree with.
But my main memory will forever be the recent night Jim Robinson, poor health and all, thanked and greeted every one of us, one at a time on a thread as we all wished him godspeed. That was a beautiful moment on Free Republic. The place isn’t perfect, but I’m glad I came back in 1998.
Getting their money's worth on this site.
Yes, FR really does have its shining moments, and that is why I stay here. One can still find excellent articles with insightful commentary. Also, I enjoy the non-political threads just as much as the political ones. In fact, I have received some excellent advice on topics ranging from photography to playing guitar. Yes, there are some Grade A schmucks here, but I shake them off like water off a duck’s back.