Posted on 06/09/2004 8:09:07 PM PDT by SerpentDove
Greetings, FReepers!
SerpentDove here. I will intersperse photos along with my report.
Last night, June 8, 2004, Dallas FReepers had the distinct honor of meeting and dining with the Big Enchilada, Jim Robinson! We met at Cozymel’s Mexican Restaurant in Plano.
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For those of you who have never met Jim in person, he is everything you would expect and more. Lightning shoots from his eyes and fingertips, and he went around all night telling everyone to “knock it off.” :-)))
No, in actuality, Jim is a kind-faced man with smiling eyes, a gentle demeanor, and a sincere laugh.
It was an honor to meet the man whose internet site helped shake one Presidency to its foundation, and helped keep another from being hijacked.
It was heady stuff discussing with Jim the days of Whitewater and Lewinsky, when each day brought a new scandal that unfolded on our monitors. Stroke of a the keyboard, end of a legacy. Kinda cool.
The fajitas were swell, but at one point I decided to set down the fork and go meet “The Man.”
While I felt ill-prepared to strike up a political conversation with JimRob (I mean, this is JIM ROBINSON, and by this time he must have absorbed billions more bytes of information than even the most die-hard FReeper!)...I still was compelled to engage him.
So I sat down at the table with him, SUSSA and Moiraine.
I asked about the early days when Drudge linked to his site, and he and SUSSA told me of the days when Rep. Bob Barr called to meet with the FR “staff” during the impeachment inquiry, of clues dropped by Lucianne Goldberg, of the drumbeat joined by Alan Keyes, et al.
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I fumbled for relevant questions. “Jim, when did you first know that FreeRepublic was a big deal?”
“When we were getting hits from the Executive Office of the President.” I wonder how many times Lanny Davis and James Carville have hit FR? Or Hillary and Slick, for that matter. Plenty, I’ll bet. We all know Rush and Sean Hannity lurk.
If I remember correctly, he said FR has 150,000 members.
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My next volley. “Jim, I’ve gotta ask you...how do you see the unfolding of America in the next twenty years?” About 1/1000th of a second elapsed when his eyes sparkled and he said, “It will get more conservative.”
I reflexively smiled and said, “I think so, too.” He shares Reagan’s optimism.
I intimated that the eight years of Clinton probably took years off of my life. But I also had to share, "You know, it was kind of fun, though." He let go a genuine belly laugh, the kind like when someone really identifies with what you're saying. Then he added sarcastically, "Come on, Kerry!"
For my next question, I bore down, not for emphasis, but because I just had to know. “How does it feel to know that you are a channel through which history and the world is being changed?” I knew this was no exaggeration or flattery.
Again, the answer was firm and instant. He leaned forward and looked at me intently. “YOU know...because you’re part of it too!”
He knocked it out of the park with that answer. Power to the FReeple. I, like many, have witnessed firsthand the power of the internet to shake the world. It is an unbridled torrent that is about to destroy the mainstream media. It belongs to ordinary citizens, not the elites in Washington.
For a tiny while I sat in a little restaurant in Texas, amid empty glasses and tortilla chip crumbs, across the table from one of the primary architects of the media revolution.
Ronald Reagan said he wanted to be remembered for giving the people back their government.
I believe Jim Robinson’s legacy is in giving the people back their press.
Thanks, Jim, and God bless you.
SerpentDove
Jim, please tell Sheila looked very beautiful last night. I always enjoy her company and lunch was lots of fun.
I meant to tell you something - I think those "stickers" you landed in were probably mesquite trees. (yeah, I know they're too small to be trees anywhere else but in Texas. LOL!) And the ants had to be fireants. Hope you didn't get stung! They're viscious little stingers!
I hope you made it home safely too! 4mycountry, it was such a pleasure to me you finally. Your parents are really cool too! :)
Thank you, MAF! We really had a great time in FRisco!
Looks like y'all had a great time!
Wish I could have been there!
I wanted to see what's shakin' in Dallas.
I meant to tell you something - I think those "stickers" you landed in were probably mesquite trees. (yeah, I know they're too small to be trees anywhere else but in Texas. LOL!) And the ants had to be fireants. Hope you didn't get stung! They're viscious little stingers!
The stickers- In Minnesota, we call them stickers. In El Paso, 'Goat heads' seemed to be the operative word. Either way, we have thousands of them embedded in the ground cloth. No one got stung, but the truck did get stuck on top of a GIANT ant hill. They were large ants and a reddish black color. FITZ can probably tell you more. She helped get the truck unstuck and even hung around to help out. (Bet she won't do that again).
Were you ever in the Army? You look like someone I knew in the Army.
Glad you had a great time and thanks for all your efforts to put it together.
When /Where will he be in Houston?
Great group of pictures and a very funny report. Sounds like y'all had lots of fun.
Beautiful.
You are a great writer.
Thank you for the pics and the dialogue!
>>You are a great writer.<<
Thanks!
:-)
21 years of infantry work must pay off `cause I wasn't even trying, it's all instinct now!
Actually, I am in one of the posted photos . . .
OUTSTANDING photos!!!
This is great!!. For a newie to see some of the pillars in photo is great.
Great stuff.
Now start thinking "election party" . . .
Lookie over here. FReepmail me for the address if you want to attend.
Hey, that is great ! I'm glad you will get to meet this weekend.Enjoy ! :^D
bttt
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