DALLAS FREEPERS DINE WITH JIM ROBINSON (Report and Photos)

SerpentDove ^ | 6/9/04 | SerpentDove

[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

[MeekOneGOP]

Not a problem. You got the list posted. Thanks. :^D

[Watery Tart]

Part-of-History Bump!

Thank you all so much for everything!

[MeekOneGOP]

Re #29, 32: Thanks. I hope ya'll get a chance to meet with him. There is a meet
in Austin tonight, I believe. Then they will be in Houston and San Antonio.

[windchime]

Bump!

[Flyer]

Then they will be in Houston and San Antonio.

I'm sure you meant to say "Then they will be in Houston and San Antonio"

;-)

[MeekOneGOP]

Aw, too bad. But maybe another time, I hope. :^D

Everyone seemed to enjoy the whole thing. I know I did.

[Chieftain]

"Sir, this isn't Cozymel's. Cozymel's is next door."

ROFLMAO! That is classic!

I know you all had a fantastic time. I appreciate being able to 'be there' via the FReerepublic!

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Tonk. How's it going?

[Chieftain]

He looks like he could be any one of us - how cool is that?

That is why FR is the best! JimRob, and all of us, are just that... normal people who look like everyone else. Like Speaker Denny Hastert said last night at the funeral for President Reagan, we're American!

[Happy2BMe]

WoW - What a GREAT TIME!

Great food and fellowship with the best of 'em.

Glad you all were able to get together on such a historic day and share the moment at hand.

Thanks, SerpentDove for doing this.

[MeekOneGOP]

Meek, your pictures are beautiful, I'm camera looking and need to find out what kind of camera you have!!

Thank you. I bought a Hewlett-Packard 318 digital camera on eBay last summer. It cost me ~$80, including shipping. There were bunches of auctions on them then, and I bet there still are. It was almost new and came with the manual, the HP software, and USP Cable. Everything I needed to get started. And it's very simple to use, just what I needed, LOL ! :^D

A good friend of mine has used this same camera for several years, and so I knew it was simple to use, etc. before I went to eBay to try to get one. And bidding on eBay is kind of fun. I bid on about THREE of them before I finally won the bid. (I ended up getting mine for LESS than the auctions I lost. They were going for ~$90-$100, plus shipping - usually around $10).

I also use Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home Edition (V 3.1) software to help with photo stuff. Sometimes if a pic comes out too dark, I can use that and with a click or two, it comes out really good. I had to use PhotoDeluxe on some of those, too. The PD software I got on eBay also, for less that $20, including shipping.

Oh, and SerpentDove is the one that added the 'labels' (screen names, captions) on the pics. He will be adding the pictures he did tonight and I'll ping everyone again after he does. I'm sure his will be even better than my pics did. He is a regular Foto Fred and does great work.

[MeekOneGOP]

Yeah !! :^D

[MeekOneGOP]

I see TLI and Texagirl4W managed to escape the cam somehow. hmmmm. :)

I thought I was very diligent in getting everyone's picture. Either I MIS-labeled a pic, or missed getting TLI's pic. I felt badly missing TLI. Sorry 'bout that. It was an oversight. :^(

I did get one of Texagirl4W, though:

Texagirl4W

Sorry 'bout that, folks.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks. It was fun making that pic, too! :^)

[MeekOneGOP]

Oh, yeah. I'm sorry you couldn't make it, too.
I was looking forward to meeting you.

Maybe another time, though. I hope so.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Thanks for the Photos and stuff.

[PGalt]

Outstanding post, pictures and comments. Kudos to the most informed citizens on the planet.

[hocndoc]

No, I never was. (And I'm so sorry for your friend who looks like that!)

[The Mayor]

Great pics and nice job putting this together.

Now if Jim would just come to Buffalo before it snows next week.

[Taxman]

Thanks for the ping, Chieftain.

Jim, thanks again for all that you and your family are doing for FReedom and our FRee Republic. When does the FReeperMobile Eastern Swing begin?

SerpentDove, Taxman Bravo Zulu for a most excellent report and pics.

Hi, MAF! If you are ever in Jacksonville and need a ride to your hotel, I promise you that we will get lost again! LOL! I haven't lived here since 1959, and absolutely do not know how to get around yet. Maybe Chieftain would be a better taxi driver than I am!