Tonk, what a wonderful situation FR has provided.
This SwiftVet mission, movement and priority ... would never have endured without JimRobs inspired place and the way YOU, CHAD, INTERESTING TIMES and others kept this issue on the front burner.
I remember you guys getting some "This is a bad idea" mojo pressure at the time. But Tonk, I'll never forget the way you stood up to your critics and said "You want pressure? Try being known as the "Human Tripod" among the supermodel set. Try telling a passion crazy Belly Girl you're really more of whatever she sees after her fouth shot of Absynth. I told you it's easy!" Game, set, match!
I'm really jazzed about FR right now. This SwiftVet movement is how Free Republic was conceived to work. Old Media lardasses and liars .... "GTFOH"* Useful Information Overload, Media Snoopers, Honest and Precisely Presented Veterans, Community bonding and financial contribution. Moving the story forward on our own, being a resource of fact and breadth and humor .... just like the "Marry Me Andy Gibb" aging bipolar teenybopper site that nobody - paging VICTORIA PRINCIPAL - has the gumption to close down.
Tonk ... I've told JR this and I believe it. Your efforts, Chad's efforts, IT's efforts, Belly Girl's efforts, all the MILFs and Kournakova/Coulters we've endured here... shhhh ... just may have changed World History. If Kerry wins ... America dies. Kerry was winning. Now he's like the Wicked Witch, whom he is married to. Melting. Melting. Freepers said no f'n way. The momentum was bitchslapped. I'm convinced of that. Kerry won't win now.
Without Free Repubic, there'd be no SwiftVet success, no exposure, no public introduction and no John Kerry gutlessly retreating like the Agarn led "Wild Eagle's Presents 'Almost an Indian Warrior'" improv troupe at the first sign of real gunfire.
Free Republic is an awesome force when correctly utilized. There's nothing like this place on the internet. This place, as evidenced by the Swiftee impact, is a force multiplying powerhouse that can change our world, and our future.
There is no more "elite media". At this point, Jim's 1997 dream is realized. He's beat the unbeatable old media liars - and he somehow ditched yapping 'One Who Knows'. Two for two!
*GTFO = "Be sure to have Jenny at the front desk stamp your parking stub before you Get the **** Out!"