Posted on 11/28/2001 7:31:29 PM PST by Jim Robinson
FreeRepublic.com has become an important part of American freedom, and as such needs to continue. I'd write GWB and ask for a grant, I'd even write to congressmen FR has supported and ask them.....FreeRepublic.com needs to continue.
I for one would welcome banner ads that you make money from, and you certainly have the traffic that would make you solid cash from ads with people like Amazon and the like.
I encourage those who can to donate.
You know as well as I do that in almost every case, FR's detractors are the result of simple personality clashes. When a site attracts the number of posters this one does, there's always going to be a lunatic fringe. Folks with delusions of grandeur, paranoia, idiocy, and just plain psychos. Eventually, their madness becomes apparent, people complain, and they get banned. Being the outcasts they are, they can never admit that it was their anti-social behavior that earned them the punishment, nor that they have no inherent right to be where they're not wanted. So they start to level these vicious attacks against the forum, you, conservatives in general, and places like AF and born of people like Eschoir, Mojo, Nav, DonMorgan, etc.. (The Usual Suspects).
By my way of thinking, you owe them exactly nothing. Their objections to FR are unfounded, and based entirely on their PERCEIVED slights distorted by their own psychological inadequacies. If they want a war, fine, we can give that to them. But you don't have to give them a base of operations.
I am truly saddened to see that Chuck Allen has joined this infernal crew. Why a formerly loyal FReeper would want his name forever stained by association with the Undead, I can't imagine. I would have thought he was a bigger man than that.
Free Republic, now and forever, one and inseparable.
Amen back to you, LeeMcCoy, by the way!
This just about nails it on the head. The people you've mentioned as Anti-FR are not worthy opponents and do not represent what this country stands on; free speech and open discourse.
Do not give up the fight. Please.
And thank you sir for all of your hard work and dedication thus far.
First, It is the only source I know of where one gets complete, immediate news coverage.
Second, I've supported it in the past and will continue to do so.
Third, even if every dime went to your staff, 260 grand a year is not an excessive salary for the size of group that you've assembled. We all know that the head of a philanthropic organization, Red Cross, makes over a million. (If we're looking for a tragic salary, that's certainly it.)
Fourth, every time I've ever had anything jerked off a thread, in retrospect, I've come to agree with the moderator over time.
Keep it running, keep it conservative, and keep it focused on a Free Republic.
Now stop it.
IHC, Everybody should be allowed a mistake or two before being shunned. Even Jim and a few overzealous moderators and the rest of US along with them. Hang around, and don't take things personal. It really ain't. It's just exchanging ideas. Sometimes in what might be called "SPIRITED" discussion, but, it is that "spirit" that sometimes causes the loss of one's "cool". It's written that even Jesus thought that getting angry and physically throwing the money changers and merchants out of the temple would not be the way to "win" in the end. IMHO, he was right. Stay well. Peace and love, George..
Jim and John and Staff =
A sincere thank you for all you have done since I found you in '97. The honesty and integrity you all have shown is proof that the American Dream is a reality, and that there are tyrants that are trying mightily to quash that reality and revert us back to a feudal society.
WRT the WP/LAT et al lawsuits, give them my name too. The First Amendment was not written for corporations to use as a shield for their nefarious disseminations of their select stories, or to grant them exclusive access to the politicians and judges and executives of the governments -- it is to allow the People that access. As they have found, they can't publish only part of the story, or change the timelines, or embellish the facts with lies without some here catching them out and exposing them.
I do agree with others that there should be a minimum charge for the priviledge of posting; that would cut down on some of the riff-raff scumbags that try to hijack threads or start flame-wars just to get them pulled.
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force"
(George Washington)"A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves"
(Juvenal)
Here's to keeping the wolves at bay.
We are putting together the activism portion of Free Republic right now. It is called Free Republic Network. There should be a chapter near you. If there isn't, we can help you get one started.
This is not something that Jim or the monitors should address. This is a matter for we, the people. In times passed, an idiotic vanity would be shredded within minutes by other posters. Now they live, to eat bandwidth and inspire others to do likewise. To pick a recent thread, how about the "Who are the single FR men?" thread. Is this the caliber of discussion that Jim and John are devoting their lives to support?
The people did this to FR. The people can turn it around. Stop acting like fluff minded liberals with a laissez faire attitude. Demand and offer more intelligent discourse and less pop culture. If we raise the bar, we will find others who aspire to reach the level we set, rather than allow the good time charlie attitude to drag us down to the lowest common denominator.
That's the kind of "ownership" I love to see on this forum. If every conscientious member pounced on these stupid vanities like a duck on a Junebug, we'd soon discourage that crap. Then we could return to a day when the conversation sizzled, the topics were pertinent and as fresh as the morning coffee, and the exchanges generated light as well as heat. Jim can't do it. The moderators can't do it. It's up to us.
Are we willing to surrender this last bastion of hope to the armies of darkness? Because if we are, then we've proven unworthy of its promise. "A Free Republic, sir. If you can keep it." Can we keep it?
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