In a sense, the answer is yes.
FR's structure is to take copywrited articles and post them in their entirety as the basis to begin a thread. The LA Times and Washington Post objected and told Jim Robinson to stop this practice. He Said "No". He further said it was legal to do this and even encouraged the LA Times and Washington Post to sue him if they wanted. The two papers took him up on his offer (They were going to sue him regardless of his hard toned attitude). He had "expert" legal advice and free legal help. The end result is that Free Republic owes these two newspapers 1 million of those (illegitimate) Federal Reserve Notes ( The LAT and WP won't accept Confederate money). So, while before the lawsuit he could have argued in good conscience, that it is ok to post copywrited articles and simply not do it to organizations that objected. One Million Federal Reserve Notes later and guess what? Free Republic is not posting LAT and WP articles. Why are they complying with this order ?
If they are complying with the order( and they are)then why continue to run the web - site in this fashion?
So , in a sense, the website is a fraud, and their own ( sought after with Freeper FRN'S) lawsuit validates this very point.
(They could have paid some competent lawyer about 2500 Federal Reserve Notes to tell them to not post LAT and WP articles. Instead they got FREE legal help and a 1 million Federal Reserve Note judgement against them.)
Should FR go away?
The answer to this question is very simple: It is up to you Jim. Now if the Question really is:
Should I give my hard earned Federal Reserve Notes to you so you can run this website?
The answer is NO WAY. I would not give a dime to this website. I play here, I have fun here, I read articles here, I post here. I attended the Judgement Day Rally. However, I would not give a nickel to this site. Here are several reasons why:
1. Jim Robinson blew 1 million FRN's (those are real Freeper dollars) on the WP/LAT lawsuit. bad! who gonna pay for this ( hint - they want donations)? that means for every dollar you donate to Free Republic about 50 cents goes to those liberal papers. If you don't see the connection then I can't help you.
2. On the heels of the LAT/WP lawsuit the guys at Free Republic had a brilliant idea to squeeze 1 million dollars from eschoir (can you believe this?) Well it back fired and now Free Republic doners are on the hook for another 105K FRN's. The Free Republic lawyer, clarity, took his 105 K and quit Free Republic (would you quit Free Republic for 105K?) This lawsuit to go after eschoir is a disgrace!
3. One of the stated goals of Free Republic was to provide an historical archive to future generations about the fraud that took place during the Clinton years and to give historians insight into conservatives thought during that time. Guess what ? The archives are not worth a confederate dollar anymore. There have been so many threads with heartfelt comments purged that it is not funny. All of the threads that had great debate between libertarians and conservatives from 1998 are pretty much gone. WHY? I think the answer boils down to rewriting history and not giving potential donors hard data about things that took place here several years ago. ( I might contribute if he reopens the OWK opus though- that alone would be worth an Andrew Jackson).
4. I am a Republican. during May of 1999 Jim Robinson wrote some very very nasty things about Republicans and George Bush that pretty much drove away the conservative Republicans. That was what drove Lucianne to start her website, drove out Don Morgan, Navigator, Mojo, Boston, Uncle Daddy and many others. That was also the time that the the Libertarian (Big L) and tin foil hat guys dominated. ( The Big L guys always called the conservative republican guys the coven. They accused the coven of doing the very things that are being done here NOW! - ie censoring threads out the whazoo. The funny thing is - it rarely "actually" happened then.)
5. A big turn about happened when the Gore/ Bush contest happened and all of the sudden it was cool to be Republican again. The only thing is, that the old Republican got even more cynical and really began wondering what Jim Robinson's real politacal agenda is. This wonderment fuels much of the AFer effort.
I still like the spirit of discusion here. It is FAR more entertaing than Lucianne. It is fun. But this place is never going to have a real influence on the policies of this country. (BTW - I do think that this site was a factor in Clinton's impeachment, but this site drove out the workhorse politcal "doers" like Don Morgan, and panders to the internet talkers (won't name names) and foremost to the donors)
So to all of you who want to donate to this enterprise, On behalf of my entertainment, and on behalf of the Washington Post and the L A Times shareholders, I extend to you, my heartfelt THANKS!
Lastly, I had thanked Mojo and Don Morgan several years ago for helping me see the falacy in the Libertarian arguments. Their comments helped me to see how GREAT this country really is and how Good our System actually works. I still have fond memories of those threads. I remember the Navigator- Hepperla Y2K arguments too. (Guess which party was actually correct? )
There have been bad decisions made regarding the LAT/WP lawsuits and the Eschoir action. Some of the players were less than honorable, and the results certainly not what we desired. But Jim Robinson was, is, and always has been an honest man who took on the establishment with his bare knuckles. If he got beaten, we all got beaten. Freedom got beaten. The Constitution got beaten. And our Republic got beaten. For you to glory in that defeat, or to slink away in fear shows your moral mettle. Thank God Jim had more guts than you.
If he needs help patching the bullet holes he took for us, I for one will be glad to pitch in and do my part. If that means funneling money into the Defense Fund, nobody ever said freedom was free. (Not that facts matter to you, but Jim hasn't paid one dime to the Times/Post for their "judgment.")
You are at best a sunshine patriot, a fair-weather friend. The loss of folks like you -- and the company you keep: Don Morgan, Nav, Mojo, et. al. -- is no great loss for this forum, or for this Republic.
Yep, I was wrong. And I won't make the mistake of underestimating this country again.
But..big deal. I got over it. I suspect most others did too.
Just strolling through the old neighborhood for kicks.
Thought I would say hello. I enjoyed the great Libertarian debates with you, Don Morgan, OWK and the others.
Time for me to go. Not my place to hang out anymore.