Posted on 11/29/2001 11:32:06 PM PST by Jim Robinson
Very sorry if the thread I posted yesterday entitled "Is Free Republic a Fraud? Is it time for Free Republic to go away?" startled some of you. The thread was posted simply to allow the people who are criticizing Free Republic and accusing us of fraud to have a place to post their charges, and also to allow those who support FR a place to voice their opinions on whether we should continue or fold up. The anti-FReepers have long held that if only the FReepers knew the truth about me and the fraud of FR, then they would all go away. Well, time will tell if many people have been swayed by their tales of horror, but no one can say that I did not give them a chance to get it all out into the open.
Now I'm happy to say that I have absolutely no intent of ever shutting down Free Republic. The only reason that was in my title was because of the AFers claim. I have stated on many occasions that Free Republic will be on the air as long as the FReepers feel it is needed and viable. If the WP/LAT is successful in bankrupting me or the corporation, then we will find another way to keep our discussion site running. There is absolutely no way that they can shutdown our right to assemble on the internet and voice our opinions and criticisms of the government and or of the so-called free press. In that, we will persevere, I guarantee you!
I want to thank all of you who have suggested various ways to change our operating model to one profiting by selling subscriptions, or advertising, or merchandise or other commercial ventures, but have to say that we cannot do any of those things at this time. We are restricted from engaging in any commercial business because of the fair use laws. Now, some of this might change in the future depending on clarification from the court if we win on appeal or at the Supreme Court level, but I wouldn't bet on it. As long as we are posting full text articles we will probably have to remain non commercial.
I also want to thank all of you who have posted your supporting comments. I'd like to reply to all of them, but looks like the count is now running to 2,000 and beyond and there is no way that I can respond to each one individually. I thank each and every one of you and I thank God that you are on our team. Same goes for all of you who are donating to keep FR on the air. We would not be here without your support and we all appreciate it very much.
Thanks again and God Bless America!
Regards,
Jim Robinson
After you, General Jim Robinson!!!
What's wrong? It would limit the site to only those able to pay that much per month. That would eliminate those who are poor - either temporarily or permanently.
It would eliminate the curious democrats or others who may not be conservative and would ruin our chance to convert them to the conservative persuasion.
It would eliminate college students and teens who will be our future politicians.
I feel the free site lures first the curious or accidental visitors, they then come back more and more often and finally become contributing members. We need new people to further conservatism and to get our views out.
I just want to add my thanks to you for this forum. The information on this site, the well-reasoned discussions, and even the plethora of pithy comments, have contributed mightily to the conversion of Mr. Right Field from liberal to conservative thinking over the past 3 years. The material here on FR helped him put words and reasons his own emerging observations that the standard liberal line just wasn't borne out in the real world. And for that he and I both thank FR.
I hope to be Freeping for many years to come!! I'll be upping my monthly contribution after the first of the year, too!!
Now, an important questions, inquiring minds want to know : Have you rebanned the perminetly banned ?
I don't even want to think about not having FreeRepublic available to help us get through these trying times..
I'm personally looking forward to the fund raiser this weekend. They're always fun and it's exciting to see a goal reached. BadJoe lives up to his handle.. ;-) Hope we do it by states again. Lets Roll Louisiana !!!
Thanks again and may God bless You and Your's and all the Freepers..
One thing about Freepers: The majority here is not a SILENT majority. I didn't read the 2000 responses you got, but I'll bet the ratio of positive to negative was about 100:1.
Thanks again for your efforts. This site is the best thing going on the Internet.
I'm not a Republican, and will never give them one thin dime. Republicans have the loudest voice, and they really got vocal in the last 2 yrs.
This site has given me an education in politics and history that cannot be measured in value. Thank you for the opportunity, to vent, discuss, learn, and grow.
May God bless you.
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