[general_re]

I'd also like to compliment general_re's vast knowledge and his willingness to share it here,

Oy. I have been cleverly faking it ;)

That being said, allow me to recognize some folks who truly intimidate me with the breadth and depth of their knowledge, and who have caught my eye in one way or another, whether I agree with them or not - some of them, I may never have even posted to, but I noticed anyway. In no particular order:

CatoRenasci - just for being a damn smart fellow all the way around - his posts are always worth reading twice;

Nick Danger - if I ever happen to find myself in disagreement with Nick, I know it's time to stop and seriously rethink my position;

longshadow - for performance above and beyond the call of duty, in general moral support, and cleverness in the face of obtuseness;

Junior - who can always be counted on to push the envelope a bit farther than is probably a good idea ;) ;

PatrickHenry - who knows a good noir story when he sees one;

jlogajan - for general fearlessness;

Gumlegs - who has a cool hat;

Dimensio - who was kind enough not to smack me down when I maybe went too far in my logical argumentation the other day;

balrog666 - who can be counted on to always have something insightful to add;

inquest and Diamond - for doing a bang-up job of holding up the wrong end of the crevo threads, and who manage to do it with class and grace ;)

AndrewC - who may be a nitpicking, word-lawyering b*stard, but on the other hand, he's damn good at it ;)

(how's that for backhanded? ;) )

dighton, Orual, and aculeus - the Three Stooges, for being some of the most insightfully funny people I've ever had the pleasure of encountering;

Lazamataz and Iowahawk - for being two of the funniest people that I've ever failed to avoid reading;

Phantom Lord - not just for being a local boy, but for having the good sense to escape and stay out;

Behind Liberal Lines and NativeNewYorker - for performance above and beyond the call of duty, and service faithfully rendered while behind enemy lines;

Texasforever - for extreme common sense, and overall being a Good Guy;

tpaine - who has probably aggravated everyone who's ever interacted with him, including everyone who's ever agreed with him, but who continues soldiering on nonetheless;

Poohbah - who reflects well on all of us simply by being here and sharing his exceptional insights;

headsonpikes, coteblanche and habs4ever- for proving that there's intelligent life north of the border;

Hemingway's Ghost, xsmommy, tomkat, and christine11 - who all appreciate a good thong when they see it;

Bush2000 and Dominic Harr - who will probably both blanch at being included together in anything, since they generally despise one another, but without whom the Microsoft threads would be much less interesting ;)

one_particular_harbor - for bailing me out of that jam I was in (hey, she said she was 19, for cryin' out loud), and for having a fabulous sense of humor on top of a desire to do the right thing, no matter how unpopular;

And many, many others, whom I am surely forgetting. FR is like a second home to me, and I am terifically glad to have found it. Here's to many, many more years of promoting the right way for the country...

[PatrickHenry]

PatrickHenry - who knows a good noir story when he sees one;

All my accomplishments (including some really impressive modesty), and that's the only one you can mention? Ah well, as long as they get the name right ...

[general_re]

Oh, no, I forgot two that definitely need inclusion, and whom I am privileged to call friends:

shaggy eel - I'm gonna take you up on that invite one of these days, I swear. Save me a Tui ;)

RadioAstronomer - for being knowledgeable, insightful, thoughtful, and for generally letting me hang around ;)

[Howlin]

Thank you all, too.....for the fun and the "learning."

[inquest]

Well, I'd return some sort of compliment to general_re if it weren't for the fact that he annoys the hell out of me because he knows everything about anything you talk to him about. I can't pull anything past him!

And betty, I just want to say thanks for the insights you've bumped my way. Also, I've lurked for quite some time before signing on, so I've seen you before, and I've been quite impressed by your ability to hold up under flaming and keeping threads that you're on at a civilized level, despite the determined attempts by everyone else to pull them in the opposite direction.

(Man, this thread ought to be titled "The Six Degrees of FreeRepublic". Everyone's here)

[Diamond]

inquest and Diamond - for doing a bang-up job of holding up the wrong end of the crevo threads, and who manage to do it with class and grace ;)

Why, thank you, general! That's so nice to hear. Believe me, the feeling is mutual:^)

Cordially,

[Hemingway's Ghost]

FR is like a second home to me, and I am terifically glad to have found it. Here's to many, many more years of promoting the right way for the country...

Agree. For me, FR is

a William Burroughs junky heroin high
a smoke-filled back room at the Warren Tavern in Charlestown circa 1768
Newspaper Row
the wardroom on a good day
a place to kick off your shoes, take off your pants, and get down and dirty
Fear and Loathing
Better than TV

Once FR starts producing original content, I may never look at another media outlet again. Thanks to all those I've learned from, argued against, goofed around with, etc. since '97. All hyperbole aside, I think this is the most important political website on the Web.

[AndrewC]

AndrewC - who may be a nitpicking, word-lawyering b*stard, but on the other hand, he's damn good at it ;)

(how's that for backhanded? ;) )

I'd also compliment you now, but I already did that several times towards the end of the skirmish in the thread "15 Answers..."      O ;->

[Gumlegs]

And consider that hat tipped to you, sir.

[Phantom Lord]

You are a stronger man than I for staying up there.

F' Rossi!

[Gumlegs]

My compliments to you all for challenging and interesting posting. It's never boring. Tips of the hat to all.

[habs4ever]

Is this a cheap ploy for attention of your part? It won't work, I'm impervious to flattery from someone that lives in Fire City ;-)Home of the Sabres...oops, the ex home of the Dull Blades ;-)

As long as you still have Irv Weinstein,and Commander Tom, well, there will always be a Buffalo...

Thanks.

[NativeNewYorker]

Being behind enemy lines in Gotham has its perks: The summer girl watching is awesome, for instance. :)

[xsmommy]

Hemingway's Ghost, xsmommy, tomkat, and christine11 - who all appreciate a good thong when they see it;

it's always a blast thonging away with you guys, Lord knows, between strippymom and the thong threads, there was tonsOfun!

[balrog666]

I'd also like to compliment general_re's vast knowledge and his willingness to share it here,

Ahem, uh, ah, ditto. Nice to know I haven't offended everyone.
And thanks for names - I'll have to track down the ones I don't recognize and see what I've been missing.

I'm too afraid to name people for fear I'll leave someone out but I have a high opinion of a great many of you and hope I treat you all with the respect you deserve.

In fact, I would like to compliment everyone for the courage to post your "nekkid" opinions in the face of the potential flames we all feel burn us at times.

Cheers! May Free Republic last until your children's children's, children are old enough to vote.

[tpaine]

"(how's that for backhanded?"

---

Not much. -- HERE's backhanded:


"Texasforever - for extreme common sense, and overall being a Good Guy;"

---

THEN , in the next breath you backhand ME, - [ Mr. Nice-guy himself]:

"tpaine - who has probably aggravated everyone who's ever interacted with him, including everyone who's ever agreed with him, but who continues soldiering on nonetheless;"

---

Seriously though, - thanks for the mention.

--And I'd like to congratulate some of the anti-freeps I've crossed swords with in the last years, - roughly in [obnoxious] order:
mojo, navigator; donmorgan; uncledaddy; kevin curry; cultural jihad; roscoe; texasforever.
[this is just the shortlist of those with whom I have irreconcilable political differences; -- don't feel bad if you're not mentioned, -- It merely means you are 'small potatos'.]

--- THEY are what makes FR so special to me. --- Finding suitable opponents in life can be much harder than finding friends.

[christine]

Hemingway's Ghost, xsmommy, tomkat, and christine11 - who all appreciate a good thong when they see it

general! how on earth did you remember that? lol!

i do appreciate a good thong. won't wear anything else! ;)