A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....04-15-03...You Are Not Alone

Billie; FreeTheHostages | Profile written by FreeTheHostages

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest.....
......Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   I can remember lurking when there were only a few regulars who posted, and now there are over 60,000 who have registered for posting privileges. The forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I can no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I've been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that doesn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why, in addition to seeing FR's Finest Military Personnel every day, I thought it might be fun to feature a different FReeper (or FReepers) each day. If you would like to be pictured, or know someone who would, please FReepmail me and we'll turn the spotlight - on YOU - for the day!

And do let me know if you'd like your picture added to the groups of Veterans/Active Military below. I will keep this page updated, and continue to add them to the comment section of the original Veteran's Day thread as well.

<

TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett.
MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick,Leroy S Mort, Mark17.
BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam,
dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony
BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang

TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx
MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law
BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68.
MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797
BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack

We now have eleven groups of veterans/active military; we will post each group of three or four twice a week, with thumbnail/links of the remaining seven or eight groups on each thread. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the group full-size.

         

GROUP 1A: TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

GROUP 2A: TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

GROUP 3A: TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

GROUP 4A: TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, TheMayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

      

GROUP 9A: TOP: Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog. MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son. BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

GROUP 10A: TOP: dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon. BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

GROUP 11A: TOP: ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son. BOTTOM: AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset); WVNan's husband; ladtx' Aunt Eva.

                     

You Are Not Alone by FreeTheHostages


Hobsonphile Worcester, Massachusetts
FReeper since February 3, 2002

Hobsonphile, Stephanie Souders, is a 23-year old recent college graduate who joined Free Republic just over a year ago, after finding us at a CPAC conference. She’s always had Republican thoughts, but she became more of an activist after September 11, 2001. She’s an extraordinarily well-read Republican (a recent Phi Beta Kappa graduate of William & Mary), and is very poised and articulate. I met her when she began coming to our DC Chapter Patriots Rallies (she’s been to all but one of the five in our series!) and she attended this last weekend’s rally in DC by traveling all the way from Worcester, Mass. She has a lovely voice - classically trained - and sings at some of our rallies.

A conservative issue near and dear to her heart is liberalism in academia. She is the self-described Free Republic "coordinator/leader/pingmaster of the ‘Leftism on Campus’ ping list." Here’s a good example of her pinglist work. The list has lately been expanding to include not only reports of leftwing activism on college campuses, but also articles on the curriculum in public schools. "Much of today’s public school curriculum is influenced by left wing ideology. It has trickled down from the universities."

Stephanie and her brother holding "Liberate Academia" signs
at DC Chapter’s Patriot’s Rally II

Stephanie reports that William & Mary had a "healthy" student environment for young conservatives. The College Republicans was one of the largest student organizations on campus! William and Mary had several leftwing students groups on campus as well, including an active Green Party, but Stephanie describes these student leftists as "very polite and willing to allow the other side a say." Stephanie was alarmed to discover that other college students grew up in a less enlightened environment:

"It makes me sad that kids my age didn’t get the experience that I received [at William & Mary]. I want other conservative students who don’t have the same sort of support structure to know that they are not alone."

In much of her activism, you can see a theme of reaching out to other potential conservatives and assuring them that "You are not alone," an important phrase here at Free Republic for those who’ve seen those great red-and-white bumper stickers that read, "You are not alone" followed by "www.freerepublic.com." Stephanie’s got this great collection of political buttons, including ones that read "Not N.O.W." and "In 2000, Bush Won In Overtime - In 2004, It’ll Be Over in the First Quarter."

Hobsonphile wants her conservative values to reach more than just college students. She worries that people do not see conservatives as compassionate and that the left villifies us as racist, mean-spirited or immoral. She wants people to feel comfortable being conservative.

She chose her name on Free Republic because she used to be a fan of a character on the television drama Early Edition, Gary Hobson, who demonstrated a "love of humanity and a willingness to help people in need." It is the "cornerstone" of her compassionate conservatism to "help people when they need it." She notes an example on the TV show where Gary Hobson employed a troubled kid in his bar and trusted the boy to safely deliver the daily earnings to a bank deposit box after closing. "To give someone gainful work and responsibilities is much more powerful than giving them a welfare check." A good example of how, by grappling with reality and not utopian dreams, conservatism is more compassionate.

As you can see, her photograph, as well as those words above, indicate that she is something of a gentle soul. But we women can be as hardy as the next activist, and she wants me to tell all the people in the Free Republic Radio chatroom, who understandably assume that "Hobsonphile" is a male name, that she’s a young woman! All conservative women have grit, and Stephanie’s no exception. She lives near Boston and recently found time to attend a brave Freep with Little Bill and ElectricStrawberry- a counterdemonstration where approximately 10 of them faced up to ANSWER’s call for an "emergency rally" of 2000 or so shortly after the war began. They were outnumbered, but not out-thought.

At that rally, Stephanie says she met a woman who was so happy to see the pro-Bush protestors. The woman gave Stephanie a lovely red-white-and-blue friendship bracelet and told Stephanie that she had lost a loved one at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Stephanie was wearing the bracelet this weekend at the Support Our Troops rally. She didn’t say exactly, but I did sense that the bracelet, and 9/11 generally, have had a profound impact on how she wants to live her life.

Stephanie was also carrying a sign on Saturday honoring a young man - a neighbor - who is currently serving in Afghanistan: Anthony Carofaniello. She dedicated her performance at Saturday's DC Rally to this soldier, and states that she continues to pray for his well being.

She says that Reagan for her is really a matter of history. (Wow, I feel so old though.) She’s 23 now, and she points out that she was still sucking her thumb during much of Reagan’s presidency. (That’s OK, a lot of liberals much older than her were doing the same thing.) Hobsonphile really likes President Bush and calls him "my generation’s Reagan."

Hobsonphile has been to a lot of Freeps for a Freeper just finishing her one-year anniversary. Perhaps because she’s young and has a soft, articulate voice, the press always seems to find her out. At this weekend’s rally, I lost sight of her for just a second, only to find her being interviewed by Japanese television, fielding the questions deftly and speaking with gentle conviction. She emailed a conservative talk radio host, Jay Severin, before one of our DC Chapter’s Patriot’s Rallies, just to ask him to please let other conservatives in the Boston area know that they were not alone. Jay Severin sent an email back saying that her email was interesting and that he would like her to appear the next day as a scheduled guest on his show. After recovering from the shock, Stephanie did so, and she loyally plugged our rally. She has good press luck.

Hobsonphile’s brother is Freeper "Frustrated Citizen." Speaking as a big sister would, she says with her gentle steeliness that she "finally convinced him to sign on." (Hee hee, let’s hear from Frustrated Citizen to confirm it, but I suspect he didn’t have a choice.)

Stephanie and Frustrated Citizen at DC’s Patriots Rally III

Stephanie is nice, gentle and compassionate, but she’s also certain of what she knows is true. We were driving back from the rally Saturday when she decided to wave her American flag at some leftist protestors. It really did seem to annoy them too. LOL. Enough said. They don’t hate America, they’d say, just the flag and everything it represents.

She will be moving back to the DC area soon, which suits her just fine. She believes she’s "meant to be in the thick of things." Stephanie is hoping to integrate her interest in education with her politics, and is thinking about how she could really help at-risk kids at the elementary school level. But she loves to study and learn, and her undergraduate degree in biological psychology (with lots of extra hard courses) may not have been enough: the possibility of graduate school is tempting too.

What about Saturday’s big rally on the Mall here in Washington?

One of the reasons she enjoyed going to the rally is that she really hopes that a lot of people attending such rallies will get some of the more moderate anti-war people to rethink their position and come join her side, the compassionate conserative side.

"Today was a very exhilarating day. This whole week has been exhilarating. It was almost as emotional for me watching the Iraqis celebrate in Baghdad as it was for me watching the images of 9/11."

President Bush’s conduct of that war is further evidence to Stephanie that "he’s a great man, because he has a clear idea of what this nation is about and he’s willing to stand up for it." In the large rally in DC this weekend, she saw in the crowd "the heart of America that the leftist media tries to see in the anti-war crowd."

You Go, Girl!
You Are One of FR's Finest!

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 04-14-03 ViligantCitizen

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[ST.LOUIE1]

Wow, this is turning into a touch-feely thread!
...there's a whole lot of hugging going on!

I like it!!! AhRoooooo!!! : )

[Billie]

Let's just say he is a very well-dressed driver (and to be seen in my company he *must* be) and designer clothes are not out of reach for his budget!

Sounds expensive :) I hope I'm not paying for any moonlighting on the side - Finest bizness only!

Now, Free, I'm happy to report ONLY uses the company plane and pilot for RALLIES outside of DC - right, Free?

[Dubya]

WISH I KNEW HOW TO POST THIS PICTURE

[ST.LOUIE1]

A very pretty rose for a very pretty Finest lady!

Thank you, BB. Just where is our 'Finest' today? : )

[Billie]

Sigh. I'll just have to be content with my more meager means of travel on Billie's staff, I guess.

What'd you do - sell the bicycle? :)

[knighthawk]

(((((((((((Hello)))))))))))

[Billie]

Hi, Fred - thank you - always nice to see you drop in. :)

[Billie]

Permission granted! Get in here! LOL! Wanted to say thank you for the bluebird gif you left me over the weekend - it's really pretty! Great to see you back, and hope our little project is coming along. :)

[LadyX]

Your post brings home just how dire things are at the VA Medical Centers, TC.
I see them every time I go for appointments, and it is heartbreaking that these men have given so much for their country - and the country ignores their needs.

We are taxed and besieged by Congress with requests for more dollars for those 'poorer citizens' in their districts - when many really are simply courting constituents to get more votes for reelection.
Many of those have no physical disabilities that prevent them from working, and rising out of their situation.

The wounded/ill/emotionally spent veterans with almost no hope - many having no family or friends, or have been abandoned by ones they had - really do need our help NOW.

Classes of children in school are now involved with supporting the military around the world - but how about the shells of human beings left to merely breathe in and out on hospital wards?
Why not have classes send them valentines and Christmas cards and just plain HUGS scrawled on paper?

In the military, these men spent their days at the whim of the government, serving America. They had no personal freedom in the years they were sent hither and yon - were wounded or became ill as a result of their service.
Is the public under the illusion that somehow "disability pay" is sufficient?!
Look it up to see if YOU could get by on the pittance.

Their separation from active service does not end OUR obligation TO THEM.....
Next time I go there, I will not go empty-handed, TC - count upon that.....

[Billie]

Thank you, Cob - those are good tips.

[Billie]

Good afternoon, homeschool mama - it's nice to see you again. Hope you're having a great day!

[Billie]

And Billie, you should be ashamed for messing with the T Man's mind. Old detectives aren't too stable. : )

I don't know what came over me - I'm sorry - I know he can't help it.

[humblegunner]

Everything you can collect that's nonperishable can be put in the storage unit, and once a month one of us take it to the VA hospital.

That works great.. two or three times a week I go by the Dollar Store
during lunch, lots of hygeine and sundry stuff in bulk.
Toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, you name it.
Also I can hit some bookstores, I know a few!!!

[LadyX]

Oh, no, Dubya!
Very Limited describes my computer skills.

See is The Empress can assist?
(She might have to have you send it to her via e-mail?)

[Little Bill]

Steph is a trooper, we have had a few times when I have had 911 waiting to go on the cell phone, mainly the people who joined us getting a little out of hand so to speak, Boston types are not know for keeping their opinion to themselves.

Fear, not really, revultion, disgust things of that nature. I try to keep an overwatch on the people partisipating, spot trouble, and hopefully keep FReeRepublic's good name out of the Globe as the inciter of riots, close a few times.

[Pippin]

Don't let it happen again! ;^)

[LadyX]

" and hope our little project is coming along. :)"

Hmmm...wonder what that means?
'Splain, Billie - - you know older age and those darned memory lapses?

OH!! You mean THAT project!
Heck - it just so .....so.....left it at the...gonna get it....fine - see if I care!!

lemme 'lone, billie -i'll remember eventually..:))

[Pippin]

Hi,

((((((BILLIE)))))!

You can call me Pip the Impulsive! :^)

(NOT!)

[Billie]

Awww....now that's special. : )

So you get a special one back. : )

((((((( Billie )))))))

And thank you! There sure is a whole LOTTA huggin' going' on today in this room! (I think someone else mentioned that earlier!) LOL!

[Dubya]

OK I can scan it to email if need to. Its on PDF and I don't know how to get it off PDF.