Statement by the founder of Free Republic

Free Republic ^ | March 2004 | Jim Robinson

[Racehorse]

Statement by the founder of Free Republic:

In our continuing fight for freedom, for America and our constitution and against totalitarianism, socialism, tyranny, terrorism, etc., Free Republic stands firmly on the side of right, i.e., the conservative side. Believing that the best defense is a strong offense, we (myself and those whom I'm trying to attract to FR) support the strategy of taking the fight to the enemy as opposed to allowing the enemy the luxury of conducting their attacks on us at home on their terms and on their schedule.

Therefore, we wholeheartedly support the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive strikes on known terrorist states and organizations that are believed to present a clear threat to our freedom or national security. We support our military, our troops and our Commander-in-Chief and we oppose turning control of our government back over to the liberals and socialists who favor appeasement, weakness, and subserviency. We do not believe in surrendering to the terrorists as France, Germany, Russia and Spain have done and as Kerry, Kennedy, Clinton and the Democrats, et al, are proposing.

As a conservative site, Free Republic is pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, pro-Constitution, pro-Bill of Rights, pro-gun, pro-limited government, pro-private property rights, pro-limited taxes, pro-capitalism, pro-national defense, pro-freedom, and-pro America. We oppose all forms of liberalism, socialism, fascism, pacifism, totalitarianism, anarchism, government enforced atheism, abortionism, feminism, homosexualism, racism, wacko environmentalism, judicial activism, etc. We also oppose the United Nations or any other world government body that may attempt to impose its will or rule over our sovereign nation and sovereign people. We believe in defending our borders, our constitution and our national sovereignty.

Free Republic is private property. It is not a government project, nor is it funded by government or taxpayer money. We are not a publicly owned entity nor are we an IRS tax-free non-profit organization. We pay all applicable taxes on our income. We are not connected to or funded by any political party, news agency, or any other entity. We sell no merchandise, product or service, and we offer no subscriptions or paid memberships. We accept no paid advertising or promotions. We are funded solely by donations (non tax deductible gifts) from our readers and participants.

We aggressively defend our God-given and first amendment guaranteed rights to free speech, free press, free religion, and freedom of association, as well as our constitutional right to control the use and content of our own personal private property. Despite the wailing of the liberal trolls and other doom & gloom naysayers, we feel no compelling need to allow them a platform to promote their repugnant and obnoxious propaganda from our forum. Free Republic is not a liberal debating society. We are conservative activists dedicated to defending our rights, defending our constitution, defending our republic and defending our traditional American way of life.

Our God-given liberty and freedoms are not negotiable.

May God bless and protect our men and women in uniform fighting for our freedom and may God continue to bless America.

Jim Robinson

[Conservatives_Unite]

There are thousands to choose from. Some of my favorite sites use the vBulletin platform. But rather than point you to a specific site using vBulletin, I suggest the vBulletin Community Forum itself:

vBulletin Community Forum

Full-featured and flexible, vBulletin offers a smorgasboard of features in an attractive, easy-to-use package. Here's their homepage, which would be equivalent to the FR homepage:

vBulletin Homepage

On second thought, here's a real-life community using vBulletin that I frequent:

LX Forums

So much easier to read, post, and search. I know for a small percentage of users dialup vs. broadband is still an issue, and modern sites like those built with vBulletin allow for that. Just choose the low-bandwidth version of the site, which the software automatically builds parallel to the main site. Not sure if that even is an issue, since that's pretty much a question of content (I've seen some pretty large graphics files - even on FR).

My point is, forum software has advanced to the point (quite awhile ago, actually) where it is now a plug-and-play proposition using off the shelf software. Just add content. A site like FR in its current incarnation, which is obviously a custom "one size does not fit all" implementation, may be romantic. But user friendly and attractive it ain't. We could do so much better. It must be awfully laborious just to maintain this site, much less add functionality. This site is a dinosaur in technical terms. Just look around.

Here's a vBulletin site called the Liberty Lounge, so you can get an idea what a political discussion forum looks like:

Liberty Lounge

Try joining one of these sites, read and post a message or two. I'd be surprised if you didn't enjoy it more and find it takes less time than FR. And, you can do much, much more (and more easily).

I'm not affiliated with vBulletin - I just like it.

[blackie]

I see, that accounts for it ~ my dad was raised in West Texas. ;)

[infidel29]

Thanks for posting Racehorse

Well said JR... stick with that writing thing you may have a future in it.

[singfreedom]

She is quite a character, isn’t she? I ‘ve heard her say several things that sounded pretty “hinky”. I even heard her say she “wasn’t sure whether, if Hillary won the nomination, she and her husband would support her”. I was a bit surprised.

Bottom line, however, her remarks have made me very sure I don’t want HER in the White House!

[FormerACLUmember]

Thank you, Jim Robinson, for true grit.

[Scythian]

I wonder if the FR is worried about losing it’s user base to the Falcon site as it matures, it’s a very real possibility. The the FR will be the “support the lessor of two evils site - Vote McCain” ...

[kindred]

[Why then is the Bush doctrine so lopsidedly wrong on its recognition of Kosovo—a known terror state - and so bamboozled when it comes to border defense?]

Indeed. Goes to show how the GOP is being overun by rinos fo which he also is. He protects America by sending troops to Iraq and then splits other nations apart and allows the Islamic terrorists to set up new nations in both Serbia and he even is behind the Islamic terrorists in trying to destroy GOD’s Israel by giving land to terroists in the false hope of a false peace. The man is an idiot as most politicians are and live in the la la land of corrupted wisdom.
And I voted for the fool rino twice but have come to the end of the line with the rino GOP and their liberal marxist one world government monsters. There is little difference between the left and the GOP anymore and it is so obvious that only a fool can not see it.

[eleni121]

Astounding isn’t it...the spectacle of so-called conservatives rushing to be embraced by the one world Muslim sympathizing oil addicted junkies.

A fearful and spine-chilling sight.

[SueRae]

Outstanding. Proud to be a member of the Pajama Patriots.

[Cacique]

btt

[Gondring]

Why then is the Bush doctrine so lopsidedly wrong on its recognition of Kosovo—a known terror state - and so bamboozled when it comes to border defense?

When there's a string of evidence like we have, perhaps we need to re-evaluate and realize that it's not "bamboozled"...

To leave the border open while going on an Iraq adventure in the name of the security of our homeland demonstrates that the latter was a bogus reason.

[eleni121]

When there’s a string of evidence like we have, perhaps we need to re-evaluate and realize that it’s not “bamboozled”...

---

I think many conservatives of faith and principle are coming to that realization...hope it’s not too late to make some changes. Profits above principle are not conservative principles.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

I could vote for Jim Robinson.

[pandoraou812]

Thanks for posting this!

[Dog Gone]

I think many conservatives of faith and principle are coming to that realization...hope it’s not too late to make some changes. Profits above principle are not conservative principles.

So Bush toppled Saddam for a profit?

Where are they, and how much are we talking about?

[TigersEye]

Good statement. That works!

[annalex]

You are a voice of reason.

[eleni121]

Do I really have to clarify?

Put on your thinking cap.

[Jakarta ex-pat]

As a conservative site, Free Republic is pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, pro-Constitution, pro-Bill of Rights, pro-gun, pro-limited government, pro-private property rights, pro-limited taxes, pro-capitalism, pro-national defense, pro-freedom, and-pro America. We oppose all forms of liberalism, socialism, fascism, pacifism, totalitarianism, anarchism, government enforced atheism, abortionism, feminism, homosexualism, racism, wacko environmentalism, judicial activism, etc. We also oppose the United Nations or any other world government body that may attempt to impose its will or rule over our sovereign nation and sovereign people. We believe in defending our borders, our constitution and our national sovereignty.

I LOVE this paragraph.

[NutCrackerBoy]

To leave the border open while going on an Iraq adventure in the name of the security of our homeland demonstrates that the latter was a bogus reason.

That is so wrong. The Doctrine to quell Islamist killing -- good defense requires aggressive offense WHERE THEY ARE. The decision to release the dogs of war is beyond approach. The outcome is a separate issue. Iraq proved the United States was no paper tiger and if you are a terrorist state with WMDs you better watch it. Libya divested. Did Iran, frightened, set back their own WMD development? Crushing al Qaeda in Iraq is making us safer.

Stopping illegal crossing of our borders is a good idea, but it only provides a marginal benefit to national security compared to the overseas effors.