A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....01-13-03...Think Global, Shoot Local

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

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

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

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

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 5A: TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68. MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797. BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack.

GROUP 6A: 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.

GROUP 7A: 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.

GROUP 8A: 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.

      

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.

                     

Think Global, Shoot Local
Tgsltakoma’s Conservative Activism One of the DC Chapter’s Martyr to the Cause
by Freedom'sWorthIt

Please meet Tgsltakoma, aka Beth. "Tgsl" stands for "think global, shoot local" -- and as the DC Chapter’s photographer (among other roles), Beth does a lot of shooting with her digital camera, and chances are if you’ve ever read a DC Chapter thread on one of our rallies, you’ve seen links of her photographs. Her political photograph website has now had over 75,000 hits since she joined Free Republic in the year 2000! She lives in the nuclear-free zone of Takoma, Maryland, just to keep the DC suburbs politically honest.

She asks me to say:

"Please put this in somewhere that I am following the lead of all the other dedicated members of the DC Chapter when I take on certain tasks. These guys all give their heart and soul to the cause, and I am really only following their sterling examples."

OK, I’ll say that. But it’s not the truth. We follow *her* example. To accomplish all she does in a day, she must have some kind of magical ability to transcend time and space. Perhaps she’s one of Santa’s reindeers:

tgsl at the D.C. Chapter Christmas Party this year

Beth is a daughter of a marine, a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer, and mother of two Right teenagers (one an Army JROTC), and without doubt one of the DC Chapter’s most energetic workers. She brings the posters; she helps to organize meetings; she brings food to ‘em; she’s our chapter photographer with an eye toward capturing some of the DC Chapter’s more interesting signs....

Freeper hellinahandcart showing off her sign for tgsl

.... and documenting leftist wrongdoing:

D.C. CHAPTER "RUSHBOTS" FREEP GORE BOOKSIGNING

She even dialed in a rally announcement to Sean Hannity’s talk show for our 10/23/02 Patriot’s Rally and carted out-of-town Freepers from the train station to the rally site. Her children, especially her daughter, regularly help out with chapter work. Many a time at a rally I’ve heard her matter-of-factly report that she woke up at 4 a.m. to make the signs.

If you follow the rallies that the DC Chapter has and look at the photographs -- those are photos Beth probably took of signs Beth probably made for a rally that Beth probably helped to publicize with Freepers that Beth helped to recruit to the rally site. You can get a general idea of who she is from this oft-repeated vignette that reveals a certain steely-quality to her patriotism. She attended a taping of Bill Maher's "Politically Incorrect" at Howard University with other DC Chapter members. The show's guests included Bill Press and Barbara Boxer. Ms. Boxer was lying about votes not getting counted in Florida. Beth couldn’t let that go by. She blurted out from the audience: "THEY WERE COUNTED FOUR TIMES!" She was the only person to be thrown out of the audience. She’s a tough woman who speaks the truth. Those types can come in handy.

tgsl, right, with Katherine Harris and Angelwood
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe it’s because she’s an ultrasound tech, but she has an absolute knack for the detail in an event that brings out the wry humor of human affairs in her annotations of her photographs. It was Beth, who after attending a Freep of Al Gore’s book signing in nearby Virginia, noted in her write-up of photographs that one conservative (not named "Chad") got Al and Tipper to sign his book "To Chad" just for fun!

The Beginning:
A Politically Lonely Life In Takoma, Maryland

Beth lives in Takoma, Maryland, this incredibly liberal suburb of DC -- it’s declared itself a nuclear-free zone, and it's importing corn to use as winter fuel this winter! Tgsltakoma lives there, we think, to keep ‘em honest. (So when she bought a big new car: a V-8 SUV -- a huge thing -- we DC Chapter members delightly told her, "That ought to annoy them!") It’s a lonely place to be a Republican. For a good spell, Tgsltakoma did almost constant solo battles via email lists with the leftists in her "nuclear-free" hometown in Maryland.

One day she got an email message from a really nice lady (FReeper Katya), who told Beth that she should go to FreeRepublic.com instead of beating her head on the keyboard with the lefties in Takoma Park.

"I had a real slow computer and modem and when I went to Free Republic then I couldn't figure out how to make it work right for me. So I went back to battling lefties locally. It still wasn't my time to meet FReepers."

Beth worked on the 1994 Maryland Governor’s election, where Democrat Parris Glendening won when Republican candidate Ellen Suebrey’s lead turned into a 5,994 vote deficit very late on election night after suspicious delays with the ballets.

"I will always believe that Parris Glendening's election was the result of massive fraud by the Democrat party."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the year 2000, Tgsltakoma was an NRA election volunteer. She worked many long days and nights after work hours (dragging her kids with her to gun shows across the Maryland countryside) to get out the vote for GW Bush. She knew that the country "could not afford a continuation of the Clinton/Gore American cultural death spiral via the Gore/Lieberman candidacy."

On election day 2000 she went out to work at her chosen polling place. As early evening fell, she checked in with her two teenage children via cell phone and learned the exit polling results: too close to call. When the polls closed she drove home, listening to ABC radio reporting that it didn't look good for Bush.

"By the time I got home, I was pretty well downhearted (on top of being frozen to the bone), so I took a long hot shower and went to bed with MSNBC (we didn't have Fox News at the time) on the TV telling me that Bush had lost Florida. I woke up the next day to hear that nobody knew what was going on."

As days passed and the battle lines were being drawn, she got angrier and angrier. Remember how you all felt in Election 2000? Well, that’s how she felt. Only for her it was tinged with a painful deja vu: she had visions of Maryland Governor Glendening’s "win" being repeated on a national scale. Gun owners, and other conservatives and Republicans in Maryland, were communicating on a large scale with one another.

"And still I hadn't come to Free Republic."

Election 2000 and the Free Republic Community

But with the 2000 Presidential election twisting in the wind, Tgsltakoma was definitely ready to think more globally. One day she got an email telling her about the now famous and historic Thanksgiving Weekend FReep at the Vice President's Mansion in DC. Phone trees were activated and tons of calls were made by upset gunowners in Maryland to everyone they knew. That Saturday she work up early, dressed warmly, got the flags out, and took her son-of-tgsl with her to the rally site. Daughter-of-tgsl came with her the next day and almost every day thereafter.

The rest is history.

"I'll always remember that Saturday after Thanksgiving; there were so many people on that streetcorner outside the Vice President’s Mansion, that they stretched down the block - a solid line of people! They carried flags, signs, bullhorns, pets, babies, whistles and other noisemakers. I still hadn't met any of the FReepers, but now I can put names with the faces of people that I stood with that day: Kristinn, Angelwood, Jimmy Valentine's brother (in costume), Clinton's a Liar, AgreatPer (with bag on head), Ironman, abner, CommiesOut... I still have my copy of the DC Chapter's rules for protesting (given to me by Doctor Raoul) taped up here on my computer. It was finally my time to find Free Republic!"

She went home that night and lurked, late into the night. Soon thereafter she joined. And before long, she was an active presence in D.C. Chapter meetings, wearing a tinfoil hat and drinking the DC Chapter Kool-aid with the rest of us.

tgsl with Jimmy Valentine’s brother (left) and Kristinn (right)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The thing that I most remember from that first day I stood at Cheney's House with members of Free Republic is being handed the copy of the DC Chapter's Rules. As I read through them, I knew that these people, the DC Chapter, were good people doing a good thing. Their rules assured me that I was safe in bringing my kids there; they would not tolerate bad behavior."

A Good Person Doing Good Things
A self-less, hard-driving and serious approach to activism.

Here’s a typical Free Republic post from Beth from her work outside the Chinese Embassy when the Chinese were holding our aircrew:

"I’m sorry I missed seeing you this evening, but am thrilled that we have been able to have shifts of hardy and patriotic souls FReeping the ChiComms during "waking hours." After tonight's late shift in the thunderstorms, a few signs are in need of replacement; but most are OK. Your signs made it . . . . I was really disheartened to see that most of the ribbons on the Connecticut Ave streetside shrubbery and lightpoles were gone. That evil little man must have come back after we left last night. That made me so mad that I pulled out all the ribbons he had shredded yesterday and re-hung them as high as I could reach into the crape myrtle in the park. I had brought a 20 yard roll of yellow fabric ribbon with me tonight but left it in the car (doh!). Not to worry, I'll hang that tomorrow. Well, I'm still squishing around the house here... Gotta wring my hair out some more."

What can one say about this post? She’s out in the rain and the dark outside the Chinese Embassy, replacing the yellow ribbons in the trees to heighten awareness of the American air crew held hostage.

In this limited forum, the best way I can sum up Beth is to give two examples of the ways she is such an integral part of the DC Chapter.

• First, she naturally performs a sort of den mother and social glue role. Amongst a group of characters whose self-organization has been accurately linked to trying to herd cats, Beth’s the one who can silence us by banging the spatula against the bowl when too many talk at once. She’s the one who, when we learned last week that a DC Chapter friend who had planned to come to our 1/18/03 counterprotest rally against the peaceniks couldn’t make it ‘cause he’s suddenly got to prepare to get shipped to the Gulf, was quick to tell him: "The DC Chapter needs to give you a proper send-off as well, so please keep us informed. We can arrange a group get-together on-the-fly, if need be. I for one don't want you to go without giving you a daughter-of-a-Marine-and-mother-of-an-Army JROTC kid great BIG HUG, too!" These little points of social discipline and grace that Beth tries to instill in the DC Chapter help keep us rowing together in the same direction.
  
  
• Second, she has great initiative. When the DC Chapter realized that the two young trees on the knoll overlooking the Pentagon disaster site should be cared for and that people were spontaneously leaving sober momentos there, Beth took a central role in caring for this site and protecting the momentos. She planted American flags and she added vases with fresh flowers.

Beth keeps care at the Pentagon memorial. She brought her daughter along to help weed and tend to the momentos other Americans came by to leave by these trees.

tgsl's daughter looks on after spending 2 hours cleaning up the site.

Beth also framed and protected photographs of two Freepers who died at the Pentagon: Barbara Olson (Freeper BKO) and John Moran (Freeper BCM), may they rest in peace.

There was no fame or glory in tending to this site. But she and other Chapter members came regularly and cared for it (until the trees were removed to make way for a more permanent memorial). She worried about the littlest details: school kids left little books with drawings and messages of comfort for Pentagon family victims. Beth saw these and bought plastic cover sheets to protect from the rain, preserving the sentiments of complete strangers to her but Americans all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tgsltakoma never misses a DC chapter rally, but it’s the many little things she does that distinguishes her within our Chapter:

She’s Good People Doing Good Things For All The Right Reasons, even when the press and the public aren’t there to record it: climbing into trees to replace the yellow ribbons outside the Chinese Embassy, making signs at 4 a.m., and protecting the memorial artwork of schoolchildren outside the Pentagon.

Please welcome our straight-shooting, global-thinking, and no-longer-lonely-in-Takoma DC Chapter photographer/member!

   ATTA-GIRL,
  Tgsltakoma!

THIS WEEK'S THREAD 01-11,12-03 Week In Review

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 an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[FreeTheHostages]

FTH - you must show me how to post graphics and photos - you do it so well.

LOL, I'm utterly clueless. I deliver your compliment to the graphics babe, Billie.

[The Mayor]

Hi Billie

I am home today and have been waiting for your ping.
I injured my back and have been in bed for 3 days.
Have a great day and enjoy the coffee!
Rus

[Lee'sGhost]

Wow. That's great, tgsl. Wish I could contribute half as much as you do. Thanks for being one of us.

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin', everybody !! Happy Monday !

Have a cup while you FReep !

For those who prefer hot chocolate.....

[Aquamarine]

Good job on the bio FTH!

TGSL you put the rest of us to shame.
Congratulations!

[dutchess]

What a great thread today Billie and Free. I almost lost it a while back when I tried to get here and my screen said "UNDER CONSTRUCTION"...Was it just me?

Congratulations freeper TGSL! You are one busy lady, but, rest assured...all your efforts are appreciated and are making a difference!

[jwfiv]

Good morning, Billie...and, to you, guest writer FTH...a lovely and inspiring profile today, thank you...)

tgslTakoma, pleased to meet you, M'am...thanks for all your drive and deeds...my goodness, it's people like you that took us to the Moon, that make America so great. Glad you made it to Free Republic...it's a match made in Heaven for all of us. Enjoy your day in the center ring, and get ready for lotsa good vibes from good people.

P.S., Billie, I l just love that Atta-girl graphic.

[dutchess]

As always, thanks for the coffee and donuts fiddlestix

Good to see you shelion!

[The Thin Man]

Good morning, all! Excellent profile. Congratulations, tgsl on being today's FR's Finest! Loved the story about being thrown out of the audience for yelling "THEY WERE COUNTED FOUR TIMES!" LOL!

Now if I can only figure out how to pronouce tgslTakoma. :-)

[jwfiv]

Top o'the mornin' to all our Hostesses and Chief Bottle Washers...thanks for the coffee!

[FreeTheHostages]

Her Freeper name has a fascinating but vaguely annoying effect on me: I abbreviate it "tgsl," but since that's word without vowels, my brain always hesitates on whether the "g" comes before the "s." So in my head, I'm always say "think global, shoot local" just to get it straight!

[FreeTheHostages]

Yes, fiddle, thanks for the coffee especially today. I was too verbose and can't read it myself without coffee!

[iceskater]

Good morning Billie. Excellent job today - as always!

It's great to learn about you, tgslTakoma. Thanks to you and all the DC Freepers for fighting the good fight right there on the front lines.

Oh good grief, the radio is talking about Lieberman throwing his hat in the ring. Sheesh. It's hard for me to take anyone seriously who looks like Alfred E. Neuman of Mad magazine fame.

Have a great day!

[SheLion]

Good to see you shelion!

Good seeing you, too, dutchess. I always love coming in and looking around. Just a super site! Always and everyday! I love this!!!

[FreeTheHostages]

TGSL you put the rest of us to shame

LOL -- really? My attitude is more one of relief. I usually end up thinking "thank God I don't have her schedule!"

[Billie]

Good morning, f'stix - we're in a honky tonk mood today, huh? :)

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

Nice. Well done

[Billie]

Billie, I love the little cartoon character with the camera at the end. Man, they should get some cute graphic for getting to the end!

LOL! Thanks - glad you like that little gif - glad I had a chance to use it here! And....heck, you're an attorney - what can we say - long-winded! LOL!

[BufordP]

"The thing that I most remember from that first day I stood at Cheney's House with members of Free Republic is being handed the copy of the DC Chapter's Rules. As I read through them, I knew that these people, the DC Chapter, were good people doing a good thing. Their rules assured me that I was safe in bringing my kids there; they would not tolerate bad behavior"

You know, I've always regretted not making it to all the "Get out of Cheney's House" rallies. I guess it's a good thing I didn't make it or else Beth might not have joined the chapter. ;-)

[FreeTheHostages]

Just Saturday night ABC news on their main broadcast did a bit about the upcoming protest in DC and they noted military guys who'd be out with the "anti-war" crowd.

Kinda sad because in fact we have veterans organizing to protest with *us* this coming weekend. This weekend, it's going to be the military out on the "front lines" as you say of political protest and national debate. Sigh -- I wonder if we'll hear about it from ABC news. Of whether we'll just have tgsl to take photos and prove the Truth to those who'll listen here.