If I may rephrase your point, this is an ad-free, donor-supported site for aggregating news and commentary. If "buttercup" wants to make a donation that will cover the cost of editing software, I'm sure Jim Rob will upgrade Free Republic with the desired features. Otherwise, the sensible choice is to be grateful for a streamlined site with no distractions and nonsense. I've been to http://www.breitbart.com/ and I do not want FR to be that cluttered just to pay for a slicker interface.
See #6, Boomer.