I dont remember exactly when I started lurking, but it was certainly in 98. IIRC I was still lurking when I attended the March for Justice. And that was near Halloween of 98, IIRC.
In the late 90s FR was like a fellowship for impeachment and protest. Libertarians, Paleo-Cons, Neocons, Old Guard Repubs, Blue Nile and White Nile, we all got along enough to make common cause — We pounded away at our keyboards and when our spouses said, come to dinner, we hollered back, “Don’t bother me, I’m busy Impeaching.”