Posted on 12/19/2010 8:36:52 AM PST by kristinn
Long before the Tea Party groups, Free Republic pioneered use of the Internet in grassroots political activism. Two years after its founding in 1996, Free Republic played a key role in the 1998 impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Free Republic organized two rallies in D.C. supporting Clinton's impeachment. The first was a four hour extravaganza that was carried live on C-SPAN and featured the vast right wing conspiracy: Jim Robinson, Rep. Bob Barr, Ann Coulter, Matt Drudge, Lucianne Goldberg, Alan Keyes, Larry Klayman and a host of 5,000 or so fellow conspirators.
The second was a smaller rally at the Capitol organized at the behest of then Rep. Barr.
Freepers started protesting in front of the White House every Saturday to educate the public about the rampant criminality and China-gate treason in the Clinton administration.
Freepers and other patriotic Americans around the country protested Clinton on the mid-term elections campaign trail.
The union goon beating of brother and sister Don and Teri Adams as they protested a Clinton fundraising appearance in Philadelphia, sparked the Free Republic 'March for Justice' held at the Washington Monument on October 31, 1998.
Here is a repost of parts of last year's Impeachment Day thread:
Founder of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com, MrConfettiMan (who has since passed away) wrote his thoughts about the rally back then:
"Saturday, October 31st, The March for Justice
"I drove into Washington for the big event and ended up parking relatively close to the White House. As such, I decided to swing by the Lions Den to see if there were any early morning freepers there. I recognized Libloather, a participant from our October 3rd White House protest, who is prominently featured in the March for Justice banners found on FR, as I was approaching. We spent a few minutes chatting about old times and then I moved on to the mall, the site of our history-making event.
"By the time I got there it was about 8:30AM and a small crowd of volunteers had gathered. By 9:00AM, we not only had more people than the anti-Starr rally last weekend, we had more flags than they had people. Let me say that again. Its three hours away from the start of our rally and we already had more flags than they had people. Theres no denying it, were good. Real good.
"As the morning wore on, one of the most exciting spectacles was all the people walking towards the event. Every time you took a look towards the Washington monument youd see crowds of people with signs and banners walking toward the stage. It was great. They were like ants. Before the start of the event Id run into just about every freeper who was at our October 3rd White House protest including lancer, Jack Aubrey, Marylander, Kathy, Aloyce, Siouxz, Chris P. and two guys from NJ (Im sorry guys, your online monikers fail me). I also met Highlander with his impressive Impeach One for the Gipper signs. (When I left the post-rally party, I took his signs with me and promised to try and restore them for a subsequent visit to a White House protest.)
"The highlight of the day were the speeches. They were amazing. I have to admit that Im one of those people who is so filled with emotion that sometimes an inspiring rendition of the national anthem at a sporting event can bring me to tears. I lost count of how many times that happened during the March. Hearing the words from the speakers on stage, coupled with the cheers from the crowd, were just too much to handle on several occassions. I was filled with such a sense of joy and pride to be among all of you and to finally witness people taking a stand against the crisis we are facing. (You know, Ive been telling my family for a couple of years now that Im thinking about moving to a cave to get away from our dysfunctional society. Its sort of a joke but I get no joy from being around the general public anymore. I feel as if Im surrounded by those from the polls who support Clinton and it disgusts me. Not so yesterday.)
"Its hard to pick a favorite speaker but I was literally amazed by Rejoice. If you thought her speech at the March was good, I wish you couldve heard the words she spoke at the post-rally party. She is truly a gifted person with a wonderful message. I was also impressed, as always, with Bob Barr and Ambassador Keyes. I think its an example of the worthiness of our cause (not to mention the hard work of CaL and the other organizers) that we were able to arrange such a fine lineup of speakers.
"As the rally was breaking up, Tinman told me he and some other freepers were going up to the White House to say hello to Clinton freeper-style and asked me to join them. Now the protests weve held thus far at the White House were successful but low key. We simply held our signs and marched back and forth interacting with tourists on occasion. This time was anything but low key. BettyBoop led us through several different protest chats and we made a lot of noise. The crowd of tourists just stood around and watched us in awe. It was great. We shouted Fire the Liar, Jail to the Chief and many other slogans. It was another freeper moment for the archives.
"At the post-party rally, I was able to put faces to names for LurkerNoMore, Normally a Lurker and Curmudgeon. While there, Submareener was logged into FR from his laptop and was reading us some of the latest posts interjecting his own playful commentary once in a while. It was a nice opportunity to sit back and talk as a group about our feelings on the event and what we thought we should do next. I left earlier than I wanted to at around 9:30AM but I was simply too tired to stay any longer. (Its hard work being a burr in Clintons behind.) I left knowing the world is a slightly better place because of what we did and knowing that I had a lot of new friends, who thanks to the FR and the net, Id be able to talk to everyday.
"A big hearty thank you goes out to everybody involved in organizing the March for Justice!"
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A refresher course on the Ellen Rometsch strategy from Richard Poe:
Poe: Well, in many cases, these threats were made quite openly. For example, on February 8, 1998, with pressure mounting to impeach Bill Clinton, George Stephanopoulos appeared on ABCs This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts. Stephanopoulos had resigned as White House communications chief in 1996 and become an ABC news analyst. But he was still carrying the Clintons water, as his next words made clear.
Stephanopoulos announced that the Clinton White House was planning what he called an Ellen Rometsch strategy. He explained that Rometsch was an East German spy who had managed to become John F. Kennedys lover. According to Stephanopoulos, the Kennedy White House threatened to open up the FBI files and divulge embarrassing or incriminating information on anyone who attempted to blow the whistle on JFKs affair with Rometsch. If pressed to the wall, the Clinton White House would do likewise, said Stephanopoulos.
Sam Donaldson asked, Are you suggesting for a moment that what theyre beginning to say is that if you investigate this too much, well put all your dirty linen right on the table? Every member of the Senate? Every member of the press corps? To which Stephanopoulos replied, Absolutely. The president said he would never resign, and I think some around him are willing to take everyone down with him.
This was a clear threat, delivered openly, on national television. Through Stephanopoulos, the Clintons were warning Congress and the media to back off. The threat worked. David P. Schippers, who was Chief Investigative Counsel for the Clinton impeachment, reveals in his book Sell-Out that Republican leaders, from the get-go, had no intention of holding a proper impeachment trial or of convicting Bill Clinton. It was all a charade.
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I'll close with the full page color ad Freepers designed and placed in The Washington Times on February 11, 1999, the day before the Senate voted to let Clinton off the hook:
Image of ad courtesy of Varmint Al.
That is my Prayer too!
Let it be, Oh Lord, Let it Be.
Thanks STARWISE.
Thanks for reminder!
Every year on the anniversary of the Watergate break-in, the leftist media is full of anti-Nixon, anti-Repubican articles. Somehow the fact the their beloved Clinton was actually impeached is down the memory hole...at least for the DBM.
Great post. Thanks STARWISE!
Hooray for Free Republic!
No Happy Days, please. It’s Christmas.
LOL, btw I just left you area yesterday, had alot of fun but no sun....:*(
I obviously wasn't on FR back then, but I'm on board now, and support its good work. (I was a lurker during RaTHerGate, though.) There will be many more historical events in which FR is a key player, I'm sure.
Onward, eagles.
Tommy burger?
Great Post, brings back memories
Speaking of Tommy's we were out of town yesterday and drove by to see if their local unit (they never had more than a couple) was open.....not only not open, but gone; sigh.
Anyone recall the name of the black female attorney who worked with Charles Ruff and Greg Craig? The one Harold Ford made a fool of himself over while he played to her every whim?
I wanted to see what country that’s from, & apparently it’s ‘abkhazia’, is that really a country? I thought I knew all the khazias & stans but apparently not
http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/ABKHAZIA-Clinton-Lewinsky-Perf-Comp-4-stamp-sheet-/250684075741
No! There was no article of impeachment that was about sex.
The rape evidence in the Ford building that caused one northeast RINO congressman to decide in favor of impeachment. (And reportedly leave the building in tears)
Clinton is said to have telephoned Lewinsky at 2 a.m. with two pieces of news: that Currie's brother had died in a car accident, and that Lewinsky had been named as a potential witness in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit.
Washington Post
Curries brother had previous trouble just prior to Currie testifying in chinagate:
From Newsweek on the bad luck of Curries brother the previous time she was to testify against clinton:
"Currie is demure but unflinching. Last summer she was ordered to testify to congressional investigators about visits and calls to the White House by various figures in the campaign-fund-raising scandal. For nearly five hours she was only a misstep or forgotten fact away from potentially implicating the president. She didn't make a mistake, and at one point even joked that she had no knowledge of the White House coffees "regular or decaffeinated."
The performance was remarkable for another reason. The day before, her brother had been mugged and severely beaten in Washington. She insisted on going ahead with her appearance as originally scheduled.
Not to mention the safe full of C-4 that was found when clinton goon Pellicano was arrested for harassment. At his trial it was claimed how he was good at making murders look like accidents.
Love both Tommy burgers and In-in-Out.
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