Thanks, trish .. ;)
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Another glance backward:
FReepers Humiliate Bill Clinton at D.C. 'Rat Fundraiser 11/07/01 (Op. Infinite FReep)- self | Wednesday, November 7, 2001 | Kristinn
Posted on Wednesday, November 07, 2001 11:29:51 PM by kristinn
Former President Bill Clinton was the draw this evening for a high dollar Democratic Party fundraiser with Rep. Jane Harman ('Rat-Ca.) at the Georgetown mansion of Smith Bagley and former Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley.
Three FReepers and a lurker stood across the street from the mansion to remind the hosts, attendees and passersby of the culpability of Bill Clinton for setting the conditions for the September 11 terrorist attacks on America by the favorable treatment he gave terrorists throughout his presidency.
staytrue was first on the scene at 5:30 p.m.--the scheduled time for the fundraiser--and set up a small chair, a small spotlight aimed at his large sign that said, "CLINTON PARDONED TERRORISTS".
tgslTakoma and I arrived a few minutes later, just as the attendees began to arrive en masse. The sign held by tgslTakoma said, "CLINTON PARDONED THE LAST TERRORISTS WHO BOMBED NEW YORK", b/w "8 YEARS OF CLINTON GAVE US SEPTEMBER 11", which she also lit with a small spotlight.
I held a sign that said, "FALN, IRA, PLO, KLA, AL-QAIDA. RENO--THE CLINTONS' TERRORIST BUDDIES", b/w "8 YEARS OF CLINTON GAVE US 9-11". I also brought Physicist's gift signs to the D.C. Chapter, "CLINTON: CHINAGATE TRAITOR", and "CLINTON LIES UNDER OATH."
What should have been an evening of celebration for the Bagleys, Rep. Harman, her fellow 'Rats and their supporters the day after the 'Rats success at the polls was marred by the truthful mirror held up to them by the three FReepers across the street.
As the attendees arrived on foot, by taxi, or in chauffer driven limos and sedans, their reaction was almost all the same: They would slowly read our signs with concerned looks on their faces, then try to hide them as we caught their eye. Men and women alike, they began to look like gangsters sneaking into a speakeasy. None of them dared to speak to us as they went by.
Once inside, some of them would peek out the curtains from inside the mansion, or strain to catch a glimpse of us as the front door opened to admit other arrivals.
From where we were, we could have easily stood in direct line of sight of the front door--they were taking photographs of the attendees as they entered--but we decided to not be too intrusive and stood so that we could be seen from the door only if it were opened wide.
We also decided to not heckle or harass folks as they arrived because we were in a residential area and didn't want to annoy the neighbors. That turned out to be a popular decision as many of the neighbors who spoke with us complained about how Clinton would disrupt their neighborhood with his almost monthly visits there during his presidency.
So we just stood there, holding our signs, silently watching the attendees watch us. We were pleasantly surprised, however, by the large number of Georgetown denizens who expressed their agreement with us as they passed by. We were razzed only a couple times--which is amazing considering that Georgetown is known as an elite Democrat enclave.
Around 6:15 p.m., a pair of Secret Service agents queried us about our presence. They were young enough to be tgslTakoma's kids, but we were nice to them as they asked questions of us that the more experienced agents in D.C. stopped asking us a long time ago, such as : "What's Free Republic ?"; and "What makes you think Bill Clinton will be here ?"
They also wanted to know if we were sent there by someone or "some agency". So, we teased them by saying that staytrue was with the FBI, tgslTakoma was fom DIA and that I worked for the CIA. They had a good laugh at that. (One of the agents stayed with us until Clinton arrived, just in case.)
Around the time the agents were talking to us, Terry McAuliffe, head of the Democratic National Committee, showed up in the black Cadillac Escalade DNC mobile and went inside. I bit my tongue :-)
A few minutes later, Bill Clinton's diminutive motorcade drove up behind us, turned the corner right in front of us and came to a stop. Clinton turned to look back at us and our signs, then the motorcade pulled away and drove down the street, around the block and then came up from behind us again.
This time it went straight by us and pulled up at the rear entrance to the mansion so Clinton could go in the back door to avoid the FReepers. We could see him get out of his stretch limo in the shadows half way down the block and wondered who the young woman with the long blonde hair was who got out with him. He took a quick look at us and went inside.
From behind the curtains, we could see flashbulbs going off as the 'Rat faithful greeted their hero.
A woman walking a dog stopped to talk with us while Clinton was inside. She asked if we were FReepers. It turned out she is a lurker who was there at 'Cheney's House' last year with her FReeper sister, viadexter. She hung out with us for the rest of the FReep.
Guests started leaving soon after Clinton arrived. At first it was a trickle, but as time wore on more and more left. One of the first to leave was MPAA super-lobbyist, Jack Valenti. He was persuaded by someone at the door to come back in for a minute to see Clinton.
On their way out, a few guests stopped to speak with us. One tried to defend Clinton by mentioning a recent New York Times article which said that his aides used to tease Clinton, saying he was 'obsessed' with getting Bin Laden. I laughed at the man, saying, "You believe what you read in the New York Times ?" I then told him how Clinton had spent the days after September 11 telling anyone who would listen--including strangers on the street--how it wasn't his fault. I also informed him about Clintonistas planting news stories about how hard Clinton had tried to get Bin Laden.
He changed tactics and asked why we bothered with Clinton since he was no longer president. I told him that Clinton still had political power and pointed to the mansion he had just left while saying that folks had paid up to $10,000 just to see him.
I finished by lecturing him that the Democratic party was not the party it used to be--and that was because of Clinton.
Terry McAuliffe left about 8 p.m. The DNC mobile pulled up right in front of us. Terry, no coward he, walked right over to us and stood a few feet away while he spoke with another departing attendee. tgslTakoma asked him how many miles to the gallon the mammoth SUV he was being driven in got. McAuliffe said it 18 MPG. He then told us that he spent "$15,000 of (his) own money" for special emission controls.
AS he went back to talking with his fellow 'Rat, we loudly spoke amongst ourselves about what good works for society could have been done with that $15,000.
McAuliffe took a look at our signs, but he didn't comment on them. We were trying to stay on our best behavior so we didn't razz him too much.
After he left, we saw the front door to the mansion had opened wide. There, with his back turned, was Bill Clinton. He was saying his goodbyes to his adoring fans. tgslTakoma suggested we do the 'Cop's Cheer', which we had resited doing all evening so as not to disturb the peace of the neighborhood.
This was too good to pass up, though, so we let lose with a long, slow, loud version: "Billlll Clintonnnn.....We have you surrounded....Drop the cigarrrrr....Step awayyyy from the intern....and come out....with your pants...up !!!"
Clinton stiffened his back when he heard the FReeper chorus call his name, like he knew all the words that were to soon follow. He didn't turn around. A few of the young ladies standing in front of Clinton peered around him to see who was yelling such awfully funny things about their dreamboat.
The rest of the group in the foyer, including Clinton, froze in stunned silence as the 'Cop's Cheer" echoed in the mansion. Only when we finished, did someone get the presence of mind to shut the door.
A man crossed the street from the mansion and spoke with staytrue. He was dressed in a dark suit with a lapel pin like the Secret Service. He asked questions of staytrue like the other Secret Service agents had. But then he started arguing with me about my sign, so I asked him if he was Secret Service. He said he wasn't and then he refused to say who he was with, nor would he give us his name. He had a swarthy, enforcer look to him, but he had no problem with my taking a picture of him.
tgslTakoma warned staytrue and me that he was probably sent out to distract us, so we ignored him after that. Sure enough, out the front door came Clinton. He walked to his limo which was now waiting in front of the mansion. We loudly booed him all the way while his adoring crowd from the fundraiser stood outside without cheering for him.
Clinton stood at the door to the limo, looked over at us and started laughing and clapping his hands in an effort to downplay the combined effect of our booing and the messages on our signs--but the deep red anger in his face couldn't be downplayed.
I looked him in the eye from across the street and called out to him, "How much money, Bill ?"
He looked right back, paused for a few seconds, and then his eyes lit up like they did in his perjurious grand jury testimony when he thought he had found a clever way out of a tough question, "Hey, I don't know how much money y'all were paid to do this tonight," he shot back.
tgslTakoma answered for us by yelling back at Clinton, "Nothing !", as he climbed in the limo and cockily smiled at a man already sitting in the back.
tgslTakoma then let loose with both barrels, yelling out that he had been, "Disbarred; Impeached; Disgraceful".
The limo pulled away. Clinton looked back at us as it turned the corner. A man in another car in the diminutive motorcade yelled out his window at us as he drove off, "Religious right wing !"
The rest of Bill Clinton's fans were silent.
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DC FREEPERS ROCK !!! THANK YOU .. GOD BLESS YOU!!
