And then you let me actually hold it!
Many thanks for the honor!
Then I found out on FreeRepublic that Clinton was coming to Philadelphia on October 2, 1998. On October 1st, I called City Hall in Philadelphia, and they told me unambiguously that Clinton was coming that evening. I de-lurked in order to raise the alarm.
As it turned out, my post was in error. Fine Freepers soon set me straight with hard evidence. My wife, Mrs. Physicist, helped me to make a sign for the planned FR rally against Clinton. The sign said "COWARD!" in 450-point Helvetica Bold.
I got to City Hall at 4:30 on October 2, 1998. I was expecting to see hundreds of people arrayed against Clinton, as had been happening all over the country, along with many Freepers. What I found was an organized rally of about 500 people in support of Clinton, most of them carrying signs that said "Teamsters for Clinton". I was the only anti-Clinton protester there.
I remembered something I had read on a thread a few days before. Some Freepers were complaining about an anti-Clinton rally in Ohio, saying that it wasn't a successful rally because only a few hundred people were there. A wise Freeper pointed out that it only takes one person to have a successful rally. Those words gave me the strength to raise my sign. The police had inadvertently forced me to stand amongst the Teamsters, and I began my protest right in the middle of them.
It took maybe 30 seconds before they took my sign away, roughed me up, and threw me out. (I believe that I am still the only Freeper ever to have his blood shed by the enemy while Freeping.) My horrified wife watched on the couch with my young daughters as LuAnn Cahn led off the 5:00 pm broadcast of NBC 10 in Philadelphia with a verbal account of how there was only one protester, a man carrying a sign that said "COWARD!", who was dealt with harshly by the crowd. In reality I was not badly injured, but from the time I raised my sign until I was safely across the street, my only expectation was that I would be severely beaten.
Two and a half hours later, I witnessed the far more vicious beating of Don and Teri Adams.
It was the most terrifying experience of my life. Since that incident, I have organized about a dozen protests in the Philadelphia area, most of them to protest a Clinton visit. One of the reasons I do it is to prove to myself that, despite my acute fear, the Clinton brownshirts have not intimidated me away from doing what I thought was right.
Part of the fallout of the City Hall Putsch was the October 31, 1998 March for Justice in Washington DC. Prior to the march, I contacted Don and Teri Adams and got them to appear. It led to my involvement with the 4 court cases that came out of the Adams beatings. It also led to the formation of the FreeRepublic Philadelphia chapter.
But here's the main difference that FreeRepublic has made in my life: I can look myself in the face in the mirror.
And then you let me actually hold it!
Many thanks for the honor!