DC Chapter FReeps Sid Blumenthal

June 7, 2003 right here | me

[BillF]

The conspiracy theorist, who likely fed Mrs. Clinton the line about the “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” (VRWC), was signing his book at a book store in North West D.C. on Friday, June 6, 2003.

 

Naturally, your DC Chapter viewed this as a great opportunity to confirm Sid Blumenthal’s worst fears about the vastness of the VRWC.  Even in the liberal enclave that is North West Washington, D.C., he cannot escape FReeper protests of his lies.  We had a great time  FReeping him as he promoted his book  The Clinton Wars.

 

For those  who came late to FR, Blumenthal was a “journalist” for the Washington Post, The New Republic, and New Yorker at various times before accepting a job with the Clinton administration in 1997.  Blumenthal’s "reporting" had been so pro-Clinton that a colleague joked about Clinton giving him back pay for working for Clinton during his years as a “journalist.”

 

Among co-workers of Blumenthal, he was mockingly referred to as “Grassy Knoll” due to his talk about right-wing conspiracies plotting against the forces of good (i.e., liberal Democrats).  Some have called him “Sid Vicious” due to a reputation as a back stabbing practitioner of brutal office politics.

 

Blumenthal served as a senior advisor to both Bill and Hillary Clinton with direct access to both, but had more commonly interacted with Mrs. Clinton.

 

The honor roll of attendance for this gathering of eagles: Doctor Raoul, GunsAreOK, Xthe17th, tgslTakoma, Kristinn, and BillF.

 

Thumbnail photographs are interlaced in this report and are hyperlinked to larger, high resolution photographs.  Click on a thumbnail or small photo and you should be able to see a full size version.	Our signs included:   SID'S (drawing of fish) STORY   SID'S 800 PAGE LEWINSKY   IF OSAMA WAS A PIECE OF ASS, CLINTON WOULD HAVE NAILED HIM   SID SWALLOWED, MONICA DIDN'T (HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER)   SUSAN ESTRICH SENDS HER LOVE   TRAPPED IN THE CLINTON MATRIX, SID TOOK THE BLUE PILL   SID LIED ABOUT JURY & LIES IN HIS BOOK   The last two signs included FR's web address at the bottom.
Early FReep line: Doctor Raoul and GunsAreOK with Xth17th and tgslTakoma talking to biker in background

 

 

Your humble correspondent arrived late, a few minutes after the 7:00 PM start of the Blumenthal event in the bookstore.  Therefore, others will have to report on events prior to my arrival.  Pulling up to park, I saw Doctor Raoul standing at the edge of the street.  He was wearing a dive mask and Hawaiian shirt as he held a floatation ring and the Sid's Fish Story sign. Walking up to the FReepers, I saw that all had arrived before me except Kristinn, who arrived a short time later. The Doctor of FReeping had a portable PA system and used it to maintain a constant stream of witty comments.  Among other things, he said repeatedly, "Sid Blumenthal is in there.  Go down two steps . .  .  socially and morally." One of his funniest lines was, "Sid Blumenthal is stalking us.  Ever time we protest at a book signing, Sid Blumenthal shows up."  (Recall that Blumenthal is widely believed to be the author of the "Monica is a stalker" line that the Clinton White House used when the Monica story first emerged.  Also, when we FReeped David Brock's book signing a few months back, we saw Blumenthal leaving and we chanted "yo squid, Drudge won." ) It was a beautiful evening and quite a few persons walked and biked by.  There was a surprisingly positive reaction to us from many, especially considering the overwhelmingly liberal character of the neighborhood.

Xthe17th and tgslTakoma talking to biker

	One woman came up and asked about why we we there.  We explained about the book signing.   I told the woman how Blumenthal had lied directly to the press about questions that the Independent Counsel (IC) asked Blumenthal during  his Clinton grand jury testimony.  Blumenthal had falsely claimed that the IC asked him if certain types of sex were included in Clinton's religion.  The court transcript of grand jury testimony came out months after his testimony and made it clear  that Blumenthal was a liar.  No such question was asked.  The woman said something like, "They [Clinton administration] were a bunch of liars.  I wish they would all go away."  This, coming from a woman of color (possibly from India), led me to believe that we were going to have great FReeping. A security guard came to the store and said "Good evening" to us as he entered the store.  Long before the FReep was over, he left the store, saying "Have a nice evening."  Apparently the store correctly decided that we were unlikely to disrupt their event. A couple leaving the store smiled at our signs and the man gave us a thumbs up.  A couple minutes later, they honked as they went by in their car bearing a "Marines" bumpersticker.
GunsAreOK, Kristinn, Xthe17th, and tgslTakoma		Side of Dr.R and backs of Kristinn, GunsAreOK, and Xthe17th from across the street

A less friendly guy walked quickly by and instructed us to "get a life."  As he left, Doctor Raoul said over his PA system "come back and see us when you can spend less time." Dr. R. directed some of his attention to cars passing on the street.  Occasionally, cars would stop to listen.   We explained to various pedestrians what FR is.  We also told them that we are the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.  Dr. R. said through his PA system, "We are the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Newt Gingrich and I boosted Monica over the White House fence.  Using the pizza as bait to trap Clinton, that was Clarence Thomas' idea."  That got quite a few people laughing including a couple people in a stopped car. A self-described liberal partisan Democrat came over to talk to us.  He may think of himself as partisan, but he was free of the anger and mean-spiritedness that animates many liberals these days.   This guy never drank the Clinton Kool-Aid.  He actually said, "Clinton looked out for himself, but not the Democratic Party or anybody else." He then went back in to hear from Blumenthal, but it was clear that he was skeptical of Clinton and his aides. As Blumenthal finished up inside, many of the 70 or 80 people who were listening to him came out.  Most ignored us, but some gave us glares and snide comments. Two women wearing Democratic Underground (DU) shirts left the book store and told us to get a life before walking quickly away.

Two DU women stop their vehicle in the traffic lane to shout at us.

	A couple minutes later, the two DU women conducted a drive-by shouting.  They yelled "Freaks! Fascists!" as they stopped for 5 seconds in their vehicle.  GunsAreOK later said in a Daschle monotone that this had made him feel "deeply saddened and concerned." A few minutes after their drive-by shouting, the DUmmies came back.  Stopping their car in one of the two north bound traffic lanes,  a loud discussion followed for at least 3 minutes as other cars were forced to drive around them. After one of the women shouted something derogatory about Republicans, I said, "we have the White House, the Senate, and the House.  You have a washed up actor playing President on a TV show that's on its last legs.". A minute or two later, the driver of the vehicle appeared to be on the verge of tears even as she shouted at us. Nothing especially rude or crude was said.  There was some political back and forth of the type that is common on Hannity & Colmes.   I don't know what upset her, but I think it was simply our presence. The DU passenger flipped us off.
DU gals converse through open window		View showing traffic behind them

 

After taking a few photos, I pulled my tape recorder out, turned it on, and held my arm extended towards the DUmmies with its red light showing as I taped some of the discussion. Click here and you shall hear a 37 second clip (825 K wav file) with numerous voices including Dr. R commenting on the rude driver making traffic go around her.  On the sound bite, one of the women asks him how much of a tax cut he got.  She answered her own question by saying "none."  Dr. R then mentions the million dollars that Richard Mellon Scaife was paying him. A belligerent woman came along and told us that we should leave.  She said that we should just "get in your friend's vehicle and go back to Virginia."  This woman was gesturing towards the DU vehicle.  We tried to tell her that the vehicle's occupants were on her side as she walked closely behind the vehicle, but it seemed to take a long time before it sunk in.  I hope that belligerent woman did not damage the back of the DU minivan, while she was operating under the false belief that the DUhs were with us.  (If she did damage the vehicle, it would not be the first time that we've been present when Dems have blue-on-blue or friendly fire incidents.  On the earlier occasion, one Dem spit on another Dem's briefcase when he erroneously thought that it was tgsl's briefcase.)

Belligerent woman objected to us

Click here for a 21 second 470 K sound bite with belligerent woman telling us to "get the hell out" and Dr. R responding.

Here is a 31 second 695 K sound bite of me asking belligerent woman why we have to leave, her telling us to go, and tgsl mentioning that her father was born in DC.  Belligerent ends by saying that she would put us in a lock box forever.

Blumenthal had walked towards the front of the store, but apparently our presence caused him to turn around and go out the back door.

Our opponents had left and we retired to a nearby restaurant that we commandeered as our conspiracy plotting headquarters for the night.. 

Blumenthal went home realizing that the VRWC was as active as ever, even in the liberal center that is DC.  Now he knows that FReepers are everywhere.  When his newspaper gets wet in his front yard due to improper wrapping, he will know that we bribed the paperboy to botch the wrapping.  Chick weed threatening his lawn?  We did it.  It rains the day after he gets his car washed?  We seeded the clouds.

It's not easy being Sid.  Fortunately for us, it is easy to laugh at him.

[hole_n_one]

Great work, as always!

[BillF]

Ping to DC Chapter ping list.

[TLBSHOW]

A minute or two later, the driver of the vehicle appeared to be on the verge of tears even as she shouted at us. Nothing especially rude or crude was said. There was some political back and forth of the type that is common on Hannity & Colmes. I don't know what upset her, but I think it was simply our presence. The DU passenger flipped us off.

,...

BIG BUMP FOR FREEPING THE RATS,,,,as in DU rats! They do not like it when they are FREEPED BUT GOOD!

[martin_fierro]

!!!

You mean you presented an IN-HIS-FACE confrontation??! Backstabbing Little Miss Sidney must've been APPALLED!

GOOD WORK!

[lelio]

If she did damage the vehicle, it would not be the first time that we've been present when Dems have blue-on-blue or friendly fire incidents.
Absolutely hilarious. Keep up the good work!

[Cheapskate]

GOD BLESS THE D.C.Chapter, and everybody else too!

[gramcam]

Thanks! Thanks! ..and MORE THANKS!!
Good, GOOD WORK!!
...from Grandma in Michigan

[BillF]

You mean you presented an IN-HIS-FACE confrontation??!

Well, he did look out the glass store front and turn away to exit out the back. Thus, Blumenthal was confronted with our presence.

However, we were NOT looking for any physical confrontation. (We never have initiated a physical confrontation and do what we can to minimize risk of that.)

Had he ventured out the front door, we would have chanted or otherwise verbally expressed our displeasure with him without blocking him or doing anything illegal or immoral.

[Mr. K]

Bill, seriesly, you should be writing for a living! funny stuff

[Travis McGee]

TOO FUNNY!!

[fightinJAG]

Good stuff!

[BunnySlippers]

Very funny ... enjoyable post.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Well, I see y'all were at Workers of the World, Unite! Bookstore--er, Politics and Prose.

[metesky]

Great! Very funny.

I'm willing to bet that those two DU gals who kept coming back and flipped you off would have been easy prey if one of you had said, "Let's talk this out over a drink." LOL!

[RobFromGa]

Way to go Freepers. Good commentary, Bill. I esp. like the multimedia format. Almost like being there.

[MEG33]

Great job!

[Leisler]

I think you know why those DU women kept coming back, and you didn't give them it and they started crying.