http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1998
As always, Alex Shrugged's opinions are his own. Other people's work are their own. I include them here for the sake of completeness and to provide a second method of access to the material for the TSP history segment.
* Run, Rudolph, Run -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged
* Bill Clinton is impeached! -- Contributed by Southpaw Ben
* What Impeachment? I'm Busy Bombing Iraq! -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged
* Notable Births -- See below.
* This Year in Film -- See below.
* This Year in Music -- See below.
* In Other News -- See below.
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Run, Rudolph, Run
Contributed by Alex ShruggedEric Rudolph is on the run after the FBI issues a warrant for his arrest. He is wanted for the bombing at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta where one woman was killed and over 100 were injured. He later used two bombs on an abortion clinic in Sandy Springs, injuring 4. Then he bombed another abortion clinic, killing a police officer and severely injuring a nurse. Finally, he bombed a lesbian nightclub, injuring 4. He is seen making his way into the woods. A manhunt begins. Attorney General Janet Reno declares that, "We are going to keep searching until we find him." That search will take another 5 years. In the meantime, he will be spotted here and there like Elvis. It will become a running joke. Tee shirts will be printed up with, "Run, Rudolph, Run", recalling the Chuck Berry song of the same name, and the "Home Alone" series. It's fun for the spectators, but it is not funny. Eric Rudolph has murdered people for doing what is legally allowed. When he is finally caught, he will apologize for the Olympic Park bombing, but nothing else. He thinks that the gay agenda is wrong, and that abortion is murder. He will get life in prison, and receive many appeals from Christians to turn away from sin. He will appreciate the effort, but say, "I really prefer Nietzsche to the Bible." [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
OK. I'm going to talk about abortion and the error in logic when people call it murder, but first I am compelled to admit my bias. I am an Orthodox Jew. In Jewish tradition, early-term abortion is allowed, meaning within 10 weeks of conception. After that, an abortion is allowed only when the life of the mother is at stake, meaning... "I think we better do something quick, or this mother is going to die," or "Golly, after her previous child, she killed her entire family with an axe". (Yeah. Give her an abortion.) I can justify these positions religiously, but I am not here to make a religious argument. I want to make A LOGIC ARGUMENT. Eric Rudolph did the logical thing if someone believed that abortion is murder. He blew up the place where murders were occurring. If I believed that abortion was murder, I might be tempted to do the same thing, but since I do NOT believe that, I am not tempted. Nevertheless, I worry when good people call abortion murder. I do NOT want to spur them into action. I want them to turn down the rhetoric. Call it something else... an abomination... a terrible act... a devious deception, but not murder. It is more honest that way because whatever abortion is, morally speaking, our actions betray what we really believe. [6] [7]
OK. I'm going to talk about abortion and the error in logic when people call it murder, but first I am compelled to admit my bias. I am an Orthodox Jew. In Jewish tradition, early-term abortion is allowed, meaning within 10 weeks of conception. After that, an abortion is allowed only when the life of the mother is at stake, meaning... "I think we better do something quick, or this mother is going to die," or "Golly, after her previous child, she killed her entire family with an axe". (Yeah. Give her an abortion.) I can justify these positions religiously, but I am not here to make a religious argument. I want to make A LOGIC ARGUMENT. Eric Rudolph did the logical thing if someone believed that abortion is murder. He blew up the place where murders were occurring. If I believed that abortion was murder, I might be tempted to do the same thing, but since I do NOT believe that, I am not tempted. Nevertheless, I worry when good people call abortion murder. I do NOT want to spur them into action. I want them to turn down the rhetoric. Call it something else... an abomination... a terrible act... a devious deception, but not murder. It is more honest that way because whatever abortion is, morally speaking, our actions betray what we really believe. [6] [7]
Bill Clinton is impeached!
Contributed by Southpaw BenOn December 19, 1998 impeachment proceedings began against Bill Clinton on the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. These charges stemmed from Clinton's testimony about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. This testimony was during a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Jones, a civil servant while Clinton was the Governor of Arkansas. In this lawsuit, she allaged that he had exposed himself to her. At the end of these proceedings, he will become the second president to be impeached, the first being Andrew Johnson, neither of whom received the 2/3 majority in the senate required to remove him from office. As a result, he will be acquitted of charges. This was the exact same result that happened with the Andrew Johnson impeachment. [8][9]
My Take by Southpaw Ben
First of all, so many of Bill's problems wouldn't have came up if he'd just kept his pants on... Both literally, and figuratively. Many people seem to confuse impeachment with removal from office. Impeachment is simply the process through which the president, or other governing officials, are formally charged with a crime. After the impeachment, there is then a trial, and, if needed, removal from office. These next two steps are independent of the act of impeachment itself. With all the calls I've seen for Trump to be impeached, I often wonder what they want to charge him with, or if they simply are misinformed as to what impeachment actually entails, and what the results of a successful impeachment actually are.[10]
First of all, so many of Bill's problems wouldn't have came up if he'd just kept his pants on... Both literally, and figuratively. Many people seem to confuse impeachment with removal from office. Impeachment is simply the process through which the president, or other governing officials, are formally charged with a crime. After the impeachment, there is then a trial, and, if needed, removal from office. These next two steps are independent of the act of impeachment itself. With all the calls I've seen for Trump to be impeached, I often wonder what they want to charge him with, or if they simply are misinformed as to what impeachment actually entails, and what the results of a successful impeachment actually are.[10]
What Impeachment? I'm Busy Bombing Iraq!
Contributed by Alex ShruggedFour days before impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton begin, he authorizes a strike on Iraqi targets to force compliance with the ceasefire agreement signed after the First Gulf War. It is called Operation Desert Fox. Over the next 70 hours, US forces launch 415 cruise missiles at 1.3 million a pop (in 2016 dollars). They also fly 600 sorties dropping munitions on 97 targets. The mission is to degrade Saddam Hussein's ability to produce weapons of mass destruction, a consistent justification used by the US government at this time, and reasonable enough considering that Hussein admitted that he had such weapons available. (Hussein lied. People died.) Normally, the Congress must authorize such force, but the President is using an obscure reference in the Iraq Liberation Act he recently signed to allow it. The purpose of the Act is to provide support to insurgencies that wish to overthrow the current Iraqi regime. One can imagine that blowing up Iraq would help such groups along, but in a wider sense, bombing Iraq was probably not what Congress had in mind.
My Take by Alex Shrugged
If you can believe it, some people thought that Bill Clinton was bombing Iraq just to draw attention away from the impeachment proceedings. That January, Bill pointed right at the camera and said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." I wanted to turn my head to see which woman he was pointing at. Bill lied, but did anyone die? As Monica Lewinsky was testifying before a grand jury, Bill launched an attack on a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan. Although most people laugh it off as an aspirin factory, it provided life-saving medicines. And then there was the rape of Juanita Broaddrick. It makes Hillary's email scandal look like stealing pencils from the office supply closet. So would Bill really bomb Iraq just to coverup his perjury and sex scandals? Oh... I think so. DISCLAIMER: I have a friend who is close to the Lewinsky family, so I have a tenuous connection with them. The answer is yes. It was embarrassing to the family. Big news.
If you can believe it, some people thought that Bill Clinton was bombing Iraq just to draw attention away from the impeachment proceedings. That January, Bill pointed right at the camera and said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." I wanted to turn my head to see which woman he was pointing at. Bill lied, but did anyone die? As Monica Lewinsky was testifying before a grand jury, Bill launched an attack on a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan. Although most people laugh it off as an aspirin factory, it provided life-saving medicines. And then there was the rape of Juanita Broaddrick. It makes Hillary's email scandal look like stealing pencils from the office supply closet. So would Bill really bomb Iraq just to coverup his perjury and sex scandals? Oh... I think so. DISCLAIMER: I have a friend who is close to the Lewinsky family, so I have a tenuous connection with them. The answer is yes. It was embarrassing to the family. Big news.
Notable Births
- Southpaw Ben: Contributor to TSP Wiki and current college student at Penn State University, majoring in the agroecology option of the plant science major (Jack feel free to critiuqe this choice, as a freshman I'm open to change and not overly committed to anything yet.). (Definitely the most important birth this year. --Southpaw Ben)
- Elle Fanning: Lily the young love interest in We Bought a Zoo. (She added to the film significantly.--alexshrugged) [11]
- Jaden Smith: Son of Will Smith and star of 2010 remake of The Karate Kid. (I didn't particularly like the remake.--alexshrugged) [11]
Notable Deaths
- Phil Hartman (age 49, shot by his wife. She was on cocaine, and committed suicide thereafter.): Saturday Night Live. [12]
- Sonny Bono (age 62, head injury in skiing accident): Congressman, mayor and pop singer. [13]
- Frank Sinatra (age 82, heart attack): Singer and actor. [14]
- Roy Rogers (age 86, congestive heart failure): Singer and cowboy actor. [15]
- Gene Autry (age 91, lymphoma): Singer and cowboy actor. [16]
This Year in Film
- Armageddon and Deep Impact: In both movies, a planet killing asteroid threatens the Earth. (Deep Impact is more realistic. Armageddon is more fun.--alexshrugged) [17]
- Saving Private Ryan: World War 2 film with an intense portrayal of the landing at Omaha Beach. [17]
- And...: The Truman Show, The Parent Trap, Wag the Dog, and many other popular films, but I had to stop somewhere. [17]
This Year in TV
- The King of Queens: Sitcom about a couple living in Queens. [18]
- That '70s Show: Sitcom about teenagers living in the 1970s. [18]
- Will & Grace: Sitcom featuring a gay lawyer, and a straight interior designer. [18]
- Sex and the City: An HBO romantic comedy. [18]
This Year in Music
- My Heart Will Go On: Celine Dion. Theme song for the movie Titanic. [19]
- You're Still The One: Shania Twain. "You're still the one I run to / The one that I belong to / You're still the one I want for life." [19]
- George Michael is arrested for "engaging in a lewd act" in a public restroom: He calls it "a subconsciously deliberate act". (He was a bisexual worried that he career might be ruined if the truth was known. He passed away in 2016.--alexshrugged) [19]
- The Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act adds another 20 years: (I call it the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act" since it protects Disney's profitable creations nearing the end of their copyright protection.--alexshrugged) [19]
This Year in Video Games
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: An immersive experience. (The novel Rainbow Six is worth reading.--alexshrugged). [20]
- Atari is acquired by Hasbro Interactive: The Dot-Com Bubble has doubled Hasbro's revenues, but it is about to take a nosedive. [20]
- Pokémon Red and Blue is released in North America: WARNING: On December 16th, 1997, the 38th episode of the Pokémon cartoon spinoff caused over 600 Japanese children to collapse into convulsions or experience blurred vision. Many were hospitalized for 2 weeks. This episode is now banned. (A certain frequency of flashing can cause convulsions even in normal people. It is not necessarily epilepsy, but check with your doctor to be sure. This human vulnerability was used as a plot element in Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor four years earlier.--alexshrugged) [20] [22]
In Other News
- Viagra is approved for erectile dysfunction in the USA: . [24]
- Matthew Shepard is beaten to death Laramie, Wyoming: Presumably, he was beaten for being a homosexual, but it was more likely a robbery. In any case, the perpetrators are serving life sentences. [24]
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