1998 and the week that Clinton bombed Iraq and got impeached

Twenty-two years ago this week, I was having lunch at a local grill and watching two scenes on the TV.  On one side, U.S. planes were bombing Iraq, and on the other, the U.S. House was voting to impeach President Clinton.  It was historic, as my lunch guest kept saying.

We remember another anniversary of the Clinton impeachment.  It comes at a time when "sexual misconduct" charges have brought down politicians and media personalities.  Who would have believed that in 1998?

As for Iraq, President Clinton warned us that it was necessary to "degrade" Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

There were many back then who tried to connect the bombing with the impeachment, or sort of the real-world version of the movie Wag the Dog.

Frankly, I didn't, because I was one of those back in 1998 who favored confronting Saddam Hussein over the weapons.  I felt that a Saddam with so much military capability would eventually provoke a regional war involving Israel.

Back then, I did not think I would live to see another impeachment, but President Trump was a year ago.  As for Iraq, I had a feeling we would fight at some point, and we did five years later.

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/12/remembering_a_busy_week_for_president_bill_clinton_in_1998.html#ixzz6hA4MI0EZ
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

1998: Remember when President Clinton bombed Iraq to destroy chemical weapons?

On this day in 1998, we watched President Clinton explain his decision to bomb Iraq:  

At the time of the air strikes, Iraq was continuing its attempts to build weapons of mass destruction including nuclear, chemical and biological agents. Fearful of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s belligerence, and his penchant for using those weapons against his own people, the U.N. sent in weapons inspectors in 1997. After repeatedly refusing the inspectors access to certain sites, Clinton resorted to air strikes to compel Hussein to cooperate.

Back then, I supported President Clinton's decision.   In fact, his mistake was to stop after 4 days.  Iraq was in violation of UN resolutions, the cease fire that ended the First Gulf War of 1991 and shooting at US and UK planes.  

President Clinton's decision was made around the time of the US House vote on impeachment.  Nevertheless, I did not see the connection between the vote and the bombing.  It was important to deliver a message to Saddam Hussein that the US patience was running out.

It's interesting to go back and watch the newsreels from that day.  

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

---

September 20, 1998: The Ripken streak ended after 2,632 games

It started on May 30, 1982 and it ended September 20, 1998.     Cal Ripken decided to take a night off.  He just went to the manager and said it's time and so the streak stopped.   Ripken retired after the 2001 season.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Labor Day weekend 1998: Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and home runs!

Sammy Sosa's big smile and Mark McGwire's powerful swing were a wonderful distraction from the real world in the summer of '98.   

It was so much fun keeping track of home runs and the countdown to pass Roger Maris's 61 from 1961 and Babe Ruth's legendary 60 from 1927.

We grew up in a baseball world where 50 was a super season.  

The great Harmon Killebrew hit 49 in one season.  

The amazing Hank Aaron hit 47.  

Triple crown winner Mickey Mantle did hit 56 and 54 in the 1950's. 

The Phillies' Mike Schmitdt topped at 48.  

The great Willie Mays hit 52 twice in his career.

The A's Reggie Jackson hit 47 in '69 and led the AL with 32 in '73 and 36 in '75. 

In the 1970s, there were only a few guys who hit 40!

In other words, 50 home runs was a huge number.    

It was so rare that only Willie Mays (52 in '65), George Foster (52 in '77) and Cecil Fielder (50 in '90) did it over a 25 year span!    

In other words, only 3 players hit 50 home runs from 1965 to 1990!

Beyond that, two guys hitting 60 home runs in the same season was beyond my imagination.

This is what made the summer of 1998 so exciting.     

In 1998, McGuire hit # 62 and hugged the Maris family in a national telecast following Labor Day. 

Sosa followed him daily. It went on for the whole month of September. It was wonderful. 

On the last day of the season, McGuire hit the unthinkable # 69 and # 70. 

It was incredible to watch McGuire and Sosa connect with the fans and bring baseball back from the unpleasant strike of '94.

We needed all of those home runs because the 1998 was a horrible except for baseball.

On the local scene, we had one of the warmest summers ever.  We had daily 100 plus temperatures for 29 days.  At one point, we reached 108.  Even the old timers could not remember such a hot summer.

On the national scene, it was the summer of Monica Lewinski and Bill Clinton.  By Labor Day, most of us were hearing about about "oral sex" and White House interns.  I did not appreciate that.   President Clinton's incredibly reckless behavior led to his impeachment in December!

On the global scene, two US embassies were blown up in Africa.  Osama Bin Laden said that it was another battle in the war against the US.

So much for the theory that the terrorists got violent because the US invaded Iraq!

Over at the UN, Saddam Hussein kicked out the inspectors.  Pres. Clinton went to the UN Security Council and demanded a reaction.  VP Gore called Iraq a "virulent threat".  

Nothing happened and Saddam got away with giving the world the finger again.

By the end of '98, Saddam was hitting 12 for 12 (perfect 1.000 batting average) in his defiance and rejection of UN resolutions!

So much for the theory that the UN was ever serious about the matter!

Over in Iraq, Saddam was shooting at US planes enforcing UN resolutions. 

So much for the theory that Saddam never attacked the US.

Most of us were very happy that Sosa and McGwire were hitting titanic homeruns. It was a pleasant distraction form the rest of the news.

Sadly, we learned later that Sosa and McGwire were allegedly involved in the steroids controversy and ended up answering questions from a congressional committee.    What a shame.  It was a great baseball summer.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

We remember Mark Belanger 1944-1998

Mark Belanger was born on this day in 1944 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.    He became one of the best defensive shortstops in major league history winning 8 Gold Gloves.  

This is from SABR:   

The most electrifying defensive shortstop of his generation, Mark Belanger set the standard by anchoring a great Baltimore Orioles infield for most of 14 seasons. 
During this stretch, Baltimore won 90 or more games 11 times with six postseason appearances capped by the 1970 world championship. 
Belanger and Ozzie Smith are the only shortstops to retire with fielding averages over .975 while averaging more than five fielding chances per game.    

As I recall, Belanger played with Brooks Robinson on one side and Davey Johnson & later Bobby Grich on the other.   They were all Gold Glove winners or the best defensive infield in baseball.

He died in 1998.   He left me with a lot of memories of watching baseball at the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

1998: We remember the day that Frank Sinatra died

Where did the years go?  Frank Sinatra died on this day in 1998 at age 82.

Sinatra was one of the biggest male vocalists of the 20th century.  He was still recording and performing at the end of his life.  

His life was like that song, "My way":

"And now the end is near   And so I face the final curtain,  I’ll state my case of which I’m certain.  I’ve lived a life that’s full, I traveled each and ev’ry highway,  And more, much more than this. I did it my way."   My Way (lyrics by Paul Anka)

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

And so started The Spanish American War in 1898

President McKinley called on the US Congress to declare war on Spain on this day in 1898.

McKinley tried to keep a distance from the situation in Cuba.   However, everything changed on February 17, 1898 when the USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor.

And so started The Spanish American War.   It lasted 4 months and changed Cuba forever and made a national hero out of Theodore Roosevelt. 

In 1900, the McKinley-Roosevelt ticket won the election  easily.  Nine months later, Vice President Roosevelt became president when Mr McKinley was assassinated.

Back in 2009, we discussed The Spanish American War with the late John O’Donnell Rosales, who was President of The Sons of Spanish American War Veterans, Cuba Libre Camp #172. We recorded several shows with John over the years, and he was always a wealth of information on the Spanish American War. John unfortunately passed away in 2014.

Click to listen to this December/Christmas 2009 podcast:

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.