Catching Our Flag: Behind the Scenes of a Presidential Impeachment by James E. Rogan (May 3, 2011)

This book will leave you shaken, it will enlighten your political perspective on Congress and the people who occupy those hallowed halls, and it will make you mad. You probably will not like it. It will not make you feel good. It may even make you want to throw the book against the wall like several of our family members did. However, having lived through these momentous events in our history, perhaps with only the media's version of the "facts," you need to know what this book has to say. A small group of Congressmen knowingly sacrificed their careers to prevent our flag from touching the ground as it symbolically fell from the highest office in our land. Here is the inside story from a real-life American hero. This book is a true five star and it was difficult to put down, until one of those politicians opens his or her mouth and then you have to put it down for your own sanity. It is a stirring page-turner and I highly recommend every American read it. I put it on the required reading list for the family.

This book is history because Rogan kept a diary. He discusses the Clinton years in detail, the scandals, the things that were supposed to be in that impeachment referral, and all the other widely publicized allegations that were going on in those days. He records for us what happens as the impeachment investigation goes forward from the time he finds himself on the Judiciary Committee. I didn't want to know it. I doubt anyone did. The Clinton Administration was my wake up call, and the beginning of my close attention to Washington DC and the machinations of the political classes. Amazingly, the media is a cover for the liberal agenda and it continued at full speed during Clinton's time. Rogan knows how to write, and how to keep you interested.

Whether you believe that Bill Clinton was guilty or innocent, you would do well to read this book. Congressman James Rogan knew that he was probably ending his own political career by serving as one of the House Managers in the impeachment trial of William Jefferson Clinton. There was a stunning contrast in the principled approach the House took as opposed to the politically expedient approach of the Senate. The book contains some amazing stories involving James Rogan, Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy decades before Rogan's election to the House of Representatives. Judge Rogan ends the book with a quote attributed to Carole Lombard: "When you fight for what you believe in, the end result doesn't matter. You've already won."

Here is a list of Bill Clinton's legacy that is discussed in the book: Whitewater; Cattle Futures; Travelgate; Gennifer Flowersgate - Bill Clinton denied a 12 year affair with Gennifer Flowers. She taped phone calls with him but he claimed they were false and branded her a liar. Now he has admitted to at least some of the affair; Filegate - This involves the discovery of over 900 Republican FBI files in the White House; Vince Foster; Whitewater Billing Records; Paula Jones; Federal Building Campaign Phone Callsgate, Lincoln Bedroom; Donations from Convicted Drug and Weapons Dealers; Buddhist Temple and John Huang and Chinagate; The Lewinsky Affair - Clinton's affair with an intern and the subsequent denial to the American People, which turned out to be a lie; Perjury and Jobs for Lewinsky - There was evidence that Lewinsky was instructed how to hide the affair by Clinton and offered a job by Vernon Jordan as an "incentive" to remain quiet; Kathleen Willey; Web Hubbell Prison Phone Calls; Selling Military Technology to the Chinese; The Using the US military to draw attention away from the Presidential impeachment proceedings. One day before he was to be impeached, Clinton called an uncharacteristic surprise air attack on Iraq; Jaunita Broaddrick; Vandalizing the Whitehouse and taking art and artifacts from the estate; and finally Pardongate.

This is the kind of authentic, behind-the-scenes reported history that never gets written any longer because the principal actors are too afraid to put pen to paper and the journalists are too hamstrung by their need to protect their sources. It is a complete humiliation that such a small publisher is marketing this book because it deserves a very wide readership among both political and historical junkies. I can't imagine either type of person not thoroughly enjoying this read.

Catching Our Flag is an excellent and very informative book about the Clinton impeachment by an eyewitness to the entire event. James E. Rogan's account appears to be very accurate and provides an insider view of the workings of Washington D.C. I admire Mr. Rogan's courage and integrity. He is well deserving of the title he bears as a judge, "Honorable." I look forward to shaking his hand at Starbucks the next time I see him. “Again, let me be clear, this is a mandatory read.”