What Happened at the Freeper Counter-Demonstration?

[MrBenchley]

In another thread, we find that though CNN can report how many showed up at candlelight vigils all over America, all they've got to say about the Freeper's ugly little klavern is that there was going to be one...

So what happened? How many freepers turned up?

[malmapus]

1. Guessin they were drowned out by the porta potties =)

One day they'll get it that if you have 6 people show up for a couple hours...2 porta potties at most folks.

[sam sarrha]

4. Porta Pottie kickback..??!!

[roseBudd]

2. There was only one freeptard in Cincinnati and he had some kind of

bizarre piece of cloth tied under his chin like a child's makeshift superhero costume. His sign was so obtuse I imagine most did not realize his message was prowar

[MrBenchley]

7. Hope somebody got a photo...

He sounds like a typ[ical denizen of FreiRepublik...

[ewagner]

3. At our vigil

the number of Freepers was exactly ONE (1)

I counted, the hostess counted and we had the results verified by Price-Waterhouse who say that "In accordance with accounting principles to GAAP, the count appears to fairly represent the position presented by our principals." :sarcasm:

[MrBenchley]

8. Was he military age?

If so, I hope he heard about it...

[ewagner]

27. He was

probably in his late twenties or early thirties.....

he was pretty obnoxious and the folks didn't want a confrontation, and, from the looks, he wanted one.

[KyndCulture]

5. Just read that only one showed up in the Twin Cities too...

sign said "Kill Iraq" huh?

[MrBenchley]

9. The big one was supposed to be in DC--wonder if anyone showed up?

During Monicamania, the Freepers held an "Impeach Bill Clinton" jamboree that was on C-Span...hilariously, the nutcases on the speakers' platform outnumbered the attendees by nearly 2 to 1...and they kept getting heckled by passers-by.

[Stand and Fight]

6. "Red Oklahoma"

Not ONE single damn FReeptard.

And the media showed up!

[MrBenchley]

10. Good for you....

Hope somebody points that out in a LTTE...

[sazemisery]

15. Red Muskogee Oklahoma - Gulf war vet and his children

stood across the street from the 11 or so at the vigil. He was against the vigil and for the war.

Here is a pic from the paper:

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050818/NEWS01/508180308/1002

[EarlG]

11. According to (ugh) Dana Milbank

the "knot of a dozen conservative counterdemonstrators was outnumbered 50 to 1 on Pennsylvania Avenue last night."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/17/AR2005081702266.html

There were five hundred Cindy supporters in attendance.

[MrBenchley]

14. Hope somebody got pictures....

Thanks for the info...

If a dozen anti-war protestors turned up at some GOP shindig, would Milbank bother to mention it, I wonder.

[WoodrowFan]

35. Mykeru has a long video

Mykeru has a long video at his site of him baiting the freepers in DC...

http://www.mykeru.com/index.html

[bemildred]

12. Too many pork rinds. nt

[uppityperson]

13. Had a 82 yr old vet stop by, angry about bush and us

He started to read the printed page and asked "what does a bike ride have to do with getting out of Iraq?" I tried explaining that the line he read was the beginning of an article and if he read more it would explain it, but he cut me off and started to talk about how "you people" weren't helping anything. (deep breath by me, look @ him in interest) He continued that he served in WW2 and he it was apparent that we were anti-bush (another deep breath) and that he hated bush as much as we did and thought the war in Iraq was wrong but how could doing what "you people" do help bring them home. (woohoo, an 82 yr old man who wanted to discuss strategy)

I told him that personally I was no part of "you people" since I was representing myself and that the vigil was meant to show solidarity, bring us together, on and on. Thanked him for serving, asked where, shared where my father did, asked if he meant how did I think we should get out of Iraq, had a bit of a conversation about strategy.

He still was frustrated at protests that he sees aimed at protesting and not solving anything. We came up with what bush needs to do is first admit that he needs help in Iraq, then get other countries/UN involved because the USA has no positive status there and will never be able to pull it together. I told him that the vigils were to send a message to bush that America and the world want answers and want bush to get the message that many many of us disagree with what he is doing and change is needed.

What this showed me is:
a) I need to practice my speaking
b) I can be calm when I need to
c) We need to be calm and reasonable people, treating everyone respectfully. If we are fringey people, or ranting, this will turn many people off. There are lots of people out there who feel as we do, but do not participate because they don't understand what we are doing, or what it will accomplish. Continue to listen to people, discuss with people, NOT rant and be disregarded because you are one of "those people".

[MrBenchley]

16. Good for you....

I often feel that some anger about demonstrations from those who express it comes from people who

a) feel they have no voice, and
b) are too timid to actually speak out publicly for what they believe...

It is telling that what really angered this gentleman was the lack of a "solution"....

[uppityperson]

21. I was very suprised and very pleased also

"you people" just want to burn candles and protest and how does that help--is a good question to think up an answer to because it just might help create more peace in the world, bring us more together.

[MrBenchley]

23. How does being silent as things go wrong help?

You did a good thing to let him vent, and I hope he went away with some things to think about.

When he went to war, there weren't there sorts of counter-protests because FDR was able to state clearly, concisely and eloquently WHY we as a nation went to war. And those reasons weren't LIES.

[Toots]

26. "The best way for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing."

Or something like that. My memory is not what it used to be. I can't even remember who said it.

[spuddonna]

30. Great post, I totally agree...

My father-in-law is a Repub, but a scientist. He voted for Bush in 2000, but was almost immediately disenchanted by Bush's 'faith based policies', purely on the line of separation of church and state (he's a strict constitutionalist). So I listened to his complaints and started to get a feel for what he believed in. He's pro-choice, and hates govt waste. He's a "Fiscal Repub"...

Anyway, after we invaded Iraq, I stated to ask him about the 'no-bid, open ended contracts' to Halliburton - of course, he hadn't heard about that. It made him mad - no accountability. I asked him about the billions of dollars lost there by the CPA - he was furious.

This went on for awhile, me asking, "Did you hear about this?", him responding "no", getting furious, going and doing his own research, then coming back and telling me what he found, and I'd hit him with another one. But then we moved away before last year's election. He's a very private person, and doesn't talk on the phone much at all, so I haven't even been able to find out who he voted for in 2004 yet!

But this much I know: he is totally disgusted. The war, the deficits, the economy, the hatred by so many of our old allies around the world, our lack of a diplomatic foreign policy... he's just as disgusted as we are. I can't say it 'paid off with a vote', but at least I tried...

Some people have had way too much Kool-Aid and it's not worth trying with them, but when you run across someone who is reasonable, talk to them, just like uppityperson did.

Be calm, use reason, and find out how they feel about different topics. You'd be surprised how much you DO have in common...

"The DU: Saving America from Fascism, One Person At A Time"

[5thGenDemocrat]

34. Uppityperson

That was a swell report. The 82-year-old vet sounds like a good man, one who reminds me of my Grandpa H. Grandpa loved me and wanted me to make something of myself -- but usually expressed it by telling me to get a haircut and pull my goddamned pants up (Grandma H, for her part, offered hot soup and kind words gently spoken).
Anyhow, maybe the guy has a point. It is about time that we on the left have a sensible, coherent plan to put an end to this foreign debacle. I haven't heard one and obviously the old warrior hasn't, either.
That doesn't mean he's against us or against our cause. But we can't just identify the problem (which is easy enough) -- we have to make an honest effort to solve it somehow (and, no, I don't know how -- maybe some of the smarter persons here at DU can suggest some starting points).
John
Regarding your footnote a): When I was in college, Speech 101 was a requirement. I worked like a dog and got through it with a "C." Then I took Speech 102 (I think I got another "C"). Even though I didn't really enjoy either class, I can comfortably speak off-the-cuff now, when required.
That's a good thing.

[Proud_Lefty]

17. We had one angry counter protestor

Never changed his pissed off expression throughout the entire evening. A figure from the wax museum could have done a better job!

[SeattleVet]

18. The Seattle PI has a photo

online that appears to show the typical freeper in action:

<>


"Gary Muchler of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., attempts to disrupt a rally for Cindy Sheehan as he grabs for a sign held by Robert Griffin. The rally was held on the Public Square in Wilkes-Barre. (AP Photo/Dave Scherbenco) (August 17, 2005)"

[HughBeaumont]

20. He has an assgut!!!

Talk about a picture speaking volumes!

[MrBenchley]

24. So since he can't make his case, he has to disrupt....

Disgraceful...

[LondonReign2]

29. That is a classic!

Living the Freeptard Life! No free speech for you, much rolling rock for me!

[AntiCoup2K4]

32. Hey Gary Felcher fuckwit, since you like wearing camo pants so much......

...why don't you go wear them in Fallujah? :grr:

[WoodrowFan]

36. BOL

another sad freeper fashion victim.

[SaveAmerica]

38. OH my eyes, make it stop, can't seem to look away...

[HughBeaumont]

19. Here's what pisses me off about this . . .

You hear so much about how the attendance at counter-freep attacks on protests/vigils are laughably sparse, yet for some reason, all of these elections remain wire-thin close. Exactly how Republicans like and hope for.

What keeps them from coming out of the Faux News den of their shacks? Is it embarassment? Buyer's regret? Comfort zone so thick that they aren't even convicted/motivated by their vote?

Who the hell is VOTING for these primates anyway?

[Proud_Lefty]

22. It's not who's voting

It's who's counting the vote that matters. That's what we need to change.

[HughBeaumont]

25. Like they said in another thread -

Rove once said "you don't need ALL the votes, you just need enough".

What we need in addition to "enough" (which, if the polls are any indicator, doesn't seem too insurmountable) is a paper trail.

[nookiemonster]

33. Yep, unfortunately Stalin nailed that one.

:(

[zbdent]

28. The freepers lost the flag football game vs the port-a-potties

2 to nothing when the freepers fumbled the ball in their own end zone . . .

(just kidding)

[spuddonna]

31. And they had 1000 yrds of penalties for 'unsportsman like conduct'... n/t

[genius]

37. Never saw them

I attended one at a location of peace rallies where Freepers had occassionally come by, grabbed signs, hit people and egged them. According to those who were there through the night, they didn't show at this one. Maybe the large crowd scared them off.