MORONIC CONVERGENCE: September 15, 2007; Washington DC
Puppets. Let’s get that out of the way, shall we?
Yes, there were puppets. Small and aging puppets. And stilt-walkers. That’s new. Sort of.
Once again, my video[s] will concentrate on the oddities … especially the musical oddities … present in these protests. Stuff you won’t see otherwise. The speeches you can hear on C-SPAN, etc. and they’re boring anyway.
I’ll probably have one video, however, dedicated to my walk between the ANSWER Protest and the Gathering of Eagles [henceforth: GOE] Counter-Protest. There was about a 10 foot corridor between them.
I call it “The Gauntlet”.
**** CHECK BACK FOR VIDEOS ****
**** UPDATE: SUNDAY 09/16/2007 ****
Here’s my second video: More Protest Music. It’s still processing through YouTube so it may take a while until it actually works, though YouTube is getting quicker at approving these things. UPDATE: It’s live … go ahead and click!
I think it’s my best work. Hope you enjoy!
**** FIRST VIDEO IS UP ****
The last time we saw this puppet it was being blown to bits crossing Memorial Bridge. It is definitely the worst for the wear. I have a few words with the creator in one of the videos.
Sticking with the jokes … there was a small Ron Paul representation at the protest. Most people kept their distance.
And of course, the ultimate joke … Ramsey Clark … was there in person. I got kinda close, ya think?
Then there were the “normal” insanities one expects at ANSWER anti-war protests:
These … I have no idea where to even begin …
… and then there was the just plain ugly.
Or just plain stupid.
Or, well … er …
Then there are the surprisingly sentient and yet oddly insane … and happy [!] … jew-haters …
The Iraq Vets against the war marched …
Some folks got arrested …
And then the party … well … just … er … died.
We wanted to … well … pull the plug on the whole thing …
… but then Santa showed up again and everything was OK!
YAY!
MARCH 17, 2006: GATHERING OF EAGLES
MARCH 17, 2006: GATHERING OF EAGLES
[Scroll down for more posts and video]
Ok, guys … that wasn’t funny.
I mean, well, it was sorta funny. But not that funny.
True story: these guys wouldn’t let me into the Gathering of Eagles rally. Seriously. They called me names. I tried to explain to them who I am and what I’m trying to do, but no go. Is it my fault I need to “blend” when covering ANSWER? One of the marshalls explained patiently to me that … while I had every right to protest the war … I needed to keep to my own side of the street. Sheesh. And when I said (patiently) that I’m really on their side to begin with I thought the cops standing around were going to arrest me. Crimminy. I had to high-tail it back into moonbatland. I mean … would you mess with these guys?!
Other than that, though, I was very impressed with the Gathering. I did manage to get in by another route. A nice job was done by all.
If we’re counting numbers … and I haven’t seen any “official” count yet … I’d say that the Gathering of Eagles and ANSWER were about even. 25,000 to 35,000 each … give or take.
I sorta felt sorry for Medea Benjamin and Code Pink, though. I think that they managed all of 10. That’s a one (1) followed by a zero (0). Period. But that’s not even counting Cindy Sheehan. So, OK … what … eleven. Tops.
As you can see, the American flag was displayed prominently and proudly.
The ANSWER blokes had their own flags. You’ll see those in another post. Check back.
The Gathering of Eagles rally was spread out … a sizable crowd near the Vietnam Memorial where the speeches were taking place … a lot at the Memorial itself … a very large crowd at the Lincoln Memorial (seen here) just opposite the ANSWER rally and “commenting” [loudly] on the speeches there … a whole gaggle at the entrance to Memorial Bridge … and more down in front of the entrance to Arlington Cemetery at the end of the bridge.
This is a picture of the line waiting to get into the Vietnam Memorial. You can’t see much of it. It was a huge line.
Normally one can simply walk into the Memorial, but for the “event” some tents were put up to screen people. Wise. The ANSWER crowd scoffs at the notion that they’d desecrate the Memorial but I know those people and I know better. Some, true, wouldn’t hurt a fly. But there’s a sizable number of them who are dangerous. You’ve got to watch your step.
There are other, smaller Memorials and statues scattered around the mall nearby and each one had a group of Eagles keeping watch. Good job.
This is another dude who called me names after I took the photo. He … curiously … told me to “enjoy it”. I’m not sure what he meant … and I certainly hope he didn’t mean what I think he might have meant. But … OK … here it is and I’m “enjoying” it. He’s holding an American flag (fluttering on the other side of the multi-colored Peace sign in the hands of the crazy lady standing next to him).
The things I put up with.
So Brave
SO BRAVE
All right. Here it is…. Gathering of Eagles …. I love you all.
I did my best.
Scroll down for more…
A Gathering of Eagles III
Here’s a fuller version of the Gathering of Eagles press conference here in DC at the National Press Club, February 22. It’s almost 20 minutes long, but worth the watch.
Things seem to be picking up steam … this could get real interesting.
A Gathering of Eagles
I attended the press conference for Gathering of Eagles, which is an event scheduled for March 17 … concurrent with ANSWER’s anti-war rally … and is intended to protect the Vietnam Memorial from desecration by those thugs. The ANSWER rally starts at the Vietnam Memorial and ends at the Pentagon.
At left is a photo of Larry Bailey, co-Chair of Gathering of Eagles.
I’m processing some video. Richard “Dick” Becker, brother of Brian Becker … National Coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition … attended. We had a talk.
Check back later!
**** UPDATE ****
Funny how Dick tries to dismiss the whole Gathering of Eagles event. Then again I just have to ask: if he is so unconcerned … why was he there are the press conference? Just wondering.
Here’s an appeal by Larry Bailey to get people out for the rally:
Here’s the DC Channel 7 WJLA video on this subject:
var so = new SWFObject(“http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/abc7video_player.swf”, “subflashobj”, “320″, “270″, 8);so.addParam(“allowScriptAccess”, “always”);so.addParam(“menu”, “true”);so.addParam(“wmode”, “transparent”);so.addVariable(“xmlFile”, “http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0207/xml/399740.xml”);so.write(“subflashobj”);
Dick Becker of course thinks that the spraypainting of the Capitol steps last month was a minor incident.
