Protesting like it’s 1968

The Gonzo News Service ^ | 29 August 2004 | editorial

[Maigrey]

Today was a good day for the people of America, and a celebration of some of the freedoms we hold most dear. Freedom of Speech, and the freedom to assemble in a peaceful manner were in full bloom on the streets of one of America’s most diverse cities: New York City.

Today, the opinions of thousands – media estimates of the protest parade range from 50,000 to 250,000 - shown in full force with an organized protest march against the President, his administration, foreign policy, the ongoing War in Iraq, among other things. Was this a positive day for the First Amendment, with the Constitutional guarantee to few speech, and peaceful assembly? Sure was.

What was amusing was the amount of issues being protested by the people who were marching in the parade. One sign, held by a 20-something co-ed, was

War is not the Answer with a large peace symbol on it, and a little note at the bottom, showing where she got her sign: Answer.Org.

Many a protester held a sign, with the President’s face, and the bold letters at the bottom, Liar! Another a 20 something co-ed held a sign that said No Draft, No Way! One of my personal favorites was Who would Jesus Bomb? Yes, it was a real sign. Or how about one protest sign that said, Quagmire Accomplished in a nice red, white and blue gradient.

How about an inflatable walking, (ahem), male body part, in bright fuchsia? What about a protester carrying a red flag depicting Che Guevara? Unfortunately, I couldn’t read what was written on it. But I guess you can’t have a protest march celebrating communism and worker party affiliation without a protest icon from the last century.

What does interest me is this: Why is there only limited minority participation? Couldn’t there have been about 12% of the gathered protesters been African-American, like the general population is? About the only prominently shown black protesters was “Reverend” Jesse Jackson, offering up prayer before the start of the protest parade, and liberal activist/movie actor Danny Glover. Could it be that most black people were more interested in spending time with their families on a sunny Sunday afternoon?

Also, during the protest parade, there was something lacking: American Patriotism. The few American Flags present were the ones with the 50 stars removed, and a peace symbol in place of it. I’m surprised that no one decided that torching the Stars and Stripes wasn’t a positive action. What was also missing was the support for the democratic candidate for President. During the ninety minutes I saw, there was one sign supporting the Kerry-Edwards ticket.

Was there any one real message, besides the thousands of 20 something kids, the remaining 60’s protest warriors, and a few who were out for their own 5 seconds of TIVO publicity? Well, that message, in the form of signs, placards, shirts and slogans, seems to be: Anybody but Bush.

Some of the signs read:

A village in Texas is missing their Idiot. Return him.

No Draft, No Way.com

VoteNader.Com

F*** Bush All ‘em.

And the best parts of the parade were the particular groups within the march. There were the Pro-Palestinians; the Independent political party, endorsing Ralph Nader, with their Nader/Camejo 2004 signs; a group of lovely ladies, known as the Pink Bloque, who are a radical feminist dance troupe from Chicago, to protest more open spaces for their bodies; Communists for Kerry; International Socialist Organizations; and a group of radical pagan lesbians, who were protesting the infringement of their liberties of marriage and reproductive choice.

Like any parade, there were balloons, dragon floats, with the slogan, Don’t just Vote. Take Action. Unfortunately, black garbed protesters decided to turn the dragon “float” into a living impersonation of vampire caught in the sun. The dragon caught fire around 3:50 local time, and before NYPD riot crews could get there with the fire extinguishers, the dragon and the sign was ash, and the frame for it burning. When the FDNY got there, cheers erupted for the firemen to extinguish the remaining embers.

Probably the most disturbing part of the parade – if you can look past naked women with pasties on – was the plethora of flag-draped coffins. This was sponsored by 1000 coffins, a subgroup of United for Peace and Justice. The focus of their protest was the involvement of US troops in Iraq, and the loss of live of American service personnel fighting abroad. But they were there, for whatever reason.

My final point is this: there are some print shops and graphic designers who made a killing off of today’s protest parade. The volume of professional quality signs and t-shirts was noticeable, along with the glut of amateur produced signs. For this being an “unorganized march” it had some professional quality props to go along with it. For instance – if you ignore the pink phallus – there was a 10ft inflatable globe that was very nice in appearance. This precludes the signs by Answer.Org, United for Peace and Justice and MoveOn.Org.

What does all of this have in common? They are divergent groups, united for a short period of time to protest the President, and his administration. Will these groups ever agree on their issues? Only when they are supporting "Anybody but Bush".

[Question_Assumptions]

Lower Manhattan is filled with graphic artists types who do professional work for their corporate masters on weekdays.

[byteback]

This is great because while these idiots are out claiming that the Bushies are oppressing speech guess what? Everyone else gets to see that everyone can have their say. It's a great example of teh freedoms that the average Joe or Jane can express.

[Chieftain]

Tired of the lamestream media and the DemocRATS 'smear the messenger and disrespect the veterans' campaign?

Do SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Do what Reagan did - GO AROUND THEM AND GO DIRECTLY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!

Get your own "EXPOSE KERRY'S FRAUD SWIFT BOAT VETERANS FOR TRUTH" STICKER!

I put this sticker on my truck the other day. I get lots of honks and 'thumbs up'!

The sticker serves 3 purposes:
1 - Shows visible support for "Swift Boat Veterans For Truth" to passing motorists, (encourages our side discourages the libs).
2 - Gets the swiftvets.com website visible to the public, so they can and find out more about 'Hanoi John' Kerry.
3 - Circumvents the lamestream media BIAS filter!

Made by fellow FReeper disabled vet who has a bone to pick with Kerry, like we all do!
Large (24" Wide 12" Tall) $20 (like mine above)
Small (12" Wide 6" Tall) $10
Profits go to SwiftVets.com

Ping your FRiends, let 'em know about this!

FReep mail / private reply for details on how you can get one for your vehicle!

[wrathof59]

Let's pray that the lose by a big margin like 1968.

[vrwcagent0498]

Bunch of f******* ingrates.

How many more attacks on NYC would there have been had the Gorebot been President?

(Hoping this isn't the majority Manhatten opinion)

[Atchafalaya]

...graphic designers who made a killing today...
Soros et al bucks at work.

[pepsi_junkie]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The aging hippie crowd feels like during Vietnam, they had all the power, they brought down a president and the most powerful nation on earth . It was the high point of their lives and they have been trying desperately to recapture it. They tried in vain during Reagans years, then again during the Gulf war but America had moved beyond their childishness. They became irrelevant and it drove them nuts. So here they are again, trying to relive Vietnam. The best part of Bush winning will be these clowns having to face the fact that their Vietnam glory days are never coming back. They will possible all spontaneously combust, which would be interesting to see.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Time to turn up the heat on Kerry's anti war protests!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1202515/posts