Posted on 03/19/2005 5:03:49 PM PST by Constitution Day
Today we met in Fayetteville, NC to Freep a motley rabble of socialists, anarchists, Code Pink-os, and other throwbacks to the 60's! As usual, we were well outnumbered by their hordes of college students, aging hippies and other bused-in protestors, but we held our own as always.
Please post any reports and observations on this thread only.
I won't miss the next one Huber!
Thanks for all you've done.
BRAVO on the speech AQ. You could be me, but I was here in Atlanta, being...too pregnant to come...
You should go for more mileage on that speech...after the KerrryLied Rally I sent a copy of my speech out to Powerlineblog.com as well as my local paper. Both ran the speech after the fact.
If any freepers want to help, they could cut and paste it with her information to their local news editorial page editors.
The people on either side of me are "cat lover too" and her husband.
oh, those were people !!!
lol
Thanks
BTTT
I thought you guys might want to see the letter I posted on the democratic underground forum. It was addressed to war protesters, from a military wife.
Dear Protesters,
I am writing to you as a military wife and as a spokesperson for every military family member I know. (I can't speak for all military families, obviously, just the ones I know ---who have ALL agreed with me.)
Please stop your anti-war campaign. It is ill-informed and destructive: Destructive to our country, to our families and to people around the world. You do not understand what you are doing.
We hear from our husbands, Special Forces soldiers who are serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Colombia, Honduras, the Sudan, Djibouti and other countries, about what's really going on. They send us pictures, pictures that would certainly give you pause and maybe even change your mind. Women and children suspended in the air from Ribar poles driven through their heads by terrorists. Nine-year-old boys forced into prostitution after being gang-raped by male village leaders. Little girls mutilated for the crime of seeking an education. Men chopped into a dozen pieces because they dared to disagree with their oppressors.
My husband and my friends' husbands are fighting to end these crimes. They call us in tears because of the atrocities they've seen committed in the name of Allah. They are fighting to end these atrocities. They are fighting Al Qaeda in Paraguay. They are fighting Hezbollah in the Philippines, they are fighting Colombian FARC in the middle east. These are not typos, despite the fact that obviously these terrorist groups have no significant interest in the countries where they stage attacks. There is a "global terrorism network." They share resources. They help each other. They train each other. Our husbands have been fighting terrorists all over the world since long before 9-11. Including, yes, during the Clinton administration.
I've spoken on the phone with Iraqis who repeatedly say "Thank you, America. Thank you George Bush." I have Kurd friends in my hometown of Nashville, Tenn. who say they and their families back in Iraq will be eternally grateful to America for literally saving their lives and culture.
This is what you are protesting. Every time you stage a war protest you encourage the bad guys and demoralize the good guys.
For every Abu Ghraib guard, there are thousands of other soldiers like my husband. Trained medics who risk life and limb to treat villagers and vaccinate children in the far reaches of the world. I've seen pictures of my husband, covered in the blood and vomit of the poor people in the countries where he's been sent. He goes to help them fight their wars and he administers medical treatment to these people. He was devastated in Colombia when he couldn't help a 6-year-old boy who was blown to pieces by a FARC bomb that the terrorists hid in the tire of the child's bicycle. He speaks admiringly of the native fighters in all of these countries who take up their weapons, often with very little training, and valiantly defend their homelands against brutal terrorists. These terrorists have no code of honor. They don't even flinch at the idea of slaughtering innocents.
I understand, probably more than most, the pain of losing American soldiers in war. I've lost friends. I've comforted their wives and children. My husband recently captured a high level terrorist who joked that he would cut off my husband's head and broadcast the decapitation on Al Jazeera if he ever got the chance. Then, in the next breath he thanked my husband for treating him with more respect and dignity than he would have used. I live with the daily fear of losing my own husband and having to explain to my son that daddy is never coming home.
But I wouldn't want my husband to stop what he's doing.
I'm not particularly religious, but there's a Bible verse that says something to the effect of "to whom much has been given, much will be expected." Like it or not, America has to be the world's police force because we are the only nation with the resources to do it. We can't turned a blind eye on suffering. To do so would be unconscionable.
Please keep all of this in mind the next time you congratulate yourself for "supporting the troops and their families". We don't feel supported by you.
Sincerely,
gbwife
follow up on my democratic underground post:
I checked back to see if there were any replies and my post had already been removed and my posting privileges had been revoked from the site.
freedom of speech, indeed. I guess you have to agree with the protesters in order for them to listen to you.
And I'm from the OLD GAL RULE BOOK: Our men walk in full. :)
I think you'da probably laughed too; apparently I ran this guy into a whole bunch of people including the arms of the police, and a whole bunch of anti-military protestors were scrambling away from our side. I recall seeing this from my peripheral vision, but I was *really* focused on this twerp. Things happen..
You'll be band over there. Great post here!
Thanks - lots of good suggestions! Your experience really shows.
Sally didn't notice anything untoward, but we'll definitely have to keep the supervision better organized next time. Some of the older kids in our group got a little too rambunctious among the little ones, even if we hadn't had the "invaders."
We should have flyers or brochures to hand out - who we are, why we're here, have a nice day. I had a couple people ask me if we had information to distribute.
Great pics everyone and AAR. I'm finishing on working on a 1min 57 seconds video which highligts the "8 million Iraqi's gave Saddam the finger". Working on free(I luv that word)hosting of the video through the free Internet Archive Organization. If you haven't read about it or know what it is check it out. I've learned much in the past hour and hopefully will be able to share this to all without the middle man.
I don't think he was a FReeper. He was making some pretty over the top comments. He may have been a plant.
Usually, those handling the news, MSM and doing press should be nearby that focus front table and be wearing TAGS IDENTIFYING THEM AS "SPOKESMEN". This can also be done in shifts, and of course, the spokesmen can refer interviews to those within the group.
At one event in my past, someone from "the other side" claimed to be with "my side" and went forward to do an interview with the press, until I stepped in and nailed the guy as a fraud. So, on those name labels -- those doing the PRESS that day should have LABELS IDENTIFYING THEM AS "SPOKESMEN"" for the press to be able to "interview". It's just helpful and a point of reference for one and all.
Again, Tax-chick, your children were so adorable and well-behaved. I thought you and your wonderful husband were keeping a great eye on them -- no way were the children running amuk or wild.
Things can get wild at these events. I hate thinking of any of the children getting hurt in any fracas. I started out making my children wear whistles around their necks, at these events. "just in case".
I didn't notice the rambunctiousness of the older kids in the group -- I just saw them getting into the spirit of standing up for Freedom. :)
Now doesn't that say it all. Don't you know that words like "medic" and "thank you" are inflammatory!
A boy or two got overexcited :-).
You are on to something!...We need more folks doing more stuff next year!..Let's work on it!...TR did a tremendous amount of leg work...but one person can't do it all.
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