Exposing the Socialist Agenda of Antiwar Protestors in Fayetteville, NC (After Action Report)

Old North State Chapter | March 20, 2006 | Huber, et al.

[Huber]

Preparing to greet the commies - Early Saturday Morning
DStarr chooses a sign from her arsenal as she prepares to confront the leftist march.

This past Saturday, March 18, 2006 we conducted our third annual FReep in commemoration of the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. As in past years, leftists marched through the streets of Fayetteville, NC (home of Fort Bragg and Pope Airforce Base) and congregated in Rowan Park for their day of music and speeches, coordinated by NC Peace and Justice Coalition. The support the troops rally was conducted on the hillside overlooking Rowan Park.

Wolfpat's sound system

Wolfpat used a homemade sound system powered by a generator provided by CF_River_Rat to wonderful effect. (Lot's of folks admired WP's handcrafted speakers!) Those in the "American Zone" enjoyed the sounds of Lee Greenwood, Charlie Daniels, Johnny Cash and the Band of the Grenadiers playing Sousa Marches, The Ballad of the Green Berets and the Anthems of each branch of the Armed Forces. I particularly enjoyed observing the faces of some of the lefties as they passed rrrod and BufordP enjoying stogies with "When the Caissons Come Rolling Along" playing in the background.

Our back fence is decorated with various Americana messages from our own collections.

At one point during setup, we suggested the reporters play "count the flags on the other side of the street". They were shocked to see that there were no flags until one or two of the marchers brought them in.

The Revoked Permit

This year, the annual Fayetteville FReep would have had a drastically different complexion than in previous years. Members of the Old North State Chapter of the FreeRepublic Network had reserved Rowan Park in Fayetteville, NC, home of Ft Bragg (82nd Airborne) and Pope Air Force Base in order to host a large picnic in support of the troops on the 3rd anniversary of the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom. However months after Fayetteville had cashed our check, they revoked our permit and gave the park to the "Anti-war" protestors who had held rallies there on the two previous anniversaries. As reported in the Fayetteville Observer:

If the counter-protesters had gotten their way, it would be them --not the antiwar crowd-- filling the park on the third anniversary of the Iraq invasion.

A member of Free Republic, a support-the-war (sic) group, reserved Rowan Park for this weekend immediately after last year's large antiwar rally at the park. The reservation was described as for a two-day picnic and required an $800 (sic) check covering fees and a deposit.

Six months later, the city returned the check, documents show.

A Sept. 27 letter from the city explained the cancelation "due to a greater programming need and security accommodations for a large public event." The letter, by Parks and Recreations Director Robert Barefoot, said the park's sheltered stage is "generally not used or rented for picnics." Barefoot offered other picnic shelters or indoor "air-conditioned multipurpose rooms" to accommodate their event.

Citizens of Fayetteville were furious to hear that the city had arbitrarily canceled a pro-troops event in favor of an "anti-war" event. It seemed pretty clear that there was a political motivation for this by some in the city government. This matter remains unresolved at this point.

We had about 55-60 supporters of the troops and their mission, including FReepers, members of Rolling Thunder, and local veterans and families. FReepers present included Wolfpat, DemoRat Watcher, Sara's Mom, Lurker Sara, DStarr (right), flib, Clyde Asbury, Metacomet04, TaxRelief, Kristinn, rrrod, BufordP, Huber, StoneColdTaxHater, TaxDeduction2 and GunsAreOK.

Why was the leftist turnout so low?

The actual number of leftists this year was around 400, based on the reports filed by the police on the scene. Magically, that number expanded to "not more than a thousand" when it was reported by the local press. We have a basic rule of thumb for estimates of leftist numbers reported by mainstream media. Simply divide by three!

One of the speakers attributed it to the fact that so many of the Peace and Justice community were down in New Orleans for the Veterans and Survivors March for Peace and Justice. Interestingly, here is a photo of that march taken by a New Orleans' fisherman. (Perhaps most of the marchers were unusually short of stature and could not be seen over the bridge railing?)

Attendees at the Fayetteville march were not unaware of the dismal attendance. AP News reported the following quote:

"This is pitiful," Raleigh lawyer Brian Upchurch said as he waited at a staging point with about 300 people before the march. By the time protesters got moving, several hundred more had joined the route under the eye of local police.

"Part of it is lack of media attention. If you're not in the peace and justice community, you're not going to know about it. That, plus typical American apathy - many want to be home cutting their lawns," he said.

Undoubtedly there are a number of factors including protest fatigue and lack of novelty, but grass cutting-- in the middle of March--is not one of them. Perhaps reduced momentum in the aftermath of the Danish cartoon fatwahs and other atrocities that have clarified the character of this struggle with Islamofascism has allowed the truth to sink in to people's hearts?

The efforts of FReepers and others over the past several years have exposed the leftist organizers for what they are. Unlike in the sixties, the dossiers of the organizers and speakers, and the character of the marchers have been held up for scrutiny. As the leftist's speeches and writings become part of the public record, it is simply a matter of compiling this information and making it available at the rallies. A "peace activist" who argues that "peace will be achieved when soldiers stop obeying their superiors just as they did in Viet Nam" may maintain credibility with a hardcore audience including the International Socialist Workers Party and anarchist organizations, but such statements will only alienate most Americans.

Likewise, while MSM photos may zoom in on the handful of normal looking protestors in the crowd, we photograph the radicals in all their unwashed, pierced, misanthropic glory. These marches do not comprise large numbers of average American families, but rather a core group of hardcore radicals who hate and seek to overturn Western civilization, accompanied by fellow-travellers and some naive folks who may have been sucked in, not realizing with whom they were keeping company. As Justice Louis Brandeis famously said, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." Our FReeps shine a bright light of factual information on these infections in our society. The leftists are no longer able to maintain the illusion of a kumbaya love fest for peace: Their hatred becomes clear for all to see, and the positive "peace-vibe" goes the way of the other myths of the 60's.

The Twin Towers and the Pentagon of Peace.

We were not sure what to make of these. Perhaps the radicals were concluding that conscientious and appropriate "Citizen Action!" involved flying airliners into buildings for peace. Some inspired soul did manage to leave a message inside the Pentagon of Peace that "Freedom is not Free!" Here is babbling, bogus explanation provided by the NC Peace and Justice Coalition:

THE TWIN TOWERS OF DEMOCRACY
These 17 ft. tall towers, constructed of recycled refrigerator boxes and rubbings of historical plaques, remind us that the tragic destruction at the Twin Towers in NYC is not justification for undermining the Twin Towers of our Democracy, Citizen Action and Civil Liberties. Unfortunately war has historically been used as an excuse to dismantle the political and legal gains made by non-violent champions of 'Liberty and Justice for All' that are honored on the towers.

THE PEACE PENTAGON
Which is the more powerful tool for preserving our freedom, The "Five Freedoms" of the First Amendment represented by the five sides of this mobile Monument for Peace, or the power of the military represented by the five walls of the Pentagon in Washington D.C.? Many of our founding fathers feared that a large permanent military and involvement in foreign wars would undermine the Constitutional system of checks and balances they saw as most essential to preserving our freedom.

Note: Many of our founding fathers specifically feared that rabble like the "peace protestors" would make our country ungovernable!

Somehow this crowd seems to have missed the 10 million purple fingers of democracy, citizen action and civil liberties in Iraq.

The description of the Statue of Liberty particularly poignant:

HELP RECONSTRUCT LADY LIBERTY
The Statue of Liberty is in America, but she was built by two countries born of the Enlightenment--France and the United States-and has been seen by people throughout the world as a hopeful symbol lighting the way out of oppression and insecurity and toward freedom and fulfillment. For many people, observing recent betrayals of our higher ideals, especially the pictures of torture from Abu Ghraib, has been like watching Lady Liberty toppled over and violently dismembered. We need to work through a process of mourning, but many of us have been stuck in shock or denial. We have created a huge colorful modular statue of Liberty that we reassemble in ritual fashion. Members of your group can express their feelings of loss on white paper "tears," affirm their commitment to Enlightenment ideals on green paper "torches," and take affirmative action by filling out red paper "stop torture" postcards to hang on the statue.

Without dwelling on the fact that the American and Scottish Enlightments were dramatically different from the French, It would be interesting to see the protestors place their green paper "torches" in Tehran, or Jedda (after all, they would not even be allowed into Mecca), Damascus, Havana, or Beijing.

A Conversation with Rashad the Pharmacist and an Interactive Encounter with Code Pink

Dr Rashad Zidan, according to the organizers' handouts, "worked as a pharmacist for the government in hospitals and with the national distribution system. In 1993, she opened a private pharmacy in Baghdad, which remained open until the invasion in 2003. She sold her pharmacy in 2005 so that she could devote all of her energies to the women's organization that she helped to found which provides aid to victims of war, especially orphans and widows... Zidan is one of seven Iraqi women who converged in New York on Sunday, March 5th to begin a speaking tour to educate Americans about the reality in Iraq and to meet with UN and US officials to call for a peace plan to end the escalating spiral of violence... 'These women are not politicians, but ordinary Iraqis who are desperate (sic) to see an end to the violence and are taking great personal risk to come to the US,' says Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the CODEPINK and Global Exchange, the two groups organizing the delegation."

During an interview in Raleigh this weekend News and Observer, Greensboro, Dr. Zidan expressed the opinion "We have no electricity, no security, no water, no education, no medical care," she said. "So what's the freedom of the democracy the United States (has) given to us?" [Perhaps Kristinn will have the chance to explain to Code Pink that the definition of "democracy" is not "a political system with free services".]

During the CODEPINK introduction, FReepers began chanting the now familiar "Swim to Cuba" followed by "Code Pink, Red Stink". This persisted as long as the CODEPINK crowd was on the bandshell stage in the park. This provoked an emotional response from the PINKo's on stage, who began shouting louder and more shrilly as the Cuba chant continued. They lost it. As the PINKo's exited the stage, Kristinn explained to the "peace activists" that the reason for the chant was that CODEPINK regularly disrupts speakers that they disagree with, and also that CODEPINK had planned a visit to Cuba to celebrate the anniversary of the Marxist revolution there. He further explained that CODEPINK was not a women's rights organization but an international Marxist organization. Several "peace activists" stared for a while, and then wandered back to their hollow.


As Dr. Zidan spoke, one of the FReeper guests began a conversation with her using the megaphone."Free Iraqi women from male opression!" our guest exhorted. "Shed the burkhas: Shed the bras!" Dr. Zidan replied from the bandshell, "Do you know who you are speaking to?" "Yes", replied the troop supporter, "How much is CODEPINK paying you to speak today, $25,000?" At this point, Zidan's response was becoming unintelligible, so the supporter responded, $24,000?". Zidan's words suddenly came faster and shriller, at which point a CODEPINK organizer with a clipboard moved toward the American Zone and a distraction of our troop supporter, "Can I talk to her? Who is she?" she demanded to know. The PINKo then approached our guest and yelled "Can I talk to you?" to which the supporter replied, "Yes, after I finish speaking with Rashad." (It's only polite to wait one's turn, is it not?)

Well, at this point, according to one witness, the CODEPINK organizer began "roaring like a bull and screaching like a heavy metal singer." Unfortunately, when the supporter completed her conversation with Rashad, the CODEPINK organizer had left (Young people today have no patience).

The MOABS

For the uninitiated, MOAB stands for MOther of All Banners, and is a large banner with a message large and bold enough to be read from afar.

As the marchers approached their festival site, they were greeted by the Old North State Chapter's first MOAB with its simple but effective 8' message, "So you're anti-war protestors. Isn't that cute." (Even some of the marchers couldn't resist chuckling at the implied slap at their maturity levels.)

In a war of words the MOAB can be powerful on multiple levels. If its message is well targeted, it will undermine the false pretense of legitimacy and seriousness of the left-wing action. Lack of legitimacy is exposed by drawing attention to the true agenda of the left--international socialism--while the illusion of seriousness is uncovered by exposing their half-baked arguments like "Bush is the world's biggest terrorist" and "It's all about Halliburton". When a well worded MOAB undermines the left effectively, it tends to provoke a shrill reaction, which further undermines their position.

The DC Chapter's MOAB was launched a little later due to hardware challenges, but rrrod came through and, once unfurled, its Club Gitmo theme had the desired effect. Both MOABs were featured on the evening news!

---

Freepers in action

Wolfpat and GunsareOK model one of JumpinJack's excellent signs.

    
The picket line prepares to advance.

Live Action thread being typed into a Blackberry.

Press and TV Coverage.

WRAL, News14 Carolina, and ABC-11 all gave reasonably balanced coverage of the two sides. FReepers and members of Rolling Thunder were represented by coherent and meaningful sound bites, rather than all too common practice by the MSM of selecting an inarticulate section of any interview with a conservative for airing. (We did our part by ensuring that all representatives of our side shaved their unibrows, replaced missing teeth and wiped drool off their shirts prior to being interviewed.) The soundbites airing on TV included statements that "the protesters across the street were not advocating peace but were merely seeking to demoralize and undermine American resolve" and "while our troops are fighting overseas, we are watching their backs over here." FReeper chants captured on air included "You never marched on Saddam, you never marched on Osama." The MOABS both appeared on the news, along with one of my favorite signs, which read "Welcome Home Troops, Excuse the Idiots."

The local paper, the Fayetteville Observer, gave only brief mention to our side, along with ample coverage of the leftists, including a silly Q&A entitled "Who is Chuck Fager?" The Observer did, however, run the story earlier in the week breaking the news about the city cancelling our permit and awarding it to the the protesters.

Rolling Thunder

It would be difficult to say enough good things about this group. Rolling Thunder is a local motorcycle club of military vets. They are active in local community service and in support of the military and veteran community. They obtained the permit for the counter-protest on the hill above the park, showed up and set up early, brought great signs and flags, and stayed to the very end.

During the first Fayetteville FReep three years ago, RT members were able to line up their motorcycles in our area across from the park, and periodically rev'd their hogs at strategic times to make a joyful noise in contrast to the whining and anti-American rhetoric in the park. Fayetteville's finest took a dim view of this and advised the club to cease and desist, but in all fairness to Fayetteville's finest, these wonderful choppers were weapons of mass disruption. Putting an amplified "We are the World" against a revving Harley is like trying to use a 1970 VW Microbus to face down a tank. This year, the joyful noise was expressed by RT members buzzing down the highway directly behind our area, to a somewhat more muted effect.

Fayetteville Police Dept

The Fayetteville PD and guests from other LEAs did an exceptional job of keeping the peace. The police presence was massive, and as usual, they were all facing the collection of anarchists, socialists, hippies, druggies and Islamofascist sympathizers in the park. The police inspected every backpack, and used wands and dogs to check for any other contraband. Police were also mounted on horseback.

The lefties made several attempts to infiltrate our area. One lady wearing a T shirt advertising the local communist channel on sattelite TV persisted for quite some time, approaching different individuals in our area and each time being turned away. For those who have not been to a FReep, these infiltrations, often posed as invitations for dialog, are usually intended solely as distractions, opportunities to get to the kids, or as opportunities to position someone for a physical attack, as occurred last year against FReeper Bert.

It is unrealistic to presume that someone wearing a leftist slogan on their T-shirt is open to logical debate on the merits of different political philosophies. It is simply a waste of time, and no good will come of it.

This guy tried to break into the American zone. Note his innocent, disingenous expression as he feigns an inability to comprehend why the police will not let him through. The baby in his backpack was in hysterics after he continued to challenge the police, who after politely informing him that he would not be allowed into the American Zone, surrounded him and informed him more insistently that his best option was to walk away if he wished not to be arrested.

Our guess, based on his obliviousness or callousness to the emotional state of the infant, was that it was a loaner baby that he borrowed to appear less threatening and also to place the police in a difficult position by using the baby as a form of human shield. (It becomes more difficult to arrest someone when a struggle might cause injury to an innocent!)

FReeper Fellowship

FReepers got together for food and fellowship on Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday brunch. (We were at a bit of a loss to explain why we were enjoying St. Paddy's day in an Italian pizza place, and it was interesting that the waitress offered Heiniken as a possible choice when we inquired about whether they had any Irish beer!) There is no finer bunch with which to spend time. While we did not finalize our selection of the next republican presidential candidate on behalf of the rest of the country, we made good progress. If your time allows when travelling for a FReep, take the time to enjoy the company of our great network across the country.

[BlueOneGolf]

Bump for later reading.

[dstarr]

"Shed the burkhas: Shed the bras!"

We didn't say anything about bras. It was TR and I yelling, each with a bull horn that brought the woman to a shrill, screaming finish. When we asked how much Code Pinko had paid, we'd go, "How much was that again?" And rattle off another made up amount. It was really quite fun being a total pain. It's just so easy to get to the other side.

[wolfpat]

Your pictures of the guy using a human shield are much better than mine. But I have FRiend Kristinn representing us well:

Our side:

And the Rude and Crass division of NC FRee Republic:

We must not forget the fine support from our South Carolina FRiends:

One thing to add from my previous post on the other thread. Here's the guy with the baby human shield with Fayetteville's finest:

[wolfpat]

This After Action Report is probably the best one I've ever seen. Thanks.

[clyde asbury]

Here's the guy with the baby human shield with Fayetteville's finest:

Pat, there's the action shot. I missed seeing that. I do remember seeing the guy earlier. A section of the fence or railing surrounding the park is normally open but was covered with police tape on Saturday; it directly faces the American zone.

The guy - let's hope he's not any body's father, particularly not the baby's - was behaving in the same way then. Police were standing by the taped section, and apparently told him to exit in the direction of the Kiwanis's building. Hands in the air, the same poor acting as in the closeup pictures.

[tgslTakoma]

Great work by all who were there! I missed being there and getting to Freep the commies and visit with you all. Kristinn said you guys and gals were in top form, and really got under the skin of many of the Moonbats. Fabulous! Thank you all for piddling in the Moonbats' Cheerios last Saturday.

[Redbob]

Sounds wonderful - right up to where you describe the juveniles "revving the engines on their Harleys..."

Isn't THAT cute...
(I ride a motorcycle, but I don't go out of my way to make a nuisance of myself - that's not "protest," it's asininity)

[dixie sass]

Another great FReep! Way to go y'all!!!!!!

[Rick_Michael]

Aren't they dead yet!?

[Rick_Michael]

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=hippies
Use of hippies:

# Parking your car on them.

# Sending them to war so they get killed instead of real people.

# Medical testing (they're stupid like animals; just knock them out and give them a shot.. they won't know what happened)

# Using them for ammo. We should pack them into missiles and launch them over towards Iraq. The smell is potent enough to make any enemy surrender.

# Target practice.

# Hamburgers (They want to be in touch with nature, so what better way than to be digested and used as fertilizer? Hippy burgers anyone?)

# Hippies make great janitors (after all, they have the smell down).

# Decorations. Add color to your yard with a few hippies impaled on your fence (Dracula style).

# Hippies make great scapegoats. Bad day at work? Famine? Plague? Cancer? Blame it on hippies.

# Hippies are always good for kicking.

# Hippies are fun to tease (good for laughs when you're bored)

# Raw sewage storage (Hippies will eat anything).

# Hippies are flamable and make for great campfire fuel.

# Hippies will do free work to clean up the world (those suckers love earth).

# Hippies are great for mixing with cement and throwing off bridges.

# Hippies are perfect for running over (always sleeping on park benches and sidewalks).

[Alia]

Outstanding after-action Free Report, Huber! Yeehaw!

[StoneColdTaxHater]

HOOOOAH!

[Tax-chick]

BTTT

[Tax-chick]

Second Fayetteville thread.

[trooprally]

Thanks for the great AAR. Love the pics and text.

Your large crowd of supporters is impressive.

Love the MOAB and signs.

FReep ON.

[Mr] T

[Tax-chick]

(We were at a bit of a loss to explain why we were enjoying St. Paddy's day in an Italian pizza place, and it was interesting that the waitress offered Heineken as a possible choice when we inquired about whether they had any Irish beer!)

Curious customs of the Irish-American ping!

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Is there any country on Earth that dosen't have Heineken? LOL

[Albion Wilde]

That is so sweet of the officer to try to comfort the distressed baby human shield being used by the moonbat.

[Albion Wilde]

Wonderful FReep and fantastic AAR, Huber!

[Tax-chick]

My mother and sister-in-law drank Heineken in Amsterdam. I don't like beer, so I had either Diet Coke or water. Bartenders thought it was very strange that I would ask for tap water with ice! "Water ... you know, water from the sink, right there ..."