Posted on 05/18/2002 4:12:55 PM PDT by FreedomPoster
As discussed on previous threads, Cynthia McKinney held a "Veterans Town Hall Meeting" today in Decatur, GA. Nine FReepers were there to make sure the public and any reporters realized that McKinney has never before been interested in veterans or the military, and it sure is strange that she's starting now. See this thread for the reasons why.
Those present were: Me (FreedomPoster); RobFromGa and his lovely twin freeperette daughters (7? 8? years old); AFVetGal; "Be not afraid!"; dansangel; .45MAN; WhiskeyPapa; Apple Pan Dowdy; and later, Atlantian
Special thanks to vigilantcitizen, who wanted to come, but got called into work at the last minute, and who provided sign materials and one professionally stenciled sign.
Special thanks also to "Be not afraid!"; who got the demonstration permit and then wouldn’t let anyone chip in to help pay for it. Next time, we’ll have to call the Southeastern Legal Foundation and see if we really need such a thing to exercise our free speech rights on public property. It sure didn’t feel right, and was not the battle we were fighting today.
We started arriving in front of the library starting around 11:30. Several of us ate sack lunches, we made signs, etc. Sign slogans included:
"DeKalb Deserves Better - Saudi Arabia Please Take Her!"
(a reference to her radical Muslim support and her begging to the Saudi Prince for the $10 million)
"I’m not Fonda McKinney"
"Hey Cynthia, what planet are you from?"
"Honk if you support veterans" (we got a lot of honks)
Of course, there were many flags in evidence, and I was wearing my flag-motif shirt and hat from the ’96 Olympic Games, so I really stood out.
A Decatur policeman stopped briefly, and we spoke with him, explaining "we’re just a bunch of friendly, law-abiding conservative political protesters." He could pretty easily profile us to see we were a peaceful crew. I commented that "we’re here because Ms. McKinney is such an idiot", and he chuckled and said there were probably a lot of people who thought that.
At around 12:15, we split into a front group and a rear group to cover the entrances. I had brought a pair of Talkabout radios, so we had good comms. We handed out flyers (this is a Word document) to many who were just going to the library, and also to some veterans there for the meeting. We told them we were there to protest Ms. McKinney’s sudden interest in the military and veterans, when she hadn’t cared about them in the ten years she’s been in office, that we thought she was trying to get some favorable publicity involving veterans, and that we were there to set the record straight.
It does appear that Ms. McKinney did send a letter to the national VFW. A very distinguished-looking gray-haired gentleman got out of a car. When asked if he were a veteran, he replied "Yes I am." We told him why were we there and gave him one of our fliers. It turns out he was President of the National VFW last year, and was there to be on her veteran’s panel, and to keep an eye on what was going on. I think he was genuinely glad to see us there. Only one of the local VFW people I spoke with last week had heard of hte event, though we did see several BVA members go in.
Around 12:30, Cynthia’s father, local rep Billy McKinney came and harangued the gathered Freepers. He ending up playing the race card pretty heavily at his closing with us, when he headed into the building. Several of the McKinney supporters played the "you’re just a bunch of rich white people" race/class warfare card. We pointed out that they were bringing up the racial issue, that as far as we were concerned, there was nothing racial about Cynthia’s anti-Americanism. We pointed out that some of us were supporting Cynthia’s black opponent in the primary, and one of us (Apple Pan Dowdy) was involved in the black civil rights movement in Birmingham in the 60’s.
Around 12:40, a late model, shiney Toyota Land Cruiser parked right across from the entrance we were at. Four BIG black guys, all wearing dark 3- and 4-button suits, got out and arrayed them around the upper level back entrance. We gathered most of the Freepers out back, figuring she would come in there. I hope Apple Pan Dowdy got a picture of these heavies. A side note - after having been the recipient of the race/class warfare nastiness of some of the McKinney supporters, I point out that the two nicest vehicles there by far were the heavies’ Land Cruiser, and the Mercedes AMG S55 with the Morehead College plates (local Atlanta black school) that a very nicely dressed black woman arrived in. Yes, we’re just evil rich white folks, and they're all just so poor.
Some of the security guys disappeared inside, a couple were standing next to us at the back upper level entrance, when whoosh, Cynthia snuck in the lower level back entrance. We did get in a couple of chants of:
Hey hey, ho-ho,
Commie McKinney’s got to go!
There had been a local Fox News cameraman around that we had spoken with, and just after McKinney went inside, his reporter sidekick arrived. We think it was Tony D'Astoli, but aren’t sure. In any case, they took some shots of the group en mass chanting with all the signs, and then they interviewed me. We didn’t make the Fox 6PM news, so I’ll have my VCR rolling for the Fox 10PM news.
After taking some more hateful racist vitriol from a McKinney supporter (we suggested she look in a mirror to see a racist), we migrated back out front and handed out more flyers to pedestrian and auto-mobile passers-by. An NBC Channel 11 local news cameraman came by and took some video of us all, and I made a few statements and did a little Q&A. Their evening 6PM local news was pre-empted by the Preakness and the NBA playoffs. He told us to watch the 11PM news. Hopefully we’ll get on there.
After discussing events, and what had occurred, we decided that waiting another 1-1/2 hours for the event to end was a bit much, and we all saddled up and headed home to lawn mowing, grocery trips, time with family, etc.
Even if we don’t get on any of the local news programs, we made more than a few people think, we handed out a small pile of flyers, and we let these anti-Americans know we are watching them closely.
All-in-all, we did some good, it was good to meet some Atlanta FReepers, and there will be more of us next time. Let's do it again soon, Atlantans!
Rep. Cynthia McKinney said,I thought this was apropos to post on the thread about our Commie McKinney FReep."Today's revelations that the administration, and President Bush, were given months of notice that a terrorist attack was a distinct possibility points out the critical need for a full and complete congressional investigation." (Atlanta Journal & Constitution, "Revelations give boost to McKinney; But Miller, Norwood unapologetic" 5/17/02)
Ms. McKinney has voted: · AGAINST last week's Defense Authorization bill which provided increased military funding and a pay increase for military personnel. · THIRTEEN times AGAINST increased defense funds. · FOUR times to CUT military funding. · FIVE times to CUT intelligence funding. · TWICE AGAINST increased funds for modernizing military hardware. · REPEATEDLY voted AGAINST pay increases, funding for health care and housing for military personnel.
Americans know that President Bush when faced with credible information about a threat would act swiftly and strongly. It is terribly unfair to the victims and victim families of the terrible tragedy of September 11 for anyone to suggest anything to the contrary. Such statements are irresponsible and politically motivated.
Thank you!
Thank you.
I posted a small summary to the "Canteen" and "America the Right Way!" threads:
.45Man and I are back from our very first FReep. Just thought I would share some of our experiences.
We were involved in a FReep of Cynthia McKinney in Decatur, GA, organized by FreedomPoster and "BeNotAfraid!" McKinney is the one who charged the Bush Administration with knowing about the 9-11 attack beforehand and keeping it quiet in order to profit from it. Meanwhile, 21% of McKinney's financing is from Arab/Islam sources, She also disgraced the United States by offering to take the 10 million that Rudy Giuliani refused from a Saudi prince after 9-11.
McKinney has been gloating in the local media about being "vindicated" by the latest DemonRat attack on President Bush. She scheduled an appearance with the local VFW, ostensibly to show her "support" of the armed forces she has in the past shown open contempt for. It is not hard to figure out she was stumping for votes.
We had what we feel was a successful FReep. In attendance were: FreedomPoster; "BeNotAfraid!'" WhiskeyPapa; RobFromGa; AFVetGal, Atlantian; ApplePanDowdy, two extremely cute "mini-FReepers," (RobFromGA's adorable daughters), .45MAN and myself. McKinney avoided us by sneaking into an entrance we were not aware of. Her father, however, confronted us, reducing what might have been useful dialogue into a blatant playing of the "race card."
At one point, unfortunately, we were accused by the other side of being "Racist Nazis." That hurt a lot, but not being able to defend against facts, the McKinney supporters were reduced to typical name-calling and inflammatory remarks.
FreedomPoster acted as our spokesperson, being interviewed by both FOX5News of Atlanta and Channel 11. He was eloquent, poised and direct in his responses. A wonderful testimony to Free Republic.
.45MAN and I made some great friends today. Now that we've gotten our "feet wet," we can hardly wait for the next FReep here in Atlanta. Thank-you for your prayers and best wishes. Happy Armed Forces Day. We defended the honor of our Armed Forces against the opposition today.
God Bless all of those who defend our freedom, past, present and future.
AFVetGal has posted some photos to This Thread
Thanks to all for prayers and support.
God Bless you and your family.
Pegita
Kabul Cindy's Got to go....
Thanks for all the preparation, it was a great FREEP. They need to know we're watching.
Eagles Up!!!
Rob, Amanda & NicoleFromGa
Permits: Up here if you counter protest a group that has a permit provided you don't use sound, no permit needed. the idea is that if you protest you can be expected to have counter protesters. If you protest, with signs and with out a permit as long as you keep moving you are a pedestrian, RaceBannon can fill you in on this.
If you are going to protest a POLITICAL thing, get a permit, get a permit with sound, designate the areas where your people will be, and inflate your numbers. Designate a person, with a copy of the permit to cover the areas you intend to protest. Megaphones are $77 bucks at "Radio Shack".
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