Posted on 07/08/2002 8:19:44 PM PDT by kristinn
The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic held a meeting two weeks ago to discuss our future and hold one final review of The Patriots Rally for America.
Our guest of honor was author and scholar James Bovard.
Those attending the meeting were chapter members Jimmy Valentine's brother, GunsareOK, Taxman, leadpenny, AGreatPer, sauropod, BufordP, Connie, jimtorr, tgslTakoma, Angelwood, Gore_War_Vet and his significant other, a lurker from Virginia and kristinn.
It was our pleasure to be joined by visiting FReepers dixie sass and 3D-JOY.
We gave the finances of the Patriots Rally one last look and determined that we were in the clear thanks to the generosity of FReepers from across the country and the kindness of two in particular. The rally cost approximately $7300 overall, around 2/3 of this was paid for by D.C. Chapter members.
We spoke about our Saturday vigil at the Pentagon which we maintained from November to April. Rather than continue to hold official vigils every Saturday, we decided to go there on an informal basis for the time being in order to maintain the memorial trees during the summer. (tgslTakoma, daughter of tgsl, stand watie and I went there this past Saturday.)
We made plans to reach out to conservative students at D.C. area college campuses this fall to counter the leftist influence there and to recruit new FReepers among conservative students.
Mr. Bovard led a spirited discussion that went on for hours. He began by telling us about the book he is writing and everyone joined in and took it from there. The main discussion was the government's response to the terrorist attacks on 9-11 and the effects on the rights of American citizens.
While we agreed that some of the changes instituted were good, we also agreed that some of the changes enacted into law and others being proposed in the courts were not good at all--specifically parts of the Patriot Act and the designation of American citizens as enemy combatants without the right to contest the designation.
While we applauded the Bush administration's support of the Second Amendment as an individual right, we were concerned at the whittling away of other Constitutional rights by Congress and the Bush administration.
Mr. Bovard was very pleasant to talk with and he shared his expertise on many subjects with us. The meeting went on far longer than planned. Mr. Bovard left after four hours that flew by fast. The remaining guests were gone by 8 p.m., six hours after the first guests arrived.
We were deeply honored that Mr. Bovard spoke at our meeting. We look forward to meeting him again.
we MISS your smile-come see us!
for dixie,sw
for a FREE dixie REPUBLIC,sw
It's really important to begin to take back the universities. Encore! Encore!
for dixie,sw
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