Posted on 10/15/2002 9:24:39 PM PDT by kristinn
Honor roll for tonight: Virginia-American, tgslTakoma, TBP, Tolerance Sucks Rocks and kristinn.
Members of the D.C. Chapter of Free Republic gathered tonight at the Cineplex Odeon Cinema in Washington, D.C. to protest leftist Michael Moore at the local premier of his film, Bowling for Columbine, and the beneficiary of the proceeds of the screening, the gun-grabbing Brady Campaign.
tgslTakoma and I arrived at 7:25 p.m. for the eight o'clock showtime. TBP and Tolerance Sucks Rocks were already there--but they were signless.
We had brought three signs with us, so we did the best we could. It didn't take much to irritate the gun-grabbers loitering in front of the theater, though. Before I'd taken two steps with my sign, a woman told me to "Take your sign and stuff it!"
A security guard working the premier got all upset at our presence. She told us we couldn't stand in front of the theater and tried to direct us to go far way from it.
While we were explaining to her that we were within our rights and would not block the sidewalk, an older man attending the premier spoke out in favor of our right to be there, pointing out that we were on a public sidewalk. The security guard relented and we proceeded to parade back and forth with our signs at the edge of the sidewalk in front of the theater.
Some the attendees challenged us with "arguments." One man asked me what I meant by the sign I was carrying which said, "D.C.'s "Sensible" Gun Laws Make Me an Unarmed Victim."
I explained about the armed D.C. criminals who've robbed and assaulted me in the past. He retorted that he'd lived in the city for eighteen years and never been robbed or attacked.
A woman took great exception to the message on tgslTakoma's sign, "Michael Moore's Flatulence Has Killed More People Than My Guns." She said it was the stupidest sign she had ever seen and that (tgslTakoma) should be ashamed of herself. She was so agitated she interrupted a lecture from another woman about the sniper attacks and how we should be getting rid of guns to make her point.
Tolerance Suck Rocks, holding a sign that said, "Brady Campaign and Michael Moore Profiting From Tragedy," was challenged by a pedantic man who wanted to debate gun statistics.
TBP and I spoke with a reporter from Newsweek who was at Free Republic's March for Justice four years ago with Michael Isikoff. He had great memories of FR's anti-Clinton, pro-impeachment rally. We chided him for Newsweek's not reporting about it.
We also explained to him how the Brady Campaign was exploiting the tragedy of the sniper attacks to push their agenda with so-called 'gun fingerprinting.'
Virginia-American showed up and donned a t-shirt that had an image of a masked man attacking a woman (who's holding a pistol with a trigger lock on it) that was captioned in large letters, "Trigger Locks-- Rapist Approved." I don't think anyone challenged him on his message.
A few minutes before showtime we spied Michael Moore, accompanied by a small entourage, walk up to the theater. We chanted, "Michael Moore and Brady Bunch...Exploiting Tragedy," several times.
Much to our surprise, Moore came over and spoke with us. He looked at our signs (including the 'flatulence' one) and thanked us for being there.
He said he was trying to "start a dialogue"--not exploit tragedy-- with his film because guns are a "polarizing issue" We pointed out the whimiscal title of his film and he said it was not meant to be funny.
He also said he was not making money from the film, that he was only paid the director's fee. We noted that the Brady Campaign was getting the proceeds of this event and he said that the Alliance for Justice, a group he described as fighting poverty, was also sharing the proceeds.
He urged us to come in and see the film. We told him we didn't want to give our money to the Brady Bunch. He answered by telling us to e-mail him and he would get us passes to the film. I told him I'll probably go see the film, but that I'll pay my own way.
I also told him about my sign and that the Brady Campaign's support for D.C.'s "sensible" gun laws keep law-abiding people vulnerable to criminals who know that we are easy pickings because we are unarmed. He said that was a good point that should be addressed (in the gun debate.)
He then left us to go to the more favorable crowd inside. We hung around for awhile under the watchful eyes of the Brady Bunch staffers. The security guards, in contrast, had long since figured out we weren't going to start shooting up the theater and relaxed around us.
We left around 8:20 p.m. as rain began to fall and the last attendees went inside the theater.
Photos by tgslTakoma to follow.
EAGLES UP !!!
Awesome! Ya gotta love it. Thanks for being there for those of us who couldn't. {{{Loud Applause}}}
There's been a slight change in the Administration's approach to the subject........ here
Ummm if he wasn't making money from the film he wouldn't have taken the director's fee.
GREAT FREEP ... Keep up the fine job!!
PING!
Great job!
I'm glad he talked to you ... perhaps he will think and allow some of the truth you shared to work on him. Either way, it is critical for them to know that others are solid in the defense of their rights, against any "sensible", useful-idiot arguements they care to raise.
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