Posted on 10/27/2002 1:35:01 PM PST by daviddennis
The Democrats were lucky we were at this event, because otherwise the poor Firefighters would have fallen asleep from boredom.
Picture it: An evening of impossibly dull speeches, all alike. The speaker thanks the firefighters for inviting him, thanks the firefighters for all the hard work they are doing, takes about a minute tooting his own horn, and tells them to be sure to walk precincts and talk to people and get out there to vote!
By the time this pattern is repeated five or six times, even the dumbest Firefighter is going to have gotten the idea.
Well, we made their evening a whole lot less dull.
It started, though, with a mistake and a SWAT team.
Our core people were standing across from their Campaign HQ. The campaign HQ people were glaring at us. We were glaring at them. Everything was normal.
But then a baffled security guy walked across the street, in an almost unprecedented violation of our space! And he was asking about one of those "freepers" with the trepedation he might have expressed if we were death ray totin' space aliens.
It turns out they had seen one of our threads where we reminded people not to take their guns from the Second Amendment Sisters event, and someone had made a joke, something like "Why not?" This put them on red alert and sent out the SWAT team, prepared to take us down if we even thought about assassination.
I have to say that I thought it was all a little overblown. After all, if they had only checked FR a little later, they would have known the Second Amendment Sisters event was cancelled due to rain.
Because of this, we were not allowed to stay across from the venue. This was okay with us; our fearless leader the ChickenMan had other plans.
*
Time once again to explain where we were:
p s |
r i | building | parking lot (never referenced)
o d | -------------------------------------------------- --roadblock A
t G e | Democratic | Event Location (parking lot A)
e r w | HQ Building | music Speaker's
s e a | | stage Podium
t e l | |
n k | -----------------thick hedges--------------------- roadblock B
s | Underground |
i S | Parking | parking lot B
d t | (next door |
e | building above)|
w | -----------------shoulder-high wall--------------
| another | parking lot C | |
| building | | building |
| | | | cop
\________________| ---wall------ |____________/ car
Protest
corner
__________________________________________________ / opposite corner
As a photographer, my goal was to get a picture of Gray Davis. The protester's goal was to successfully heckle Davis and make our point very clear.
And I was to enjoy a major victory, among many that night. The Chickenman spotted someone sneaking around the Democratic HQ. "Garry South," he exclaimed, for it was in fact the great man, the genius behind all of Davis' campaign efforts, often cited as the brains (to the extent that there were any, of course) behind the elusive Governor. They exchanged some banter (which I caught on video) and South scuttled away, hoping to avoid contamination from the Freeper group.
At the ChickenMan's direction, we all assembled at the Protest Corner. Our idea was that if Davis didn't wind up going in by the Protest Corner, he would at least have to go through the cop car (lower right). We could always move past the cop car and freep him there if he came that way. I was skeptical because I figured he might come down to Roadblock A instead, therefore neatly bypassing us.
I think Gray Davis's first strategy was simply to wait us out. He was scheduled to speak at 5:30. By 6:15 or so, people were leaving. I actually figured that Davis would not show. Even the ChickenMan had doubts, since there was no press, a modest crowd that didn't even come close to filling the venue, and absolutely no electricity in the air.
We were, of course, waving our signs and proclaiming our immediate desire to Dump Davis.
One lady from Pasadena had a brilliant idea: She brought two candles, and told us they were symbolic of the electricity we would surely lose if Davis was re-elected. A brilliant touch, especially since it was pitch-dark by the time Davis showed up. The candles made a wonderful light that looked great on camera.
The legendary eGray in white
In deference to the sensibilities of the children who might see him, RonDog decided to be plain eGray, ditching the hooker costume for the occasion. In his white shirt and tie, with the grotesque Gray Davis mask on, he looked every bit as horrifying.
Outraged as Superman
Outraged once again took on the role of SuperMan, with his need to fly over and get that "criminal". As always, he earned the role of SuperMan fair and square by being the most courageous of us, making frequent forays towards the cop car (see the diagram).
Monique and her mom Freeping with Us
New Freeper Paola (previously known as Monique, but I guess that name was taken) looked fetching as always with her new Uncle Sam hat. She even brought her mother and grandmother, who were both bewildered and awed by the proceeedings.
Tony in Hawaii holding the Leon signs
Our intrepid freeper Tony from Hawaii was here - I don't think he's missed an event yet! As you can see in the picture, he was the custodian of Leon's great signs.
There were numerous others, and if I've left you out, I apologise; I am not great with names. But I should have gotten most of the highlights.
The public was 100% on our side. We got tons of honks from traffic; there's no question the public is ready to Dump Davis! In fact, one of the cars leaving the event, complete with Gray Davis signs inside, honked at us! So we may have some covert friends in there; maybe that's why the applause wasn't so loud.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
The Legendary ChickenMan
I am sorry to say that even the ChickenMan was unable to foil Davis' stealth squads. He seems to be pretty good at dodging protesters; one moment he was out, and one moment Chickenman started suspecting something. I went into Parking Lot C (which was empty), and sure enough, in parking Lot B, there was a suspicious looking Lincoln Town Car and a big SUV. Apparently they sent them in one at a time, and we were looking for a mass of vehicles. And they gave Davis the more luxurious Town Car, while we'd gotten used to the "people's" Mercury Marquis.
This was a crushing defeat for our team. But never fear! We rallied quickly and positioned ourselves on the wall behind Parking Lot C. I positioned myself in Parking Lot C, at the edge so I could see Davis.
With Davis safely inside the complex, the speeches could finally begin. And, as I said at the beginning, they were uniformly dull. People were having a hard time rousing the crowd from slumber. But, fortunately for them, we were here!
DUMP DAVIS NOW!, we chanted passionately, as the MC talked blandly about how great the next speaker was.
GIVE THE MONEY BACK, DAVIS! we chanted as an assembly candidate tried in vain to rouse the voters.
They tried to strike back. They pointed to us and noted how much they appreciated our exercise of our first amendment rights.
WHERE'S OUR $25 BILLION? we chanted, drowning out the speakers.
They started erecting a barrier consisting of some Davis for Governor banners so we couldn't see them. But they left a little gap in the middle. My camera was able to reach through and continue to photograph the speakers. It would have been easy to block me out entirely, so for a while I wondered what was going on.
More and more of the speakers were referring to us. They were saying that there was a clear choice in this election, between those protesters sitting out in the dark and ....
WE'LL DEBATE DAVIS ANY TIME IF HE WOULD JUST APPEAR roared the ChickenMan.
... our wonderful Democratic candidate, Gray Davis, who
DUMP DAVIS! DUMP DAVIS NOW!
... supports abortion rights, has given kids new health care, and has saved the 8-hour day!
We finally got a little passion out of them, thanks to our heckling, which reached a fever pitch when Davis appeared! He was there, on the podium, and I had a clear shot of him, for the first time in this entire adventure!
Of course our chants got louder, ceaseless "DUMP DAVIS NOW!" and "GIVE THE MONEY BACK DAVIS" and many, many more. Davis beat a strategic retreat and the show, if you could call it that, went on with even more boring speeches. I was afraid we'd managed to scare off the great man, so I wouldn't get to hear him speak, for the first time.
But then he came back for more ...
It was an amazing experience, getting beautiful clear footage of Davis, with all the chants and drama on our side. His speech, of course, was just about as dull as the others. It was hard to tell, since we were doing such a good job drowning him out, but I don't think the firefighters missed much.
And then I noticed something odd.
At times, Gray Davis was facing my camera and playing to it, almost ignoring his real audience! Yes, I was to the side of the venue, but had a head and shoulders view of him. Obviously he had seen the red light on the video camera and was, as politicians naturally do, playing to the only video camera present.
No wonder they were so careful not to obscure my view of the stage - they thought I was the media!
I haven't had so much fun in ages. I guess I won't be able to make much out of 'Gray and Me' after all.
After the event, ChickenMan noted that Davis was probably chewing out, if not firing, the person who did advance work for the project. "He should have realized he can't keep us out," he noted. And he was right. They should have done it in an auditorium somewhere where he could have made his bland speech unmolested.
I hear the next event, with Bill Clinton on Monday, is also going to be outdoors ... and they can't change or cancel it now.
<img src = http://www.amazing.com/politics/freeping/2002-10-26/MVC-085S.JPG
In the mean time, enjoy! Feel free to add your own observations, thoughts and views to this thread.
Also, my thanks to Outraged for all photos on this page except for Garry South, which was part of the video. Enjoy!
D
D
BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!! Priceless!!
I actually did enjoy the sensation of leaning my head all the way over to the side to look at the pictures. Don't ask me why, but I did. :D
Great job, and I can't wait to see the video.
It started, though, with a mistake and a SWAT team.It was a LOT overblown. :(Our core people were standing across from their Campaign HQ. The campaign HQ people were glaring at us. We were glaring at them. Everything was normal.
But then a baffled security guy walked across the street, in an almost unprecedented violation of our space! And he was asking about one of those "freepers" with the trepedation he might have expressed if we were death ray totin' space aliens.
It turns out they had seen one of our threads where we reminded people not to take their guns from the Second Amendment Sisters event, and someone had made a joke, something like "Why not?"
This put them on red alert and sent out the SWAT team, prepared to take us down if we even thought about assassination.
I have to say that I thought it was all a little overblown...
Fortunately, the Chicken Man knew the head of security, and I had called the Pasadena police department much earlier in the day - as is our standard opration procedure - giving them my name and cell phone number, with a courtesy call that ten to fifteen members of the conservative Internet news forum Free Republic would be peacefully protesting the Governor's appearance at the barbeque. So when I identified myself as the author of the thread, and reassured them of our peaceful intent, the SWAT team was sent away.On the PLUS side, it was pretty impressive to see the head of security for this event holding in his hands a printout of THIS thread:
Bottom line: You never know WHO will be lurking on Free Republic, so be CAREFUL what you post!FREEP ALERT! GRAY DAVIS IN PASADENA WITH THE HOOKER & CHICKEN, Saturday 10/26
Debate Chicken Email | 10/23/2002 | David H Dennis
Posted on 10/23/2002 9:45 AM PDT by daviddennis
Southern California freepers, here's your chance to tell Gray Davis exactly what we think of him! We need a ROARING CROWD to tell everyone we need to DUMP DAVIS NOW!
Since this is a union hall, we will be facing opposition aplenty, but that doesn't mean we give up. Join our forces, including the Debate Chicken, eGray Hooker and me for what promises to be one of our most dramatic freeps ever!
-- snip --
To: AnnaZ; Mercuria; feinswinesuksass; DoughtyOne; Bob J; diotima; Cinnamon Girl; HangFire; gc4nra; ...
THANK YOU for posting this thread, daviddennis!
We expect AP photographers to be in Pasadena for this one!See also an EXCELLENT warm-up for the eGray FReep:Liberty-Belles Halloween Celebrity ShootDetails, anyone?
also on Saturday, October 26 - but EARLIER in the day...It would be WONDERFUL if MANY FReepers could go to BOTH events, but please do NOT bring your firearms to the event in Pasadena. :o)
7 posted on 10/23/2002 10:42 AM PDT by RonDog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
To: RonDog
It would be WONDERFUL if MANY FReepers could go to BOTH events, but please do NOT bring your firearms to the event in Pasadena. :o)
Hehe, that would be a big no-no :)
8 posted on 10/23/2002 1:27 PM PDT by TheSpottedOwl
(FWIW, it was a Liberty Belles event, not their "sister" organization, the SAS.)
Bill Simon, Republican candidate for Governor, actually congratulated you for HECKLING Governor Gray Davis?!!Sort of.
The NEXT Governor of California DID call us to thank us for mounting a counter-protest outside the Gray Davis event, but it is not clear that he knew that we were practically ON TOP OF the soon-to-be-EX-Governor when we were chanting...There have "union thugs" out front of virtually EVERY ONE of Bill Simon's public appearances throughout this campaign, chanting and "picketing" - FAR more intrusively than WE generally are - to the point where they (the "union thugs") even BLOCKED THE ENTRANCE to the parking lot of the Burbank Hilton a few weeks ago, when Rudy Guiliani appeared with Bill Simon there. (Until the FReepers arrived.)
As it happens, we were PARTICULARLY close to the speaker's podium for this event - which was held OUTSIDE, very close to the public street, and we were PARTICULARLY loud this time - with the pent-up passions from our previously unsuccessful attempts to get this close to the elusive eGray.I will admit to being uncomfortable with the intensity of our chants - at times, but we did NOT chant continuously, and the soon-to-be-EX-governor COULD be heard over the LOUDEST of our un-amplified jeers from about a block away.
There were numerous others, and if I've left you out, I apologise; I am not great with names.From my post on the pre-FReep UPDATE thread:
UPDATE: "FIRE Gray Davis" FReep at Firefighter's BBQ in Pasadena SATURDAY (10/26)
FREEP ALERT! GRAY DAVIS IN PASADENA WITH THE HOOKER & CHICKEN, Saturday 10/26 ^ | October 25, 2002 | RonDog, daviddennis and the "DEBATE Chicken"
Posted on 10/25/2002 11:13 PM PDT by RonDog
"eGray in Pasadena" FReep UPDATE!
-- snip --
"FIRE Davis! in Pasadena" honor roll:Also present at our FReep were the following not-yet-FReepers:RonDog;
daviddennis;
Outraged;
Tony in Hawaii;
paola;
gubamyster
the "DEBATE Chicken!"Once again, there were MANY grassroots activists who came WITHOUT EVEN BEING FReepers!Jill from Simon HQ
Marilyn from Simon HQ
paola's mother
paola's grandmother!
a guy I met in Santa Monica at a previous Simon event
the young black woman with her "No Davis!" sign
the older guy from a local GOP office (wearing a U.S. ARMY" cap)
his (very VOCAL) wife
the young woman with the lighted CANDLES - to represent our future lack of electricity, if Davis is re-elected
the local guy who lived nearby, and came out to see what all of our NOISE was about, and asked to be in our post-FReep group pictureAnd perhaps even a few MORE...
Our intrepid freeper Tony from Hawaii was here - I don't think he's missed an event yet! As you can see in the picture, he was the custodian of Leon's great signs...The creator of those MARVELOUS (and ubiquitous!) individually hand-crafted "DUMP DAVIS" Styrofoam cutouts...
...is FReeper Howie, not Leon!
But it will backfire if people, in their excitement, make it seem like Simon was behind it all.You are CORRECT about THIS part.
The only real personal contact that I have had with Bill Simon was at his speech at the Nixon Library on 9/30/02.But FOR THIS RECORD, our FReep was an INDEPENDENT "grassroots" activity which was NOT sponsored by (or APPROVED by) Bill Simon, although members of the GOP were present to monitor our activities, and THEY reported in to him, prompting his congratulations to us...I told him briefly what we were doing, and HE said:
"Keep it clean."I was initially offended that he would think that we would do anything ELSE, but he does not know us - yet.
His campaign is shaky enough as it is.THIS part is FLAT-OUT WRONG - YESTERDAY'S "conventional wisdom."
Check out the NEW conventional wisdom, which is now EVERYWHERE (via the Associated Press) - from a Google News search for "Gray Davis" "shaky lead":From www.guardian.co.uk:House edge for Republicans
Athens Banner-Herald, GA - 1 hour ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Close Races to Decide Senate Control
Guardian, UK - 1 hour ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Close Races to Decide Senate Control
ABC News - 1 hour ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Close Races to Decide Senate Control
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - 2 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Close Races to Decide Senate Control
ABC News - 9 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Close Races to Decide Senate Control
Guardian, UK - 9 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Election preview: House control is steep challenge for Democrats ...
San Francisco Chronicle, CA - 9 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Election preview: House control is steep challenge for Democrats ...
Newsday - 10 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Close Races to Decide Senate Control
Newsday - 10 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
AP Survey Indicates House Control Is Steep Challenge for Dems; ...
Rapid City Journal, SD - 11 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Close Races to Decide Senate Control
Guardian, UK - 12 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Close Races to Decide Senate Control
Fredericksburg.com, VA - 12 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Close Races to Decide Senate Control
ABC News - 12 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Survey: GOP Has Edge in House Races
Guardian, UK - 13 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Survey: GOP Has Edge in House Races
ABC News - 13 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Survey: GOP Holds Edge in House Race
Guardian, UK - 13 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Survey: GOP Holds Edge in House Race
ABC News - 13 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
Survey: GOP Holds Edge in House Race
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - 13 hours ago
... The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida.
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California. ...
"...In gubernatorial contests, Republicans appear poised to win in Hawaii for the first time since 1962, three years after statehood. GOP candidates are also mounting strong challenges to Democratic incumbents in South Carolina and Alabama.It is now eGray whose campaign is in trouble. :o)On the other hand, Democrats are well ahead in three industrial states, and have hopes of capturing the statehouse in Kansas. The president's brother, Jeb Bush, is in a close race for re-election in Florida. Democratic Gov. Gray Davis holds a shaky lead in polls in California..."
And wait until you see what happens after MONDAY'S FReep!
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