Southland Freepers Provide Support for Bush and Our Troops in Hollywood, California (modem friendly)

On site observations and photos | My own thoughts

[DoughtyOne]

Click photo for large version

Southern California Members of Free Republic Rally at Hollywood and Highland in Hollywood, California
in Support of President George Bush and The Members of Our Military
Saturday - March 20th, 2004


RonDog and company planned this event and did an excellent job.  Early on Ron discussed issues on site with the police in advance of the full rally.
There was a very large police presence on scene.  They were friendly and helped out several times.

All photos below have blowup links proved just below.  Reasonable and obscene fairly accurately describes what you'll get with a click of the mouse.

   
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In addition to the motor officers, there was a mounted contingent on scene.  Overhead a continous airborne presence was maintained.

   
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It was great to be able to look around and see some of the icons that reinforce our values.  Our protesters came with signs and lots of energy.

   
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On site today was a mobile resource in support of the U.S. and Israel.  Some of the best signs I've seen at our protests were present as well.

    
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Our group was on message and loud enough to be heard quite well at the intersection.  Chants in support of Bush, our Troops and the Police were voiced.

   
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As the A.N.S.W.E.R. rally closed in on the intersection, the police installed a cordon in front of our group, to keep the two groups appart.

   
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Then the full brunt of the march hit the intersection at Hollywood and Highland.  It's about all I could do to keep my breakfast down at this point.

   
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While some folks may think A.N.S.W.E.R.'s only concern is with our military involvement in Iraq, it's quite evident that is NOT all that's on their agenda.

   
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Check out the Palestinian flags here.  The one on the right supports a free Palestine.  Note the photo on the right.  Here's one more issue on the agenda.

   
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Yes A.N.S.W.E.R. is an international organization.  Here's the back of a sign that I flipped horizontally for presentation here.


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I'll be posting a few videos a little further down in this thread.  Check back in.


Folks, this was a great represenation of support for Bush.  I spent most of the afternoon mingling with supporters of the left, so that I could take
some photographs of our group from across the street.  The reaction to our group was a pleasure to hear.

A number of times the leftists near me reacted with "No Way!", upon seeing our signs and hearing our chants.  Inside I was chuckling to myself.
Others discussed the idea of conservatives being out there.  Of course the usual comments by leftists were made.  I don't have to repeat them here.

There were some debates between competing concerns out there.  One leftist that was particularly loud and upset, was a hoot to watch.
Surprisingly, of the group that congregated around him, just about everyone laughed at him rather than supported him.  Tourists from Asia
seemed to be facinated by the street drama.  They were also quite happy to offer up a smile and a wink at the rediculous stance of this leftist.

I'll make some additional comments down the thread.  I'd like to get this up.

Did I mention that RonDog deserves a lot of credit and congratulations on a job well done for today's showing?
Way to go RonDog!

[Bob J]

Great work Ron and Ron! Sorry I missed you, there earlier...

[John Lenin]

Attaboy/girls!

[Zechariah11]

Thank you to all who attended.

Thanks also for the pictures.

[DoughtyOne]

Hey, sorry I missed you Bob. Hope Dio is feeling better.

[pfflier]

It seemed, last year, that the more the public saw the absolute slime that opposed the liberation of Iraq, the higher the polls went for the invasion.

The return of these slimeballs and the myriad of signs (no cohesive message just anything anti-American will do) will probably help the President again.

[gubamyster]

Great job to you all you guys.

[Floratina]

(reposted from earlier thread)

I had a blast. This was the most fun I have had at a protest. This is surprising, considering that we were SOOOO outnumbered! I arrived there just before noon. RonDog had us assemble well in advance of the Horde's arrival. The Horde was late, too. We must have stood there at least an hour waiting for the incoming. In the meantime, Ted Hayes helped us limber up our vocal chords and during that time, we had the intersection to ourselves. Some of the enemy did not participate in the march and instead gathered on the corner across from us and at some point a handful of them tried to barge into our position, but we let 'em have it. They retreated and the offending cluster of the Pod was a few minutes later seen being addressed by perhaps a half a dozen LAPD. I assume they were being instructed to stay out of our faces. Time dragged on as we awaited in our figurative "battlement". Helicopters began to buzz overhead, signalling to imminent arrival of our rival. Time dragged on still further. At last, beloved Ted stepped out on the street looking eastward on Hollywood Boulevard. He turned to us, raised the megaphone to his lips and said, "LOCK AND LOAD!!!!" I have been to a few protests before. Usually the positions of the participating groups are static in that each group has their respective corners that they are entitled to occupy by permit. That is, until the ill-mannered lefties subvert our permit rights and do the crossing-the-street thing. They attempt to minimize our presence by incessantly parading from "their" side of the street to "ours", so the most prominent impression probably retained by those passing in traffic is that every participant there is a leftist. Then, "Oops, the light just turned red and we just happen to be standing in the permit area of the Conservatives. Where else can we go? What else can we do with our signs while we stand here except cover theirs up and hurl expletives at them? Anyway, this was much more fun because we were in position already and they had to parade past us in all their anger and fury and they were mighty offended by our presence. How long was the parade, guys, like, a half an hour? They kept coming. I assume their adminstration was aware that we would be there, but it seemed like the rank and file was caught a little off-guard. I dunno. I reckon they would have hollered at us anyway, but this was great. I have not laughed that much in a long time. Interactively speaking, the impact (IMO) was as great as it would have been if there were 3X as many of us. It sure felt as if some of these "peace-lovers" would likely have resorted to physical violence were it not for the line of LAPD dividing us. They cussed us out and displayed their middle fingers generously. To be fair, there were many that preferred to show the peace sign instead. But there sure is an astonishing level of hostility in their verbiage and signage. It's breathtaking. I even saw some friends of mine in that crowd. There was a quartet of guys sorta dressed like superheroes, playing instruments. They are known as "The Superbroke Brass and Tin and Strings Marching Ensemble" I informed the FReeper next to me that I knew them as I waded into the Horde to get their picture, and she graciously reserved comment. They are very good and dear souls, but we sure don't agree politically. This was a fine day.

[Floratina]

Note to self: When copying a post from one thread to another, it is apparently necessary to re-insert your paragraph breaks. The original was reader-friendly, really...

[DoughtyOne]

Video - 6.2 mb "U - S - A"
Video - 4.5 mb "U - S - A"
Video - 3.7 mb "Four More Years"

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the comments Floratina. I'm glad you had a good time.

Even when I'm tired and don't really feel like going out, I always come away feeling motivated and on fire...

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks Gubamyster.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the comments. It's really shocking to hear some of the comments from the leftists. One pair was inserting the word vomit at the appropriate places as our group sang a patriotic song. These people clearly hated our nation. Sincerely, that's all you come assess from what they were saying. Some say that this is just politics. No, this isn't just politics. I've been involved in some politics. This was something very very different.

[DoughtyOne]

You're welcome on both counts.

[DoughtyOne]

Hey thanks!

[DoughtyOne]

Hey bud. Here's some more photos and comments over here.

[RonDog]

THANK YOU, DoughtyOne for posting this thread!

What EXTRAORDINARY images!!!

[Rabid Dog]

You guys are the best! Glad it went so well - can't wait to see the press and the spin tomorrow.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Texasforever]

Fantastic!!!