Posted on 09/13/2009 10:30:00 PM PDT by rlmorel
I titled this thread "Tale of Two Protests" because what I saw in Washington DC on September 12, 2009 illustrated a vast difference in liberal versus conservative protest content, values, and execution.
To me, one of the most amazing aspects of this protest by conservatives was the character in a manner in which individuals expressed themselves.
It was nearly impossible to find two signs that were exactly the same. There were many signs that expressed the same themes, same concepts, same bits of art, and sometimes even the same phrases. But with the exception of 20 or 30 signs that DC Chapter of Free Republic handed out, and some small number of identically printed signs from other organizations, it was impossible to stand there and pick out two identical signs anywhere while viewing the "mob".
The other aspect of this that amazed me even more was the unbelievable variety, creativity, wit, and emotion. Viewing this parade of signs, the parallels of conservatism and individualism were completely and totally expressed in the creation and display of these statements.
Conservatism and individualism are inseparable from each other. And the more I thought about it, the stark contrast with liberalism and its endemic groupthink became strikingly clear.
I recalled the "Gathering of Eagles" counterdemonstration to the March on The Pentagon by liberal antiwar groups on March 17, 2007. And then I remembered that as a counter-demonstrator watching their parade of signs go by, one of the overriding impressions that stayed with me is that there was a bland, boring uniformity to both their message and the expression of that message.
So, when I got home tonight, the first thing I had to do was look up some of those old pictures. I was a little handicapped by only having low resolution images, so it was difficult for me to find an image that I could clearly see the signs that they were carrying. I found one image, and I did a quick, unscientific examination of the image. The results were exactly as my memory had preserved it.
I did a side-by-side examination by finding an appropriate photo from this past Saturday, and evaluating it in the same fashion. I did not cherry pick the image, except to try and ensure that it showed a similarly large group with their signs facing in the same direction and readable. I've posted these images below for comparison.
In the end, I am simply stunned to say that this was the most polite, orderly, civil, and generally well behaved crowd I have ever seen.
There was no drunkenness, profanity, or lewdness. The posters that people carried with their messages were well-informed, on issue (for the most part) and did not contain any overt racism, profanity, or violence. In a crowd the size of this one (varying by estimates from 700,000 up to 2 million) there are always small numbers of exceptions due to the sheer volume, but I would stand by this statement, and I think nearly every single person present would agree.
And this amazing difference in the type, quality, and content of the signs exactly mirrors the difference in the approach to political expression and the methods by which it is done.
Most of these conservative protesters decided on their own to attend this protest.
They paid out of their pocket for their own expenses.
They didn't receive money to attend.
They didn't have transportation provided to them.
They arranged their own lodging, they didn't get to sleep in a union hall or some other location provided by a benefactor. (Full disclosure: I certainly did have my lodging provided for me…:)
If they had a sign, they printed it themselves, and put their own message on it, and those messages were as varied as the number of posters. (And I must point out that one of the most enjoyable and entertaining aspects of the entire day was simply reading the posters. I know that I am not alone in this, because everywhere I looked, groups of people would be clustered around a sign or a poster, smiling and laughing. There was considerable discussion amongst perfect strangers about the various signs or posters that had been seen, and which ones were best.)
It was an amazing day, perhaps one of the most memorable of my life. These observations that I've made in this post are one of the reasons that that day will be a treasured memory.
Trooprally, if you deem this acceptable, would you mind pinging the DC chapter? (As you know, we had more than a few discussions on this...:)
Just got home myself from this awesome event.
And as you so beautfully said:
“It was, perhaps one of the most memorable of my life.’
more later .............
Thanks for sharing.
No problem...were you able to attend?
Looking forward to hearing your impressions...:)
And they probably didn’t leave garbage and trash all over the place, like the Obots did at the Obozo’s inauguration.
Great post, RL. I think that even those of us who weren’t able to attend, made much the same observations as you have.
There is truly a world of difference between the left and right, in just about any attribute you care to name. And, we win on every single count.
Thanks for a very informative post; one which addresses a little discussed part of the larger picture.
Absolutely. And it was not just the inauguration, it was also the Gathering of Eagles back in 2007.
The places where the conservatives congregated and passed were spotless (well, as spotless as one could expect with a enormous number of people) and people could be seen policing the areas they occupied. The trash cans might have been overflowing, but the trash was piled around the receptacles.
The places where liberals marched and occupied were filthy. They left litter everywhere, signs, sticks, food and cigarette packages, literature of all kinds, and really nasty stuff like bags of dog feces and soiled disposable diapers. They left that stuff for OTHERS to pick up.
For all who went to DC there was probably another million citizens who attended events in their state capitals and numerous other cities.
The Marxists better be concerned. If they arent, they are absolutely dumber than I thought.
Thanks.
Lord, it was a GREAT day. And the additional thing that was great was that it was a real, honest-to-goodness FAMILY day. This was an event that you could bring your kids to (and many did)
There was a lot to learn for a kid on that day...
“Dad, what does the snake on the yellow flag mean?”
“What is ‘socialism’ and why is everyone so against it?”
“Mom, why is that man dressing up like a Revolutionary War man, and who is ‘King George’ ?”
“Why did everyone come here to walk with signs?”
It was, by far, the most civil and well behaved crowd I have ever been in. I was there for nearly the entire thing, and not once did I witness an act of incivility.
There was no profanity or threats of violence, and you KNEW you weren’t going to see signs like the one we saw at GOE that said “WILL SUCK C*** FOR PEACE!”
Yes! It was like an audio version of “The Wave” you see in sports arenas...:)
Then there’s this “tale” of “two protests,” or rather propaganda piece by the New York Slimes: http://statesman.qwapi.com/site?sid=statesman&pid=Article.detail&targetUrl=http://www.statesman.com/services/content/news/stories/nation/2009/09/13/0913health.html According to them, the “pro” rally by fifteen thousand (bussed in? way overestimated?) zero supporters and the “anti” rally by over a million conservatives were equivalent. See, both had “thousands” of people. In fact, it’s not until the third page that they acknowledge the DC rally had more people, and even then they spin that. They say “tens of thousands” were in DC, hiding how much larger the DC rally was than the alleged fifteen thousand zero supporters.
Do they have any idea how transparent their propaganda has become? Probably not.
Just back home from the march....WOW!! What an experience. I will have pictures later.
Thanks, all of you, for your support.
You know, when I was at the GOE in 2007, I was astonished and dismayed at the portrayal of that event in the media.
It is one thing to understand there is bias in the media, and it is quite another to actually SEE it. To participate in something, only to watch an alternate reality on the evening news.
I KNEW there was bias, but when I saw the events with MY OWN EYES, then saw how it was portrayed by the media...let me tell you, it was a real eye-opener. When we went back to the house after the day of demonstrations and watched the news...well...that was very discouraging and disenchanting. Perhaps I simply didn’t really believe in the very deep part of my heart that they REALLY WOULD DO THAT. I had to see it with my own eyes to scour clean that last little bit of protective doubt.
It was very much like an interveiew I saw with a Marine who spent the entire siege at Khe Sanh until he was given a thirty day leave back to the States. (that was apparently a rarity, I recall he was the ONLY Marine who was flown out of the encircled Khe Sahn to be able to go home on leave.)
When he got home, he saw an issue of TIME magazine where the cover story was about the siege at Khe Sanh. He read the entire thing and was bewildered. He just couldn’t believe it, it was almost total fantasy in some respects, written by people who came in for one day, often for just two or three hours to get a story, where they would fly out.)
He said he wandered around for some time in a state of semi-confusion trying to sort it out. Poor guy.
Anyway, this was how I felt after GOE. This time, I really did expect it. I was very, very disappointed, but there wasn’t the depth that I felt after GOE.
GRR.
Looking forward to it!
It was just terrific, wasn’t it? I went alone, got acquainted with people on my bus, and spent the day with a nice lady who happened to sit beside me on the drive. We chatted about all sorts of things, marched, sang, laughed and cheered together. The people who surrounded us were patriotic, sincere, funny, and moving. It was wonderful to spend the day with good people and know that we were contributing to something important. There was truly something in the air - a palpable sense of participating in a historic event. It took a lot to get all these hardworking citizens out of their homes and into the streets, and I don’t think they are quitting anytime soon.
I saw a lot of smart, well informed people. They had a message. They had it in the right context, and displayed as a rule great originality, humor, wit and creativity, with biting sarcasm and anger occasionally thrown in. I had some favorites, off the top of my head, I liked:
1.) The Robbing Hood sign and the Snow White and Seven Dwarfs sign.
2.) The Erkel “Did I do That?” sign.
3.) The Obama cutout with teleprompters
I think I will start a thread on this...:)
I used to believe that this type of bias was the result of cognitive dissonance: The leftdolt reporters truly didn’t understand the facts because their worldview prevented it.
No longer. It is 100% pure and intentional propaganda. Period.
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