Posted on 08/12/2004 10:23:54 PM PDT by doug from upland
The full story of this event will take some time to document - the Santa Monica College Republican "commando mission" at Typhoon, the nastiness of the bad guys, the MASSIVE numbers of pro-Bush Californians who showed up on a Thursday afternoon in Santa Monica outside a "private, secret" fundraiser.....and the serendipity - and euphoria - of rapid deployment of FIFTY rabid Bush supporters out of a post-rally celebration at Coco's - to greet the Presidential motorcade as it left the airport.
The SS (and GWB) must have been wondering: How the heck did all of those people get here? :o)MUCH MORE - later...
...Outside Santa Monica airport, hundreds of demonstrators jammed the sidewalk awaiting Bush's arrival. The crowd appeared to be fairly evenly split between supporters of Bush and Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry.Before the Santa Monica fund-raiser, the president and first lady Laura Bush paid a call on Nancy Reagan at her home in Bel-Air. After a visit of about an hour, the three emerged from the house, and the president told reporters that he and his wife were "honored to pay our respects" to the widow of former President Reagan, who died in June.
"I'm so glad you came," Reagan said.
After visiting with Reagan, Bush and the first lady taped an hourlong interview with CNN's Larry King at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel...
VERY VERY DISTRUBING IMAGE ALERT!
I tried to post an after action report, but technology and I don't get along these days, so here is what I would have posted...
RonDog put together a fantastic freep in Santa Monica yesterday! We good guys had two corners and some fantastic banners - Thank God it's W, Welcome back W, LA (heart) loves W, Question A.N.S.W.E.R. My estimate is 500 - 600 people on our side, MORE THAN THE BAD GUYS!!! The Santa Monica College Republlicans had a terrific group as did LA for Bush and many happy, hardworking Freepers like Doug from Upland, Rocket, Ted Hayes.
The opposition was the usual unwashed horde - ANSWER, Code Pinko, people in character acting out what the Kerry's are and they pretend all Republicans are, uninformed college kids. They spent most of their time coming to our side of the intersection and getting in the way of their signs and trying to start arguments.
I'm very grateful to those who got there as early as Noon for staking out the spot. Most of us got there by 3 - 3:30 and braved the sun and enemy incursions until 5:30. One of our group, said the motorcade went nearby and only saw him with a Bush/Cheney sign, not the big crowd or the bad guys. I waved my Bush/Cheney sign at all helicopters overhead in case that was the President's arrival.
We drifted into the nearby Cocos until we filled a whole section, around 50 of us. One persong dining with us, Lynn Brennan, had been chosen to be part of a group greeting the President when he came in to LAX earlier in the day. She does extensive volunteering with seniors and has a cable televion show "Senior Living" that gives helpful info. We were taking turns introducing ourselves and sharing our reactions to the event when Art Plourde announced that the President was about to go by. We hoped he wasn't kidding and rushed to the window, and saw the Motorcycles lining up a barrier for the upcoming Motorcade. The whole group of us instantly grabbed signs and banners and ran outside (past our nice waiter who was saying "my tips are running out the door...") And we were able to set up along a hedge on the hill so that the President and First Lady drove by a large, waving happy crowd cheering like mad for him!!! No enemies anywhere!
We got a paper menu from the restaurant and we all signed it and I'll color copy a bunch for everyone there and send it on to the President. WHAT A NIGHT!
Awesome pics! I can't wait to see even more!
Was able to stop by with by two boys for a half hour... I was glad to see a diverse group of Republicans and of course all of the freepers.....
ARA
I couldnt stop by as I needed to get home. I did drive thru the area on my way from UCLA...took a detour off the 405. You guys looked AWESOME!!! and it was so exciting to see. First things I saw was red, white and blue so I knew that had to be friends! It seemed to me there were Bush people all over and not so many Dems (maybe I was wrong). GOOD GOOD JOB@!
Alright Doug
FREEP STOP in People republic of Santa Monica
Rack ittttttt
Rondog, did you see pastor Wiley Drake there?
I was there ... I wish our side was better prepared. Republicans should have had banners up across the street rather than letting Kerry-bots put up the most visible signs.
No kidding. That scruffy Dim with the wagon pulling a Robbie Conal picture was so pungent that being outside in the wind, he was unbearable to be near.
...supressing the almost overwhelming desire to post my TR quote. :o)1, 2, 3, 4, 5...
I wish our side was better prepared....6, 7, 9, 9, 10.Republicans should have had banners up across the street rather than letting Kerry-bots put up the most visible signs.
O.K., I feel MUCH better now.Sorry I missed seeing you at the rally.
You are correct; the big "Code Pink" banner WAS one of the (few, relatively minor) flaws in an otherwise EXTRAORDINARILY well executed FReep.We accomplished almost ALL of our PRIMARY objectives, and many of our SECONDARY objectives for this event.
I will return later to post more, but for now, I encourage you to join us in the planning stages for our FUTURE SoCal FReeps.
I was thrilled to be part of the "rapid deployment" that erupted out of Coco's. Absolutely thrilled! Excited down to my toes. We know we saw Laura waving; not sure if that was Dubya in the limo behind her. Maybe. We're awaiting photos from the SMC Republicans.
This excitement followed my 3:30 arrival at the rally site. Man, the Bush supporters are so pleasant to be around: intelligent and funny! I learned stuff! Also, we keep our cool. It was so entertaining to watch the lefties going ballistic, with one girly-man shouting "Republicans, get out of Santa Monica!" Another of their women tried to go toe-to-toe with a police officer who ordered her to move out of the street. She pointed and yelled and demanded his badge number, etcetera; then turned on one of our peeps who told her to chill. We watched another of their females-in-a-rage for imminent spontaneous combustion. As I said, very entertaining.
Oh, and did I mention the ambiguous types planting themselves on our line trying to district us with meaningless arguments?
We LOVE Dubya. And those B-U-S-H girls, they were the best! I'll see how my photo comes out. It was GRREEAAATT meeting some other FReeps peeps ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) too!
The other thread you have linked up there, RonDog, is a waste of time (hint,hint): California is Bush Country! WE will make it so.
Jessamine, you are a doll for doing that menu thing!
Wiley was there.
I'm at almost all the Freeps. I am a registered volunteer with the local Bush/Cheney campaign office on Pico close to the Beverly Center. I'll be going to the big local bash on the night Bush gives his speech to the convention.
I have met you before ... I am almost certain. I was at almost all of the Freeps during the recounter in WLA by the Federal Bldg.
My comment was merely an observation.
Hi Kilolima,
It was great meeting you yesterday.
Really a fantastic event!
Thank you for the great job you all did out there!! Made us proud!!!! :)
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