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You forgot to mention that Sandusky was there in his crusty $99 dollar vest.

It was pretty amusing to see their huge audience of "3000" vets, was actually more like 60 Vets plus families (240-280 total). Approximately 40 of them raised their hands when Sandusky asked how many were "Navy".
You say it was a rally, but there was very little audience interaction. They took no questions and generated raucous applause perhaps 4 times, polite applause another 6 times. It was boring (We chanted BORING! BORING! to help the audience express their true feelings at the most monotonous parts.)

It was odd to see them talk at, rather than to, their audience, almost as if there was no one there at all. Perhaps we had a good dampening effect.

(The irony of the layout at Rowan park is that the stage is at the bottom of a "bowl". We protestors have learned that our yells carry into that "bowl" very effectively. Laughing with loud with "Ha Ha Ha's" really bugs 'em, for instance.)

Clyde Asbury suggested a sign that said "There is no health care crisis." It attracted some bewildered looks from the unlearned. When the event came to a close, one reporter specifically came looking for the creator of this particularly good point.

"Haven't you read the census report?" she asked.

"Which census report?" I queried.

"You know..., when they took the census in, in , in..."

I helped her out here. "Oh, you're wondering if I read the census data from 2000?" This was the perfect opportunity to explain to her that reports are simply manipulations of data, often in a manner that suits the political agenda of the manipulator.

"Ah," I said, offering her a small olive leaf, "You are concerned about the number of people without healthcare INSURANCE." She was immediately relieved to see that I understood her 'concerns'.

I quickly distressed her again by explaining the irrelevance of health insurance in the evaluation of the effectiveness of a health care system. "Are there unvaccinated children? Are there children with teeth falling out of their mouths? Are they dying from curable diseases?"

At this point the Libertarians joined the fray. "As a matter of fact," one of their adroit spokespeople reminded her, "I have just recently read that we actually have an OBESITY problem in this country." (Hee, hee! Good point, eh?)

DStarr then added that no one can be turned away from a hospital if they need treatment and that there is a Dept of Health in every community. (More good points!)

But she, the reporter, was relentless. She seemed to think that she was personally in charge of convincing FReepers that universal healthcare is vital to the continuance of America. Clyde Asbury politely explained that Universal Health care never works. She looked doubtful, so at this point it was time to lay it on the line. (As a Brit, I know first hand the horrors that exist in a society that is subject to a 'National Health System'.) I explained to her that we struggled through spending $36,000 to get an artificial hip for my Grandmother so that she could walk again, after being bound to a wheelchair for three years, while languishing on an NHS waiting list. (I should have also mentioned that we were forced onto a food budget of $60 per week, for four people, as a result, but she might not have even believed it.)

We tried to explain to her that government-run programs are doomed to failure. DStarr tried to explain to her that any who needs care can find a way to get it, without depending on inefficient government programs.

She scribbled notes into her little pad, furiously. Who knows? Maybe one day she'll put some of the pieces of the puzzle together. 'Til then she'll just go on believing that no one cares, except the government.

Going back to the description of the audience that was absorbing Sandusky's diatribe: the most interesting thing that I noticed was that most of the vets were Korean, rather than Vietnam Nam. I wonder why?
Some of the old men shook their fingers at my "There is no healthcare crisis" sign. One told me that I should be ashamed of myself. (This is a typical silencing technique employed by those great advocates of free speech.)

We were heckled! By a group of 10-14 year old lib-kids. (Poor brain-washed, public-school-indoctrinated little things.) Not wanting to subject *children* to our fine FReeper chanting skills, I suggested to the young things that the adults in their lives have not told them the whole truth. I was strongly encouraging them to make sure they READ as much as possible, when one of them pulled her shirt out to give herself larger "breasts" and did a vulgar little dance for us. (Poor kid. Where is CPS when these little victims are revealing what they have been subjected to in their "liberated" homes?)

The pictures will go up later when my better half returns this evening.