[Calpernia]

bump!

Great news!

[Calpernia]

ping

[FairOpinion]

Thanks for the great report and for being there.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the report and kudos to you all.

Thanks for the Freep!

It's nice to have balance to the cancer that is A.N.S.W.E.R.

[onyx]

Photos to follow?

Good report, thanks.

[Blue Champagne]

Good show!

[Feiny]

Channel 9 news reporter Dave Bryan said "Arnold was showered with Boos". They showed footage of audience yelling at him. Several members of the faculty on stage turned their backs while he spoke as did some of the graduates. Two students had "We deserve better" printed on the backs of their shirts.

The faculty also held signs up behind him. One read, "80 million dollars buys a lot of books"....in reference to the cost of a special election.

The reporter said that among the graduates the supporters equaled the protestors. The only footage of the pro Arnold side was a lady holding the sign "Honk if You Love Arnold".

The reprter closed the piece by saying that the only time Arnold acknowledged the protests was in his closing...."I WANT TO THANK THE AUDIENCE FOR THEIR ENTHUSIASM"!!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the good report!

[RonDog]

THANK YOU for posting this after-action thread, absalom01!

I will be posting some media coverage FIRST, then some personal observations, and finally some PICTURES -- perhaps as soon as tomorrow morning.

Bottom line on today's FReep:

We were HUGELY successful in accomplishing our two primary objectives:

1 - Prevent disruption of the graduation ceremony by outside agitators, and

2 - Limit the media exposure of those "anti-Arnold" forces -- by aggressively promoting an OPPOSING point of view.

[RonDog]

I took the liberty of asking the Admin Moderator to delete the "City" from your original thread title...

...as the college dumped that part of their name a few years ago...

...and many newbies from tonight's event will be looking for this thread using the search term "Santa Monica College."

[TheOtherOne]

Thank for the update. Congrats and good job to all who went.

[RonDog]

Kudos to RonDog for organizing 20+ FReepers, plus some outstanding SaMo College Republicans who met at the corner of 16th and Pico in support of Governor Ahhnold, and to help counter the cancer from A.N.S.W.E.R...

Turnout was a LITTLE less than we expected on OUR side.

I estimated that we had as many as thirty or forty of us total...

...but over a dozen SMC Republicans left our rally OUTSIDE at just after 5 pm...

...since they had tickets to get INSIDE, to hear Arnold.

[RonDog]

We had tons of media exposure --

THIS was the key to today's success!

Thanks to an AMAZING press release...

...and an EXTRAORDINARY "press conference" co-ordinated by...

...SMC College Republican President Ben Eisenberg...

...we had some of the best media coverage that I have seen in a LONG time! :o)

Here is a PARTIAL list of the media who covered our rally - extensively:

KFI (640 AM) - Mark Leonard
KFWB (980 AM) - ?
Associated Press - MICHAEL R. BLOOD (and a photographer)

L.A. Times - Peter Hong and Jessica Gresko (and a photographer)
Sacramento Bee - Dan Weintraub!
The Nation
The Corsair - SMC student newspaper (and a photographer)

KTLA-TV 5
Fox11-TV
KCAL-TV 9 (and their "sister" station KCBS-TV 2)
KNBC-TV 4

Telemundo
The Korean Times
KCRW
KFPK
Malibu Times
L.A. Independent?

...and MANY MORE which I cannot now remember. :o)

[68 grunt]

Random thoughts ~ the sophistry the kids spewed, the irony and ignorance of their empty taunts of 'fascist' ~ The lady in the gown who bemoaned as she walked by that 'all this political crap' was ruining her graduation. I asked, "excuse me, us?" 'No, not y'all', she said. ~ The lady walking her dog through and her version of the fascist drivel. ~ The surprisingly high number of pro-Arnie cars and trucks passing by and the lower number of fingers toward us. Waves and friendly honks far outweighed the fingers and curses. ~ Those who joined us, the Iranian Marilyn Monroe and her son, and the American kid of hispanic heritage who joined and happily held signs with a smile on his face.

Young Republicans who were in the audience reported that the sound system left much to be desired, which was particularly apparent when the gubinator was making his address because there was a lot of acoompanying noise. He mentioned 'rattling', but I think it was more 'whining'. Regardless, from listening to the news it seem Arnie handled it pretty well. First FReep I've been on in awhile, it was fun.

[CounterCounterCulture]

Destroy the grip of the union Nazis

[Straysinger]

To everyone who came to SMC today, thank you all so much. It is thanks only to your efforts that the reputation of Santa Monica College wasn't irreparably damaged by the protests during the Governor's visit. We may have been outnumbered and our voices drowned in the din, but the nonetheless we made our presence felt. Students, teachers, the Governor, and the public at large know that we were there.

More important than that, we let the leftists at SMC know that their stranglehold on the campus will no longer go unchallenged. They know now that they will have to fight to maintain what they once assumed was theirs by right.

On behalf of the SMC College Republicans, once again we thank you.

We're really excited about the great press coverage of the event the we've seen so far, and I'm sure that there's more to come. It's was a bright day for FReepers and SMC Republicans, one that was darkened by only one small cloud.

As of right now the SMC Corsair - (see article), which is the Santa Monica College newspaper has mentioned absolutely nothing about our rally, in fact they didn't even mention us at all. This, in spite of the fact that the new managing editor of the Corsair made explicit promises that we would be given "fair and balanced" coverage. We find this rather odd considering that the LA Times and AP saw fit to write about us.

We understand that it's been a long day, and that reporters might be too tired to file their stories before bedtime. The Corsair does mention that there will be ongoing coverage of the graduation all week, and we hope that this gross oversight will be remedied shortly. If not, people might call into question the impartiality of the newspaper's staff. We'll be sure to keep you all posted.

Thanks again for being there folks. It was a blast, we'll have to do it again sometime.

[sauropod]

My own little anecdote: as I was approaching our corner (late, per usual), a young woman warned me to "be careful, there's fascists on the corner".

You should've asked her to define fascism. That's what I do when confronted by people using that epithet. They usually can't.

[GVnana]

Nice work on all fronts. Good presence. Good, effective PR work.

It was a wonderful gesture for the governor to come back to Santa Monica College and make a commencement speech. It's unfortunate that we've lost our manners in this society and can't let the students have their day.

Kudos to you Freepers for keeping the rabble at bay.

[upchuck]

Sounds to me like, once again, the cancer/answers and their ilk fell flat on their face.

I am looking forward to doing my part in Wash, DC on 9/24.

[OESY]

Rude Protestors Ruin Commencement Ceremony

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to his alma mater last night to deliver a commencement speech. Schwarzenegger did not intend on turning the graduation into a political event, but a number of protestors did just that anyway, jeering almost continuously through his speech at Santa Monica College:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's return to his alma mater turned into an exercise in perseverance when virtually his every word was accompanied by catcalls, howls and piercing whistles from the crowd.
Schwarzenegger's face appeared to redden during his 15-minute commencement address Tuesday to 600 graduates at Santa Monica College, but he ignored the shouting as he recalled his days as a student and, later, his work as a bodybuilder and actor. ... Inside the stadium, the drone from hundreds of rowdy protesters threatened to drown out the governor's voice at times. Many in the crowd erupted in boos when a police officer pulled down a banner criticizing the estimated $45 million cost of the Nov. 8 special election that Schwarzenegger proposed Monday.

The governor is backing three ballot initiatives that call for imposing a cap on state spending, stripping lawmakers of the power to draw their own districts and increasing the time it takes teachers to gain tenure.


It seems rather churlish to stage a political protest at a non-political event like this college graduation. It hijacks an evening that should have focused on the graduates, instead of some selfish and self-serving political opponents of the Governator. But if they wanted to protest, they should have observed enough decorum to allow Arnold to at least be heard by the audience in attendance. Actions like this point out a political narcissism and absolutism that reveal nothing but the immaturity of Arnold's opposition.

And what are they protesting? The fact that Arnold has called a special election for a direct democratic vote on issues that the legislature has refused to address, including the chronic reapportionment problem that has almost crippled California democracy for decades. While the costs of such an election should be considered and debated as to its necessity, calling for more democracy hardly qualifies as such a disaster that it excuses opponents from acting like idiots and ruining the evening for 600 college graduates.

The Left has no sense of proportion, especially in California, where they have behaved like the spoiled children most of them are for many years now. Last night's spectacle of disruption and rude behavior is just the latest example of the thoughtlessness and reflexive self-indulgence that typifies Leftist activities in the Golden State and elsewhere.

Posted by Captain Ed, http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/