Report from Crawford by Freepers in Attendance

This is a new thread to which, hopefully, every freeper attending yesterday's rally in Crawford will add their observations.

Personally, this was a great day in my view. It's hard to describe the atmosphere that enveloped this gathering. Some of the nicest people in the country were there, and nary a disgruntled face was seen.

We can't say enough for the good police officers from the city of Crawford. They were tremendous in helping us keep this a clean, uninterrupted rally. They watched the road leading down to us, and turned away nearly everyone who didn't belong there. I can think of three people that made it by the police, but two were swiftly made to leave by freepers--and the third, well--more about her later.

This almost had the feeling of an impromptu Texas "hoe-down" (minus the music--LOL! ) Our stage was the back of a pick-up, our sound system while adequate, was not state of the art. Whitney Houston's recording of the Stars Bangled Banner was a bit jerky and scratchy--but she was joined by some very exuberant sing-alongers.

Folks decked out in red, white, and blue sat on the ground or in lawn chairs--dodging the fire ant hills. Everyone was generally relaxed and enjoying our meager program--no big names--mainly just freepers and Marine Moms.

Enough cannot be said about Doctor Raoul's contribution to this rally. His knowledge of the political situation appears to be endless, and when he wasn't speaking from our "stage" he was giving the media people an education, which they probably will never use--but nontheless, they know the facts now. What they will do with them is anyone's guess.

For me personally, being among my freeper friends--old and new, was of course a joy. There are a few more more that deserve kudos:

Kristinn--for helping us with research, advice, and getting the live thread going.

The Sarce, for spending all day Friday running all over Austin to find audio equipment for us--for loading it in her car, and hauling it to Crawford--all at her personal expense.

To the Bat Lady for rounding up and bringing a portable gas-powered generator for the sound equipment (also at her personal expense). For getting all the flags and decorations up, and finally, for donning her Statue of Liberty costume in the Hot Texas sunshine, reminding us all that liberty is what it's all about.

To Gracey for helping getting the email out to all of the Hot Chapter members, letting them know of this event.

To ValeriaUSA and The Sarce for their photography and video, which will be shared with you later

To TXBubba and Blastus for bringing their family, and helping wherever needed at the rally.

I hope I haven't left anyone out--and if I have, please chime in and let everyone know about it! Thank you one and all!

Most of all, of course, let's give a huge round of applause to our men and women in uniform who are risking their all for our freedom and way of life.

And--last by certainly not least, the one man who makes it all possible: MR. JIM ROBINSON!

Here is my report from last night's thread. Please note the update at the end.

FUNNY STORY FROM RALLY

My hubby, Blastus, was talking to some of the lefties as they drove by our rally area. One lady was looking for the Cindy rally and wanted to know if the parking lot after ours was for her. He said it was but that it was reserved for hybrid cars only. She turned around. LOL. They are so gullible.

From last night:

Guess I will go ahead and post some rally report news here. My hubby Blastus, me and the freeper jrs. arrived about 11:30 a.m. Basil, DoctorRauel (sp?), Gracey, DrewsDad, TheBatLady(Lady Libery) were already on site. We helped set up and waited for everyone else.

In the beginning I thought I was going to be disappointed as we had already made one wrong turn and drove by the "hippie house" first. Folks there were holding "Cindy's Rally" signs. A quick call to basil got us to the right street. Basil told us to go down the road about a mile and we would see them on the left. Well, we went down the road and saw a big parking lot full of cars! My heart just about stopped. Then it sank when we drove by and figured out it was also for "Cindy's Rally". We had our window down and a "lady" asked us if we were there for Cindy. Hubby said he wasn't sure, was she there for Cindy? When she said "yes" we knew we were in the wrong location. We said we were here to support the troops as we turned around. Of course she said she was there to support them also and in fact her daughter was one of them! So now we know that there are more Casey's in this world whose parents undermine them at every opportunity.

We started the rally a bit late as we knew some folks were still on their way. It worked out well as it gave time for interviews. Dr.R and Basil did a great job. I was surprised that we had as much press coverage as we did. Even after the rally hubby was talking with a guy from an independent radio show. There was also a lady from Germany doing a documentary. I think I have that correct.

The Marine Moms and the soldier who spoke were just wonderful. Also, DrewsDad's son, did a great job reading the "If not for the soldier" (can't remember official name). Dad should be very proud.

Enjoyed meeting lots of freepers who we have only known by freep name. Blastus enjoyed talking to the secret service guy, the police and the lefties driving by. He also questioned them about the gas mileage on their oil burning, gas guzzling SUVs, trucks and minivans. I don't think we saw one protester on a bike! He did compliment the few he saw walking to their rally but we know they had a oil burner parked somewhere! They also had "shuttles" going back and forth all day.

One thing I'm not sure is clear on this thread is that our rally was not out by Cindy Sheehan. There were freepers out there but it wasn't the HOT Chapter rally. Maybe the left freaked out because they saw us at two locations.

Update

Apparently Blastus talked to Guy James after the rally. Guy James is a leftie with a radio show in Florida and Texas(?). (BTW..his webpage says he is in financial trouble. So sad..SARCASM) He didn't stick around long and his main objective was to try to get someone to say the rally was about Cindy and not the troops. Didn't work. He also told my hubby that "you can support the troops at home". THAT IS WHAT THEY WANT FOLKS! THEY WANT YOU TO STAY HOME! DON'T GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT!

I was there. I brought my mom, sister, daughter in law and 4 grandkids. I thought I got lost. I turned by "see Cindy" signs (rolling my eyes). The only thing I would have liked to was "see Cindy go home, but anyway, I called Gracey to get directions and still ended up in the enemy camp. You would think they were pit bulls, instead of flags the way people backed off. I wasn't prepared. Of course with a bunch of kids under 5 the first thing they wanted to do was go to the bathroom. I had 2 choices. The enemy camp porta potty or the woods. Texasbubba seemed to think I would have been risking bodily harm going across in my FR shirt and I figured if the media around, watering trees would be the one thing they would catch so to distract the kiddos I let them wave flags and shout support the troops and George Washington while I listened to the speakers via the PA. I heard a lot of stuff that I hadn't before, esp from Dr. R., regarding "Media". I only saw one guy that I thought was a liberal on our side. He wondered up and asked me where he could catch the shuttle. I told him I didn't know but to wait because it passed back and forth. He seemed uncomfortable with that and headed back to the "I hate everything" crowd. Also while my grandkids were waving flags cars started lining up. They weren't backed up but deliberately stopping. Our entrances/exits were blocked for a few minutes. I guess the police made them go on. As I posted on another thread, my sister came thru the libs and accepted some water bottles and brought me one. It was really appreciated :') After we left we went to the "cafe" and got some "burgers " to go. We got caught at the stop light awhile and shared flag waving with the people in front of that museum.

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