Posted on 08/14/2006 10:46:04 AM PDT by .cnI redruM
In the cinematic classic Wedding Crashers, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson blend seamlessly into nuptial bashes to score free crab cakes and to score with love-struck bridesmaids. When it comes to protest-crashing, the skilled, already well-known are the sign-wielding counter-demonstrators like the Protest Warriors scoring points with the Right. But what, I wondered, would it be like to slip into a lefty demonstration under the radar, à la Vaughn and Wilson, to see the lefties in their natural habitat, un-freaked by lingering righties? The only thing that made me hesitate before giving it a try was the fear that if they somehow gleaned I was a conservative, I would be out of the Crashers comedy and end up in a leftist sort of Hostel.
On Saturday, I headed to downtown Los Angeles for a march to stop the U.S.-Israeli war and defend Palestine and Lebanon, an event spearheaded by the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) coalition and sponsored by several Muslim groups and others including the International Action Center (the lair of Ramsey Clark, a.k.a. Saddams lawyer). I thought it might be a fun event to crash; and besides, who could miss the billed entertainment Palestinian hip-hop group The Philistines?
The rally location (near the Federal building) was set up with a handful of card tables offering the latest and greatest in leftist literature, one blaring CD sermons of Bob Avakian, chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. I asked the salesman what kind of crowd he expected at the booth (and how Muslims would respond to an atheist political philosophy); he expressed optimism that the masses would show up to rally for their Mideast brothers in arms.
The masses, he explained, were people in Watts who really sympathized with the Palestinians. I think the Watts masses were probably home next to their barbecues on that sunny Saturday afternoon, as the marchers were overwhelmingly Arab or suburban progressives eager to earn their Sheehan points. Maybe the masses couldnt fork out ten bucks just to park.
But being sensitive, open-minded, and obviously bored with life, I listened to a 15-minute lecture on the synthesis of Marxism into todays society, detailing the many answers ol Karl had for every question in life and other things I cant remember because I was thinking about the barbecue Id be enjoying later. Two guys tried to sell me Avakians memoirs for $25 also known as the price of two Grey Goose cosmos promising it was the type of book youd curl up with in bed (in a communal dorm, no doubt). Items at all of the booths were available for a donation, because heaven forbid they look like theyre trying to swing a profit.
This was the moment to watch them squirm. No thanks, I said, smiling. Im a columnist and have promo books up to here that I havent gotten around to.
Their ears perked and they asked my name; they claimed they recognized me but obviously not enough for their conserva-detectors to go code red. Perhaps not washing my hair that morning allowed me to blend in well at the uber-leftist event.
I gestured to the book table populated by Noam Chomsky and friends. I guess you dont carry any Rich Lowry, huh?
One of the book sellers looked confused. Who?
He also drew a blank at a mention of National Review, but stressed that he habitually reached out to divergent viewpoints in order to challenge them effectively. Visions of hiding under a boulder sprang to mind.
As I walked off, the book sellers partner caught up with me and asked if I might be willing to review the Avakian book (A stunning work of fiction!). He asked if he could e-mail me some info; I told him that he could contact me through my Daily News home page. And as I left him, I thought of the heart attack he would have when he logged on and saw some of my recent column headlines: Palestinians asking for war; Vatican heaping blame on Israel counterproductive; May Day protests give cause to yell Mayday!
If theres one constant about anti-war protests, its that they never, ever stay on topic. The left-wing protest is an opportunity for representatives of every leftist cause to come out of the woodwork and take advantage of the gathering, whether its to campaign against Bush, the Iraq war, capitalism, or, as I encountered with one book seller, against cars. Cars and TV lead to an inner-city culture of violence, he explained, his bike leaning against the wall.
At every stop I was tempted to lose myself in reckless abandon and just begin debating, but it was more fun to watch the hapless efforts to convert the random passer-by to leftist or impossible to label ideology.
Still, at times, the Bridget within couldnt be repressed.
At a booth of the International Socialist Organization, I leafed through the standard anti-Israel propaganda and was about to walk away when I spotted a Free Kevin Cooper T-shirt for sale. Kevin Cooper, the new poster child for the Stanley Tookie Williams fan club, hacked a family to death in Chino Hills, California, in 1983. I asked the girl behind the table, who handed me a flier for an anti-Israel meeting this week at East Los Angeles College, why they were hawking Kevin Cooper merchandise.
Because we support all human rights and the death penalty is inhumane, she droned mechanically.
But are you advocating freeing Kevin Cooper because youre against the death penalty or because you think he didnt do it? (He did do it, by the way, but has a legion of framed by racist cops followers.)
Were the last civilized country well, thats debatable to have the death penalty, she responded. Well, except China. China as the worlds touchstone of civilization? China, who would mow down in cold blood protesters like her? Thank heavens I hadnt eaten any lunch yet.
Socialist-girl invited me to sign up on their mailing list, which was empty. Filling in my name, occupation, and website, I figured she could have her own Maalox moment later.
In the thick of the protesters, getting whipped in the face by Palestinian flags and watched by Los Angeles police officers lining the route, I saw kids and seniors with PLO/Fatah kaffiyehs, a Che T-shirt proclaiming Stop the war (as if Che was a pacifist), and the standard Aztec dancers that show up at every manner of L.A. demonstration. Bush and Blair, whaddya say, how many kids did you kill today? many chanted.
When it comes to protest crashing, though, its all fun and games until someone makes your blood start to boil.
I had scarcely met up with the 1,000-strong march and begun mingling with its participants when cries of Long live Hezbollah rang out.
This, not surprisingly, was not a rally just to denounce Israel and the U.S., but to cheer on a terrorist group. One sign was topped with a Constitution-like We the People; underneath was written Hezbollah forever. Another read Hezbollah, Hamas Peoples Resistance. Hassan Nasrallahs buttons would have burst with pride.
Nice to know all of these Americans turned out to cheer on the terrorist group responsible for the most deadly terrorist attack on Americans before 9/11. And it was nice to find out later that other journalists werent paying attention or have selective memory: I read all other news service reports on the protest afterward and saw no mention of the pro-Hezbollah bent, just heart-tugging tales of toddlers waving Lebanese flags and of ornery (fringe, as L.A.s City News Service called them) Jewish counter-protesters.
You could say that the demonstration drew curious onlookers, but more were peeved drivers; in Los Angeles, you never win allies by obstructing traffic. But I think they must have made a huge impression on the residents who gave the march a second look: Umm, whats that flag theyre holding? one man watching on from a nearby building stopped me to ask of the Lebanese-banner wielders. Fox News junkies they aint.
So while the Wedding Crashers got showered with champagne in their reception stunts, I felt more like I needed a shower after hanging with the pro-Hezbollah bunch.
But hey, I got the inside scoop on all the belated L.A. birthday bashes for Fidel Castro this week (hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the ANSWER coalition, etc.). Could my next challenge be Birthday Crasher?
There were Communists in America who marched for "non-violence" when dealing with Hitler, too.
CNN felt greater ideological solidarity with Saddam Hussein than they do w/ GWB.
The word is "malcontents", not "discontents".
San Francisco is the world's largest insane asylum.
>>>>>If you eat meat, it is because you are an intolerant, sexist, capitalist, raping the planet with your "Big Macs", farting cows, leather boots, and cancerous colons.
How about if you kill it with a spear and eat it raw? :)
It is morally wrong to kill an animal (unless you are feeding mice to your pet snake) but it is a scrament to have an abortion.
Actually, "indigenous pipples" get a pass for killing and eating animals, sort of like animals do. Say . . . do you suppose the human-haters exempt the IP's because they regard them as not fully human (not fully evolved) and therefore still part of nature (unlike redneck deer hunters)?
Report from the SF Anti-Anti-War Protest
Hi All.
On Saturday I attended An Anti-war protest in Dolores Park, SF, CA. There were about 2000-3000 of the enemy, consisting mostly of aging hippies, angry lesbians, stoners, ignorant college students, marxist/socialist worker groups, and various other America-haters. On the other side were EIGHT brave FReepers, including my girlfriend and myself, Freeper "American Preservative", and others whose names I missed in the whirlwind. (Hi Joe K.!) It went well in the beginning, with our side vocal but well-behaved. (You expected anything less?) The Anti-patriots were an angry, hostile lot, and I felt the situation could turn violent very quickly, but there were police near us holding the rabble in check. But after a while the other side got in our faces and got belligerent and threatened us with violence, and I looked around and saw that our police escort had abandoned us! Thank you, SFPD, for neglecting your duties, and putting peaceful peaceful FReepers (Half of them women) at risk of getting beaten by an angry mob of uncouth heathens. At one point an enormous, angry African-American gentleman got got in my girfriends' face, shouting at her to "go back to Europe" and calling her a "blue eyed devil" who "needed to die." The crowd swirled around us, and I, a (supposedly) brave Patriot, was suddenly in fear for my safety and the safety of those in my group. It was then that I reevaluted the wisdom of the sign that I brought. It was a blown-up photo of Osama bin Laden within a snipers' sights over his face, with the text "SNIPERS WANTED" above, and "OSAMA BIN DEAD MEAT" below. I quitetly rolled up my sign, and tried to separate my girfriend from the angry African American gentleman (who had devolved to shouting "F#ck your white ass!" to my signifigant other. My S.O., being a citizen of Texas, did not have the common sense to rise above his behavior, was yelling choice words back at him. I spread the word to the people in our group that we should get the hell out before it was too late, and leave in a group. One guy did not want to leave,and the last I saw, before he was swallowed up by the crowd, he was in heated dicussion with a wild-eyed guy beating a bongo yelling "kill the devils, kill the devils!" I hope he got out safe. Anyway, I learned a valuable lesson this Saturday: Most of San Francisco Sucks, the SFPD included, and if Osama was to nuke the entire town, killing me, I would consider it an honor to "take one for the team", so to speak, in order to wipe this cancer off the map. I have never been so appalled at the behavior of the supposed "pacifists", and at the same time I've never been so proud of my fellow FReepers. God Bless You! I also learned not to put my faith in the police, because you can't count on them to be there when you need them the most, and indeed, its' at those times that seem to abandon you.
Be Safe and GOD BLESS, AR15_Patriot
20 posted on 09/30/2001 10:35:48 PM PDT by AR15_Patriot
What can I say? These people lend credence to the existence of a missing link.
I have found it best to avoid telling Hell's Angels that "Harley's are for wimps" even though I should be able to do it legally. Sometimes you just have to use common sense. Many of these lefties are mentally-ill.
In my defense, most of the drama on our side was fomented by my tiny texas-bred girlfriend who believed, erroenously, that all folks had a similar upbringing and worldview as her own: Respect others, don't back down when you see a wrong committed, never give in to bullies, blah blah blah. She was surprised that her small-town-Texas values carried no currency with that angry peacenik crowd, who actively ganged up on the smaller female members of our group.
It scared me that when I looked around, it was I who was the biggest, meanest person in our group, and that the others were looking to me for protection. When I realized that fact I had a deep fear of what might transpire next. I was so scared my heart was beating out of my chest!
The good news is that my S.O. got interviewed on TV for about 10 seconds, wherein she exclaimed, incredulously "I don't know why these people have to act like this. Peace is not going to solve this" (that is, terrorist attacks). I bought the clip from a news service; we play it for friends when we need a laugh.
As an aside, I believe it was your (A.P.'s) Signifigant Other who got me banned the SECOND time, When my name was Spann_Tillman, when I characterized the Katrina refugees in my town as "low end". No hard feelings though!
Actually, that's a pretty funny shirt. Very absurd.
One correction: he is not an "African" American "Gentleman". He's a goon, a barbarian, plain and simple. Also, those threats are known as "Terroristic Threats" under the law, but then again, who seems to give a damn about the law anymore?
Good work, I appreciate your courage and willingness to "show the flag" to these hopeless idiots.
Minorities, like other animals, cannot be faulted for their violent uncivilized ways. (/leftist bigot)
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