The Big Orange - After Action Report of Tucson Weekly Wednesday FReep 9/10/2008

AmericanProtest.net ^ | 9/12/2008 | Wayne Boettcher

[\/\/ayne]

The Big Orange

A beautiful Arizona dawn was breaking as I loaded my truck with troop supporting signs and headed for inner city Tucson. My destination was the Military Recruiting Center at 2302 E. Speedway. It was Wednesday and the weekly face off between those protesting and those supporting US troops was approaching. Troop Supporter / Marine Veteran Frank was already on the scene along with several others.

This was no ordinary Wednesday. It was September 10, 2008 and the seventh anniversary of a notorious and cowardly terrorist attack was at hand. Last year on 9/11 about 25 to 30 malcontents had planned to protest at the intersection of Tucson and Speedway, then “drift” over to the Recruiting Center several blocks away. But faced with a hundred patriotic citizens cheering for the troops, only a few made the “drift,” and those few were foiled in their pathetic street theater project when a patriotic citizen walked in front of them with a sign reading "Wearing Orange for Osama."

After setting up numerous troop support banners, signs and flags, we were ready to support US Armed Forces and counter anti-troop actions. Heading East from the main corner, I noticed the "Veterans for Peace" banner lady across the street with her desecrated American flag. Apparently she was out sick on the days they were teaching flag etiquette during her time in the military. Usually the "Veterans for Peace" have few members at protests while many of the troop supporters are veterans. This time, at least 4 protesters had signs claiming military service.

The cheerful smiles of the military supporters were certainly evident that day, as were the grumpy frowns of the protesters. If a news reporter were to interview them, they would say they weren't protesting the troops, but in private conversation most admit they are trying to halt military recruitment in time of war. And indeed, it's hard to deny protesting the troops when you are in front of their offices with a sign protesting their actions. All that is part of the twisted logic of the "anti-war" mindset, however.

Soon the protester known as "Semper Fraud" appeared with a sign I had not seen before. One side was "Bring The Troops Home" in small letters, the other side was just as small but a little more strange. It had "Love n" and a peace sign, with groovy flowers in the background and a hearty "Semper Fi" at the bottom (relating to "Semper Fraud's" claim of being an "ex-Marine."

Though usually bellicose today he greeted me with a smile and read my "We Support The Troops And Their Mission" sign with puzzlement.

"What's the mission?" he jeered in a friendly manner.

"Helping create stable and secure governments in Iraq and Afghanistan by fighting terrorists," I generalized.

"I thought it was weapons of mass destruction," laughed the anti-war ex-Marine.

"We’ve already accomplished that mission some time ago when we defeated Saddam Hussein and found 500 WMD. And Iraq just shipped out 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium concentrate to Canada," I stated.

"No, they didn't," protested the protester.

"Yes, they did," I confirmed as he shook his head in disbelief. “No, really. Canada signed for it. 550 metric tons of yellowcake. From Iraq.”

“Semper Fraud” explained there was no way he would believe that 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium concentrate was in Iraq and had been shipped to Canada or that 500 munitions found in Iraq met the criteria of weapons of mass destruction.

Shaking my head, I moved on East to talk to Frank, a real Marine. Since “General” Pat was taking a close family member to the airport to be deployed to some training and then Iraq this morning, Frank was in charge today. His large sign proclaimed victory, and indeed I had recently read that Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll, deputy chief of strategic communications of Multinational Force Iraq said “Anbar province is now kind of the model for how Iraqis have made the transition from really chasing al Qaeda out of the cities and main areas and putting them on the run.” The Admiral also said the success of joint Iraqi and U.S. efforts has fractured the terrorist network in the area.

Continuing East, I met an angry liberal who claimed a pro-American had hit her on the head with his flag. She then revealed that she had grabbed his flag first, leading me to wonder if she had pulled it down onto her own head. Certainly her straw hat was not damaged in any way and she didn't seem really hurt. Strolling further East, I noticed she was speaking of the black-shirted man from our last report of this location (Close To You) who was continuing his protest of a particular “anti-war” woman due to her horrendous statement about the troops in a newspaper guest column.

The troop-hating woman was walking all over the intersection to avoid the black shirted man, who was hard put to maintain a five foot distance from her per a police brokered agreement with all that movement. A burly leftist attempted to interspace himself between them and at one point body slammed him by jumping in front of the black-shirted man while he was walking. The hefty protester backed off a little when I mentioned I had a photo of that action. The movement carried the trio to and fro, even to the middle of the side street of the intersection!

This is a good example of how not to protest. The troop-supporter was so concentrated on his self-appointed mission of staying five feet from the protester that he allowed himself to be in a dangerous position in the street. This "anti-war" lady is known for bizarre behavior and wandering aimlessly out into the road. A better, safer way to protest her in particular would be to make a poster of the words "Nielsen Is A Liar!" (or something like that) and stand a normal distance before or after her but not blocking her sign. I asked the black shirted troop supporting man again to quit this type of protest, and again, he refused.

Moving East again, I noticed a woman on the NW corner of Tucson Blvd several blocks East of the Recruiting Center. She was pre-empting the morning traffic coming West with a gigantic orange "No War" sign. Perhaps they have been reading my columns about making large, easy to read signs with few words, but this one was too simple. Taken to its logical conclusion, there would be no United States of America, since our country was founded by revolutionary war. The orange color was supposed to represent uniforms of Guantanamo Bay prisoners, but the clueless protesters don't know that the prisoners have been wearing white uniforms for many years.

I went to the NE corner of Tucson and Speedway which was before the traffic reached the giant signed lady and began displaying my large sign with "Say No To Communism" on one side and "Don't Believe Left - Wing Propaganda And Lies" on the other, pre-empting the pre-emptor. The traffic was great and I received many waves of encouragement and thumbs up with only a few jeers and fingers. After a while the lady left and I started West, but on the North side of the street this time. Turns out all the moonbats were gone from the North side of Speedway but they left a big orange "No War" sign tied to a tree. I asked a nearby police team if I could lay the illegal sign gently down but one officer said that would be "criminal damage." Of course that's not legally true but in the spirit of cooperation I planted myself in front of it with my own sign blocking it rather than take it down.

I contacted City Hall by cell phone to check on sign rules and the sign enforcement group said they would send someone down to check out the tree-tied sign (and probably confiscate it.) Wouldn't you know this would be a day the surrender crowd didn't leave on time for a change? I wondered if the city would get there in time to pick up the sign before departing moonbats retrieved it. In this case, no, the protesters came back to pick up the garish illegally posted sign and toss it into their moonbat-mobile to make a clean getaway.

Last year on 9/11 a much larger group of "anti-war" protesters had tried to protest the troops but were met with about 100 cheering troop supporters. It was a total defeat for them and was reflected in this year's lack of 9/11 protest participation. This time there were about 20 troop supporters and about 7 protesters. As more and more Americans stand up for the troops, more and more "anti-war" people are sitting down to surrender. Let's continue to support the troops and their missions whenever and wherever we can as they stand up for freedom - and America!

Related Links:

Photos of 09/10/2008 event

Defense Personnel Transport Uranium Ore Out of Iraq - by Jim Garamone

Munitions Found in Iraq Meet WMD Criteria, Official Says - by Samantha L. Quigley

Successful Anbar Model Validates Security Approach in Iraq - By Tim Kilbride

DiscoverTheNetwork.org report on Veterans for Peace

Wearing Orange for Osama - by Wayne Boettcher

Close To You - by Wayne Boettcher

Click photos to enlarge.

(Above) Flag setup.		(Above) Multi-tasking at the counter-protest.
(Above) Friendly troop supporters on the SE corner by the Recruting Center		(Above) A military veteran family on the SW corner by the Recruiting Center.
(Above) Veterans for Peace lady with desecrated American Flag.		(Above) Another happy American with Semper Fraud behind.
(Above) Semper Fraud shows off his groovy sign. But would any real Marine have a sign like that?		(Above) Frank seems to say "Hands off our Victory!"
(Above) We support the troops and their mission!		(Above) All this moving around brings them to the middle of the side street. A wrong way to protest and counterprotest.
(Above) The big orange "no war" sign, several blocks East at Tucson Blvd. intersection with Speedway.		(Above) I'm across the street from the big orange sign, but she just left so you can't see her behind me.
(Above) The moonbat-mobile sports many bumper stickers.		(Above) Don't order yet, you also get this!

[\/\/ayne]

Some extra items for FReep report:

1. The 9/11 Troofers did have a 9/11 event in Tucson on another busy intersection, but it seemed to be a big laugh all around town. About 20 people were there.

2. The military veteran guy in photo four was sitting on the ledge with his leg up and a flag stuck in his shoe so he could wave three flags at once.

3. The sign scenario actually first played out years ago when the moonbats were putting up illegal signs and the police made them stop. But the cop in charge at the parked car seemed to be favoring the illegal sign for some reason. He refused to admit it was legal, and told me to go to the library and look up the law. "I don't have to do that, I'll just call City Hall," I replied and was calling as I stood in front of the sign, blocking it. The cop car took off for parts unknown.

4. A Texan stopped by to give me a peace of his mind when I was pre-empting the pre-emptor. However, that's just because he thought I was one of the moonbats. When he checked my sign and found out different we had a great discussion.

5. I had to work on 9/11 but the rest of the Pro-Americans were making plans to gather at the Air Force Base gate and cheer in the troops on Thursday morning.

[donna]

Thanks! You write great reports.

[mabelkitty]

Outstanding!

[trooprally]

Thank You \/\/ayne, Frank and others for standing up to the moonbats. How many were there Supporting the Troops? Looks like you had a good group this week.

And a D.C. Chapter Master Ping List to some energetic Arizona FReepers.

A few sure look good with all their flags, signs and banners.

[Mr] T

[\/\/ayne]

How many were there Supporting the Troops?

About 20 troop supporters and about 7 protesters. I forgot to mention that sources tell us the big orange signs are provided by World Can't Wait.

An interesting note: The real Bat 21 lived in Tucson and had a license plate "Bat 21." These "moon" bats are the exact opposite of a hero like him. My brother had the honor of meeting him once.

[trooprally]

Good deal on the numbers.

Yea, Bat 21 was a good movie, right up there with Green Berets.

World Can’t Wait for Obambie.

[Mr] T

[BufordP]

Another mighty fine report!