Posted on 08/22/2010 1:35:02 PM PDT by American Number 181269513
Two protests on Sunday morning, in the normally quiet blocks north of Ground Zero, claimed to be on the side of tolerance. One camp stood in favor of the mosque and Islamic center that has been proposed for the area; the other argued against.
Around 500 of those opposed gathered in a cordoned-off area, heavily monitored by police. They sang patriotic songs and spoke of a hijacked Constitution, a renegade presidency and tolerance toward the sensitivities of New Yorkers whose relatives died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
A counterprotest, smaller but equally passionate, gathered steam two blocks away, where about 200 people chanted that tolerance should be directed toward members of different religions, and that the values of the Constitution supported their side of the argument.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I think the numbers would have been higher but the weather forecast two days out predicted heavy storms. It did rain heavily early on but cleared up for the most part of the rally.
“What good would that have done? It is against the law.”
Since when does the law matter anymore?
What a big copout.
43 rounds up to 200 for and 2000 rounds down to 200 against.
Do you have experience of storming?
“But, you suggested storming some place - I assume in NYC. What is that all about?”
After over 3000 lives were lost, and not all U.S. citizens, you tell me Mr. KFC.
How strange.
NT Times Photographer: Que the angry white men! Attention, could all the white men please step to the front of the crowd? Please?? Just one picture? Come-on guys!
How ‘bout free subscriptions to the Times? Wait, wait, don’t run away!
I attended the protest today at Ground Zero, with my husband and two friends (we traveled in from Long Island). At the start of the protest, the police were not allowing people to stand outside of the barricades, on the sidewalk - they were insisting that the sidewalk remain clear. That didn’t last very long - the size of the crowd swelled to the point that there was just no way to enforce that rule any longer, and they simply let the crowd expand all the way out. I couldn’t see the extent of the crowd (I’m short & I was near the front), but judging from the volume of the chanting & singing, I can tell you - there were a lot of people & they extended pretty far down the street.
Two striking memories from the experience:
#1 - One of the speakers asked that anyone who had lost a family member or friend on 9/11 raise their hand. I turned 360 degrees and looked at the crowd - and was stunned at the number of hands that were solemnly being held up. It was like a punch in the gut - there’s no way you could look at that and not choke up.
#2 - It was a rainy, miserable day today in NY. It rained on & off throughout the protest. After the speeches ended, they asked everyone to march to Ground Zero itself. Just as we began filtering out of the barricades & walking in that direction, the sun came out & shone brilliantly for a couple of minutes. Then the clouds returned, but it was pretty impressive timing. I’m not a big one for seeing “signs”, but I’m making an exception in this case...
What planet are YOU on , Gatun?
You’ve been around for 10 years so I assume you can’t be a troll. You sound unusually CLUELESS for a FReeper.
Thank you for going and standing for the right.
To me, or to our ruling aristocracy?
...............Lets see, theres a cresent on the site of the Pennsylvania crash. Theres a mosque inside the Pentagon now. All they need is the mosque at the ground zero site and they have their conquers all marked............
A Trifecta!!
Thank you for being there.
The peaceful protests will grow. I expect thousands more on Sept. 11 this year, at Ground Zero, at the Pentagon, and in PA.
The muzzies will NOT win this one.
I was there too.
When it broke up and most of us sauntered down a few blocks by the Century 21 building, things got a little looser, and the crowd sort of took on the aspect of an “after-hours club” with one young guy leading the crowd in alternating chants of “F-— Obama!” and “Impeach Obama”-—this went on for awhile. Then the rain really came down steadily for about 20 minutes, and my friend and I from Rockland COunty got into an extended conversation with a guy from Ukraine and his non-English-speaking elderly father.
My favorite feature of the whole event was the appearance of a large FDNY truck every 20 minutes or so, driving down
the corridor on the other side of our barricades, with his horn honking and the driver giving us “Thumbs Up”. The entire side of this truck was decorated with the names of all NY firefighters who died at 9-11. As if that weren’t great enough, there was a huge white United States Postal Service truck that showed up driving past us five minutes after him, doing the same horn-honking.SURPRISING!
Favorite speakers overall: Frank Gaffney, (who knows how to stir a crowd) and a very attractive woman from Tennessee
, a homeschooling mom, who founded her own Mosquewatch group, who worked from notes but whose every sentence was perfectly wrought, and perfectly pointed.
ping to self,
list
Just curious, when did they put a mosque in the pentagon? Was it there before 9/11?
It is IIRC a prayer room. The Pentagon is akin to a military or naval base. Those have worship facilities for members of the Armed Forces as well as clergy from the Chaplain Service of the various services. Similar facilities are provided at the Pentagon. Interesting but many defenders of the mosque would want the Muslim prayer room and other chapel facilities at bases removed under their concept of the 1st Amendment
Relative to the fine American who started this thread -> “The picture in the article above capture me 2nd from left as I was front and center at the rally” <- where in the crowd were you?
It’s obvious who was the real patriot in that family, and sadly, she died at the hand of radical Islam.
Ted Olson is beneath my contempt at this point.
I was there from 11:00 to 13:45 (left as Gaffney was wrapping up). I roamed the area making sure to get all angles. At the peak I estimated just about 800 but since there was an ebb and flow, I’d say 1,000 made it.
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