Sheesh, you can drive faster than 45mph!...7 hrs to Dallas???
nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more
THANKS
Katie come to Houston.
Posted on 03/22/2003 3:10:21 PM PST by HHFi
Just got back from the Dallas Pro-America rally. I could only stay for an hour or so, and I live about half a mile away, so I figured I'd get it started. Sorry I don't have a digital camera, but there were lots of cameras there, so I'm sure you'll see plenty of pics later.
There was a constant rain and chilly temps, which I was afraid would keep the crowd down, but it didn't. HUGE turnout, including Freepers, moms with strollers, Texas Guardsmen, Kurdish immigrants, you name it. The rain didn't dampen the spirits; I could hear the shouting, cheers, chants of "USA! USA!" and "Bush! Bush!" from over a block away as I was walking toward it. I'm no good at estimating crowd size, but the area in front of the Old Red Courthouse was packed, as was the sidewalk all the way down the block, with more people hanging out on the grass and around and inside the JFK memorial.
The rain did make the lettering on some of the signs run. I got a laugh from a Kurdish man whose "Get out, Saddam!" poster was dripping a bit by telling him, "I like your sign because 'Saddam' is running."
Tons of media there: vans from all the local TV stations, so there should be plenty of video. It'll be fun to watch, too, because conservative women are so much better looking than peacenik chicks. Somehow, they can look scrumptious even in a rainstorm. Especially those in damp T-shirts. But I digress.
There was the requisite turnout of pathetic peaceniks safely ensconsed across the street, unwilling or unable to admit they were on the wrong side of both history and the street. They were holding signs designed to demonstrate their lack of reasoning ability, such as the irrelevant cliche, "No Blood for Oil," and one that read, "Bush didn't fight in Vietnam, don't fight for him," a sentiment I never saw any of them express when Clinton was bombing the bejeezus out of people. At least Bush flew fighter jets in the National Guard. Clinton was organizing peace protests at Oxford in between puffing the reefer and raping the co-eds.
Peaceniks always complain that nobody gives an accurate count of their turnout, so for once, I'd like to do that for them. It was easy: there were 32 of them. Not 33, not 31. 32. They'll probably claim there were 100,000 of them, but all that proves is that they not only skip history and current events classes to go to protests, they also skip math class.
All in all, a big show of support and a heartwarming day, despite the rain and the chill. I think everyone was thinking what I was: "If our troops can face what they're facing, I can certainly deal with a little cold rain." Way to go, Freepers!
The poor guy was tired, which is understandable, considering he drove nearly seven hours each way.
Wanted to say I had a great time even though I was cold and wet by the time everything was done and it was a joy meeting you and LurkerNoMore!
Miss you already (nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more ;)!
Sheesh, you can drive faster than 45mph!...7 hrs to Dallas???
nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more
THANKS
Katie come to Houston.
Well, okay, but you should know that houmat's nudge/wink was for the Maffer.
;-)
Three Freepers from the Houston area (Houmatt, Ron H., and PetroniDE) drove up to Dallas to attend the pro-America rally today (22 March 2003). The following is an abbreviated summary of our "After Action Report".
The Houston Freepers arrived at about 12:00 noon for the 3:00 rally. We would have been there earlier, but we had a Yankee driver (PetroniDE) and SerpentDove tells you to take freeway exits that don't exist. The signs consisted of the usual "We Support Our Troops" banner, U.S. Flags, and a portable version of President Bush dressed as Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeves.
Most of the crowd began arriving around 1:00 pm. Several people stopped to take pictures of the banner (including a boy scout troop). One Dallas attendee jokingly tried to explain to us that Houston is a four-letter word. In addition to the usual contingent of your typical pro-American crowd, there was an unusually high turnout among the local Kurdish and Jewish communities. By the 3:00 start time, the plaza was filled to capacity and the crowd overflowed into the street and neighboring block. An estimate by Ron H. (one of many who took pictures) provided estimates upward of 12000 attending. Best sign/prop by others has to be the person who dressed up as President Bush, with the heads of Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden on a silver platter.
As with any pro-American rally, there always seem to be a few detractors. Two "anti-Americans" including one with a sign "Socialist Athiest" attempted to make their presence felt. They didn't do a good job. A few more of them appeared once the rally started, but didn't get any indication regarding how many.
It was chilly and rainy during the rally, which had an effect on the attendance but not the enthusiasm. Since some of the sound people backed out at the last minute due to the weather, it was difficult to hear most of the speakers. PetroniDE brought his bull-horn and lent it to the speakers, so that at least some of the crowd could hear the speeches. Several motorists made loops around the plaza honking horns and waving flags in a show of support, encouraged by the crowd outside of the speaker's range. The Houston contingent made it on stage near the end of the rally with the banner. Ron H. gave four interviews with various media and PetroniDE gave one interview.
Rally ended at about 5:00 pm. Afterwards it was off for some dinner with the Dallas Freepers and the long drive home. 577 miles and almost 17 hours later, finally made it home.
Way to go, Dallas FReepers!
If you want to be on the NTX FR Chapter e-mail list, freepmail your e-mail address to me. We will be having 2 more events before summer. (if things go as planned) Sometimes we just get together for pizza too.
It WAS great, even in the rain. I caught up to and got to meet some other FReepers there too! I met RonH, PetroniDE, Ms.Antifeminazi (hope I spelled that right! lol), SerpentDove and HouMatt. (There were others there, but I didn't get to stay and go to eat Bar-B-Q with the gang and meet some others). It was SOooo nice to meet ya'll ! :O)
I didn't get back home until late last night so I'm just now catching up to my comments this morning. One (belated) ping coming up !
PS: Hey, Miss SpookBrat! Wish you could have been here too ! . . .
Nice pics on #30-31 and #59 by Shooter 2.5 and Sdrawkcab. Thanks.
(See my note on #76) . . .
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!
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