DALLAS RALLY A SUCCESS (PHOTOS)

Texas Freepers ^ | 3/22/03 | SerpentDove; Ms. AntiFeminazi

[SerpentDove]

The Dallas Pro-America Rally was a success, despite a substantial amount of rain and chilly temperatures.

The Associated Press estimated approximately 3,000 in attendance, which was commendable considering the inclement weather.

For photos, scroll down.

FReepers confirmed in attendance were: Clinger (Charles Lingerfelt, the rally’s organizer), SerpentDove (me- the photographer), Ms. AntiFeminazi, who helped Clinger tremendously in pulling this together, LurkerNoMore! RonH, PetroniDE, MeeknMing, Conservative, littlebit (rally organizer), cowgirlcutie, erkyl, Slyfox, Strela, Concerned, Swake, Stultis, Houmatt, ANTI-LEFT, "Tony" Aguilar (rally organizer), HHFi, Ben Chad, TaqueriaFanatic, eBay Artist, and Shooter 2.5.

Any other FReepers who attended, please respond.

Ms. AntiFeminazi:

Okay, I know there are lots of complaints about the sound system, but the only way to guarantee one in rainy conditions like today would be to buy it myself. lol. We had a powerful sound system planned. The guy with the platform and speakers showed up, but the guy with the electronic components chickened out because of the rain. He was afraid of ruining his equipment. We would have let them set up on the porch, but he couldn't be convinced.

The media that I know of there with cameras and reporters were:
ABC
NBC
CBS
CNN
FOX
The Associated Press
Univision
WB33 (Warner Bros.)
KRLD AM 1080
KLIF AM 570
WBAP AM 820

ALL of our scheduled speakers showed up, including the congressmen and few other elected officials, and all did a fine job of speaking, even if they were a bit hard to hear over the PRO-AMERICA honks from passerbys and responding yells from the crowd! :)

FReepers to the left of me, FReepers to the right.

L to R: Strela, Ron H, Tony Aguilar, Stultis, Houmatt, SerpentDove, Ms. AntiFeminazi, MeeknMing, PetroniDE

PetroniDE has already informed me that he is going to publicly accuse, in this very thread me of giving lousy directions to the rally.
You must not listen to him. Between me and you, he is a *very* confused man. He's from H-O-U-S-T-O-N.

(Now that's what I call a "pre-emptive strike.")

;-)

>

These Cub Scouts were actually passersby who did not aprticipate in the rally.
I (SerpentDove) was holding a large flag on an 8-foot pole, when the boys saw the flag flying from across the street.
Spontaneously, they all jumped up on the little cement cylinders, put their hands over their hearts, and started saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
It was really something. I had to run over for a photo. I said "Okay, boys, the Pledge of Allegiance!"
Then I snapped this picture.

This is a shot of the hippy-dippy peacnik protestors.
No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Do not adjust your monitor. There are only two of them.
I think later in the rally, the number skyrocketed to seven. Maybe it was six.
I was never good with numbers.

This is a little Kurdish girl.
There were very many Kurdish citizens in attendance, who were all exrtemely passionate
and extremely vocal about ousting Saddam Hussein. Many carried photos of the atrocities committed by the Iraqi regime.
The emotion they expressed was palpable.

Elm Street. The JFK Memorial is in the background.

Kurdish citizens.

These are the peace protestors again. I mean, protestor. Maybe the other one went for a bite to eat.
Thankfully the barricades were there to keep the huge, bloodthirsty mobs of peacniks from attacking us.

ASSORTED RALLY PHOTOS:

I had to censor that one for the kiddies.

FReeper Strela

Charles Lingerfelt, rally coordinator.

President Bush and two of his friends made a surprise appearance. Oh, and I'm diggin' that poster.

Kurdish children take the platform.

I like this guy. His shirt says, "God Bless Harry Truman."
I asked him about it, and he said, "Harry Truman saved my life. I was about to be sent into Japan when he dropped the bomb and ended the war."
Come to think of it, he saved MY life, and I wasn't even born yet.

U.S. Representative Pete Sessions, Tx.
His father is former FBI Director William Sessions.

One of the most moving things in the whole rally was the constant honking of horns in support of
our responsibilities in Iraq. The noise was incessant, the cheers were breathtaking.
There must be about eleven peaceniks back there now. Okay, so I lied.
I told you I was never good with numbers.

[SerpentDove]

>>One correction: Petroni isn't from Houston - he's a transplanted Yankee. He grew up in the North, which explains a LOT. ;)<<

Oh fer cryin out loud! I forgot, he told me "not only am I from Houston, I'm a damn Yankee!)

(I added the "damn" part).

:-)))

JUST KIDDING PETRONI

[SerpentDove]

Somebody asked if those were peaceniks over there.

I said, "I don't know. I can't really see them that well from here, and we're upwind."

[SerpentDove]

LOL

[CyberCowboy777]

YAHOO - Big Texas!

[SerpentDove]

PING

[Shooter 2.5]

I was told to be there at 3:00 and when I walked up at 2:30, the rally was already in full swing. When I asked about it, a woman told me that the people were eager to get started.

The rain didn't seem to bother anyone and the only problem was an "anti-war" protester was on the wrong side of the street and was quickly escorted by the police back to his side. I also noticed a city bus blocked the anti's and took his sweet time in moving.

There was a larger police presence than I expected but they were a half block away. Their cars were all lined up pointed toward the rally.

The sound system was pretty bad but most of the crowd was doing their own rallies. There were a lot of impromtu actions by our crowd. Singing, chants and interviews were going on all the time. I think I enjoyed that more than the single speaker. A person could walk through the crowd and notice something different going on all the time.

Congressman Pete Sessions was my Congressman but he was moved out of my district. Jeb Henslinger is my congressman now and I was pleased to see him speak at the rally. He just finished when I walked up soI didn't get a picture.

[NewYorker]

Great post! Congrats on a great event. LOVE the boyscouts!

[PetroniDE]

HOUSTON SUPPLEMENT TO THE ABOVE FREEP REPORT.

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.

[SerpentDove]

>.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.<<

How many times do I have to tell you? I'M NOT GOOD WITH NUMBERS!

LOL

[SerpentDove]

One detail I left out...

I was the very first to arrive, and when I was crossing Elm, a guy crossed with me. We both had cameras strapped around our necks, so we knew something was up.

We both established that we were there for the rally.

Then he confided that he was a photographer for *** (I can't give the letters, by agreement). But it's a MAJOR, MAJOR news outlet...I wish I could tell you.

Anyway,

After conversing a little, he said, "Off the record, I'm glad to be covering this. I'm tired of covering the hippies and their anti-war rallies."

Niiice.

[EternalVigilance]

WAY to GO!!

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

Thanks for the post SerpentDove! I don't think we took the same pictures! I got pictures of the media vans, the platform, and just about anything I could get to while standing on a chair. I'll get my pics developed tomorrow and add them here. Oh! I got some pics of the Texas Guard and some family pics of various military participants.

I also met a very nice man who had a tripod and was taking great crowd pictures. He takes pictures as a hobby, but is trying to go professional with them. He will send them to me on Monday.

Almost everyone I talked to today had at least one immediate family member currently serving in Iraq, Kuwait or Germany. The people at this rally know about sacrifice for a country we love.

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

I'm glad Pete Sessions made it! His handler had called me on my cell phone for directions and I never heard the phone! lol. By the time I returned his call, Mr. Sessions was done and back home. His handler said that since I obviously did not see Sessions speak, he will send me some pictures next week. lol.

[SerpentDove]

I took about eight pictures of him, and that was the only one that turned out right. And it ain't that great. Oh well.

:-)

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

Oh, and I quoted Clinger in one of my previous posts. He knows which one it is. :)

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

---

To: HHFi

The Patriots! My pics from the cool, rainy, Dallas I Love America Pro-Military Rally.

 









The Anti-war Side.

59 posted on 03/22/2003 8:51 PM PST by Sdrawkcab
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[Howlin]

Good rally.

We had over 550 today in Raleigh, AND at least 25 POSTING Freepers, plus their families!

It was a great day to be a Freeper.

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

Good job Raleigh!

First Report From Dallas Pro-America Rally

[ClancyJ]

Wow! What absolutely great pictures. I got better sense of the different people through your pictures than I did being there. Loved the Boy Scouts - wish I had seen that.

Didn't get to meet the freepers but the last pictures of the burgandy van with the flags was us - so I got in the pictures.

[jla]

I'm not good with numbers OR letters.

"Damn Texicans!...
Here! Take my Winchester, only pretend that your target ain't a number or a letter!"