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.

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

If you want to know about NTX Freeper events, freepmail your e-mail address to me and I'll add you to the NTX Freeper e-mail list. I only send NTX specific e-mails for specific NTX events. No "spam".

[SAMWolf]

Dallas Bump

[Jim Robinson]

Outstanding! Great rally! Beautiful pictures!

[Jim Robinson]

Congratulations! Y'all done us proud!

[ventana]

WOW! Great post, pics, rally! Wish we could bring all you great Texans up to the empire state! Gotta love Strela's poster! V's wife.

[diotima]

You win for greatest rally sign. If you or anyone can get me that graphic within four hours, I will try and carry that at our Oscar rallies today.

[MeekOneGOP]

Really nice report, SerpentDove ! Thanks!

More pics here too, folks ! Check it out.

(whispers) can you tell I had a great time, excited, etc? Yee-Haaaaaa ! . . .

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!

[MeekOneGOP]

In case it hasn't already been done, here is a cross-link to the First report !. . .

Here !

[Stultis]

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."

A shame you can't name network.

[shooing little birdie off shoulder]

[GRRRRR]

Dearest MAF--How GRRRRReat to see you on the thread... HERE is a link to the CHICAGO Chapter's After Action Rally, WITH PIX!

The DIRECT LINK to our Rally Pix is HERE God Bless! GRRRRR

[strela]

Our very own SerpentDove put that one together; I just gakked it for Ssturday's Freep. Here's the link (Post 104).

[diotima]

I will see what I can do with this and hopefully I will have it outside the oscars.

[MeekOneGOP]

Howdy ! I thought you might want to see our FReep yesterday. I made it !
And it WAS great! . . .

[RobFromGa]

Way to go, Dallas!!!

Thanks for posting all these pictures. And thanks to all who attended in support of our troops.

What a great thing to see early in the morning!

[bradactor]

Great pictures. Looked like a great rally.

Brad in Houston

[strela]

Great synopsis of the event! I myself didn't count more than 28 of the Great Unwashed on the other side of the street at any one time, but I was trying to see everything and might have missed a few dribbling in and out (and judging by the obvious lack of personal hygiene practiced by the anti-war types, I stand by my description of "dribbling" when referring to their numbers).

As for me, Saturday's fun and games almost didn't happen. I received a call on my cell from work when I was about 15 miles outside of Dallas; thankfully I was able to fix the problem telephonically and continue my journey uninterrupted.

Anyway, to the event: I got there early enough to give myself enough time to overcome my quite natural revulsion to driving in the City of Dallas. I was originally going to try the new intercity train between Ft. Worth and Dallas, but I didn't really want to brave public transportation lugging my large sign, "Batman Utility Belt", and other devices I carried with me.

Weather: Steady light rain, but not too bad under the protection of my cheapie "emergency" poncho and Indiana Jones hat. I was warm and comfortable even with a short-sleeved shirt.

Camera: My spiffy new digital camera utterly failed the all-weather test. With the exception of the first, poorly-focused shot I took, every single picture was fogged and blurry. So, no pix this time.

Propaganda Materials: As was documented in painful detail elsewhere, I carried two signs on this trip: SerpentDove's "President on Drugs" comparison and protestwarrior.com's "Hey France" modification of an old World War II poster.

A Lady Named Marie: About 4 PM, I was watching the hijinks ensue between the upstanding, righteous pro-America group on my side of the boulevard and the pitiful band of scruffy, plastic banana anti-war types on the opposite side when I felt a light tap on the shoulder. I turned to regard a petite woman with light gray hair, probably in her late 40s, who regarded me intently. With my usual Southern charm and debonair manner, I smiled, tipped my hat, and passed greetings of the day. She replied by regarding my "Hey France" sign and saying sharply (and I'll never forget the way she phrased this): "Mah name is Marie, and All Zee French Are Not Like Zhat!"

After my initial surprise at this statement, I began to thank G*d for the gift of this obviously confused individual who had wandered over alone from the anti-war contingent to get in my face, surrounded by 3000 of my closest friends. Although I would not really have struck a lady, I rather felt like Ben Grimm in the Fantastic Four cartoons whose catchphrase was "Its Clobberin' Time!!!".

But, what Marie said after that stopped me in my tracks. She proceeded to explain, in that same charming accent, that she was born in France but had emigrated to America years ago, had voted for Bush and supported our troops. We talked for quite some few minutes, and I wondered out loud how the land that had given the American people the gift of the Marquis de Lafayette could have whelped such a disgrace as Jacques Chirac. She shook her head, smiled sadly, and said, "I thought zee same thing of Sleeck Weely when he was zee President." Touche' - point to the lady.

We parted with a handshake and an exchange of phone numbers. I think I've seen her before - if I remember correctly, she works at the Mansion at Turtle Creek (a high-falutin' eatery in the Dallas area). I guess I got my head handed to me on that series of exchanges, but there will be a next time ;)

All in all, a great time was had by all. Nobody got killed, nobody got towed, and the anti-war contingent got a free shower. Kudos to the guy in the Bush mask, the older gentleman sporting the "Burn THIS Flag, (expletive) T-short, and the double digits of Freepers I met at the event.

And, oh yes:

The Masked Freeper: One of the Freepers I met in Dallas wasn't really supposed to be there (a work situation apparently), and I will respect his or her privacy by stating unequivocally that I DID NOT see him or her there on Saturday.

It never happened. Now go home.

[Pippin]

GOOD MORNING, SD!

TEXAS FREEPERS ROCK!!!

But I gotta tell you how much it makes my blood biol whenever any of these idiots say Bush is a draft dodger! I'd like to just once get my hands on them and really knock some sense into them!

I don't call being in the National Guard as draft dodging!

WEWE! Got that rant off my chest! LOL!

[Pippin]

So, I don't have to be a Texan to be on your ping list,eh?

GOOD! 'cause I wanna be on your ping list! :^)

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks ! Welcome aboard, Honorary Texan !!

[Bigun]

OUTSTANDING!!!

Wish I could have been there!

GREAT job and GREAT Pics!