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.