Disrupters Dragged Kicking and Shouting from Wolfowitz Interview at the New School, NYC

firsthand report | September 21, 2003 | firebrand

[firebrand]

Protestors yelling, "War criminal!" and "Murderer!" were the first to be dragged out of the auditorium at the New School this afternoon, after being given repeated warnings to stop disrupting Jeffrey Goldberg's interview of the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Although the majority of the audience seemed to be sympathetic to Wolfowitz, shouts of "Go home!" and "Resign!" and "Oil!" continued to partly drown out the speakers.

Then a very big, buff personage in a tank top and a ponytail alarmed the security staff the most, as he ran up the left-hand aisle toward the stage, angrily shouting and menacing the Secretary. This got most of the many Secret Service men who were there to their feet, but he too was quickly subdued and pulled fighting from the room.

The Palestinians then got into the act and a woman had to be forcibly removed as well.

The shouts continued, and after the interview, outside the university on West Twelfth Street, belated protesters were holding banners, banging drums, and marching around in goosestep.

Various other protesters were from the Lyndon LaRouche camp, the indefatigable Free Mumia crowd, and the organized thousand or so family members of American troops who want their loved ones brought home now.

As for the interview, it went exremely well, when it could be heard, with the Secretary articulately expressing the position of the Bush administration and other sane Americans. He was so convincing that I cannot help but think some who were committed to the other side may have walked out with second thoughts.

[firebrand]

At least he didn't get a pie in his face.

[RobbyS]

Thanks. Now we know that the other side offers nothing except their rage and violence.

[firebrand]

A NY afternoon

[Mears]

I remember this crap in the sixties,a bunch of idiots with too much time on their hands.

[nutmeg]

find later bump

[jwalburg]

as he ran up the left-hand aisle toward the stage

It would be the left-hand aisle.

[firebrand]

It was where the TV cameras were.

[jwalburg]

The media guys were in the left-hand aisle, too? That also figures.

[FreedomPoster]

Sounds about like the Dem Presidential debate crowd that the NAACP sponsored and FNC televised, with Brit Hume as moderator. And that was a crowd where the Dems controlled admission tickets.

There is nothing approaching decorum and sober discussion of issues left in the Democrat Party.

[Old Sarge]

Message to the unwashed lemmings:

You have been told by your political masters to forget September 11th, 2001, ever happened. And you have obeyed

You outnumber freedom-loving Americans two to one.

You are undeserving of my protection.

[firebrand]

This was part of the New Yorker magazine festival that also has book-and-author events this week. I think that's why most of the crowd was civilized and respectful. The New Yorker is farther to the left than we would like it to be, but Goldberg is one of their stars and does first-rate stuff, and they are not the NAACP.

[genefromjersey]

MY oldest brother ( who sleeps in the arms of Marx *) was a dedicated Marxist, and thought The New School was "just great, Gene ! Just great ! "

* I'm not entirely sure on this one. He started out a communist-but never joined the Party;decided later he was a Marxist;then a Socialist;then a Progressive.

About 6 months before he died,he said he was going to have a Roman Catholic funeral-"for social reasons".

Sure enough, he was laid out with a rosary in one hand, and a copy of the Constitution in the other (symbolizing, they said, his long membership in the ACLU. It seemed ironic to see such devotion to the Constitution he wanted to overthrow, and the church he hated.)

He had a Catholic funeral,( Requiem Mass ), so I assume he must have made his peace with the Padre, if no one else.

[firebrand]

There were some ostensible New School types yelling that Dr. Wolfowitz was "desecrating" the place.

[RobbyS]

What, he was concerned about ANOTHER Jewish Plot?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Where do these filthy hippies come from? Vermont?

[TopQuark]

I remember this crap in the sixties,a bunch of idiots with too much time on their hands.

You are right. They are much more busy now, teaching in our schoold and universities, bradcasting news, writing "news" accounts in the newspapers.

[Itzlzha]

Sounds like a "Target-Rich Environment"...

[NYC GOP Chick]

Well, if they were goosestepping, then they were certainly showing solidarity with their islamoFASCIST idols.