Posted on 09/04/2004 1:44:12 PM PDT by MrChips
Just announced on Fox News. About 300 pro-life demonstrators from the Catholic Steubenville University are protesting his appearance in the town, there, by showing up at his rally. Are there any local folks who can add anything more?
Those Kerry supporters ought to put bags over their heads. They frighten children and small animals!
I'm thinking we need to replace every one of those reporters that are standing out in 100 mile an hour winds.
At one point, I looked at FOX-Geraldo, CNN- Anderson Cooper, MSNBC I don't know this person.
All of them were standing out there describing how the wind felt! What's wrong with these people???????
Is it just me?
I'm taking meds right now, so I don't know! ;-/
Oh, thanks. Now I'll have nightmares of the Girlie-Man pointing his finger at me.
GREAT NEWS!!
300 protesters? THAT is WONDERFUL!
I would love to see someone blow this picture up (increase size) and then put it on a poster. Put the horns on it and you are ready to go!
Signs in Center of Dispute at Rally
STEUBENVILLE - About 300 people gathered Saturday in downtown Steubenville before the visit of presidential hopeful John Kerry to express their hope that the senator will hear their voices on the subject of abortion. Group spokesperson Gabriel Hahn said the pro-lifer supporters, composed of mostly Catholics and students from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, had gathered to "stand up for life."
"We're not here to protest, we're here to stand up and challenge John Kerry to stand up for what he believes," Hahn said. "Standing up for life is the most important of all things."
Hahn noted that the group actually marched together to the site from the university, through St. Peter's Catholic Church on North Fourth Street and through the downtown area to line up along Adams Street between Third and Fourth streets, less than a block from the rally site at the Old Fort Steuben. Throughout the walk, the demonstrators sang and prayed, carrying pro-life signs.
"We're here to challenge Sen. Kerry that if he has the same faith as we have, then he needs to fully embrace the church's teachings on life," said Emily Bissonnette, one of the group organizers and a student at the university. "Just as we came here to stand up for our pro-life values, we would like him to do the same," Bissonnette added. "We're all here to stand up for our faith and our pro-life values."
She explained the group planned to wait in silent witness all day until the end of the rally to show their support of the pro-life belief. Many of the demonstrators stood, sat and kneeled in prayer as they said the rosary and other prayers and sang hymns. Franciscan student Kerry Franklin, who also helped organize the demonstration, said all those in the group felt very strongly about taking the opportunity to send a message to Kerry that they want him to take the position taught in the Catholic faith.
"We're asking him to be a man of his word, and as a Roman Catholic, his word has to be pro-life," Franklin said.
Meanwhile, Kerry campaign officials and local law enforcement officers briefly debated over whether anti-abortion protesters could be allowed into the rally for Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. John Kerry on Saturday afternoon.
About 250-300 of the demonstrators began lining up at about 1 p.m., between Third and Fourth streets on Adams Street, about a block from the Kerry rally site. The general public was not scheduled to be allowed into the rally site until 3 p.m.
An official with the Kerry campaign, who declined to be identified, approached law enforcement officers at Adams and Third streets and informed them that the protesters would not be allowed into the event. Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla told the Kerry campaign officials that his office is in control of security matters.
"We handle security," Abdalla said. "Nobody else does. I'm not going to let you people start a damn argument," Abdalla said. "They have a right to protest."
However, a Kerry official contended that the protesters would not be allowed inside the private rally which was open only to those with tickets. "Not inside the event," an unidentified Kerry official said.
"They have a right to do whatever they want to do as long as they don't interfere," Abdalla countered.
Another Kerry official said that there has been a designated area for protesters congregate at other Kerry events around the country. Capt. Joel Walker of the Steubenville police said there were no Kerry campaign representatives at the meetings that were held on security matters. He said such an area for protesters should have been set up by the Kerry campaign prior to the event.
"You didn't approach us," Walker said. "If people show up and they cause a disturbance, we'll remove them."
A Kerry official told Walker and Abdalla that signs and personal items are not allowed into the event. Tickets for the event are printed with the words, "No Signs. Please Limit Personal Items," printed on the bottom. A Kerry official said signs would not be permitted in the event site area.
"I'm going to tell you right now, if any of your people starts an altercation you're going to jail," Abdalla said to the Kerry official. "This will be the first rally I've seen without signs."
After 10 minutes of discussion, the meeting with Abdalla, Walker and Kerry officials ended with the apparent understanding that demonstrators would be allowed into the event but would have to leave any signs they were carrying outside the event site.
Abdalla later said that he would abide by the request of the Kerry campaign officials to not allow signs to be carried into the event. "Law enforcement is going to say (to the demonstrators), 'leave it there, you can pick it up on the way out,'" Abdalla said. "We want (Kerry) to come in and get his message out and we don't want to arrest anybody over a sign," Abdalla said. Wheeling News-Register
Those are Jesuit schools, which are CINO unlike the Franciscan University at Stubenville.
Sadly, the liberalism has spread to other 'Catholic' colleges like St. Bonas (I know many people who went there) and a few others that aren't Jesuit have followed the lead (downward spiral) of the CINO example. The good news is Franciscan University of Steubenville and some others - St. Thomas Aquinas in Calif comes to mind - are bucking the trend, which is good news indeed.
Finally! Someone to speak up for free speech. A stand up guy.
Another Kerry official said that there has been a designated area for protesters congregate at other Kerry events around the country.
Does Kerry mean those barbed wire 'free speech' zones gulags he set up in Boston for the DNC?
The interesting thing is that Kerry's minions had been in the area several times over the past month or so to set up this rally, choosing locations, trying to find Effin a place he could shoot trap and show off his fancy shotgun, etc., but none of them bothered to mention the requirement of "protest zones" to the local police. As the city police chief noted, they didn't bother coming to security planning meetings, either. It's no wonder Kerry's campaign is floundering - he's surrounded by incompetents.
Well, first of all, the mighty Johnny Flip-Flop doesn't need the permission or cooperation of mere local officials. And attending planning meetings at their discretion? Puh-lease. He thinks he's royalty. He will deign to inform them of his needs - to be fulfilled straight away - when he's ready.
And, also, it's funny how he 'loves' to show off his shooting skills (oops, I almost typed 'shills', how appropriate) whenever he's in a country/hunting setting, but is conveniently anti-gun in a city-type setting. Typical flip-flopping.
Okay so here's my account from being at the event.
John Kerry came to Steubenville yesterday and quickly realized he was in the wrong city. Steubenville is a city where there are 6 Democrats for every 1 Republican, and the Steelworkers unions are alive and active. You would think this was solid John Kerry territory. The mob used to control Steubenville and now the unions think they do. Well, they are wrong.
The Kerry campaign first scheduled a visit to Steubenville two weeks ago but "scheduling conflicts" came up at the last minute. Oh, and did I mention that Kerry wanted to use a local gun range as a campaign stop, but the owner turned him down? And that the Fire Department Union President told the Kerry campaign that not only would he not organize the union to support Kerry at the rally, but that he was supporting President Bush! The Kerry campaign took for granted that this area was sown up. Mistake number one. So they rescheduled the campaign trip when Franciscan University was back in session. Mistake number two.
Before Kerry arrived there was a huge pro-life march led by Franciscan University students, 500 strong. "You can't be Catholic and pro-abortion", read some of their signs. Students and members of local Catholic parishes were full of energy and FoxNews reported that this was the largest protest against Kerry outside of the Democratic Convention. Just picture 500 pro-lifers marching from their college campus to meet Kerry. Where else but in Steubenville, Ohio! Though the Franciscan University did not organize the event, it is well known for its orthodox Catholic education which encourages students to put their faith into action. These students simply cherish their Catholic faith and could not stand to let Kerry use their faith as a political prop. I am proud of my alma mater.
As the lone Republican City Councilman I must say that I was also proud of the position my Democratic peers took that day. The Kerry campaign not only made a mistake in their timing, but they also chose to hold the rally in a public park which should be open to all the public. Mistake number three. The police chief, sheriff, and mayor all agreed with me that protesters and their signs would be allowed inside the Kerry rally site. Freedom of speech is alive and well here in Ohio. The Kerry campaign flipped out!
So, now add another 500 local Bush supporters to the Kerry rally. They tried to turn up the music but they could not drown us out. According to the Herald Star (local press), "The crowd, estimated by officials as 3,500 strong, was almost split in half with people for and against the Massachusetts senator." John Kerry must know he has a problem when over 15% of his audience was booing him. We were respectful and did not heckle him - but upon arrival and when he sought our applause he got something he didn't expect. As the press arrived a feisty nine year old little girl began shouting, "We want Bush!", and we all chanted along. The campaign staff was beside themselves. This is history in the making! Even places like Steubenville are not supporting John Kerry. He is in serious trouble.
My friends, John Kerry will not be coming back to Steubenville. Kerry was visibly shaken when he received boos from the audience. You may not see this outside of FoxNews, and the AP is falsely reporting that only a few dozen protesters met Kerry. Therefore, I wanted to pass along my account and the account of our local paper. President Bush can count on Steubenville and the rest of Ohio. It was a great day to be American!
Thanks for the local news coverage! (Hi, PhiKapMom . . . I thought you might appreciate this local color)
Thanks for your report.
Is that your email that they're using on nro.com? Excellent report!
Hi, Mike - saw you on the news and you're doing great work in Jefferson County! I wish this Brooke County Republican could have joined you, but I had family commitments elsewhere (besides, I've already freeped Kerry twice in Wheeling).
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