Posted on 05/18/2007 1:42:46 PM PDT by Reaganite84
Protesters employ monkey to decry Reid's Iraq stance
Group includes woman whose son was killed in war
By MOLLY BALL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
May. 18, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
With a sleepy monkey in a camouflage outfit and white handkerchiefs on flagpoles, a small group of pro-war activists Thursday gathered outside the federal courthouse that houses Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's Las Vegas office, decrying what they said was a policy of surrender.
"Even though my son paid the ultimate sacrifice, I still support the president. I support what we're doing over there, and I support our troops," said Debbie Lee, a Phoenix-area mother whose son, a Navy Seal, was killed in Iraq last year. "I want Harry Reid to hear my voice today. I can't believe he would say we've lost the war. What a defeatist attitude."
The anti-Reid demonstration was organized by a national group, Move America Forward, and most of the protestors were from out of town. They said they wanted to bring their message home to the Nevada Democrat, whose work in the Senate to set deadlines for troop withdrawal they said was irresponsible.
The "surrender monkey" the group used to draw attention to its action was a hired gun -- a Dallas-based performing monkey named Hobo who has appeared on television and in movies. Hobo gripped a miniature white flag and waved it briefly before stopping to gnaw on the dowel.
Reid this week backed a largely symbolic bill that would have required troops to begin pulling out of Iraq within 120 days and would have ended war funding by March 31, 2008. That measure failed, getting just 29 votes. Reid says he hopes to work toward a compromise with President Bush, who vetoed a previous bill that passed both houses of Congress that would have set a timetable to begin troop withdrawal.
The protesters also were angry at Reid's statement last month that the war in Iraq "is lost."
Down the block, a similarly sized group of counter-demonstrators gathered. The local anti-war activists and veterans said they supported Reid.
"My son was in Iraq three times," said Catherine Jackson of Las Vegas. "I thank God he's home now. Enough is enough. We need to bring our troops home."
Reid spokesman Jon Summers said Move America Forward was mischaracterizing Reid's position. "It's their right to make their feelings known, but most Nevadans agree with Senator Reid that it's time to change course in Iraq," he said.
The group on Thursday also protested at Reid's Carson City office and at the San Francisco headquarters of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and launched pro-war advertisements on national cable networks.
Move America Forward's use of a primate to draw media attention also drew criticism from the Humane Society.
"It's a shame that Move America Forward is exploiting animals to score political points," said Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Capuchin monkey named Hobo holds onto his scooter with a
white flag Thursday outside Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office
at the federal courthouse in Las Vegas. Hobo was there
with the group Move America Forward to support the war in Iraq.
Photo by John Locher.
Cute and awesome!
Does he eat cheese?
bttt
Monkey Pictures from the SF rally in front of Nancy's office
But it's okay for Code Pink and the other anti-war morons to use their own children to score political points, isn't it Wayne? How blatently politically incorrect can some people be?
HA HA HA HA HA H AH AH AHA !!!! that is hilarious!!
how lone till PETA is up in arms?
Just doesn’t get much cuter than this!
Outstanding!!
Great ... Dingy Harry is now more French than ... the French!
....It’s a shame that Move America Forward is exploiting animals to score political points,” said Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States....Oh you sensitive boy!....go pound sand!
I do feel sorry for the monkey....he’s probably a Republican.
:)
good press!
Harry the surrender monkey.
I like it. It fits.
He sure looks like a monkey.
check this out
That look like Rally Monkey from Angels game
Wayne Pacelle
Wayne Pacelle Biography
In 2004 Wayne Pacelle was named president of the world’s richest animal-rights organization, the Humane Society of the United States. Pacelle, a strict vegan, joined HSUS in 1994 after working at the anti-hunting group the Fund for Animals for six years. There he helped Paul Watson and his violent Sea Shepherd Conservation Society raise money for ships. Pacelle’s goal is to create “a National Rifle Association of the animal rights movement.” He is in charge of HSUS’s many ballot initiative campaigns, winning 17 of the 22 in which he has been involved. His biggest win was in Florida, where an initiative passed that gave constitutional rights to pregnant pigs. Florida farmers were banned from using “gestation crates.” Many farmers killed their animals as a result and the pork industry in Florida is almost extinct. He plans campaigns against gestation crates in other states, and is already organizing in California and New Jersey. At the 1996 HSUS annual meeting, Pacelle announced that the ballot initiative would be used for all manner of legislation in the future, including “companion animal issues and laboratory animal issues.” These operations, he says, “pay dividends and serve as a training ground for activists.” Pacelle’s wife, Kirsten Rosenberg, works for Ark Trust, now the HSUS Hollywood office.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.