The 'Sparsely Attended' Patriots Rally for America--After Action Report

When the D.C. Chapter of Free Republic started planning the Patriots Rally for America last month, we knew it would be hard to persuade people to come into a potential war zone to stand up for America in the face of violent peaceniks who hate everything good about the U.S.A. However, we also knew that if FReepers didn't stand in the breach noone would. Thus, we went into this knowing our turnout would be small but hoping we might inspire our fellow citizens to resist being terrorized in their nation's capital and come out to support America and our troops as we fight the war on terrorism.

While there were many bumps along the way to producing the rally, we never lost faith that it would be a success (though there were some days when we were quite frustrated:-)

Slowly--day by day and week by week--the plans for the rally took shape and fell into place. We tried to finance this ourselves, but it turned out to be more expensive than we could afford. Thankfully, several of our fellow FReepers saw to it that we would at least come close to covering the costs. We're still short, but at least we pulled it off.

Publicizing the rally was the hardest part. We sent hundreds of e-mails out to various groups whose members totaled in the hundreds of thousands. We pinged every FReeper listed within a day's drive of D.C. We had some D.C. area college students spread the word on their campuses. We distributed fliers. We managed to get on a few local radio stations for hour-long talks about the rally.

We also sent several press releases to almost one hundred major and small media outlets. This resulted in the Patriots Rally for America being written about in The Washington Times (only once), The Washington Post (about 7 times), the Journal Newspapers in northern Virginia (once), The Associated Press (about 5 times), Scripps-Howard (once), WorldNetDaily (once), Newsmax (once) and Washington Dispatch (once); the only broadcast report about the rally ran on WMAL-AM in D.C. two days before it was held.

We even held a press conference at the National Press Club. That was a fiasco--only two reporters attended and noone sent a camera to film it. That none of the local TV news stations wanted to let their viewers know about a truly peaceful, patriotic rally being held on the Mall at the same time as the other rallies they were hyping because of the threat of violence was disappointing--to put it mildly.

Matters weren't helped much when The Washington Post repeatedly published inaccurate information as to the location and date of the Patriots Rally. Last Sunday, The Post ran a map of the various rallies and marches being held that day. The Patriots Rally was located on their map a full city block from its actual location. Several attempts to get The Post to correct this error were refused.

The Post also had the wrong date for the rally listed on their Web site for at least two days last week (another group's rally was listed on the wrong date, also.) They corrected that error after a phone call but still wouldn't correct the map. It wasn't until the Friday before the rally that The Post published a new map on-line with the correct location on it.

Even the ABC News bureau in D.C. had the Patriots Rally at the wrong location. On their assignment daybook for Saturday, the rally was listed as being on the other side of the Washington Monument at the Sylvan Theater--where the anti-war United We March rally was being held!

In the days before the rally, we started getting alot of inquiries from media outlets, including an invitation to appear on C-Span's Washington Journal on Saturday morning.

We held one last meeting Friday night at an Arlington, Va. restaurant to finalize the plans for the rally. Around 35 D.C. Chapter members and out-of-town FReepers attended the dinner. We left in high spirits, looking forward to the long day ahead.

Dave Dilegge and two family members were first to arrive at the rally site to greet the stage, sound and porta-potty crews. As others arrived, tents, tables and chairs were set up and it was beginning to look like a rally!

I started the day across town at C-Span with a 45-minute segment on Washington Journal with Brian Becker of IAC-A.N.S.W.E.R. It was great to hear ALOHA RONNIE be the first caller to the show. It helped set me at ease for the rest of the show. The folks at C-Span were very nice and they gave me a videotape of the show along with my very own Washington Journal coffee mug :-)

I got to the rally site around 9:15. I could hear patriotic music coming from our sound system a block away. A Park Police office I knew from the days of the D.C. Chapter's White House protests against the Clinton administration told me he appreciated the pro-America music we were playing.

TV news trucks were parked on the scene to cover the pro-terrorist rally on the Ellipse being sponsored by IAC-A.N.S.W.E.R. Buses were unloading thousands of Palestinians and commies on Constitution Avenue by our rally site. We couldn't afford to bus ourselves in, let alone others who wanted to attend the Patriots Rally :-(

While the crowds for the two "anti-war" rallies on either side of us swelled into the thousands, our numbers were around one hundred by the time of everyone's scheduled start time of 11 a.m. Unfortunately, several dozen FReepers were needed to work all day as security on the perimeter of our rally site and at the porta-potties, so that made our numbers look even worse than they were.

The Patriots Rally was under constant assault from beginning to end with commies and leftists trying to infiltrate and stir up trouble. The toilet for the handicapped was ruined for use because some commie urinated all over the toilet-paper and the stall. Other toilets had bottles and other garbage thrown in them so as to cause them to reach capacity early so they could not be used.

Being that we paid for the rental of the seven toilets for the use by Patriots Rally attendees, we barred those from the other rallies from using them--with exceptions made for small children and the elderly. The pro-terrorist rally across the street at the Ellipse had plenty of porta-potties, but the commies kept crossing the street to try to "use" ours. While it may seem petty to control access to the toilets, it was a necessary security function. With great magnaminity on our part, we did provide a bucket for them to use labeled "Commie Commode and Bath". They declined our generous effort to accomodate their needs, however.

We opened the rally with the presentaion of the colors and a reading by Taxman of Red Skelton's essay on the Pledge of Allegiance. We then all recited the Pledge. Sarah Wood sung a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Constitutional attorney John Armor gave a stirring introductory speech based on the writings of the Founding Fathers to set the tone for the rally.

More people started arriving at the rally after we began the program. Getting in and around downtown D.C. was a nightmare. Everyone had to walk four or five blocks to get to the rally site from available street parking or the Metro. Our attendance peaked around 1 p.m. at around 400 patriots when Bob Dornan was speaking. The bad part was that around 100 commies had infiltrated almost all areas of the rally site and were starting to cause problems. This caused many families to leave for safer ground. Word reached us from the Park Police that the leftists were planning to rush and overrun the Patriots Rally at 2 p.m.

In response, the Park Police called in their riot squad--horse-mounted officers and riot-gear-clad foot officers. They formed a solid line of protection along our north and east perimeter to prevent any riot from being started. We battened down the hatches but continued on with the rally.

The strong presence of by the Park Police deterred what could have been a very tragic incident from occurring. Afterwards, the Park Police told us that they were very impressed with how the FReepers comported themselves in the face of the day-long attempts to disrupt the rally by the leftists. No FReepers were arrested or told to leave, but a few commies were led off in plastic handcuffs or were ordered to leave the rally site.

Some of our speakers had great difficulties getting to the rally on time because of the traffic nightmare. However all who were announced as speaking showed up and gave well-received speeches. Remarks taped exclusively for the Patriots Rally by Cdr. Jennifer Carroll (Ret.) and the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson were also cheered by the crowd.

The most moving moment of the rally was when our special guest, Staff Sergeant Christopher D. Braman--sent to represent the Department of Defense--gave a speech about his experience at the Pentagon on September 11. Sgt. Braman developed chemical pneumonia while helping to rescue over 30 people there that day. It must have been very difficult for him to tell his story. The impact of his remarks was so strong that most of the leftists who had heckled the previous speaker, Bob Dornan, silently skulked away.

Rain started coming down at 2:15, but around 100 FReepers waited patiently for our last speaker, Larry Klayman, to arrive. Mr. Klayman walked about 10 blocks in the rain to keep his commitment to the Patriots Rally. We greatly appreciated his support.

We ended the rally on schedule at 3 p.m. It is a shame that C-Span chose to not broadcast the rally like they did the pro-terrorist rally across the street. The speeches by our speakers were all good and should have been heard by many more Americans that heard them that day.

I want to thank all those who volunteered their time to plan and work at the rally, as well as those who gave donations to help pay for its costs.

Thanks also to all the FReepers who traveled at their own expense from up and down the east coast to attend. We loved seeing old FRiends again and making new ones. It took guts for people to be there yesterday and we appreciate all who came out to support America and our troops.

We are profoundly grateful to all who committed to speak at the Patriots Rally for America--and kept their word despite horrendous difficulties in getting to the rally site: The Honorable Robert K. Dornan; Staff Sergeant Christopher D. Braman; Niger Innis; Maria Heil; Paul Rodriguez; Joseph Farah; Larry Klayman; Kevin Martin; John C. Armor, Esq.; James Parmelee; Jennifer Carroll; and Jesse Lee Peterson.

We want to thank the U.S. Park Police for ensuring that our First Amendment rights were fully protected at the rally from those who would deny our rights if given the chance to do so.

Last but not least, we thank Jim Robinson for the support he has given the D.C. Chapter as we worked to put together Patriots Rally for America.

More details will be added by participants. I did not give highlights from all the speeches because I was too busy to take notes. They were all great, though.

Alot of interesting things happened at the rally that should be told. We could not afford a pro-shot video of the rally. Sauropod recorded most of it on his home video-camera. I hope he pushed the record button on it !

I went to the rally, on both days, and never saw the "pro-US" rally you folks staged (was luky enough to catch you when you all were in front of the courthouse last September - blind luck on that one). Your group is a good start, but it needs to get bigger. There's a lot of grass-roots support for what you're doing, but people aren't getting the message that there is a viable answer to the ANSWER folks. The Left is a great deal more organized, knows how to leach funds off colleges and "charity" outfits, and comes better prepared to these gatherings. By way of leaflets, all I saw was one discarded sheet telling the protestors to "go back to Cuba". In getting our message across, we can do a great deal better than that. Remember that these Leftists, besides desirous of seeing an end to the Jews in the Middle East, have advocated for the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, a hands-off approach to the narco terrorists in Columbia (and their fellow travellers in Venezuela), have blamed the massacres of Afghanis by the Russian Marxists on the CIA, and have otherwise become associated with such obvious bald-faced lies and monstrous practices as to be the subject of a hundred damaging leaflets. Anyways, sorry to criticize. Your presence made it clear that this hatred of the Israelis is not universal; if the story about these characters setting one of our flags on fire is true, it showed what sort of people are against us as well. Thanks, and I'll be sure to check this site for details on the next outing.

Thank you again, my friend, for inviting me to be part of the Rally for America, I was honored to be part of it.
I know you have a lot of fish to fry. But when you get a chance, please send me an audio or video tape from whatever source, of the festivities. As mentioned, I will transcribe my comments to begin the Rally, and post them up on FreeRepublic.
Given the reprehensible decision of C-SPAN to broadcast the Anti-American rally twice (live and on tape-delay) but not broadcast ours at all, that transcript will be the only way I have of sharing with all FReepers the historical quotes that I used in my speech (as you, wisely, suggested).
I look forward to hearing from you at earliest convenience. Or, if one of the FReepers who were in attendance has a tape, please make a copy and send it to me. My snail mail address is J. Armor, Esq., Box 243, Highlands, NC 28741. If anyone can do that directly, it will be one less item on kristinn's desk.
Thanks.

Congressman Billybob

Click here to fight Campaign Finance "Reform/".

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"I will tell you this, I would rather stand with any five or ten committed patriots than ten thousand of those "bussed" in, rent a mobs."

Couldn't agree more, my brother. The MfL was also "sparsely attended" but we'll never know how many we really reached on those days.

Kristinn, allow me to add my "thanks" to Jeff's. All the best to you, Connie and everyone who participated.

Regards

We still have those whistles, blackbag!! Well, two of them anyway. And they still fight over them! LOL!

Lauren is 3 1/2 now, she's a beauty, very temperamental. Typical girl - ha. Since then we've had two, Rebecca who is two, and Joseph is two weeks old.

Still, it seems like yesterday that we met y'all. Of course that could be pregnancy induced dementia too ;-)

Well, the PLO people were back in my Dupont Circle neighborhood last night. If you guys are interested, here's a brief report from the front line.

Appropriate use of barricades. Police had many streets that feed into the Hilton area barricaded off.

Appropriate use of force. MPD had all kinds of people about. Tactical units on bikes with bullet proof vests. Vans of other cops waiting nearby. No shortage of MDP anyway. Cops posted on the corner of many blocks as far away as 18th & Q, quite far from the Hilton.

That lonely bus. There it was, a nice big bus with the name "luxury tours" on the side. Parked discretely with some cop cars on a side street. No doubt one of many offering a free ride to lock-up if the protestors violated the law. Almost kinda wish it had been filled up.

We didn't actually go to the rally site. Why chance it. There had been some black-garbed anarchists being followed by some MPD officers on bikes (and foolishingly trying to lose them!) and other little games going on. Plus, sadly, there didn't seem to be much of a pro-Israel protest group. I saw one guy coming back with a pro-Israel sign and he seemed very sad and dispirited. God bless and protect his country.

Good to see you my friend. Hope all is well with you and yours.

I still receive emails about the MFL where folks are wondering if we will ever have another one.

Hearing those everyday people express their own thoughts on the "state of the union" is something I will never forget. Most were much more capable, articulate, and heart felt messages thatn you ever hear from the "politicians" of the day. And that is why the events were so memorable, so thought provoking and so uplifting ... to see those folks express those feelings in their own words to anyone willing to listen. Here's a memory:

(L2R is OWK, Bob Locke, Mongo behind Bob, (don't know the blonde guy in the hat), CC2k, Buckeroo and to the far right is none other than the Tinman himself)

(That's Buckeroo and yours truly with a bunch of others behind, listening to one of the speakers)

Best regards. I'll the latest thread on my book to you.

By way of leaflets, all I saw was one discarded sheet telling the protestors to "go back to Cuba".

After the Rally, some of us hiked to the Hotel Washington for dinner. One of the freepers there had a Xeroxed flier that had been distributed by someone outside our group. The flier had the Rally logo at the top then all sorts of outrageous claims and accusations making up the body of the text. The obvious intent was to make FR and its supporters look like lunatics. If someone still has a copy of that flier, I wish he'd post the text of it for all to see so it can be discredited.

You had an excellent segment on C-span...the other guy came off looking like a whiner without a cause. I did see a liberal slant to the calls they were taking. Glad some intelligent callers made it through!

I also noticed you stated all the things that the rally was FOR and the opposition could only talk about what they were AGAINST.

Hello, "Tomkat". Sorry, but I am so terrible at names, but then again you might not want your real name posted. So noone misunderstands me, there were plenty of complete idiots among their crowd, and some of them would have attacked us if they could have gotten away with it. It's just that absurdity and violence is all I ever expect from them, and the "other" ones suprised me by their decent treatment and protection of us. My daughter and Tomkat were fearless in the face of the worst of the freaks, but this old man started to feel he should not have brought them into such a dangerous situation, and more than once I was thankful for the protection from the best of their crowd. You know, give the devil it's due? I could spend hours talking about the worst of them, but it is the same I have seen from them for years, nothing new, nothing unusual.

I love reading your "After Action" reports, kristinn, they read like a very interesting novel! Thank you for standing bravely to face the very nasty Commie opposition last Saturday! And thank you also for your tireless efforts and thorough preparation before the Patriots' Rally for America. You've done us proud once again.

nutmeg & zelig

THANK YOU FReeper Patriots and speakers for making the Patriots' Rally for America such a success! ("sparsely attended" or not) While the Commies seemed to get all the media attention, I highly doubt that The Unwashed gained much favor among average U.S. citizens with crazed rantings of their pro-terrorist agenda on live television Saturday.

Kudos to all of you Patriots for your courage in the face of real danger from above-mentioned Unwashed Commies. Thanks to everyone who posted the great pics, too. I am so sorry we were not able to participate in this rally with you, our DC Chapter and Tri-State Chapter friends.

God Bless all of you... Eagles UP!

nutmeg & zelig

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