Posted on 04/21/2002 8:25:09 PM PDT by kristinn
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.
Connie Hair did a fantastic job as emcee for the rally.
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 !
Staff Sergeant Braman's account was heart-wrenching. He was obviously speaking with the memories of the events fresh in his mind, the pain on his face visible. It was tremendously moving to hear him describe the determination he and the others with him had to make sure that all bodies would be recovered, that all families would be assured that they had done their best (and I think that this is also a reflection of our American estimation of the value assigned to the individual.) He told of seeing a man lying in shock on the ground with his eyeball blown out of the socket, and of having to leave his clothes on the doorstep when he reached his home, because they were covered with human matter. Very, very powerful.
Niger Innis and Kevin Martin gave powerful denunciations of the other side's accusation that we are fighting a "racist war". And boy oh boy, did Kevin do a great job at silencing the hecklers with knowledge and the force of reason! B-1 Bob Dornan gave a powerful speech and even took on some hecklers behind the stage after he was done.
I will also note, as others have done, that the FReeper area was left virtually spotless, in stark contrast to the other side, where litter abounded. Also, the police were wonderful and so deserving of the cheer we gave them at the end. Hip, hip hooray!
Thanks for all you did, Kristinn, and thanks to all the DC Chapter and everyone else who was there. "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it." --Patrick Henry
I would've chosen not to do it at the same time the Liberals were doing theirs, and especially not on NFL draft weekend but hey you guys did what you thought was best.
I remember the times when you guys would come over from the White House vigils and Freeps to attend and see our Marches for Liberty in 1999 and 2000. I was impressed then by all of your dedication and commitment for the long haul.
You actions on Saturday (and the reports we were getting here on FR thru the day from David transmitted via Mustang) were nothing short of heroic IMHO. You all indeed stood in the breach when needed. A breeach created by the thousands of "useful idiots" the enemies of liberty and our Republic "manufacture".
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. They create those crowds like Saddam Hussein or any other tin horn dictator does. It's all a ruse and a show and has nothing to do with commitment or freedom, or even the "issues" they support for the absolute better part of them.
Thank God their are Americans with the grit and the guts to stand in the breach. Thank God they exist all over this country. I know you influenced more for the good that day (in all liklihood including some of the useful idiots) than you can imagine. I also know that there is One above who watches the activities and affairs of man. As Patrick Henry said, when the time come He will raise us those to help us fight the battles, or He will fight them himself.
Keep the faith, and humble thanks from afar. I just wish I could have been there with you.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it." --Patrick Henry</>
makes me so honored to know some of those brave Patriots who stood for us all yesterday!!
EAGLES UP!
Thanks for being there for 'America's Best Interests'!!!
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