Posted on 05/05/2002 9:12:45 AM PDT by kristinn
Honor Roll: Sauropod, FreeTheHostages, ned13 and two lurker friends, staytrue, nutmeg, zelig, Exit148 and her sister, Bigg Red and her husband, tgslTakoma and kristinn.
The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic held its fourth annual freep of the White House Correspondents Association Dinner last night at the Washington Hilton. Fourteen FReepers and lurkers braved the cold rain outside the hotel to ridicule the pompous media elite as they arrived for the dinner and to condemn the liberal bias in their reporting.
We started gathering at 4 p.m. just below the main entrance to the Hilton at Connecticut Avenue and T Street, NW. Sauropod got in costume while we worked on signs and formed our freepline at the corner.
Officer Brinkley of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department was not assigned to us this year, thankfully. We were checked out by the Secret Service and MPD and given the all-clear with the caveat that we would be moved when President Bush arrived. The D.C. police officer who spoke with us asked if we were the ones at the White House on Saturdays during the Clinton years. We told him that was us and he laughed, saying, "You guys are alright!"
The law enforcement officers did keep an on us, though. That's their job and we didn't mind.
Before the guests started arriving, passersby had a great time with Sauropod's drag impersonation of a "Media Whore Madam" complete with wig, make-up, fishnet stockings, platform shoes and a silver sequined dress with bazooms that would've made Christie Brinkley jealous if she had seen them on her way into the dinner.
One of the signs Sauropod used with the costume said, "CNN ANCHOR BABE WET T-SHIRT CONTEST WINNER." Ned13 stood next to him/her touting her own credentials to be a CNN anchor babe. Her sign said, "CNN HIRE ME! NO EXPERIENCE, NO CLUE, WILL STRIP FOR WORK. REFERENCES--BILL CLINTON, JESSE JACKSON and HEIDI FLEISS."
Other signs we held said: LIBERAL MEDIA CREDIBILITY QUAGMIRE;
FORMER NEW YORK TIMES FACT CHECKER--UNEMPLOYED FOR THIRTY YEARS;
LIBERAL MEDIA GET OFF YOUR FOGGY BOTTOMS; DAN RATHER PUTS THE 'B.S' IN CBS NEWS;
ABC IS MICKEY MOUSE NEWS;
PETER JENNINGS IS A LIAR AND A BIGOT;
NO ALPHABET SPIN;
NO TEAR GAS NECESSARY, WE'RE CONSERVATIVES.
We also carried abner's gift banner to the D.C. Chapter that we've used all four years. It features the logos of network TV news divisions with the message, "LOSING SHARE? TRY THE TRUTH."
One woman walking by asked me about the banner. I told her we were calling on the media to report the truth and the facts without liberal spin. I added we don't want news reported with a conservative bias, either, we just want the unspun news. The woman's face got contorted and she snarled, "Well, watch FOX News then," as she stormed off.
A man in a tuxedo crossed Connecticut Avenue with his date and walked towards our protest with his middle finger angrily extended at us for the entire time it took him to cross the street (no, it was not Rep. Peter King.)
We also had some good conversations and interactions with pedestrians. tgslTakoma had a genial exchange with a man who ended their talk by saying, "I hope you don't hate me because I'm a Democrat."
tgslTakoma smiled and said, "No, I used to be one too. It's okay"
FreeTheHostages had a good patter going for the media as they arrived. She would tell them to be sure to report what they talked about at the dinner because we know how they love to write about themselves. She also criticized them for trying to annoint the winner in presidential elections with their biased reporting and undercutting the voters.
The on-and-off-again rain (what Jimmy Valentine's brother calls heavy mist :-) forced alot of attendees to the dinner into cabs to get there rather than walk our gauntlet as in past years. However, the usual stretch limos carrying the annointed slowly crawled by us on the approach to the Hilton, giving the media poohbahs time to take in our protest against them.
Not everyone being driven there was a liberal media whore--several high-ranking Bush administration officials arrived with the fanfare of flashing lights to clear the gridlock at the corner.
Some of us saw General Tommy Franks riding in a government issue vehicle. He looked out the window as the vehicle was stopped at our corner and busted out laughing, and gave us a thumbs-up when he saw Sauropod in his drag costume holding the "CNN ANCHOR BABE WET T-SHIRT CONTEST WINNER" sign.
The highlight of the freep was seeing our friends Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter and Peggy Noonan come walking up the sidewalk together towards us from the direction of Dupont Circle. The trio looked like the new Mod Squad: Matt wore his trademark fedora and dark sunglasses to go with his tux, Ann was stunning in her beautiful black dress and Peggy looked elegant with a cape draped around her shoulders and tinted spectacles perched on her lovely face.
We spoke with them and posed for pictures for a few minutes before they went on to the dinner. Matt looked over the buttons I was wearing to see if he if wanted to wear one inside. However, nothing can top the 'Elian seized at gunpoint' t-shirt Angelwood and I gave him to wear at the dinner two years ago so he took a pass on the buttons.
A short while later, our old friend Christopher Hitchens walked by. He was not going to the dinner. Chris spoke with us for a minute about why he wasn't going and the unseemliness of the press and the President (not just this one, mind you) engaging in this annual faux lovefest.
Some of the media whores tried to avoid our protest by jay-walking or taking other shortcuts. Others just walked right on through. Washington Post sports columnist Tony Kornheiser warily eyed us from the median strip as he waited for the light to change so he could cross the street. We called out to him, "Tony, you're a sports reporter. It's okay for you to come over." He chuckled and walked on over to the dinner unmolested.
ABC's Sam Donaldson and his wife, local anchor Jan Smith, walked though our freep while we gently chided Sam to 'tell the truth' in his reporting.
Former CNN's Crossfire host Bill Press walked the gauntlet. He read the 'Losing Share' banner I was holding without comment. I looked him in the eyes and gave him a salute of acknowledgement. He nodded his head and kept walking.
Things heated up a bit when serpeant-head, himself, James Carville strode up the sidewalk. He stopped before he got to us, turned his back and started glad-handing a few people as if to buy a minute of time to figure out in his head how he would deal with us. He then slithered up towards us, wearing mirrored sunglasses and looking alot like Duke from Doonesbury. I asked him if he knew how many women Bill Clinton had raped, mentioning some of Clinton's victims by name. Carville coldly laughed as he slowed down to check out the FReepers. He went around and introduced himself to us and extended his hand. Some of us were overtaken by good manners and shook his hand. I kept my distance, however.
After Carville left, Bigg Red held a pair of Devil horns and asked folks going to the dinner to let Carville know that he had dropped his 'hat' outside. That brought alot of laughs, and a few scowls, from the guests.
A short while later, the police moved us back down the sidewalk in preparation for the arrival of President Bush. They strung up 'Police Line" yellow tape to bar people from getting close to the side of the Hilton where he would be driven to. Even attendees to the dinner were held back. Being that it was raining they were allowed to stand in an alcove just beyond the police tape.
Paul Begala had the misfortune of being caught in that crowd--being out of power can do that to a fella, LOL. I asked him the same question I asked of Carville, adding that as a man who 'cares about womens issues' how he could work for Bill Clinton--a man who routinely abused women and humiliated his daughter and wife by his taking advantage of a young intern.
Sauropod asked Begala when he was going to have Juanita Broaddrick on Crossfire. Begala didn't respond. He kept his back to us as he spoke with others in the crowd and act like nobody was pointing out what a pathetic excuse for a man he is.
Former Clinton Secretary of Defense William Cohen (Rino) and his wife also had to wait in the alcove. We told him we hoped "the Hilton was up to your standards, being that you like fancy hotels." We also 'thanked' him for presidng over the gutting of our nation's military while he was SecDef.
President Bush arrived on time, as usual, and the police tape went down soon afterwards. We packed up our signs and went inside to the Hilton's bar to watch C-SPAN's broadcast of the dinner. Gore_War_Vet and GunsAreOK showed up to join us there.
GWV recounted the nightmarish story of how his truck was lost and found by the D.C. police.
We had a good time watching the dinner in the bar, though a few of us were disappointed that we didn't get to meet Ozzy Osbourne before or after.
His Royal Podness
No, he was definitely not showing manners. I guess we did not describe it well enough. He was swaggering among us after our catcalls as if to say, "I'll make you be nice to me, d*mmit!" And he just shoved his hand at several of the FReepers, who responded reflexively.
I'd say your description of CarVILE's behavior last Saturday night is about right. I think he was attempting to fraternize with us. He tried to disarm us by approaching us quickly and offering his hand to us, but some of us fraternized right back by shaking his hand. Never in my life did I think I’d shake ‘ol Serpent-Head’s hand! >:o(
Yeah, it kind of smarted for awhile. He shook my husband's hand also. "Zelig" told me he just had a "typical firm handshake". Guess I'm not used to "typical firm handshakes"! LOL
Sauropod was fantastic as the Media Whore! It's "street theatre" like this that really turns heads and focuses attention on our entire group (and our message). Extra-kudos for Saturday's street theatre efforts should go to: Sauropod, ned13, Bigg Red and FreeTheHostages.
The Vile One took advantage of our good manners. He knew that most of us would be instinctively polite and return his despicable handshake.
BTW, thanks for your praise of my street theater. I got a lot mileage out of those horns, didn't I?
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