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FReep Report: Cynthia McKinney's Veterans Town Hall Meeting May 18, 2002
me and my fellow FReepers | 5/18/2002 | FreedomPoster

Posted on 05/18/2002 4:12:55 PM PDT by FreedomPoster

As discussed on previous threads, Cynthia McKinney held a "Veterans Town Hall Meeting" today in Decatur, GA. Nine FReepers were there to make sure the public and any reporters realized that McKinney has never before been interested in veterans or the military, and it sure is strange that she's starting now. See this thread for the reasons why.

Those present were: Me (FreedomPoster); RobFromGa and his lovely twin freeperette daughters (7? 8? years old); AFVetGal; "Be not afraid!"; dansangel; .45MAN; WhiskeyPapa; Apple Pan Dowdy; and later, Atlantian

Special thanks to vigilantcitizen, who wanted to come, but got called into work at the last minute, and who provided sign materials and one professionally stenciled sign.
Special thanks also to "Be not afraid!"; who got the demonstration permit and then wouldn’t let anyone chip in to help pay for it. Next time, we’ll have to call the Southeastern Legal Foundation and see if we really need such a thing to exercise our free speech rights on public property. It sure didn’t feel right, and was not the battle we were fighting today.

We started arriving in front of the library starting around 11:30. Several of us ate sack lunches, we made signs, etc. Sign slogans included:

"DeKalb Deserves Better - Saudi Arabia Please Take Her!"
(a reference to her radical Muslim support and her begging to the Saudi Prince for the $10 million)
"I’m not Fonda McKinney"
"Hey Cynthia, what planet are you from?"
"Honk if you support veterans" (we got a lot of honks)
Of course, there were many flags in evidence, and I was wearing my flag-motif shirt and hat from the ’96 Olympic Games, so I really stood out.

A Decatur policeman stopped briefly, and we spoke with him, explaining "we’re just a bunch of friendly, law-abiding conservative political protesters." He could pretty easily profile us to see we were a peaceful crew. I commented that "we’re here because Ms. McKinney is such an idiot", and he chuckled and said there were probably a lot of people who thought that.

At around 12:15, we split into a front group and a rear group to cover the entrances. I had brought a pair of Talkabout radios, so we had good comms. We handed out flyers (this is a Word document) to many who were just going to the library, and also to some veterans there for the meeting. We told them we were there to protest Ms. McKinney’s sudden interest in the military and veterans, when she hadn’t cared about them in the ten years she’s been in office, that we thought she was trying to get some favorable publicity involving veterans, and that we were there to set the record straight.

It does appear that Ms. McKinney did send a letter to the national VFW. A very distinguished-looking gray-haired gentleman got out of a car. When asked if he were a veteran, he replied "Yes I am." We told him why were we there and gave him one of our fliers. It turns out he was President of the National VFW last year, and was there to be on her veteran’s panel, and to keep an eye on what was going on. I think he was genuinely glad to see us there. Only one of the local VFW people I spoke with last week had heard of hte event, though we did see several BVA members go in.

Around 12:30, Cynthia’s father, local rep Billy McKinney came and harangued the gathered Freepers. He ending up playing the race card pretty heavily at his closing with us, when he headed into the building. Several of the McKinney supporters played the "you’re just a bunch of rich white people" race/class warfare card. We pointed out that they were bringing up the racial issue, that as far as we were concerned, there was nothing racial about Cynthia’s anti-Americanism. We pointed out that some of us were supporting Cynthia’s black opponent in the primary, and one of us (Apple Pan Dowdy) was involved in the black civil rights movement in Birmingham in the 60’s.

Around 12:40, a late model, shiney Toyota Land Cruiser parked right across from the entrance we were at. Four BIG black guys, all wearing dark 3- and 4-button suits, got out and arrayed them around the upper level back entrance. We gathered most of the Freepers out back, figuring she would come in there. I hope Apple Pan Dowdy got a picture of these heavies. A side note - after having been the recipient of the race/class warfare nastiness of some of the McKinney supporters, I point out that the two nicest vehicles there by far were the heavies’ Land Cruiser, and the Mercedes AMG S55 with the Morehead College plates (local Atlanta black school) that a very nicely dressed black woman arrived in. Yes, we’re just evil rich white folks, and they're all just so poor.

Some of the security guys disappeared inside, a couple were standing next to us at the back upper level entrance, when whoosh, Cynthia snuck in the lower level back entrance. We did get in a couple of chants of:

Hey hey, ho-ho,
Commie McKinney’s got to go!

There had been a local Fox News cameraman around that we had spoken with, and just after McKinney went inside, his reporter sidekick arrived. We think it was Tony D'Astoli, but aren’t sure. In any case, they took some shots of the group en mass chanting with all the signs, and then they interviewed me. We didn’t make the Fox 6PM news, so I’ll have my VCR rolling for the Fox 10PM news.

After taking some more hateful racist vitriol from a McKinney supporter (we suggested she look in a mirror to see a racist), we migrated back out front and handed out more flyers to pedestrian and auto-mobile passers-by. An NBC Channel 11 local news cameraman came by and took some video of us all, and I made a few statements and did a little Q&A. Their evening 6PM local news was pre-empted by the Preakness and the NBA playoffs. He told us to watch the 11PM news. Hopefully we’ll get on there.

After discussing events, and what had occurred, we decided that waiting another 1-1/2 hours for the event to end was a bit much, and we all saddled up and headed home to lawn mowing, grocery trips, time with family, etc.

Even if we don’t get on any of the local news programs, we made more than a few people think, we handed out a small pile of flyers, and we let these anti-Americans know we are watching them closely.

All-in-all, we did some good, it was good to meet some Atlanta FReepers, and there will be more of us next time. Let's do it again soon, Atlantans!


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Breaking News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Georgia
KEYWORDS: congresswoman; freep; infinitefreep; the; treasonous
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To: FreedomPoster
Anchorwoman: "The congresswoman was not available for comment" (with maybe a touch of a "dry" tone).

Nothing makes my "fraud detector" go off faster than a public figure who won't talk in public- I mean, that is their job, to be a glad-hander. If they won't do that, they aren't fit for office.

181 posted on 05/19/2002 3:22:03 AM PDT by backhoe
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To: SLJP
Yes they are republican dogs.
How do I know?
Here is why!
A man passed a roadside stand where a fellow had set up a stand selling puppies. He had a sign that said, "Democrat puppies FOR SALE". The man bought one of the puppies. Two weeks later he drove by and the man had the sign reading: "Republican dogs FOR SALE". The man stopped and asked the fellow why they are now Republican dogs and just two weeks ago they were Democrat puppies.
The man said: Because they opened their EYES
182 posted on 05/19/2002 3:57:55 AM PDT by DeaconRed
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To: FreedomPoster
Thanks
I miss Atlanta.
183 posted on 05/19/2002 4:06:49 AM PDT by DeaconRed
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To: FreedomPoster
Those present were: Me (FreedomPoster); RobFromGa and his lovely twin freeperette daughters (7? 8? years old); AFVetGal; "Be not afraid!"; dansangel; .45MAN; WhiskeyPapa; Apple Pan Dowdy; and later, Atlantian

Thanks to the Atlanta FReepers for doing the heavy-lifting and thanks to you, FP, for a great report. For those of you who may have FReeped for the first time, I know how you feel. Great! Right? Looks like you had loads of fun, too.

184 posted on 05/19/2002 4:29:15 AM PDT by leadpenny
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To: AFVetGal
Outstanding sitrep, FP! Thanks for being our awesome 'fearless' leader. And, I do mean fearless. You walked right into the RATs' nest without backup and without backing down. I was so proud!

Absolute dittos on that. FreedomPoster had the perfect demeanor and old time religious fervor to really be the lead in getting out the message.

I noticed though that when Billy McKinney was just warming to his rant, that the chanting led by AFvetgal made him just turn and walk away.

I haven't scanned the whole thread, but it should be remembered that those two McKinney supporters went inside and made a point to come back out to insult and confront us.

But it was a great job by everybody!

Walt

185 posted on 05/19/2002 4:42:19 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa
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To: FreedomPoster
The veterans among us didn't really want to go in, and the rest felt we should leave it to the veterans.

I sre didn't want to go inside. It didn't even -occur- to me to go inside.

Walt

186 posted on 05/19/2002 4:53:30 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa
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To: FreedomPoster
Many thanks to you and your fellow Georgia Freepers for your efforts. This daughter, sister, grand-daughter and niece of vets salutes you!
187 posted on 05/19/2002 5:09:25 AM PDT by MissouriForBush
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To: FreedomPoster
Politics can be fun!
188 posted on 05/19/2002 5:22:41 AM PDT by RobbyS
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To: FreedomPoster
Excellent! Outstanding! Well Done! The last thing the socialists want is to see is FREEPERS in the street. It was so typical that you were called rascist. When you publicly state your grievances to a leftist (no matter what their skin color), you will be called a rascist.
189 posted on 05/19/2002 5:49:59 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine's brother
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To: FreedomPoster
Proud of you folks for defending our Veterans against this obvious exploitation. Well done!

Let us know what your plans are for Memorial Day...

"AMERICA REMEMBERS": VetsCor/FRN Memorial Day Project

National Cemeteries, Memorial Day Ceremonies, & Military Installation Locators

"AMERICA REMEMBERS": Sample Promotion Letter - Please Send Out

National Moment of Remembrance

National Military Appreciation Month

190 posted on 05/19/2002 6:43:01 AM PDT by A Navy Vet
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To: FreedomPoster
She only cares about veteran's votes, that is all....
191 posted on 05/19/2002 7:14:23 AM PDT by buffyt
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To: buffyt; all
LOL! Yeah, right. heheh

I just watched the tapes again this AM; my wife hadn't seen the one from the NBC/Channel 11, 11PM news. There is NO DOUBT that we got more camera time on this than Cynthia. Another WOOO-HOOOO!!

192 posted on 05/19/2002 7:20:43 AM PDT by FreedomPoster
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To: buffyt
BTW, I've already been told by the legislative director for the Ga VFW that she *won't* be getting a recommendation from their PAC. . . . .

Imagine that! < /sarcasm>

193 posted on 05/19/2002 7:24:07 AM PDT by FreedomPoster
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To: FreedomPoster
Excellent FReep. Thank you All!
194 posted on 05/19/2002 8:18:12 AM PDT by lodwick
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To: FreedomPoster
Very good. I would have had a simple sign that says "Cynthia McKinny is a racist bigot! Ask me why."

His Royal Podness.

195 posted on 05/19/2002 9:35:03 AM PDT by sauropod
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To: LinnieBeth; freedomposter; robfromga; dansangel; .45man; viligantcitizen; atlantian...
Oh yes! I think this group would be a good nucleus for getting the Atlanta Area Chapter active again. We all talked about the 'next' freep or meeting.
196 posted on 05/19/2002 9:54:28 AM PDT by Jen
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To: Voter#537
Hahahaha! Good dog joke.
197 posted on 05/19/2002 9:55:29 AM PDT by Jen
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To: WhiskeyPapa
I noticed though that when Billy McKinney was just warming to his rant, that the chanting led by AFvetgal made him just turn and walk away.

Well, I had heard all of his #%$* that I could stand and Fox News was videoing the whole exchange, and I didn't want a clip of him ranting on us to be the only thing shown on the news.

We gotta practice yelling LOUD, or get a bullhorn. Better yet, do both! hehehehe Jen

198 posted on 05/19/2002 10:04:13 AM PDT by Jen
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To: AFVetGal
FWIW, I emailed this to Boortz- let's see if he picks it up.
199 posted on 05/19/2002 10:19:10 AM PDT by backhoe
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To: backhoe; freedomposter; robfromga
Good for you! Thanks, Jen
200 posted on 05/19/2002 10:21:58 AM PDT by Jen
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