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!
psssstttt.....I'll trade places with ya! I'm from FL and would love to go back.....
0~<);-)
not me! lol, sw
Sorry for the late reply, as I signed off right after my last post to you. But, to answer your question, yes I am a veteran.
USN 1985-1987 Active, 1987-2000 reserves based at NAS Atlanta.
My Uncle was Air Force, stationed in Nevada for 8 years, and now is a civilian employee at Warner Robbins.
I said sorry because of my fatigue related mental error, not because I thought he was offended. : ^ )>
not me! lol, sw
For one, they needed all the bodies they could get.
Secondly, now we know what he looks like...
On a serious note, I was so looking forward to debating with him in between protest shouts. But alas, thwarted by my job again.
Since I was the one who brought my children with me, I tell you myself to keep your criticism to yourself.
I obviously did not think that there was a high risk of violent attack or I wouldn't have taken the time to be there myself.
I happen to be raising citizens, not spectators, so go STUFF it.
It did NOT look or feel like a potentially dangerous environment.
Also, FP, please let us know what the community paper prints. Does it have a website?
I get the weekend AJC, as it's darn near free, but haven't even looked at it today. I'll go look in a minute.
WooooooHoooo!!!!
You go, man!!! Your kids needed to see what they are up against.
"Anybody take the Atlanta newspaper? I cancelled my sub long time ago. I'd sure like to see if our freep made the paper.
Sorry, I cancelled mine when Lewis Grizzard died...I'll check Creative Loafing when they post the new issue tommorrow.
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