Posted on 02/16/2003 6:27:50 PM PST by SeenTheLight
It's been quite a day for Bay Area FReepers and friends! There's a lot to cover, but I'm gonna keep it brief and just get the ball rolling for comments and input.
The big news is that we had our largest counter-protest yet! We did a head-count at the peak of the protest and we ended up counting close to 60 people! Keep in mind, two rallies ago we had about 7 people and last time, we had 15. So we've come a long way! It looks like all the extra media outreach we did really paid off. Most of the non-FReepers that joined us heard about it on KSFO, so we've got to give a big shout out to our friendly neighborhood conservative radio station!
When we first arrived, we discovered a major hitch in our plans. The City Hall steps, where we were supposed to meet, were blocked off with a line of buses parked in front. We convened in front of the buses (on McAllister) and stayed there for quite a while. But the "peace protesters" soon had us backed against the wall of buses. The police officers were worried about our safety, so they herded us down to the corner, where we set up shop on the grassy knoll. It ended up being better than the City Hall steps. We had our own corner, which was blocked off to the rabble and the police were protecting us. Next time, I think we should make that our meeting spot.
Some engaged in arguments, others yelled back and forth, and some of us just made our presence known. I spent a lot of time talking and getting to know my fellow counter-protesters and just ignored the hordes of rabid peaceniks, so I had a great time!
Thanks to comwatch, who had set up some cell phone numbers with the David Gold show on KSFO, we did several interviews live. Mine was brief, but very energetic--with the FReepers chanting USA in the background! A few other people also did interviews with KSFO and we all took part in media outreach with whoever was listening! Channel 7 interviewed one of us and I just saw the very brief coverage of it about 15 minutes ago! Other than that, I haven't heard a word about us, despite our large numbers and growing presence.
I can't think of all the FReeper names to thank right now, but let's just say the Bay Area Chapter was in almost full attendance, plus flagbrigade and his folks and of course comwatch and other Sacto FReepers.
Afterwards, a bunch of us went for drinks, political organizing and laughs. So a good time was had by all!
Please add your comments, photos, ect...
Thanks everyone for all your help and great work!
SeenTheLight
Now, an object lesson for Bay Area Freepers, new and old alike. This is especially for those of you who will be helping Cinnamon with the new San Francisco Chapter. There will always be those who sit at home watching television, who will fire up the p.c. out of sheer boredom, and log into Free Republic. Then they will run across a serious question (See link below) posed by a new Freeper, who is naive enough to be unaware of the flame wars that light up Free Republic often. Oh... the keyboard warrior's wisdom will begin to flow and the uninitiated will wonder just what the heck they did to start family genocide! I can offer only one humble bit of advice: Don't buy into it. Those who were so busy fighting cyber logic wars today, missed the whole point of what many of us were doing all over this country this weekend. They don't get, YOU DO!! God bless you, God Bless America and goodnight fellow patriots!
Why can't we pull similar numbers?
Posted on 02/15/2003 3:09 PM PST by pickemuphere
Great FReep! Thanks everyone who stood up for America today, and, countered the Leftists in San Francisco today.
(Note: STL, the street in front of City Hall is Carleton Goodlett Place, not McAllister.)
(I didn't write down names, so if I miss a few, sorry, and, please check in)
FReeper Honor Roll:
American Preservative
SeenTheLight
SeenTheLight's Mom and husband
comwatch
flagbrigade and crew
Patrick The Patriot and Cathy
stratman1969 and wife
Cool Guy
Drango
jiggyboy
rogue yam
Jerez2
HighRoadToChina and wife
Gunsmith
sfRummygirl
nullandvoid
MarCarl
Thank you to those FReepers and FRiends who made the long trek to the City. We appreciated your presence. Thank you comwatch and flagbrigade for bringing your FRiends. Thank you KSFO listeners. Welcoming you to Free Republic. : )
THANK YOU KSFO Radio hosts David Gold, Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan, Brian Wilson, and Barbara Simpson for your help in getting the word out. There were a number of people there today who heard about the FReep thanks to the KSFO announcements. (Didn't hear the interviews on David's show - busy FReeping, ya know. ; )) But, heard part of Barbara's show, and she was very encouraging for FReepers to let her know about up-coming events. (BTW, FYI, heard that the Lefties may be on the march again March 1, so heads up FReepers.)
A special thank you to the SFPD - please see post #55 (thanks comwatch!) FReepers and please send a note of thanks. Thank you. (They certainly had their hands full today.) Today they were really great in the way they watched out for our safety. Much appreciation.
Grateful for the good weather.
I noticed some of the usual Lefties with their usual "in your face" tactics of being confrontational with some of our group to make for photo-ops.
Thank you again everyone! @60 people - whoo-hoo! : ) Although, it's seem like we didn't get much Media coverage, we know we were there!
Trust me. 'Pod
Caught a glimpse of Cool Guy arguing with (i.e., educating) some dirtbags on KGO's 11 o'clock newscast, but other than that, it was wall-to-wall dirtbag coverage from what I saw.
Thanks for all the nice comments from supporters across the country...
Thanks comwatch for really getting the ball rolling with the media outreach and general organizing. You are truly a force of nature and we were lucky to have you and the other Sacto folks helping us out! Also, thanks for posting the great photos! I may have some to add to the collection within a couple of days.
Thanks to flagbrigade and friends for bringing along the beautiful flags and banners! We held up "GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS" and "NO PEACE FOR TERRORISTS" with pride, plus they made a good barrier between us and the stinky peaceniks!
Thanks to the SFPD for being our bodyguards! I plan on calling to thank them and I encourage any and all to do the same.
Thanks to the hosts of KSFO and KFBK (David Gold, Mark Williams, Barbara Simpson, Melanie Morgan, Brian Wilson, and more) who helped us get the word out! When we work together, we all benefit.
And of course, thanks to all the FReepers and folks who helped make this counter-protest the biggest one yet! Hope to see you all next time...
SeenTheLight
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