DC CHAPTER SURPRISE FREEP OF CODE PINK "PEACE" MARCH -- Taking Place Now -- 3/8/2003

DC Chapter ^ | March 8, 2003 | Angelwood

[Angelwood]

Members of the DC Chapter of Free Republic are conducting a surprise FReep of the March for Peace organized by NOW and the Code Pink Ladies and it is going on as I type.

The Now and Code Pink Ladies will be joined by Raelian women (and Raelian men in touch with their feminine side) who plan a disrobing ceremony in front of the White House. Reports from the scene tell me that there's a bunch of Howard Stern fans who came to the White House today for the unveiling.

Positioned on the North side of Lafayette Park, inside the barriers, and ready to greet the "Peace" marchers are: Jimmy Valentine's brother, kristinn, tgslTakoma, daughterofTGSL, Cal, Exit148, Doctor Raoul and BillF. They have been interviewed already by Agence France-Presse and have had some spirited debates.

Lafayette Park is surrounded by a barricade fence and those marching will be confined to H Street, N.W. and 15th and 17th Streets. There are smaller groups (remember the 24 or less protest rule) currently allowed inside Lafayette Park and in front of the White House. If there is a confrontation, the DC Chapter members have been told they will be moved.

There are lots of smaller groups of people coming to the march, but they don't seem to know where it is and they are asking the FReepers for directions. Courteous as always, we are telling them "It's 12 blocks up and turn left at Bagdad."

The FReepers are armed with signs saying:

Code Pink Doesn't Care

The Pink Ladies Have RED Blood on Their Hands

Suzie "Medea" Benjamin Has Blood on Her Hands (she actually gave blood in Iraq a few weeks ago)

Code Pink Supports the Rape of Iraqi Women by Saddam's Torturers

The media is out in force for this march. Most of the tourists have come to see the naked Raelians.

The march was supposed to start at 1 p.m. but they have not reached the White House yet.

[Exit148]

TaDa!!!!!

I don't have an eye for this, or a photographers sense of a good catch, but pictures don't lie (or they never use to) so these will add to the day's album. (Crossing my fingers!)

Some calm and nice supporters 'rallying round the flag'.

A nice DC policeman with Kristinn, checking us out. We passed!

Cal, some great supporters, Exit, Daughter of TgAl, on the front line.

Another shot 'at the front' with Kristinn, Dr. Raoul, BillF, JV's Brother and Takoma.

Some of our protectors during a quiet time

SWAT member checking in.

"Lens Lice" on the left, and the "Boa" tryouts in the middle!

Our own special police officer.

Almost seemed as tho we received more attention than their 'cause'

These people just WON'T go away!!

Our pet 'lens louse' didn't like my camera!

The Pig-mobile was followed by adolescent piggy and baby piggy. Cute -- but why?

Here she IS again! But she has met her match!

Jimmy Valentine's Brother, BillF, Doc Raoul, Cal and Kristinn in a teach-in. And a little girl getting an earfull.

Our 'mean-spirited-------' chant just isn't enough for this!

[RonDog]

Way to go (AGAIN!), DC Chapter!

And, who woulda thunk it, Hillary is involved with these Code Pinkos!

From Yahoo! News

	Code Pink for Peace women's group member Medea Benjamin of San Francisco, right, talks with Temera Luzzatto, chief of staff for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. during a demonstration by the group in Sen. Clinton's Capitol Hill office Thursday, March 6, 2003. The group is visiting Washington to campaign against a possible war with Iraq (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) - Mar 06 4:59 PM ET
	Members of the Code Pink for Peace women's group gather in the Capitol Hill office of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Thursday, March 6, 2003. They were protesting her stand on a possible war with Iraq . (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) - Mar 06 4:37 PM ET

(Click the SMALL images to see the LARGER pictures.)

[sauropod]

"tripping hazard" ROFLMAOPIMPWTIME!

[sauropod]

ewwwwww..............

[FreeTheHostages]

Wow, remarkable photos. The one of the women wearing a t-shirt saying "We are all Palestinians" was *fascinating.* That's right up there with the Raelians saying we're all from Mars. :)

What a weird weekend you guys had!

BTTT

[BillF]

I'll post my comments later tonight.

Here are thumbnails of the only 3 photos worth showing (my camera stopped working) and hyperlinked to higher resolution, larger photos.

 

In above photo, Exit148 (back to camera) talks with a young couple who joined our group for an early portion of the FReep when we were at the Northwest corner of Layette Park. The couple and their baby were, fortunately, not with us after our relocation, at police direction to a sidewalk at the corner of 17th Street & Pennslyvania Avenue. The Woman with baby in backpack has sign saying "At least Saddam is not sexist    he kills women too   keep him in power."

Guy has sign (see below photos) saying "In Bush we trust."  The couple walked through the leftists and the leftists did NOT understand the signs.

                              

[Libertina]

LOL Jimmy Iloved your story :) Great work everyone, now I'm going to look at some photos!

[FreeTheHostages]

We were glad Nofel and his sons were able to stand with us. They are living proof of what the stakes are in Iraq. Nofel told those who would listen to him that 99% of the Iraqi people will welcome the American military with open arms. I'm not sure if their minds were changed right away, but he gave them something serious to think about.

The left already knows that. They're protesting against Bush, not the war. It's like Mr. Azziz Al-Taee says, "My liberal friends, please do not politicize this war." Politicizing the liberation of the people of Iraq and American's national security. It's shameless what the left's doing.

[Angelwood]

Great photos, Exit148 -- you're a pro now. Sorry I missed seeing you this time. Take care.

[chicagolady]

Three cheers! It looks like you had a blast!

[chicagolady]

Thanks for the great Pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Chicago Bump!

[Exit148]

HUMAN by humans

[Taxman]

Great FReep, great pics!

[BillF]

The Code Pink gals, NOW gang, their male hangers-on, and other assorted leftist flotsam and jetsam were assembling in support of appeasement for a regime that systematically uses rape as a weapon of torture.

After freezing at January and March 1 FReeps supporting the defense of America by its finest, it seemed like my duty on a warm, sunny March 8 to peaceably assemble with other FReepers in opposition to the Code Pinkos:

”And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
. . .
They [i.e., Code Pinkos] were practiced at the art of deception
Well I could tell by their blood-stained hands"

I’m not up to recounting the rest of the story by expanding on the above paraphrase of Jagger/Richards lyrics so your humble correspondent will switch back to prose.

(The great Mudboy Slim or legendary Doug from Upland are talented enough to describe the whole event by creating new lyrics to a popular song, but I am not.)

Assembling with fellow FReepers in the North center of Lafayette Park, we had a fence like barrier in front of us.

A male peacenik asked Kristinn where the peace march was assembling. I didn’t know where the Code Pinkos were assembling, but was thinking that there must be some peaceniks in the toughest DC neighborhood. Before I could give directions on how to get to Anacostia, Kristinn had politely given the leftist apparently accurate instructions.

Obviously, Kristinn’s not as mischievous as I (and I do NOT fault him for that virtue). Still I later imagined the peacenik explaining to a street mugger that the mugging was in violation of the UN Charter on Human Rights and telling the mugger “please, please, please don’t kill me if I give you all my possessions, hug you and tell people how nice you are.” No wonder Saddam likes these peaceniks.

Engaging some assorted Saddam appeasers in spirited debate, we held our signs and waited for the large group march of the “silly led by the sinister” in Christopher Hitchens memorable phrase.

During a brief discussion with a woman there to appease Saddam, she said that “Saddam had nothing to do with the terrorist threat” and moments later “if we attack him, the terrorists will attack us.” And, as Dave Barry is fond of writing, "I'm not making this up."

As someone else has said on this thread, these people cannot be parodied, they are walking self-parodies.

Dr. Raoul and I supported his multi-person sign saying “Human shields against naked Raelians.”

At one point, all of us held up the “Human Shields” letter signs (i.e., one letter per sign, each person holding one or more signs) as sort of a rehearsal before the big march.

We put down the signs. When we picked them up a few minutes later, I had gotten my letters (“H” and “I”) mixed up. For a brief moment, we were now “HUMAN SIHELDS” defending the White House against the Pinkos (or should I say “Pinoks”?).

Spelling never was my strong point and I was almost fired as a “HUMAN SHIELD” for that mistake. I sincerely apologized, but must make light of it now by wondering if my pension is still safe.

A short time later, we were moved repeatedly and ended up at the corner of 17th and Pennsylvania. This location would, at the risk of offending the politically correct, be akin to going into Indian territory without the cavalry.

I’ll describe the events (rated “V” for violence) at that location in a separate post tomorrow.

[JulieRNR21]

Sounds like these PINK peaceniks are a violent bunch!
They obviously won't tolerate any opinion contrary to their own!

BRAVO DC FReepers!

[Doctor Raoul]

I just decided to check in before I get my beauty sleep.

[BillF]

Continuing to recount my experiences with other DC FReepers countering the Code Pinkos on March 8, I’ll include thumbnail versions of photos taken by our superb photographers tsglTakoma and Exit 148 and previously linked to this thread . The thumbnail photos are linked to the more detailed versions, which versions were also already linked to this thread.

As mentioned in my previous post, I expected to “get my fair share of abuse.” Still, I had no desire to become a “Street Fighting Man.”

Ending up at the corner of 17th and Pennsylvania, the eight of us were on the sidewalk as the leftist rabble passed by in the closed street. The fence behind us separated us from a stairway leading to a basement entrance. The peaceniks could not sneak up on us from behind, but we could not back away from a full frontal assault.

Also, and unlike many of our assemblies in opposition to the peace protestors, we had no barrier separating us from the often violent peaceniks.

(Indeed, a relative of mine is a U.S. Park Police officer in another city. Having tangled with the peace activists, the relative noted that “they sure are violent for being peace protestors.”)

Fortunately, most of the peace protestors were peaceful, although hate, rage, and anger were rampant. There were several hit and run assaults on us, but there was no full scale mob attack. That type of attack can be anticipated from the ANSWER crowd and the pro-Palestinian people likely to be out in force next weekend.

The leftists in the street marched past us as we chanted and waved U.S. flags and our signs. Among the peacenik signs that caught my attention:

“DYKES FOR PEACE” (don’t laugh or they will kick the **** out of you) and

“THE ONLY BUSH I TRUST IS MY OWN” (males who got lucky with her better take their penicillin).

The exhilarating experience of standing with fellow FReepers with a huge number of hostile leftists around is like being in a circled wagon train with Indians riding at your periphery. Therefore, confusion abounds and each person only gets a part of the picture.

 

Above thumbnail from Exit148 shows the hostile crowd out in the street and a woman (foreground, left) wearing a Faux News t-shirt (a play on the Fox News logo). This anti-fox as I shall call her left the street walked up to us and invaded Dr. Raoul’s personal space.

The anti-fox was shouting at Dr. Raoul with her face about a foot away from Dr. R’s face as he continued chanting into a megaphone “War freed the slaves, war saved the Jews.” At one stage I think Dr. R. summoned the lone police officer between us and the large mass of peaceniks in the street. I think this was after the anti-fox jostled Dr. R or his sign. The police officer walked over & talked the anti-fox into backing up.

A violent peace activist woman ran along our line and hit tgsl and Dr. R. The woman fled. Dr. R. ran along behind her and told the officer. The officer talked to the woman and told Dr. R. that the woman said she was sorry.

I told another woman protestor what had happened and that our people were being assaulted. She justified the other protestor hitting two FReepers by saying that the protestor was “pissed.”

 

Above Bully for Peace (he’ll hit you if you don’t agree) as photographed by tgsl apparently grabbed Kristinn’s sign and moments later hit tgsl. I was told what had happened as I saw tgsl (very brave person) running after the Bully as he retreated into the peacenik crowd. I believe that she was trying to stay near him so that he could be identified to the police. Kristinn was trying to get the attention of the police, I think.

I went into the crowd about 6 to 10 feet behind tgsl and saw her bag or purse getting jostled. I said through all the shouting “you’re assaulting her.” As members of the crowd were around me, I felt someone touching my forearm. I turned and pushed the guy touching my arm away as he yelled that I had assaulted him.

Not wanting to let the situation escalate, I withdrew back to our FReeper line.

Later Nofel Al-Jazairi of the Iraqi-American Council, who arrived with his kids well after the beginning, used one of the megaphones to tell the peaceniks that he was a victim of Saddam’s torture and that 99 percent of Iraqis want Saddam gone.

The Code Pinkos were now holding up, at waist level, a pink string that apparently extended around the White House (I’m not making this up). I ran along their lines yelling “listen to this guy [Al-Jazairi] who’s lived in Iraq. Learn about the tyrant that you want to appease.”

Numerous military men out of uniform, tourists & others gave us thumbs up signs or otherwise thanked us for our activities.

 

Above tgsl photo shows Dagnabit in his Saddam outfit. He joined us in mid-FReep and was great in his Saddam costume. Although not visible in the photo, he had a small heart shaped sign or decal on his beret that said “J'aime la France.”. Dagnabit kept saying “thank you” to the peaceniks in a pretty good sounding foreign accent. I kept telling the peaceniks, “Saddam thanks you for your support.”

Dr. R also had a Saddam costume which he wore to great effect in the early stage of the FReep at Lafayette Park.)

As the leftists continued their pink string project, a young guy, apparently a patriotic college student said “ I wish I had a pair of scissors.” I told him that my Swiss Army knife had a pair of scissors, but neither of us wanted to cut the cord that tied these loony leftists together. (If only we could have used the pink string to lasso the peaceniks and deliver them to the tender mercies of Saddam Hussein.)

 

Kristinn ended up having an extended discussion with the anti-capitalist guy in above tgsl photo. I tried to stay out of it. After hearing this guy applaud Fidel Castro and repeatedly ooze hatred of the U.S. from every pore and in the most strident, outrageous and leftist conspiracy theory terms, it was too much for me to ignore.

I asked anti-capitalist wearing his Che Guvera (sp?) patch and carrying an extremely expensive camera system. “You hate this country. Why don’t you get the hell out? Go to Cuba. Free healthcare and free education. Go & don’t come back!”

Anti-capiltalist responded by saying “I don’t have enough money.” I walked away to allow Kristinn to continue his attempt to talk some sense into this guy. Dr. R. remarked to me (out of earshot of the leftist) that the guy could sell his camera and equipment and get enough bucks for bus fare to Key West and an inner tube for the swim to Cuba.

[dagnabbit]

Very nice report Bill. Wish I'd been at the Freep earlier, as it sounds and looks like the most fun took place earlier in the day. Interesting to see what the Saddam get-up looked like from the outside. My wife was right: "creepy and ridiculous". Yelling at the pinkos through the mask was also difficult. Think a megaphone would be handy next time - so the Saddam supporters could better hear how much "I" love 'em.

[BillF]

Dag,

The thumbnail of you in the Saddam mask had the colors reduced to minimize size & speed download of the thread.

Tgsl's higher resolution photo, used by me to create the thumbnail, can be viewed by clicking here.

I messed up with the last two hyperlinks to the high resolution photos.

You were there for most of the action and you were a great and sinister Saddam. Wish we used the slogan "Saddam needs a hug" when you were in your costume.

[BillF]

Speaking of delusional, I had a long talk with a 17-year-old boy who was completely brainwashed into communism. It was really sad hearing him spout the Marxist line without any basis in logic like a cultist.

As we shooks hands to say goodbye, he told me he couldn't believe he was shaking hands with a "Capitalist."

Glad that you made at least some headway in spite of my outbursts towards him. Sorry. His raw hatred of the U.S. really had me wanting to send him to Cuba in the worst possible way (i.e., inner tube through shark-infested waters).