Free Republic

My heart ached not being able to be there this year. how frustrating to have to watch it on TV and not be able to be there. Very bad complications of health prevented me from participating. The only consolation I have is that, on the news, I saw someone making good use of one of the signs I made for last years event. Great to see it was kept and used again. I followed your LIVE THREAD from the beginning though. Thank you and all the others who made the effort to be there. I will be following this topic to get the details as they unfold. I hope some kind of legal action can be brought against the city/parks dept. for the issue of using the park. If there are any persons to write to about it please let it be known. I would love to help in any way. I'm sure the ACLU would not touch this with a ten foot pole. I would like to see a transcript of the events or at least a list of the participants of the anti-protesters. Good work.

JJ...

Thanks for the comments on the signs. It was quite simple actually. I do graphics for local military contractor. My boss was kind enough to donate the materials.

Doctor Raoul, your speech was fantastic. I read a lot about the issues that we were there for and you laid it all out in clear, concise truth.

BufordP, the two books that I was trying to tell you about were:

"Treachery", by Bill Gertz
and,
"An End To Evil", by David Frum and Richard Perle

A few of my favorite websites:

http://www.memri.org/

http://www.danielpipes.org/

http://www.wisconsinproject.org/

Thanks for helping to push me up that hill after the Freep.
It would have taken me about an hour to do it alone.

BufordP was helping me across Hay street to where I was parked, when a big black SUV with blacked-out windows threatened to run us over. Pissed me off pretty good. Later on I figured the driver probably thought we were part of the anti-war crowd. It was pretty funny that I unknowingly parked in the anti's parking area. There were quite a few of them still lingering around their vehicles while I was
getting in my car. In the space of about ten minutes, several cars full of GI's drove by cursing at them. Nice ending to a good day.

Speaking of soldiers, I believe they were restricted from taking part in the event. I live here in Fayetteville and one of my SF buddies agreed with this. I imagine the freeper side would have expanded quite a bit if they were allowed to attend.

When I first got there, I set up near a raggedy looking young guy with a plastic bullhorn, yelling incoherent rhetoric and mumbo-jumbo especially when someone from our side was speaking. I pegged him as a plant from the other side, pointed him out to some other folks who confronted him and he high-tailed it back to the pit. It pays to study the enemies websites and tactics.

I was impressed with the 'Nam era Marine that me and Buford were talking with toward the end of the event. He drove himself down from NY just for this particular freep. Pretty nice guy, though I forgot his name.

From what I saw on the local news when I got home, they gave us pretty equal time and validated us as a legitimate voice.

Thanks to the folks who helped me back in my wheel chair after I fell out of it when it rolled forward off the curb.

I had a good time last year, a good time this year and I hope to see ya'll again...