CHIMPY IN CHARGE

Last night, September 25th, I attended the City Council meeting in Aurora, Illinois to support the new Planned Parenthood facility in my neighborhood. From the outside of the building, where over 300 of the clinic’s supporters were gathered, compared to perhaps 30-50 of the anti-abortion protesters, it all looked just peachy. Once inside, however, the view was a little different.

Several days before the scheduled City Council meeting, I called the number provided on the Planned Parenthood website to ask the mayor to sign the occupancy permit, then called and requested to speak at the City Council meeting and was put on the list. At that point I thought all was fine, and girded my agoraphobic loins to get up in front of strangers to make my salient points on why this clinic is important to the community.

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I arrived to find the protest outside well underway. The pro-choice side had a sizable crowd filled with a cross-section of the community, the balance being young women. They were all holding signs that said “This family supports Planned Parenthood” and chanting slogans such as “Our bodies, our lives” and “Keep it legal, keep it safe”. The anti-abortion forces outside were scant and almost entirely men. They all had signs, too, with such slogans as “Fox Valley doesn’t need Planned Parenthood” and “No Abortion”. There was a guy there with his pre-teen son, both holding homemade signs. I can’t remember all the content (and thanks to my panic over having to go out in public, I forgot my camera), but in the upper left corner was a swastika and in the upper right corner a hammer and sickle, implying that pro-choice supporters are fascists and communists. There were reporters and camera crews scattered liberally in the crowd.

I milled around for a bit, then made my way to the door and the police officers stationed there, gave my name and address, showed my ID and was checked off the list of speakers and allowed to enter. I assume that you had to be signed up as a speaker to get inside. If I’m wrong on this please correct me, but I saw no one entering without first being checked off the speaker’s list. I was there early, as instructed, so I could get a seat. I went in and picked what I thought would be a good spot for a person like me: a seat on the edge of the row, isolated from the rest of the row by a pole. In other words, I had a seat with no one on either side of me. At this point the room, with maybe 200 seats available, was less than half full. As the room began to fill, I thought perhaps my choice of seating was a bad idea. I was in a sea of fundamentalist Christians. But it became apparent that it didn’t really matter where I was sitting, I would have been surrounded no matter where I sat.

Two rows in front of me was a very vocal man in his late 20’s or early 30’s and his pregnant wife. I listened to him bloviate on his beliefs about Planned Parenthood, the deception used by the clinic to get into town in the first place (more on that later), and his political thoughts (a totalitarian regime of leftists is trying to take over the community. Oh, the irony!). “RedStater,” I thought to myself. Sitting directly behind me was an earnest, outgoing man from an unusual class I call “hippie ministers”. I’d say he probably does more for the members in his congregation and community than most, his dedication was apparent. He was talking to several people about how he’d had a long chat with the Mayor in his office that day, the same Mayor I’d called to urge to sign the petition. Anyone want to guess which action held more weight?

The meeting began around 6:00pm. I won’t bore you with the details of the agenda, a panoply of the type of things you’d expect at such an event. The one item of note was a lone speaker who stated that he’s a member of the Minutemen, bemoaned the number of immigrants in the area (the legal immigrant population in this area of Chicagoland stands between 30% and 40%) and asked for legislation to be passed to limit this awful calamity. He looked like he might be from Italian stock, which made me want to ask him how he thought the immigrant status of his ancestors was more valid than the Hispanics in the area. At this point I felt the unmistakable signs of a panic attack creeping up and discretely took a Xanax.

It took about an hour and a half to get through all the scheduled business and get down to the brass tacks of why this room full of people, packed in tighter than sardines in very small tin can, was there. A 10 minute recess was taken, at which time, for reasons I cannot fathom, a sizable portion of the Planned Parenthood supporters, already outnumbered, left. I stayed in my seat and listened to the fundie crowd around me. As people returned, the spots vacated by the Planned Parenthood folks and those who had said their piece on other issues were taken by more anti-abortion types. By this time, it was standing room only, the walls were lined on two sides three deep, and there were enough TV and video cameras to blast the entire Chicagoland area with a blow by blow look at the action to come.

The crowd inside was in inverse proportion to the one outside. Of the maybe 250 people in the room, I’d say that maybe 30 of them were Planned Parenthood supporters, and that’s an overly generous estimate. Because of the number of people who had signed up to speak, there was a three minute limit put on the length of remarks of each speaker, a time limit of three hours for discussion was set and the speakers had to be from the community and speaking on their own behalf. Three names were called at a time to come to the podium and take their turns.

As the commenting began, I started taking notes of the name of the speaker, whether they were for or against the Planned Parenthood clinic, and their stated reasons. Of the first 12 speakers, only two were Planned Parenthood supporters. I was becoming dismayed but still hopeful. The ratio for the next 6 turned out to be the same, 1 in support, the rest against. It was at this point that I stopped noting down exactly what the reasoning was for being against unless it was something unique and just began listing them as either Canard one, two or three and strawman.

Canard one: Planned Parenthood deceived both the City Council and the members of the community by falsifying their permit applications. Their deception is wrong, both morally and legally, and should be punished by denying the permits and destroying the building. Planned Parenthood is known for being deceptive. If this deception isn’t punished and the clinic is allowed to open, then we can expect all businesses applying for permits to be deceptive because the City Council let this happen. Why, I’m a business owner and I had to answer the questions honestly to get my permit, and I resent that Planned Parenthood isn’t being forced to do the same. What kind of example are we setting for the children?

Canard two: There are myriad services available to women throughout the area. Lots of them are very affordable and include all the things that a woman could need. Women are in no danger of going without needed healthcare services due to the abundance and affordability of adequate healthcare. Thus, we must conclude that Planned Parenthood is only interested in promoting and performing abortions, targeting minority populations for genocide. They push everyone to have an abortion, the adoption referrals are only a ruse. They also target the teen population. Planned Parenthood’s stance of not notifying parents when a child comes to the clinic for whatever reason surely supports this. If the clinic is allowed to stay, Aurora will be known as the abortion capitol of the world.

Canard three: Planned Parenthood proposes a dangerous threat to the neighborhood, which they obviously knew when building the facility due to the fact that bulletproof glass and drywall were used in the construction. By circumventing the permit process used for non-profit organizations, they denied the community at large the opportunity to voice objections, which would have stopped the clinic in its tracks before construction began. The surrounding neighborhood is now at risk, with innocent individuals subjected to possible arms fire or bombing if things get out of hand.

Strawman: Abortion is an abomination, the bible tells us so. Anyone who supports Planned Parenthood will burn in hell. Abortionists and their supporters are murderers and should be treated as such. Promoting birth control and safe sex only encourages immoral behavior, particularly among the children, whom Planned Parenthood targets. This country is founded on religion, which should trump all. Look at this huge crowd of (cheering and clapping) God-fearing people. This is our community, we are the majority, darn it. We will continue to demonstrate “peacefully” and we won’t be going away, no matter what you say and do. We will do whatever it takes to make life miserable for anyone who works at the clinic, anyone who supports the clinic and anyone who uses it. This isn’t a threat.

I use the canard label loosely, because in each instance there is just enough truth to give it some validity in the eyes of those looking for an excuse to can the clinic.

Regarding Canard One: Planned Parenthood did use deception when filling out the permit applications. Using the name Gemini Office Development to act as their own contractor, then filling out the forms in that name and stating that they did not yet know who the occupant would be, Planned Parenthood misled the City Council. And by applying for a “for profit” permit instead of the “non-profit” permit that requires public hearings before the Council, they certainly appear to be trying to circumvent the system. Their explanation, that they were trying to avoid the kind of abuse and rancor, including outside agitators, harrassment, and possible violence, that they now face is valid. But by doing so, they have placed the clinic, not to mention it’s supporters, in jeopardy. Those of us who would like to see the clinic open are now in the position of having to defend their deception, a position that as a person who counts honesty as more than just a virtue, I must admit I resent this and find difficult to defend. Fully half of the clinic’s defenders said as much in their own comments. By going this route, Planned Parenthood has given the anti-abortion foes the ammunition needed to block the clinic, ammunition they would not have had otherwise. The fight appears to be just as ugly as it would have been, if not moreso, had Planned Parenthood been honest from the beginning.

Regarding Canard Two: There are many services available to women in this area for gynecological services. Most of them require insurance that the high immigrant population doesn’t possess, and to pay for those services out of pocket is very expensive. There are also services available that are very cheap, if not free, for many services. The difference lies in the kind of services that aren’t available now, i.e., birth control counciling and STD screening (with the exception of the health department), and abortion services. Since the abortion foes are opposed to these services, they see no need that they should be provided.

Regarding Canard Three: Planned Parenthood did have bulletproof glass and other safety measures installed during the building process. Given the history of attacks on their facilities, doctors, staff, supporters and clients, this would seem like a very reasonable course of action. While there is a neighborhood on two sides of this facility, it is separated on one side by a wide street and on the other by a sizable parcel of open field, and is a reasonable distance from the other businesses in the area. The parcel on which the clinic sits is zoned for a facility of this kind. The danger lies not in the clinic itself, but in the anti-abortion protesters themselves, some of which are outside agitators and very unsavory characters, to say the least. Their concern about the safety of the community is valid, but by supporting the protesters, these community members are supporting the very dangers they claim to fear.

Note: The strawman needs no examination, it stands alone.

The audience was treated to quite a display from the anti-abortionists, who had a full range of speakers present. There were angry speakers, weeping speakers, funny speakers, manipulative speakers. Three were many ministers and mothers, one kid, an elected official, a doctor, a couple of nurses, and average joes. The clinic was called a monument to fraud, its existence an act of moral turpitude, just like Auschwitz, a genocide machine used against the black and Hispanic communities and compared to lynching. Its supporters were called a group of racists, Nazis and/or fascists, evil, inherently evil, profoundly evil, enablers of immoral behavior, child abusers, and responsible for the breakdown of the moral fabric of the community.

The pro-choice forces, by contrast, spoke about the services available and the necessity to the community of those services. One woman, who was very angry, told of being harassed, followed home every day and abused from afar. Another woman, a Methodist minister, said that however she might feel about abortion it wasn’t her right to push her beliefs on anyone else. It was pointed out that abortion is legal and the law of the land since 1973, and that the majority of Americans (approximately 2/3) support some form of abortion rights. The separation of church and state was brought up on three occasions, eliciting snickering from the crowd around me, who view the world as a twisted game of rock/paper/scissors, with religion trumping all comers. The pro-choice arguments were fact-based, accurate and impassioned. There just weren’t enough of them.

At the halfway point of the meeting, we took another 10 minute break. As the recess began, one alderman came down from his perch, walked straight past where I sat and began shaking hands, chatting and laughing with a group of ministers directly behind me. And I was angry. Not just a little angry, but burst into flame angry. But not for the reasons you think.

Yes, I was not at all happy at what I’d heard from the anti-abortion crowd, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t expected. It was apparent that those who spoke truly believe in their cause. I haven’t listened to so many sermons, prayers and bible quotes since I was fifteen and went to a Pentecostal Youth Convention.

There wasn’t anything fishy going on that I could see as far as the fairness of the City Council’s approach to allowing commenters to have their say, there just weren’t many pro-choice supporters who had signed up to speak. The street outside was still full of pro-choice protesters, but the City Council saw none of that, not until they went home and saw the news. What they saw was wall to wall anti-abortionists, what they heard was a consistent variety of arguments that were cloaked in some vague semblance of truth. Indeed, Karl Rove himself could not have done a better job of keeping this crowd on message. It was a well-oiled machine of right-wing, fundie talking points.

What really pissed me off was the lack of opposition to the anti-abortionists inside the City Council Chamber. Yeah, the rally outside was good, but who, exactly, were we trying to influence here? I’m all for protests. I work daily at Road2Dc trying to promote effective, sustained protest both locally and nationally. But the City Council is looking for an excuse, any excuse, to shut this down and make it all go away. Unless there are numbers in front of them speaking out in support of Planned Parenthood and the clinic they will flush this thing, and be quick about it. Of the 30 people who spoke up to that point, only 10 spoke out in support of the clinic. We needed big numbers both inside and out.

I went outside, took another Xanax, and called my sister to vent. My sister, bless her heart, is passionate when she talks about pro-choice and other issues of a political nature, but her only action is to vote. She talks a good game, but when push comes to shove, you’ll find her in front of the TV watching Project Runway and reading fashion magazines. I’m sure my screeching could be heard several blocks away. I told her in plain, crude language that I was mad as hell at her and anyone else who mouths the damned words of support but can’t get up out of their chairs and really provide support when push comes to shove, including the online community. And I told her that she could tell all her pro-choice friends that were lounging at home that they were on my shit list. Then I hung up and went back inside.

The rest of the meeting was more of the same. There was one interesting thing that happened to me close to the end of the comment session. There was a young doctor who gave a well researched and thorough comment in support of Planned Parenthood. I really liked what he said, but I hadn’t caught his name because the crowd was still cheering the last anti-abortion speaker when he stepped to the podium. His seat was behind and to the left of me, and he had to pass me in order to get to it. As he approached I motioned him closer so that I could ask his name. He stopped about two feet away from me and leaned towards me as I leaned forward so I could speak to him quietly. As we both leaned in, a very large man stepped in between us, threw his elbow in my face and thrust one of those pictures of an aborted fetus in the doctor’s face. Although I’ve never seen this man before, I’m fairly certain who he is, and if I’m correct, he’s one of the top outside agitators.

His elbow hit my glasses, and my response was to reach up, touch his forearm and say, “Go away.”

He took a step away, looked down at me and said, “Would you like to be arrested for assault?”.

“I touched your arm,” I said scornfully.

“That’s assault!!”, he said loudly. “Would you like to be arrested for assault?”

At this point you could have heard a pin drop, even on the carpeted floor. “Go away!!”, I said loudly in response. I stared straight at him. I could see the cops out of the corner of my eye watching, but they stayed put. The man backed off, but by that time I was shaking with anger. The poor doctor gave me an apologetic look and took his seat again. The Council members all took a collective deep breath and the next speakers were called.

After that, I took to adding “blah, blah, blah”, “yada, yada, yada”, “boohoo”, and a host of expletives to my canard/strawman narrative. There really wasn’t much more to be said. I waited for my turn to speak, knowing that in all likelihood it would never come. I was right. Of the 57 people who had spoken when the meeting was adjourned, a total of 12 of them had been in support of Planned Parenthood. The other 45 speakers were all in the anti-abortion camp. So what the City Council saw, and no doubt what they’ll base any future decisions on, is a 4/1 ratio in favor of disallowing the clinic to open.

What conclusions did I draw from my fruitless exercise in free speech? To start with, I’m disappointed in Planned Parenthood on several counts. The deception they used in applying for the necessary permits has given the anti-abortion forces a leg to stand on, and they are standing, believe me. It’s also left those trying like hell to defend the opening of the clinic hanging in an uncomfortable limbo because it’s hard to defend the deception, however well-intentioned it might have been.

While the protest was glorious to see, that wasn’t the only place that action was called for. There should have been an organized effort by Planned Parenthood itself to pack that Council Chamber with positive voices in support of the clinic, including candidates for office, elected officials, doctors, nurses and long-standing members of the community. Putting out the call in a small blurb on your new website is not organizing. It’s a good thing, but not nearly enough to matter. I heard that there were calls made to people who signed up as supporters on their website, but I never got one. I went because it was the right thing to do.

There also should have been members from Planned Parenthood itself there to stand up to firmly and clearly state why this clinic is necessary and defend their actions. Leaving it to a handful of people to make those explanations is not going to help their cause, especially when some of it goes against their own principles. It was brought up by several of the opposition that there wasn’t anyone there from Planned Parenthood. Yes, they would have been given a very rough time. But that should be expected and should be dealt with head on.

And to all of those that comment and write diaries about this issue but don’t show up when something like this comes up, shame on you. Talking and writing diaries is good, but the City Council isn’t going to read your diaries and they’re not listening to you talk unless you show up and do it to their faces. There’s a real disconnect in this community and in the Democratic party in general when it comes to taking real action. The assumption seems to be that calling your representatives at any level of government, writing letters and diaries, chatting amongst ourselves and with family and friends and throwing a bumpersticker or two on our cars will have some kind of impact on any given situation. Maybe it will, but it won’t make the same kind of impact that showing up and making them look at you and listen to what you have to say will have, however awkward and inconvenient it might be for you, no matter how you try to parse it. We’re in a pickle from the very top of our national government right down to the local level and for all intents and purposes, right now we’re invisible. Visibility is what we need desperately. We need to be visible anywhere and everywhere we can be; in-person, in-your-face, vocally and loudly visible. Protests are very good and necessary, IMHO. But being in front of those with their finger on the eject button, where they can see the look in your eyes and hear the tone of your voice, is better.

This Planned Parenthood, pro-choice, Roe vs Wade fight is one I’ve fought before. It was a battle from the very moment it started, and it has not abated. In fact, it only gets worse as time goes on. And it’s only one of 1000 other battles going on out there aimed at taking away those rights we used to take for granted. Do you really want your rights stripped from you by a very vocal, very aggressive minority? Do you think if they manage to strip away one that they’ll stop there? Who do you think is going to save these rights for you? Is a handful of middle-aged, agoraphobic grandmothers and over-stressed, under-appreciated activists really who you think ought to be doing battle for you? Wouldn’t it be better to join them and lend your voice rather than hope they manage to pull off a magic trick on your behalf? Who will you blame when those rights are no longer yours?

Had I written this last night when I came home, it would have been far more ugly for me and anyone who read it. As it is, I expect flames. Come ahead on, I say. But unless you intend to have your ass sitting in a seat in front of your elected officials in the very near future, then don’t go down that road.

Citizens of Aurora, Illinois, next week I’ll again be sitting in my seat in front of the City Council, jotting down names, canards, strawmen and anything worth noting. I’ll be awaiting my turn to speak out in support of Planned Parenthood, defending them as best I can under the current circumstances. Where will you be?

UPDATE: I called to put my name on the list of speakers for next week, but was told that next week’s meeting is on a special issue and that there will be no comment period. However, I did sign up for to comment on the following week, October 9th. And I now have an email from Planned Parenthood directing people to attend next week’s meeting anyway, just in case. If nothing else, it will bring pressure on the City Council. Here is the information for the next two weeks:

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007
Meet at City Hall at 4 pm. The earlier you can get there the more likely you are to be able to join us inside (the meeting itself starts at 5 pm).

City of Aurora
44 E. Downer Place,
5th floor conference room
Downtown Aurora

Tuesday, October 9th at 6pm.

Phone: 630-844-3615 (City Clerk’s office, they take you name address and phone number and put you on the speaker’s list)

City Hall
44 Downer Plaza
Aurora, IL. 60505

I also want to refer you to this comment post by Planned Parenthood with further info regarding the permit issue and related newspaper articles. Call and get your name on the list to speak at these meetings if you can. I will continue to call daily to see if they will open a comment period on for the Oct 2nd meeting. Please do the same. We need all hands on deck.

There’s been alot of talk lately about protest. I know, because I’ve been doing some of the talking. Most people I’ve talked to seem to be for it, at least in a theoretical way. Many are supportive of protests, but they have a life, after all, with jobs and kids and previously planned activities that must take precedence. And in every discussion there are always a few naysayers who say that protest is old hat, its time has passed. They don’t like one group or another, even though that group may be a very small portion of any protest. Or it’s just too damned much work, not enough bang for the buck or they don’t see protest as having much effect.

I’ve been doing some research to try to debunk the arguments presented against protest. I won’t go into what I’ve found now, that’s for another day. But what I did find while examining this issue is a group that is wholeheartedly, resoundingly in favor of protest - The Freepers. Join me over the fold to take a peek into the heart of darkness, won’t you?

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The other day a friend and colleague of mine gave me a link to Free Republic. Allow me to share…

The Gathering of Eagles will be holding a Rally in Boulder

time: 7:00am -8:00am date: Sunday 9/9/2007 location: 1048 Pearl Street (in front of the Daily Camera Building) at 8:00am we leave to join Move America Forward in Wichita KS.

Everyone is invited to also go all the way with us to Washington DC for Gathering of Eagles III on 9/15. Fight for Victory trip details on our webpage.

There was a link provided, which I followed to this page on the Gathering of Eagles website. Here I found a list of events they have planned this week. It’s a road trip, leaving Boulder on the 9th and stopping in Wichita for a rally that same day, then a rally in Des Moines on the 10th, one in Chicago on the 11th, again in Cinncinati on the 12th, Columbus on the 13th, a meeting with members of Congress and a Capitol Hill press conference with the D.C./National Press Corps on the 14th and culminating in “support for the troops” at a march on the 15th to counteract the March for Peace that is scheduled that day. The website appeared to be the republican version of what some of us have been trying to create at Road2DC. I was intrigued. “Who is this Gathering of Eagles?,” I asked myself.

Several links further down the trail I found this article. Read it and you’ll find out that this organization is really part of Free Republic. That’s right, Freeperville is taking a road trip. They’re making frequent stops, slamming the left as they go and picking up more like-minded thugs until they finally arrive in Washington to meet with members of Congress. But the real goal, it seems, is to keep our National Monuments safe from the vandalism that we, the “radical left”, are known for. I had no idea that we were known for such things. But a closer examination of several dozen articles set me straight. How, you may ask, have we become known for such evil deeds? How do you think?

The genesis of this began back on January 27, 2007 at a March on the Capitol sponsored by United for Peace and Justice. Jo Freeman, a feminist author, respected political scholar and noted photographer has written a great article explaining the deep divisions that have formed and led to disorganization and the loss of unity among protest organizers, then goes on to detail what happened that propelled the Freepers into action.

(snip)

What really happened in January? After the UfPJ march around the Capitol building, a group of anarchists (the black bloc) charged up the west front of Capitol Hill. Their way was blocked by the capitol police while they were still in a public area. There were a couple dozen anarchists (identifiable by their black clothes), more than a couple dozen cops, and a couple hundred observers (including me). After a non-violent confrontation punctuated by chants and shouts, and a little milling about, everyone dispersed.

Two days later Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) sent a letter to U.S. Capitol Police Chief Phillip D. Morse stating that “It is my understanding protesters were allowed to spray paint the Capitol steps and deface buildings around the area while Capitol Police were instructed to not arrest anyone engaging in these unlawful acts.”

Conservative groups, in particular the Family Research Council, which is based in Colorado, demanded an investigation. FRC President Tony Perkins said, “For any group, such acts would mean immediate arrest. This time, the Capitol Police’s hands were tied because they were ordered to stand down by their chief of police, who answers to the speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.”

On January 31 Chief Morse issued a statement denying that this had happened. He did say that “Some members of this group did covertly mark the pavement on the Lower West Terrace during their confrontation with us. Had this been observed, I would have directed arrests to be made. However, the size and continual movement of the crowd provided concealment and made detection of their actions impossible.”

They were certainly concealed from me, and unlike the police I was free to walk around among the anarchists and the observers while taking photographs. So were the other protestors I spoke to later, who also saw no markings, let alone spray paint. The web pages on which the black bloc brags about its exploits (e.g. http://dc.indymedia.org) have been silent on this though not about other illegal acts. The only reconciliation I can make between the Chief’s statement that there were marks on the pavement and what I and other protestors did not see is to assume that they were chalk marks. It’s quite common for demonstrators to chalk pictures and comments on the pavement during protests, and not worthy of note. Because such marks are quickly cleaned with water – or rain – the police ignore chalkers. Arrests are costly. Cleaning up chalk is cheap.

What was invisible to police and protestors was a bright neon light for the Right. When the Republicans grabbed another opportunity to attack the new Democratic Speaker it morphed into a major blogfest as right wing web pages and media all over the country beat their breasts over the protestors who sprayed painted graffiti on the Capitol steps. Putting a few key words into Google results in over a hundred thousand hits.

Here’s more from WaPO.

(snip)

At a Jan. 27 antiwar rally, some protesters spray-painted the pavement on a Capitol terrace. Others crowned the Lone Sailor statue at the Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue with a pink tiara that had “Women for Peace” written across it.

Word of those incidents ricocheted around the Internet.

“That was the real catalyst, right there,” said Navy veteran Larry Bailey. “They showed they were willing to desecrate something that’s sacred to the American soul.”

(snip)

Within days of the spray-painting, people were using the Web to organize, making it their mission to protect the monuments, support the troops and accept nothing less than victory in Iraq.

Yes, the republican outrage was huge. Oddly enough, though, I couldn’t find one photo of the capitol steps with spray paint on them anywhere. Not one single photo. What I did find was this website with a picture taken by the blogger of what are clearly charcoal or rubber marks on the concrete. Scroll down several stories to find this pic, another of a very frustrated young army wife protesting the war, in-your-face style, and some interesting commentary from this blogger.

This lack of evidence did not deter the rabble. After all, who needs real evidence when you live in Freeperville? Another protest on Washington was scheduled for March 17, 2007, this time at the Pentagon to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, and the right girded its loins for the apocalypse to come.

Banging away at their keyboards to produce stuff like this and this and this, the right mobilized to do battle with the evil protesters. Conservative Veteran’s sites began to produce articles with headlines like “Rolling Thunder to oppose Fonda, anti-war protesters.” Various groups began organizing, and posted notices like this:

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS CRITICALLY IMPERATIVE: MEET AT THE WALL 1000 HOURS / 17 MARCH 2007

IT IS OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PROTESTERS PLAN ON GOING RIGHT THROUGH THE IMMEDIATE AREA OF THE WALL / THREE MAN STATUE/ AND THE WOMEN’S MEMORIAL. IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT WE PROTECT OUR PRECIOUS MEMORIALS, THE SANCTITY OF THE WALL AND DEFEND OUR TROOPS THAT ARE IN IRAQ AND FIGHTING EACH AND EVERY HOUR FOR OUR COUNTRY.

At the anti-war protest in Washington, D.C. 2 weeks ago there was ALOT of damage done at the Capitol steps. We cannot and will not allow this to happen at The Wall or to any of our memorials.

Since there were no pictures to be had of spray paint on the Capitol steps, articles and blog posts like this one, depicting pictures of two incidents, a spray painted Veteran’s Memorial in Vermont and the Medal of Honor Monument in Indianapolis, were circulated and tales of other incidents were widely distributed throughout the right blogosphere. Those little charmers Michelle Malkin and Melanie Morgan weighed in strewing lies like rose petals and adding their own imaginary demons to the mix. Speeches and sermons were given, phone calls were made. The right was galvanized, and headed to Washington DC to do battle on March 17, 2007.

The size of the crowds, both anti-war and anti-anti-war, and who, in the end, shouted who down is up for debate. Much of it depends on who you want to believe. But what is known for certain is this. While ANSWER had put in for permits for crowds as large as 35,000, they fell short of their expectations. The previous day’s bad weather and bitter cold temperatures that followed is the biggest factor cited for the shortfall amongst the anti-war crowd. Jo Freeman had this to say about it.

With so many different groups contributing, 30,000 people might have come to DC on Saturday if it hadn’t snowed, rained, and sleeted the day before. Long distance busses were canceled.

Certainly more buses would have come from NYC if UfPJ hadn’t organized a competing march down Sixth Avenue on Sunday.

UfPJ encouraged its constituent groups to participate in local actions all over the country and those in DC, Virginia and Maryland did just that.

The pro-war forces, undeterred by cold and fortified with their distortion-and-lie-fueled righteous indignation, was larger than anyone anticipated. Actually trying to put a number on the size of both camps is where things get a little hairy. Let’s take a little peek at what the various players had to say on the days after the march.

From a Gathering of Eagles blogger:

The GOE website says the Park Service is putting our numbers at 30,000 compared to 4,000 or so for the pro-terrorists. I don’t have access to all their figures, but I do know that in one place at one time we had close to 13,000 people. My methods were general, not scientific, but reasonable. The media gave conflicting numbers all day, and ended up trying to say that the vets were outnumbered by the pro-terrorism forces, as if that matters. Fact is, just about everyone agrees that all the Fonda/Sheehan forces could muster was about 4,000 demonstrators and terrorists. If I am wrong by fully half in my estimates, which I’m not, but let’s just say if, then we still outnumbered the terrorists by double.

A blogger who was there in support of the pro-war contingent made his own estimate, and recited an interesting little tale of his encounter with his very own group:

Ok, guys … that wasn’t funny.

I mean, well, it was sorta funny. But not that funny.

True story: these guys wouldn’t let me into the Gathering of Eagles rally. Seriously. They called me names. I tried to explain to them who I am and what I’m trying to do, but no go. Is it my fault I need to “blend” when covering ANSWER? One of the marshalls explained patiently to me that … while I had every right to protest the war … I needed to keep to my own side of the street. Sheesh. And when I said (patiently) that I’m really on their side to begin with I thought the cops standing around were going to arrest me. Crimminy. I had to high-tail it back into moonbatland. I mean … would you mess with these guys?!

(snip)

If we’re counting numbers … and I haven’t seen any “official” count yet … I’d say that the Gathering of Eagles and ANSWER were about even. 25,000 to 35,000 each … give or take.

This guy sounds like he’s trying not to tell a hugely blatant whopper, but he’s just not able to really count that high or estimate sizable numbers. Michelle Malkin took these whoppers and ran with them. This is, of course, not at all what the Park Service estimated. The Washington Post, hardly a bastion of liberal thinking, had this to say on the subject.

Organizers, who had predicted tens of thousands of marchers would demonstrate, gave estimates ranging from 15,000 to 30,000. Police no longer provide official estimates of crowd size but informally put it at 10,000 to 20,000, with a smaller but sizable contingent of counter-protesters.

CBS Online echoes those numbers. Jo Freeman puts the estimate of anti-war protesters for that day at roughly fifteen thousand and the anti-anti protesters at two thousand. I consider this far more credible than anything coming from the land of the Freepers.

How did this all play out? Jo Freeman continues:

At the western end of the Mall they were greeted by men in motorcycle jackets chanting “USA, USA.” A hundred feet onto the grass hundreds of flags surrounded a stage where a sign declared “United We Stand. Together We Kick Ass.” The two thousand anti-anti-war protestors were the largest contingent of anti-antis to show up at an anti-Iraq war march. Most of them were Viet Nam vets, primarily from Rolling Thunder, a large organization of biker vets who come to DC every Memorial Day to remember POWs and MIAs.

(snip)

I heard a lot of name calling, but saw only one woman (an anti-anti) break through the police line to attack someone on the other side. She was quickly removed. I also heard a couple of degrading comments about Jane Fonda, who was not there. One large sign said “Why Call it ANSWER – Workers World Party is a Commie.”

What was most striking was not the ignorance of left wing splits displayed by this sign, but the cultural metamorphosis. The twenty-something protestors of the anti- Viet Nam War era were ridiculed for beards and long hair. The fifty-something Viet Nam vets were a hairy crowd, adorned with a lot of metal. By comparison, the anti Iraq-war protestors were rather clean cut. In age, sex, race, and attire they looked more like America.

From WaPo:

It was quickly apparent that the weather had not prevented counter-demonstrators, many in black leather motorcycle jackets, from showing up in force and surrounding all sides of the Wall.

At one point before the march started, counter-demonstrators formed a gantlet along an asphalt walkway on Constitution Avenue and heaped verbal abuse at protesters who walked through on their way to the assembly area. One Vietnam veteran in a wheelchair yelled obscenities at demonstrators, including some with children.

Some demonstrators supporting the war effort engaged in good-natured banter with war protesters. But others blocked paths and prevented marchers from getting near the Wall, particularly anyone carrying a sign. District resident Eric Anderson, 47, had his sign ripped from his hands and thrown in the mud.

Bob Anders, 60, an Iowa banker who said he served with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam and rode a bus from Iowa to protest the war, had his heart set on seeing the memorial but turned around after seeing the situation. “I’ve never seen the memorial, and I wanted to see it in a spirit of protest,” he said.

From CBS Online:

Police on horseback and foot separated the two groups of demonstrators, who shouted at each other from opposite sides of Constitution Avenue in view of the Lincoln Memorial before the anti-war group marched. Barriers also kept them apart.

But war protester Susanne Shine of Boone, N.C., found herself in a crowd of counterdemonstrators, and came out in tears, with her sign in shreds. “They ripped up my peace sign,” she said, after police escorted her, her husband and two adult daughters from the group. “It was really pretty scary for me.”

Protesters walked in a blustery, cold wind across the Potomac River with motorcycles clearing their way and police boats and helicopters watching.

The Freepers came to make a stand. It was based on false information and misdirected anger, but who the hell cares about such trivial details? The turnout was much better than the usual handful that had shown up in the past and the anti-war protesters made a poorer showing than they’d hoped and planned for due to the bad weather and factional splits among the organizers.

Based on this “show of force”, the Freepers have once again put out the call, escalated their misinformation campaign, girded their loins for battle, and intend to be in Washington DC on September 15th to protect our national monuments and treasures from the evil that is the anti-war movement,not to mention lobbying Congress for all that is right and just, in their not so humble opinion. And as the time draws near, the rallying cries have become louder.

From Michelle Malkin:

Earlier this year, I reported on a new, nonpartisan movement that arose to challenge the surrender lobby. On a bitter cold weekend in March, the Gathering of Eagles brought together veterans, families of active-duty servicemen and servicewomen, Rolling Thunder members, military bloggers and their grass-roots supporters to raise their pro-troops, pro-mission voices. I interviewed Eagles who flew in from San Francisco, rode motorcycles south from Georgia, drove all night from Boston, and trekked in caravans from coast to coast to answer ANSWER. At the crack of dawn, facing biting winds and contemptuous taunts, tens of thousands of Eagles stood guard over war memorials threatened by anti-war anarchists and lined the streets where bongo drum-beating retreatists marched.

(snip)

For every anti-Bush activist agitating for immediate withdrawal and throwing rocks at ROTC offices, an Eagle will be there in Washington to oppose the planting of the white flag. The organizations leading the way include the Gathering of Eagles, Eagles Landing, Move America Forward, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Free Republic, Vets for Freedom and the Victory Caucus. (Visit gatheringofeagles.org and moveamericaforward.org for details.)

From Eagles Up, Colonel’s Corner - August 27, 2007:

Eagles will land in Washington to protect our monuments from desecration, show overwhelming support for our troops and their mission, and ensure that Gen. Petraeus knows he has an army of loyal supporters here at home.

We will gather as we did on March 17 to confirm the 60s generation’s day is over and that the battle has been joined on the home front. Eagles will make the point that the benign intentions expressed to a collaborating media are not the true intent of these fake ‘patriots’ who, when no one is looking, desecrate our memorials, insult and assault wounded members of the military, interrupt and dishonor warrior burials, and undermine our troops who are putting their lives on the line to secure our freedoms.

Members of the ANSWER organization have gathered on Friday nights outside the gates of the Walter Reed US Army Medical Center in Washington to hurl verbal insults at wounded American soldiers and their families entering and leaving the facility.

This reprehensible, despicable behavior is not an aberration, as demonstrated by the nationwide drive to desecrate memorials to our war dead and veterans.

In March, the Vietnam “Wall” and other war memorials on the National Mall were targeted for desecration by the ANSWER demonstrators, as they may be again on September 15. In March a mass of pro-troop supporters, outnumbering the ANSWER forces by at least 3 to 1, gathered between the Vietnam and World War II Memorials, and sent people to the Korean War Memorial to dissuade anyone who doesn’t understand the difference between free speech and criminality.

In March an attempt was made to overpower police lines and force its way to the Vietnam Memorial by a group dressed in a manner mimicking Islamo-fascist terrorists. It failed because we blocked their way, peacefully but firmly.

Attempts to do the same thing on September 15 can expect to meet a similar obstacle, and a similar failure.

So as you can see, the right has discovered the wonders of protest, of mobilizing in ever growing numbers to make a physical presence to go along with their rhetoric. I have serious doubts if they will show up in numbers to equal the anti-war protesters in Washington DC on September 15th, but I could be wrong. Certainly, there will be more there than they had in March, and their numbers will grow with every protest. They will do this because they are motivated, however wrongly, to protect what they feel is sacred.

I’ll be in Washington DC on September 15th, as well. I’ll be going because I, too want to protect what I feel is sacred. I’ll be going because I believe in the sanctity of life, freedom of speech, the rule of law, and protecting our Constitution. I’ll be there because I want to protect our freedoms, our liberties and our rights. But most of all I’ll be there because of my grandchildren, who I love above all else, and whose future looks more bleak by the hour. I want them to have a better life than I’ve had, not worse. I would gladly lay down my life for them. Making a cross-country trip to protest for the way of life they are entitled to seems like such a small sacrifice by comparison. On September 15th I’ll be marching from the White House to the Capitol, with my signs and my voice raised, trying to protect everything that I hold dear and sacred.

But where will you be on that day? Will you be in Washington DC protesting for everything that you hold sacred? Will you be protesting locally, letting those in your area know that there is no time to waste, we must act now? Will you be at your computer, writing letters to your Senators and Representatives, writing Letters to the Editor for local and national publication, on the phone registering your displeasure with what is happening at the highest levels of government to those in a position to do something about it?

Yes, I know where I’ll be on September 15th. The Freepers know where they will be, too. I will do my best to shout them down, but it’s not something that I can do alone. We need every body in motion, protesting in whatever way we can possibly participate. We’ve reached the point where we have to make a stand, and do it now. We do not have time on our side. It has been squandered, just like the lives of our soldiers and that of millions of Iraqis, our freedoms and liberties, and the good will of the world at large that was once given so freely to America and its citizens has been, squandered by the greedy and miscalculated acts of our government. We can no longer afford to sit around and debate this action over that one, we can not longer hem and haw about what action to take or whether we should even take action at all. The time has come where we must act, and we must do it now.

If not now, when?

Please join us at Road2DC to participate in ride-sharing, lodging, and other information to help you facilitate your participation in the March for Peace in Washington DC on September 15th. Feel free to set up your own threads to organize for other local, regional and national protests, whether big or small. We will do all we can to assist you. All donations are gratefully accepted, and will be used to help those who wish to participate but have financial constraints.

I am overcome with sadness. Karl Rove is leaving the West Wing. How will we ever survive? More to the point, how will George W. Bush survive? Can Cheney keep all those puppet strings hopping on his own? Who will point Bush towards the right door, straighten his tie, put the proper manipulative words in his mouth, wipe his ass with their nose? Alright, there’s probably a line already forming for that one. Nevertheless, it brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.

For fourteen years the man that Bush dubbed “the architect” and “boy genius” has been making sure that our Unitary Executive has been pressed and polished and putting one drunken foot in front of the other. He’s kept Bush on message despite Bush’s propensity for malapropisms (there’s only so much you can do with the scanty material you’ve been given, after all) by crafting it himself and then carefully spoonfeeding it to him day after day after bloody fucking day. The protegy of Lee Atwater has lied and cheated and manipulated Commander Codpiece into the most powerful position in the world and revelled in the vicarious glory that comes with that power. And now suddenly, out of the blue, he’s gone. Why? (Cue violins and begin rending garments now.) For Godssake, WHY?

Sorry kids, I have no answers. You will find no pithy commentary here from me, no links to real answers, no educated guesses as to what has brought about this earthshattering event. Part of me wants to dance the dance of joyous triumph, to scream and cry and thank the good Lord that such evil will leave the building and go back to hell (sorry Texas) where he belongs. The other part is suspicious and wonders just what evil is now afoot, what horrendous, monstrous, unthinkable shoe will be dropping to crush us and our hopes for the return of the rule of law, our precious liberties, and the Constitution to its rightful place. But I refuse to speculate now, I can only survey the horror of the past six years and hope that this is the good sign I hope for and not the bad sign I fear.

What I will reflect on is the glorious irony of a man who has been labelled “Bush’s Brain” being given the inglorious name of Turdblossom. This has given a whole new dimension to referring to Bush as having “shit for brains”. I mean, if this is the man that actually puts the words in Bush’s mouth and Bush has the poor judgment to give him the nickname “Turdblossom”, what other conclusion could be drawn from it? Bush, literally, has shit for brains. We always knew that, of course, because it’s been no secret that Bush has had his head up his own ass. But now, finally, Bush has shit his brains out. Out of the White House, out of Washington, and hopefully (please, please, please) out of our lives. The only thing better is if he shits him straight into the penitentiary.

Of course, Turdblossom may be gone, but the stench will linger on. Bush will continue to fart out his platitudes, his fearmongering, the fumes of his divisive politics. And no doubt Turdblossom will still be available for insertion of a few suppositories of rancor and discord. But at least he won’t be stinking up the corridors of the White House, OUR White House, with his foul words and deeds.

This is a crude diatribe, of course, but then someone called Turdblossom deserves nothing less. John Edwards said it eloquently when he said, “Goodbye, good riddance.” But I think, in this instance, I prefer how we say it down in my neck of the woods.

Shit goin’ in, Shit comin’ out!!!