Does anyone remember the pro-war protest Freepublic was putting on in DC before the Iraq invasion?

[NNN0LHI]

It was on C-Span and it was honestly just about the funniest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. They had about 50 people in attendance and half of them were guarding the Porty-Potties at any given time. So their crowd was real sparse.

Then they had some anti-Saddam Iraqis giving a speech and the guy doing all the talking looked just like Moqtada Sadr dressed in long green robe and wearing a turban. Shit, it might have been Moqtada Sadr? The freebaggers who were there looked embarrassed as hell and were trying to get the guy to shut up ASAP. I get tickled every time I think about it.

Anyone else remember that?

Don

[Kilroy003]

1. I do.

The contrast between the pro-war and peace demonstrators was striking. I think there were a maybe a few hundred in the group, to be fair - but there were several thousand calling for peace right across the street. It spoke volumes about the American peoples' actual willingness to invade Iraq.

[unpossibles]

2. definitely

Which makes their current attempts at pretending to be doves that much more pathetic. Same wars, but now with a different President it is suddenly no longer treasonous to question.

[WilliamPitt]

3. I saw it with my own eyes.

Classic.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Didn't they hold their feeble gathering on the same day as the HUGE anti-war demonstration?

I believe their own principle speaker was drunk, and they all experienced a moment of insane fight/flight reaction when they believed a group of anti-war demonstrators who walked by their humble (or hilarious) event were coming to clobber them and turn over their portapotties, or whatever.

Here's a photo posted at DU by LynneSin several years ago:



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x994366
It was truly a great moment in C-Span history.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Thank you very much for taking the time to post that

I am rolling on the floor laughing just thinking about it again now. That is exactly how I remembered seeing it. The crowd was pretty sparse.

I would pay money to see the expressions on their faces when the anti-Saddam Iraqi guy took over their stage again.

A moment in history for sure and yes it was the same day as the huge anti-war protests.

Don

[EFerrari]

8. There may be a video up at the CSPAN library.

They seem to keep everything. If you had the date, you could find it.

[NNN0LHI]

12. Thanks for that tip

I will do a little research later.

I would really like to see that again. :)

Don

[EFerrari]

14. I complain about CSPAN (and everything else, lol) a lot

but, it's great for when you want to revisit something -- like the Taguba hearing where Bush's Pentagon sat there and LIED about their worldwide torture programs. Lynne posted the date down thread. :hi:

[styersc]

16. I went to a Freeper Ralls before the war.

Glad you reminded me. I had forgotten, but now I'll have to find those photos. I was at one where B-1 Bob Dornan stood them up, but there were lots of odd ball speakers.

[LynneSin]

6. I remember watching that on CSpan the day after our anti-war protest in DC

I shared a room with Ramsey, RBNYC, and Khephra. Kheph and Ramsey were all ready up and watching the show and those 2 were laughing so hard I thought they were gonna piss on the sofa where they sat. Some of us were hungover (not Kheph, he didn't drink) but I swear we could have started a new drinking game with some of the stupidity they repeated over and over again.

BTW during the protest we passed by where their pro-war rally was happening. WillPitt, DS1, Matcom, Underpants and a few others were going to go raid their portapotties.

It was a fun weekend - one of the bests. I think I had more people at my pre anti-war protest party then those that showed up for the entire pro-war event. (Luckily I had this giant suite so plenty of room for guests).

It was also the weekend that Paul Wellstone died. I drove down to DC with RBNYC as the passinger. Somewhere near the BW Parkway I got a call on my cell phone and I knew it was from WillPitt's Boston carload. Since I was driving I tossed the phone to RBNYC and asked her to please find out what they wanted. Since I heard only one end of the conversation I kept hearing 'NO', 'No', 'OMG NO' and other comments like RBNYC. I assumed those guys were in a car accident. It was there that I found out Paul Wellstone had died. I was so upset I got lost on the way to DC (a city I usually have no problems finding my way around).

[EFerrari]

9. Would you know the date of the Freepalooza?

[LynneSin]

11. It was the day after Paul Wellstone died

That I do remember

Let me google

Paul David Wellstone (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002)

So it was October 26th, 2002

[EFerrari]

13. Thank you, Lynne. What a horrible day.

I'm glad you weren't alone.

[hifiguy]

7. I do remember that.

Pathetic. The first of many Freeperfests where the biffs outnumbered the attendees.

[Brother Buzz]

10. I remember Freepublic held a pro-war thingy at a LA marathon

There were ten-twenty jerks holding signs yet claimed 50,000 people attended. I'm series!

[butterfly77]

15. Here is one of the links...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9478262/

and more...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yptZhe6b77U

[NNN0LHI]

17. Here is the C-Span link to the Rally in Support of War with Iraq - Oct 26, 2002

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/173522-1

A pro-administration rally was held near the anti-war rally in Washington. Speakers talked about the history of war in America and the reasons why they supported military action in Iraq. At one point, a large number of Iraqi protestors joined the rally and spoke about the crimes of Saddam Hussein. In addition, anti-war protestors joined the crowd and shouted chants to interrupt the speakers. They were eventually escorted away from the rally. The sponsor of the rally and the affiliation of several speakers were inadvertently identified as Free Republic Network.

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