Armed with another year's issues, Sgt. Millard and more than 1,000 people marched in slow procession through Oakland Saturday, marking the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War while demanding the end of combat operations and an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops.But take a look at this:
As the marchers snaked their way down from the hospital, past an unmarked silver Ford Crown Victoria with two men inside, one with a camera, they were greeted by frustrated commuters and the jubilant shouts of passers-by and the sometimes low and sometimes high-pitched honks of car horns.Nice to see they're keeping tabs on the people out exercising their 1st Amendment rights.
KDKA (includes video):
WTAE:Following the fourth anniversary the war in Iraq, hundreds turned out for an anti-war rally and protest in Oakland this afternoon.
The events were sponsored by the Thomas Merton Center and a number of organizations participated.
Following a march, protesters gathered between the Cathedral of Learning and the Pitt Student Union where speakers aired their frustration about the war.
Police and organizers say today's event was peaceful. One person was arrested but organizers tell KDKA the person taken into custody was not one of the protestors.
For those who are curious (and I admit to being one of them), what's the story with that arrest? The P-G has some info:A crowd, stretching as long as a city block, took to the streets to deliver one message Saturday: to bring the troops home from Iraq.
Hundreds participated in a march and rally in Oakland. They walked down Fifth and Forbes avenues before holding a rally on Bigelow Boulevard near Pittsburgh's Cathedral Learning.
The Thomas Merton Center organized the protest.
Who knew there were so many heathens?In the midst of the speakers, a young man with an Afro wearing a tank-top and shorts, disrupted the proceedings when he decided to would be fine time to call speakers "heathens" while waving a Bible.
The gentleman was promptly arrested by police officers, whom he also called heathens, for disorderly conduct and managed to yell "I love you Mom" into a camera as he was being put in the back of a police cruiser.
So, I'm down on Forbes in Oakland Saturday, wondering why all of the streets were blocked off, when I passed by the mangiest, ugliest group of misfits I've ever seen. Turns out it was the march, attended by hundreds, (maybe)and with nobody watching the procession (except one misbegooten sot, me, who stumbled across this gaggle purely by accident).
ReplyDeleteWhat a conglomeration: old, pathetic hippies reliving their youth, young people (probably college students), who didn't have a clue (I mentioned to those in my small party that the guys looked like they were just hanging around the chicks to get laid), I saw one bizarre individual with a sign the proclaimed "Wictehs Against the War," and, finally, the creepy posse of anarchists.
My one impression was that hippie chicks are pretty ugly these days, unlike those of 40 years ago.
As we found a passable watering hole, I shared with my group that soldiers today let these protests roll right off of their backs, and really don't care about these losers.
In fact, a soldier will tell you that he is defending their right to peaceful demonstration, regardless of what they are protesting.
Yea, ain't democracy annoying?
ReplyDeleteLet's not bother to speculate whether codgers like XRanger and me have sufficient eye-sight, testosterone, detachment, or memory to compare the attractiveness of young protesters today versus those of 40 years ago.
ReplyDeleteInstead, let's examine his definition of a "loser." Apparently X considers a person a loser who takes action to protest a war begotten in lies; one whose fruits include thousands of American dead, tens of thousands of American wounded, and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis in their graves, millions of them displaced.
On the other hand, a winner (according to X) is one who volunteers to spend years away from his or her family, risking his or her life and limb to defend the value of Dick Cheney's Halliburton stock options and encourage the build-up of terrorism in the region.
The particular winner in question, of course, was one self-described "sot" wandering around Oakland on a Saturday afternoon in search of a bar.
PTSD can certainly lead to a pitiable loss of reason and judgement.
PTSD?
ReplyDelete