From the AFP rally this morning

We hadn't yet donned the surgical masks (to demonstrate that we weren't there to disrupt), and we were just meeting up on the opposite side of the park from the AFP group when this guy shows up with a "teachers against BO" sign (big fellow, he's in the second picture below). He insisted that he was a teacher 'from around here' but wouldn't say where; he favored the tactic where he'd put words in our mouths and then refute them. Then he insisted that AFP is prime example of grassroots organization, that groups like MoveOn are notorious for bringing disruptions to events. When we asked him to give an example of that, he answered with "So, you're saying that teachers are a grassroots organization?" We're thinking that this may be the same guy who, in 2004, jumped off the 'family values' float he was riding on in a local parade in order to punch a woman who was cheering the group of 'Veterans for Kerry'. He succeeded in making a number of folks nervous just by standing right behind them and leaning over their shoulders pretending to look at their signs, then he'd say something and smirk knowing we weren't going to respond. Ick.

State Senator Sean Renfroe (R) asked the crowd, "Do you want Obamacare (boos) or Blue Cross? (cheers)" Renfroe is the one, by the way, who made national news recently when he equated gays with murderers, saying they deserve the same punishment.

Then they brought out a doctor who apparently sees herself as the new Sarah Palin. She started off with remarks about the number of uninsured in the country, saying that the Obama White House had artificially inflated those numbers, that they were as phoney as the numbers for global warming (big cheer). She said she should know as her profession required her to have better information than any community organizer (another big cheer); she also asserted that "Obamacare" is about control not care.

Other speakers made sure to vilify MoveOn, ACORN and unions. They mocked the notion that those in attendance were millionaires out to protect their own wallets (huh?). They said they were tired of being accused of being terrorists (again, huh?). The Mendacity Machine has done thorough work with these people.

Afterwards, some of us were standing around talking, and a little kid about 6 years old started shouting "USA! USA!", and his mother shusshed him saying that the rally was over. So he starts yelling "Give us the money! Give us the money!", and mom says to be quiet, that was for a different rally. We were all wondering what rally THAT was.

Anyway.


This is one of our guys; the mask is to demonstrate that we are not there to disrupt



Part of our group on the left, except for the tall guy with the wide sign; he said he was standing in our area because it would be fun for him to do so.



This lady kept insisting that if we'd read "page 87" we'd be on their side.

maybe that's what he was taught to say outside the "rooms by the hour" room door ...

But she kept insisting.