Email from a friend re NYC protests

[Yorick]

I got this email today from a good friend of mine.

I feel for you during the coming week in NYC. There will be protests, some may be violent some silent, but all will paralyze your adopted home. I think Bush and his cronies in the RNC should have chosen a better place. There is too much emotion and fear and sadness in NYC and to exploit the city and its people, for a convention to re-elect a President, is unfair to them. Have you not suffered enough? I would like to pass along info about a silent protest that I find particularly moving to me and a cause I feel is extremely worthwhile: MARCH: SUNDAY 8/29 Meet at 10 AM W 15 St 5th-7th Ave Cop Friendly and they need Pall Bearers..... "The 1000 Coffins procession is a serene observance parade of realistic symbolic caskets draped in the Flag -- to represent and honor each of our fallen soldiers and marines, and make a bold statement that the truth of their sacrifice cannot be censored. Please join us today and commit to a "pall-bearing" team for Convention Week. Help honor a brave soldier or marine in a way our Administration would have us not do: by letting the reality of his or her sacrifice finally be seen on camera and felt by all." Find Out More: http://www.newdepression.com/onethousandcoffins/ Since the Bush Administration will not allow photographs of the flag-draped coffins from Iraq to be seen, this to me, is an excellent tribute to those who have fought and died so far from home. I realize that this will certainly cause traffic paralysis, but if it actually happens, it will be impossible for the press to ignore.

Interesting. I was not aware the Bush admin was banning images of US coffins in Iraq. I don't watch much TV, so did not think anything out of the ordinary.

They did show pictures of the boot display in central park. Military boots representing each of the Americans killed in Iraq.

What thinkest thou? What's your reaction to this?

[Cerek]

The Administration hasn't "banned" images of US coffins in Iraq. This is in response to the fact that he has not made any appearances when coffins bearing fallen soldiers were returned home.

Since the coffins were flown to military bases, it's safe to assume that media access was restricted to prevent coverage of the coffins coming off the plane. Bush's "explanation" has been that he didn't want the media invading the privacy or exploiting the grief of the family - the counter-argument of course is that he doesn't want the general public (and perhaps even himself) to see the REAL effects of his War on Iraq.

I have to admit that even Clinton had the backbone to face family members of soldiers that had been killed in action that he had endorsed. More than once, he made an appearance and took a royal cussing from the family for his policies. Bush has not made a single appearance at any funeral or any military base during the return of fallen soldiers. So he hasn't had to face the wrath of family members first hand.

I have to give credit where credit is due. This is a fitting tribute to the fallen soldiers and the perfect way for the protesters to honor their sacrifice while making their point to President Bush at the same time.

[Yorick]

Cerek, is this consistent with your knowledge of things? Or new information?
http://foi.missouri.edu/federalfoia/senbksban.html

[Felix The Assassin]

Yorick,

This is a very honorable post.

I dislike the link you have used, we all know what direction the 'Times' lean. This is not the first time, and I doubt it will be the last that Dover AFB has been closed to the reporters. They make it out to be the one and only time.

Why is the number 1000? If you are going to do something, then do it. Don't half ass it. To date the count is 1097. So, I say either 1097 or DON"T DO IT AT ALL!

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by Felix The Assassin: [QB]Why is the number 1000? If you are going to do something, then do it. Don't half ass it. To date the count is 1097. So, I say either 1097 or DON"T DO IT AT ALL! /QB]

'1000 coffins' flows better phonetically. The movement's name needs to be catchy in order to stay in the heads of 'the masses'.

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Felix The Assassin: Yorick, This is a very honorable post. I dislike the link you have used, we all know what direction the 'Times' lean. This is not the first time, and I doubt it will be the last that Dover AFB has been closed to the reporters. They make it out to be the one and only time. Why is the number 1000? If you are going to do something, then do it. Don't half ass it. To date the count is 1097. So, I say either 1097 or DON"T DO IT AT ALL!

Thanks Felix. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Actually, I do buy the Times regularly, I do enjoy it more than the alternatives I've seen here in the States, but each to their own. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[DBear]

Ah yes, the freakshow that is Kerry's "America"...

Leftists on parade

lessee, they set a fire, several got arrested... keep this up and Bush wins in a landslide [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

and didja notice that there was hardly any pro-Kerry signs in the group?

[ 08-30-2004, 12:06 AM: Message edited by: DBear ]

[Felix The Assassin]

Originally posted by The Hierophant: '1000 coffins' flows better phonetically. The movement's name needs to be catchy in order to stay in the heads of 'the masses'.

True, true.
1097 is closer to 1100.
Make it 1100 for phonics, and use 1097.

[Chewbacca]

Originally posted by DBear: Ah yes, the freakshow that is Kerry's "America"... Leftists on parade lessee, they set a fire, several got arrested... keep this up and Bush wins in a landslide [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] and didja notice that there was hardly any pro-Kerry signs in the group?

Out of an estimated 500,000 demonstrators less than 200 were arrested, the fire set was small and inconsequential and they were protesting against Bush not for Kerry.

Also out of an estimated 500,000 demonstrators the photos in the link proved show maybe 20- hardly a representative sampling unless of course pure SPIN is the game at hand.


Link

*excerpts from the three page article:

roaring two-mile river of demonstrators surged through the canyons of Manhattan yesterday in the city's largest political protest in decades, a raucous but peaceful spectacle that pilloried George W. Bush and demanded regime change in Washington. On a sweltering August Sunday, the huge throng of protesters marched past Madison Square Garden, the site of the Republican National Convention opening today, and denounced President Bush as a misfit who had plunged America into war and runaway debt, undermined civil and constitutional rights, lied to the people, despoiled the environment and used the presidency to benefit corporations and millionaires. The protest organizer, United for Peace and Justice, estimated the crowd at 500,000, rivaling a 1982 antinuclear rally in Central Park, and double the number it had predicted. It was, at best, a rough estimate. The Police Department, as is customary, offered no official estimate, but one officer in touch with the police command center at Madison Square Garden agreed that the crowd appeared to be close to a half-million. The march, which took nearly six hours to complete, was a tense, shrill, largely choreographed trek from Chelsea to Midtown and back to Union Square, where it ended, as planned, without a rally. And while there were a couple of hundred arrests, the event went off without major violence, despite fears of explosive clashes with the biggest security force ever assembled in New York.

For organizers who had also urged nonviolence, the outcome was gratifying and something of a relief. The leadership had voiced concern that any violence would play into the hands of Republicans, allowing them to caricature the protesters as anarchists, provocateurs and chronic malcontents. The organizers said they were also pleased by the size and diversity of the turnout. The faces appeared to be a cross-section of the American experience. There were individuals, families and groups from many states and across the region and the city. There were young people and older citizens, families with small children, students and representatives of the middle and working classes and many organizations, including advocates of gay and women's rights, antiwar groups, immigrants, veterans, artists, professionals, religious organizations and proponents of education, health and other causes. For many participants, there was also pride, and a kind of amazement, in being part of an event so large and diverse, and yet so pacific.

[Yorick]

Originally posted by DBear: Ah yes, the freakshow that is Kerry's "America"... Leftists on parade lessee, they set a fire, several got arrested... keep this up and Bush wins in a landslide [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] and didja notice that there was hardly any pro-Kerry signs in the group?

I saw one that said "God Votes for Kerry".