In your world, is a 'freak' someone who isn't wearing the USA's national casual uniform: a Gap shirt, khaki pants, white sneakers, and a baseball cap?
Many were wearing costumes such as the Grim Reaper, gas masks, etc. As I previously stated, it looked like a Halloween party from my perspective when I drove by. I'm surprised you could automatically pre-judge my statement, since I'm quite sure you didn't see ANY of the protesters from your perch in New Zealand. Keep your America bashing and stereo-typing to yourself, Kiwi.
Well, I went. Stayed for almost two hours. As usual some of the speakers were worthwhile. Sissy Farenthold and Ray Hill were notable. A few of the speakers were not the best spokespersons for the cause of peace. However, even Madamx would agree I assume that not all people who call themselves Christians are great spokespersons for the creed. It was an interesting social event for me as I saw some old friends and acquaintances. If Madmax was honest he would admit that there is a social element involved in church going, too. Among the people I met that I knew were a psychotherpist, a school nurse for HISD, a nurse midwife for Baylor, last time I knew, a couple of U of H professors, two lawyers. One of the lwayers had his 16 year old daughter there from Spring Branch ISD. I would estimate the crowd at around 500 during the two hours as people came and went. There were quite a few who looked to be in their late teens or early twenties. I remember at least one yound woman with a prominent UT sweatshirt. It is interesting to see how the prowar crowd sometimes gets frustrated and fails to argue. They hope to carry the day by pretending, or perhaps they really believe, that only a few cooks are against the war. The therapist and I were talking and she told me that one of her clients was upset because a young man in the family had joined the army and was now being sent to Kuwait. The guy just realized that he really did not want to kill people and wanted to know what to do. He was afraid of extreme reactions to the other soldiers in the marine corp. Fortunately I was able to give her the name of an old friend who is an expert on military law and has had a lot of experience in these matters from back in the Vietnam War. It was a beautiful sunny day and the people who attended had the satisfaction of knowing that they had done what they thought was right.
You can not be serious. I estimated the crowd to be no more than 25 people when I drove by -- and I had a *very* good look at them.
Was that when you were in your luxury SUV, big boy? In any event, my reading of the earlier statement was that glynch estimated 500 over the course of the two hours he was there. Whether it was an overstatment remains to be seen, as - unless you were driving very very slow in your luxury SUV - you were not there for two hours. In any event, I am sure you looked really sexy while driving by. Grrrr.
I know a few of Houston's regular protestors/peace movement people, and I don't think any of them look like 'freaks', even when dressed up to make a point. However, if you're one of the khaki pants people, maybe you think they are. Shrug. I'm a US citizen, you know. Have been since birth. Oh, and 'Kiwi' isn't a derogatory word for us. Try again. Puzzlement, however: where in my original post did I 'bash America'?
From the Houston Chronicle: <i>In 46-degree weather protesters -- some antiwar activists from the Vietnam era, others newcomers who watched the Gulf War on television -- came for the three-hour rally that included speeches, folk music and calls for continued public activism. One Houston police officer estimated the crowd at about 300 people.</i> Not 500 but definitely not 25. I guess whizzing by in your "luxury SUV" made it difficult to count.
We live in a city of 4 million people. Even if you take Jeff's 300 figure to be accurate, which I'm reluctant to do, that is a pathetic showing. 300 people out of 4 million are willing to protest against the possible war in Iraq? So in other words, about one person in 13,000 is willing to protest against this war. What a joke. Clearly the consensus is pro-war. It is amazing that this handful of extremists even got media attention. I would regard this little "rally" as a complete non-event.
Why don't you back up your talk by throwing a pro-war (not pro-soldier) rally and see how many people show up?
Just because people didn't protest en masse doesn't mean they are not opposed to peace. Some people didn't want to stand in the cold, many likely didn't know about the rally, some aren't interested in protesting in public, and some of us meant to go but got stuck doing other things like working . . . Oh, and some of the people from Houston went to join the big protests in DC today. I'd be interested in seeing a pro-war rally though. Who would show up? What would they chant? It's not like they have anything to advocate really. It's not like they need to urge Bush towards action -- he's gonna attack Iraq, come hell or high water . . .
You can not be serious. I estimated the crowd to be no more than 25 people when I drove by -- and I had a *very* good look at them. First you know it could be 400. I estimated the crowd at its peak at about 300. At first I thought Jorge was just lying, but in retrospect he just couldn't see anything. I myself first drove by the demo on Allen Pkwy while going to find a parking spot 6 blocks away. I rolled down my window and gve those at the rally the peace sign. The road is on a curve at that point, with some of the only mild inclinations in Houton, It requires more attention than normal to drive this stretch of road. While driving all you could really see were the 20 or so peope holding signs and waving to the cars going by. The land slopes to the bayou and they had speakers who were practically below road level. In adition many people were sitting on the ground in front of the speakers with those in the back standing. Further back were the people with the signs waving to the cars. In my etimates I was thinking 350 at one time another 150 coming and going. As far as Jorge's logic and his demonstration of how he applies mathematics in a vacuum, in a city of 4,000,000 there was no counterprotestors or organized demo for the war. I won't insult your intelligence and follow Jorge's type of faulty analisys and conclude that nobody in Houston supports the war.
We live in a city of 4 million people. Even if you take Jeff's 300 figure to be accurate, which I'm reluctant to do, that is a pathetic showing. 300 people out of 4 million are willing to protest against the possible war in Iraq? So in other words, about one person in 13,000 is willing to protest against this war. What a joke. Clearly the consensus is pro-war. It is amazing that this handful of extremists even got media attention. I would regard this little "rally" as a complete non-event. It never ceases to amaze me that you got a Masters in Economics and apparently never once learned how to properly read and use statistics.
Trader, Just for the future, "protest against" is redundant. One protests a war, not protests against a war. I mean this not as an insult, but just as a friendly tip. I am sure you strive to improve yourself daily, you sexy thing, you.
Thanks rimbeaux -- I was in a bit of a rush when I wrote that. I was about to head out the door but I had yet to shave my chest, apply body spray and style my hair.
Man I got a glimpse of the T.V. moments of the Washington "peace movement" and o boy was it repulsive!... You had some woman screaming at the mike saying how horrible our Government is...How corrupt it is...How she fears for the children...and how our President will kill us all...blah, blah, blah... This fiery woman was so pissed that she was spitting and foaming at the mouth like some rabied dog or something...I have to admit I started laughing right then and there! Later, You have a guy representing the palestine movement, wearing what looks like hamas terrorist combat dress complete with scarf nearly covering his face...He is ranting about the "evil-doers" from Israel and those that support the killings and murder and this and that, blah, blah, blah...Then he chants Long live Palestine over and over...then the scene cuts to the demonstrators and I swear some of them look zombiefied and I'm thinking what the hell? This is the great thing about America... People can do this crap. I can't think of too many places where people can openly oppose the Government actions...and I tell you what I want my children's children to cherish the freedoms we have...I even want yours to do so as well... I guarantee they won't if we sit in our dark box and hope the bad man will stop slowly beating us to death... As I said before, you deal with these kinds of threats offensively and pummel them...If you do nothing, they will get you...If you rely on defense, it is a dream.... Get real peace people, wake up, take a shower, have someone slap you around a bit, but most importantly think!
I'm going to bring my point back up again because it was ignored the first time I posted it. Protests always bring out the nutcases - anti-abortion, peace, labor, you name it. It is the nature of our society that the squeaky wheel gets the greace, hence the loudest voices get on camera and in the ears of politicians are often crazy one's. However, that does not address the fact that the vast majority of Americans do not want the US to proceed with any action against Iraq without the full support of the UN. From Newsweek: <i>Eighty-one percent of Americans support U.S. military action against Iraq if the U.S. joins together with its major allies and has the full backing of the U.N. Security Council. <b>But support drops to just 39 percent if the United States was joined by one or two major allies in the attack, but did not have the support of the United Nations.</b></i> The idea that those who would protest war are all simply anti-ALL WAR is like saying all those who go on a labor strike don't want to work for their company ever again. Granted, there are a higher percentage of pacifists in those protests than most, but there are a lot of people involved who simply are protesting THIS PARTICULAR WAR. I don't recall any really legitimate demonstrations against finding and bringing to justice Osama Bin Laden and his crew. And, since I brought him up, what the hell happened to the discussion about this guy? You know, he has been involved in the killing of MORE Americans since 9/11 with the Bali bombing. Yet, no one talks about him or Al Queda any longer. What happened? The point is that the vast majority of US citizens are supportive of war UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES and, most importantly, with an enemy that makes sense. Eliminate those circumstances and/or choose the wrong target and those protesting not only have the right to do so, they actually represent the majority of Americans, NOT the minority.
