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AmericanProtest.net > Attack of the Moonbats |
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Attack of the MoonbatsPart Iby Wayne Boettcher Evaporating rain spattered the hot Tucson asphalt as I drove along pothole-riddled streets toward the public library on October 5, 2006. I had some books on reserve to pick up before heading out to the "World Can't Wait" (WCW) rally at the University of Arizona Main Mall at noon. It was one of two by WCW scheduled for that day; the other was at 4:30 pm in front of the Federal Building. It seemed a good strategy: get middle school, high school and college students fired up with radical speeches, then bring them downtown to hold signs in front of the Federal Building. If flawlessly executed, this method can be very effective. WCW is good at strategic planning for a reason. They are not alone in their struggle to advance left wing causes like abortion, open borders, impeaching President Bush, accusing the US military of atrocities, and Communism. Founded by members of the radical organization "Revolutionary Communist Party" and believed by many to be their "front group" WCW has picked up support and funding from Hollywood celebrities, Democrats and various supposedly mainstream liberal groups as well as the usual radical crowd of Code Pink and the like. But how could WCW get middle and high school students to their rally on a school day? Their method, openly discussed on their own website, is to distribute flyers advocating students walk out of school. Some high school teachers even encourage school walkouts. Last year on local TV news, a student who walked out said her teacher told her to "go and be safe." I estimated about 200 people at that "moonbat" rally, with many young people. (Moonbat is a nickname conservatives sometimes use for radical left wing protesters.) I emailed the University of Arizona President's office several days ago to ask if they had any comment on hosting a group that advocates minors walk out of school, and if any preparations were made in case of legal or insurance problems if a minor got hurt. I also asked if the U of A endorsed Communist directed anti-war rallies as a valid political learning experience for students, based on Professor R.J. Rummel's statement that Marxist regimes killed over a 100 million people while war killed 35 million. At the time of this posting I have received no reply. I saw few minors, however, far less than last year's fall WCW rally. Perhaps school officials are becoming more aware of the flyers. I noticed at least 10 that were obviously young and one speaker on stage admitted she was 17. Perhaps she had a permission slip, however. It's certainly possible. I arrived at the U of A at 11:45 am and found a metered parking space but I had no change. A student couple pooled their resources to change a dollar and two other students just gave me a few quarters. I arrived at the Main Mall shortly before the rally, passing the "Giffords for Congress" stand to get the front but off to the right of the stage. Besides "Say No to Communism" one side and "Don't Believe Left-Wing Propaganda and Lies" on the other I had one extra sign with "We Support The Troops and Their Mission" on one side and "Remember 9/11" on the other. The Arizona Daily Wildcat estimated 100 people attended the rally. I held up my "Say No To Communism" and began asking passersby if they would like some information on Communism, handing out copies of R.J. Rummel's "The killing machine that is Marxism." Many students thanked me for being there; I estimate about 50-60 did so by the time I left. A student walked by with two fingers extended (one for each hand). "Thanks for the intellectual argument!" I called out as nearby students broke out laughing. A leftist whom I had used the same reply on at last year's WCW rally when he cursed me out was walking up but stopped short upon hearing that exchange. "So you're here again, are you?" he sneered weakly. "Yes, I am," I replied. "May I hold your other sign, sir?" a voice came from behind me. It was Blake Rebling, President of the Arizona College Republicans. Apparently courage is a requirement for joining such an organization, and exceptional courage a way to become president. Mr. Rebling stood fast against all sorts of verbal and physical attacks until he eventually had to go to class. No walking out on education for this young man! Two other students, conservative columnist Michael Huston and an intellectual conservative named Todd joined me as well, Todd staying till the end. A group of neutral students also stood near us to see what reaction the WCW crowd would have. It was ugly, to put it mildly. At last year's rally in a downtown park one speaker actually thanked me for standing there with an opposing view, however, this time the mood seemed grim and depressing. About 6 older moonbats surrounded the three students and began shouting absurd questions, then interrupting the answers. One large liberal was looming over Rebling and shouting inches from his ear while the student was conversing with someone else. "Sir, can you back off?" I asked him. "Why are you trying to threaten this student?" "I'm just trying to debate!" he defended himself. "No, you're physically intimidating this student by getting too close and shouting. Why don't you step away and wait your turn?" Instead of doing that, he continued to shout at Rebling, getting even closer. Looking around, I saw quite a few students were disgusted at the exchange and the general behavior of the left-wing radicals toward the peaceful counter-protesting students. As in last year's rally, liberal reaction to dissent spoke volumes for our side. Then a gray-haired, cursing red shirted man began intensely threatening the students. "Sir, are you advocating violence at a peace rally?" I asked. This also worked before at last year's WCW rally to defuse a bloodthirsty peacenik, however, this time it had the opposite effect. An older blue-shirted man with a cowboy hat rushed at Blake Rebling and attempted to wrest his sign away. When Rebling held on to it, the enraged pacifist began shoving and batting at him furiously. I stepped between them. "Violence at a peace rally, violence at a peace rally!" I boomed out over the crowd as the cowboy liberal threw my handouts and library book ("Saddam's Secrets" by Georges Sada) in the air and went after my sign, pushing, shoving and batting at me as well. The red-shirted man and some other aggressive "debaters" hesitantly moved forward, but my shouted words apparently stayed them as they perhaps realized they were being observed. They melted into the audience as the sign-hating liberal was dragged off me by helpful students and pulled away by a leftist. He wasn't going to quit. A policeman came and asked if I would like to press charges. Spotting the attacker some distance away glaring at me, I said yes. Between talking with the officer, filling out the police statement and loud verbal attacks on the counter-protesting students (which continued throughout the rally) I missed parts of many speeches, but what I heard seemed like the usual propaganda. President Bush is like Hitler, our troops commit atrocities, we should have open borders, abortion should always be defended and American Christians are attempting to impose a Taliban type theocracy upon the USA. The usual thing. Surprisingly, after the Revolutionary Communist Party speech a few scattered boos arose among little applause. Perhaps my sign had some effect. A polite couple visiting from Switzerland, Max and Ruth expressed dismay at the radical vernacular. Ruth said this type of propaganda was ruining Europe and causing intense anti-Americanism there. She also said Europeans were more receptive of it because they were jealous of American economic and military successes. Max wondered how anybody could believe the conspiracy theories, pointing at a man and woman with "Stop the 9/11 cover-up" sign. As those two walked by to leave I offered a report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology debunking their claims. They ignored me. "But I have the proof right here!" I called out to the departing conspiracy theorists, holding out the report as surrounding students grinned. Many took "slipstreams" (a slip of paper with internet links to various articles and reports including that one.) After the rally, I walked back to my meter parked car. There were two minutes left. A bicycle policeman stopped by to make sure I got back to my vehicle without further attack. Although Tucson police officers comport themselves in an unbiased manner at political events, they are constantly reviled on left-wing internet protest sites. I sure appreciated them, however! This is part one of a two-part column. Next week I'll tell the story of what happened at the second rally in front of the Federal Building, where moonbats were handed a big surprise. Some say that World Can't Wait is so outlandish there is no need to counter them. Others say it's too hard or they don't have the time. But our troops have the time to defend our freedom! They work so hard and sacrifice for us. We need to support them against denigrators, especially in time of war. Let's all stand up for our troops, and stand up for America! Wayne Boettcher is the head of AmericanProtest.net Related Links: |
