If a protest was held and a reporter hadn't been called.....
I read that yesterday the South Dakota Peace and Justice Center held a protest outside Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth's office. And one is left to ponder the ethereal question: If a protest was held and a reporter hadn't been called..... Would anyone have noticed?
They couldn't get more than 12 people from several hundred thousand South Dakotans out to support their cause? This is news? I'd like to know how few participants are required for an event to be covered by the media. Because it seems like the bar has just been set pretty low.
In Rapid City, about a dozen people (my emphasis - pp) read the names of some of the 2,984 U.S. military deaths to date in Iraq in front of the congressional offices of Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., before moving to the offices of Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Tim Johnson, D-S.D., to do the same.Read it all here.
and...
"As many have remarked in recent months, there are no good options left in Iraq." Herseth said. "What is clear is that we need to do more to train and equip Iraqi security forces so that we can turn over a stable democratic Iraq to its leaders. Like all South Dakotans, I am extremely proud of the men and women who serve in the Armed Forces, and I share concerns regarding the safety of our soldiers serving in the Middle East.
"I will continue working to ensure our servicemen and women receive the equipment and resources they need and deserve to successfully complete their mission and return home," she said.
They couldn't get more than 12 people from several hundred thousand South Dakotans out to support their cause? This is news? I'd like to know how few participants are required for an event to be covered by the media. Because it seems like the bar has just been set pretty low.
Comments
And when she offers a plan for victory, I assume you'll jump up and manage her successful campaign for President, right?
I participated in the Sioux Falls event where there were ten people in front of Rep. Herseth's office.
We had people there from differing political positions but one common thread--support for our troops.
I found the experience of reading the names and hearing the names read to be moving and something I will never forget.
To make fun of the turn out, in my opinion, is to denigrate good wishes and good thoughts by good people who truly are concerned by the toll on our troops.
The events were peaceful, polite, and dignified. It was akin to being at church.
If you're interested, you can read my blog entry about it. If not, that's fine too.
What I don't understand is the Right's schadenfreude over the small turnouts. If you support the troops and wanted to honor our fallen heroes, why weren't you there?
We all make choices. I made a choice to support peace and honor our fallen troops. The two are not incompatible.
I'm glad I was there and will cherish the memories and emotions of the day.
Todd Epp
S.D. Watch
http://thunewatch.squarespace.com
I bet the troops really felt the support oozing from those hearts.
No one can claim with a straight face that US intervention made life better for Iraqis. Conditions will deteriorate as long as we are there.
Dubya is forcing our troops to engage in a Russian roulette style of operation. A couple of thousand soldiers expose themselves to danger every day, and a dozen or so get mamed or killed. Every day.
For nothing. Nothing. Except to buy Dubya and the scum who voted to go to war for him a few more days (weeks? months? years?) before even thay can no longer claim any possibility of "peace with honor".
And you carp about whether publicly reading the names of 3000 dead-for-no-good-reason men and women is newsworthy or not.
Of course, that fits well with your attitude that sick, disabled and dying people should go to jail for trying to feel better.
When someone on a blog claims that standing up for peace is an act of cowardice in the guise of caring, we have evidence of the problem that allowed Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld to pull America into its most abject and, apparently, irreversible failure in its history.
Maybe if bloggers who want to engage in real discussion would not dignify the childish inanities of those unreformed playground bullies and confine their responses to the intelligent blogs of good will, the call for peace could have real meaning.
What a bunch of a**holes you war mongers are!
Mindless, ignorant, self-agrandized, pugnacious yet impotent bullies.
Shame on you for your lack of compassion and understanding. You're part of the problem, not the solution.
Wake up.
Soon, very soon, the protest will grow louder. Be thankful that it is now a whisper. Think of it as the canary dying in the poisened air of a lethal coal mine. The message? Danger. Don't go there.
Sunday: 83 Iraqis, 4 GIs Killed; 138 Iraqis, 2 GIs Wounded
Monday: 83 Iraqis, 6 GIs Killed; 46 Iraqis, 5 GIs Wounded
Wednesday: 134 Iraqis, 7 GIs, 2 Coalition Soldiers Killed
Thursday: 80 Iraqis, 4 GIs Killed; 110 Iraqis, 1 GI Wounded
Friday: 66 Iraqis, 3 Marines, UK Soldier Killed; 40 Iraqis Wounded
We need to send more troops to Iraq immediately! The large force can stabilize the area and then turn Iraq security over to the Iraq and we can get the heck out of there!
Look at those numbers above! We need to get in there in full force now!
I am sure President Bush will be sending more troops within the next few days. It will be interesting to see how many of the liberals will be screaming about that!
Your intelligence, indicated by the inability to express yourself without using profanity and belittling comments would not be missed.
First we take Baghdad, then we take Berlin.
I would say sending in the "Cavalry" is just plain American!
Saturday: 93 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 165 Wounded
Don't you think it's time the "surge" happens?
Not many "John Waynes" left in this America of ours is there!
We told drunken dubya that before he illegally sent our defense force there. Now we've been proven right, in a hideous and terrible show of proof.
Your suggestion sounds like nothing short of bloodthirsty. that's in keeping with every single post of yours I've seen.
rounding up your posse, cowboy:
Darfur. 450,000 dead, 2.5 million displaced.
What should we do, go kill the rest of them?
Respectfully,
BF