Much more here.

As promised, St. Cindy stinks up the Rose Bowl parade and delivers an unhinged salvo posted at After Downing Street–complete with BushCo/Hitler epithets, anti-American insults, and Absolute Moral Authority sanctimony:

Since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way … The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals … Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty! — From the second leaflet of the White Rose. [5] ”

My first encounter with the White Rose Society (a small group of Munich University Students who were executed for their opposition to Hitler and the Third Reich) came on my way from Dallas to Crawford, Tx on August 6th, 2005.

I rode from the Veteran’s for Peace Convention in Dallas on the “White Rose,” a bus that had a huge ‘IMPEACH’ written on the side of it. On the bus was a picture of Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans and some of the quotes of the series of 5 leaflets that the Society spread denouncing Hitler from June 1942 to February 1943, when they were caught and executed. They were an obviously brave and moral group of wide awake Germans who sacrificed their lives to try and change the horrible direction that their nation was going in.

Gold Star Families for Peace and the Camp Casey Peace Institute has joined a group called the “White Rose Coalition” that will be carrying a large copy of the Constitution at the end of the parade and the Backbone Campaign’s Chain Gang will be following the parade. Many activists will tag along with our “Impeachment” banners, signs and other means of protest to call national attention to the accountability issue.

Being involved in this particular action has engendered the most hate mail for me since I left the Democratic Party! I am “ruining the parade.” I am the “representation of everything that is evil in the world today.” One woman named Carrie, was “sorry” that my son is dead, but he volunteered to “honor” this country with his service and even though Carrie is no “fan” of Bush (yeah sure), I have really “crossed the line” this time.

First of all, we are not protesting the parade at all, except that it is a symbol of corporate excess and it is my opinion it is not really moral to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on parade floats when people are still being killed in Iraq and suicide rates for our Veterans are skyrocketing because the VA system in under-funded and apparently not a priority for BushCo and Congress Inc

I can’t remember a time in my life where anyone protesting at a parade would have upset me at all, but since Casey was killed in Iraq and since I have faced and witnessed so much violence, oppression and hardship in the world, it is absolutely stunning to me that this protest would create so much vileness and venom. There are so many more important things in the world besides parades and football games. I have also tried to imagine an Iraqi happening to catch a glimpse of the Rose Parade on TV somehow and marveling how everything is so happy and beautiful in America when our nation has utterly devastated and destroyed theirs.

Since the “conquest” of Iraq, over one million Iraqis have been slaughtered or have died from the tragic, but unavoidable consequences of invasion and occupation. BushCo have desecrated our Constitution and the almost complete fascist take-over of our media and the blatant stealing of our freedoms here at home have bypassed many Americans while they are slumbering in our dull, stupid sleep.

Happy New Year to you, too, Cindy.

***

A reader who watched parade coverage e-mails that “Impeach” signs and anti-Patriot Act signs were visible along the parade route, as well as a Kucinich banner.

Another reader e-mails that many in the crowd stood up to honor Marines as they marched down the parade route, but that TV cameras cut away to show the hosts yammering.

There could be some discord during the Tournament of Roses Parade as demonstrators promise to raise issues during the holiday spectacle that has been going on for more than a century. Human rights advocates plan to protest a float honoring the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and anti-war activists, including “Peace Mom” Cindy Sheehan, intend to rally for peace…

…Sheehan, the outspoken San Francisco Bay area activist whose son was killed in Iraq, is campaigning for Congress against Rep. Nancy Pelosi and calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. She will join other pro-impeachment and anti-war groups at the parade, according to her sister, Dede Miller.

As many as 1,000 supporters are expected to rally before and after the parade and distribute 20,000 pamphlets while flying 300 banners along the parade route, said Peter Thottam, executive director of the Los Angeles National Impeachment Center.

Police said they were prepared for the protesters and the hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Will we see muffin top again?

Shudder…

***

Expect to see “9/11 was an inside job signs.” At the impeachment parade crashers’ site, the disruption is billed as the “Citizen’s Anti-War, Impeachment and 9/11Truth Convergence.”

I’m not kidding.

Maybe Rosie O’Donnell will show up.

***
Here’s a preview of the parade crashers’ campaign. They call themselves the “White Rose Coalition:”

One of the BDS sufferers held up an “IMPEACH” sign at last year’s Rose Bowl Parade:

Marghi Dutton is 90 and losing her eyesight, but nothing was going to stop her from trekking to midspan of the Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday with the anti-war group Code Pink: Women for Peace.

She joined a crowd of about 100 demonstrators dressed in hot pink hats, shirts and scarves and fought the wind to raise her sign: “Impeach Bush and Cheney!”

“My arms are aching, but I’m getting energy from the drivers — so many are honking in support,” she said.

Code Pink, a national grassroots peace movement inspired by Bay Area women, organized the protest to call for an immediate end to the war in Iraq and immediate impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Protesters walked from the bridge to the Pacific Heights home of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., set up camp, cooked one last carbohydrate-heavy meal and began a hunger strike. About 40 gathered on some terraced steps near the senator’s home, along with a half-dozen police officers.

“We have about eight people who are going to stop eating, including me,” Code Pink spokeswoman Nancy Mancias said.

On Wednesday, the group plans to relocate the hunger strike to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home on Broadway, where they will urge the San Francisco Democrat to hold a town hall meeting with constituents.

Hard to believe it’s been just over a year since I gained weight on the Cindy Sheehan Diet Plan:

St. Cindy Sheehan and her unhinged minions will descend on Arlington National Cemetery Monday morning for an impeachment parade that will end at John Conyers’ office doorstep. Similar protests are taking place in the offices of Rep. Howard Berman in California and Rep. Pete Visclosky in Indiana, and at Rep. Conyers’ district offices in Detroit, among others. This is no fringe movement. The nutroots machine has kicked into high gear. Far Lefty Bill Moyers joined the bandwagon with a one-hour PBS special on impeachment last week. Jimmy Breslin banged the impeachment drum in his Newsday column today. Sen. Russ Feingold is crusading for censure.

West Hollywood’s city council passed an impeachment resolution last week–”the 80th city or township in the nation to pass such a declaration, following similar actions in Michigan, Ohio and Vermont as well as six cities in Northern California, including Arcada and Eureka.” Telluride, Colorado approved one last week as well. There is an active ImpeachPAC and there is now something called a “National Impeachment Center” in L.A. And Conyers, via Weasel Zippers, says he just needs to gather three more congressional members and then he’ll move to impeach.

An After Downing Street blogger exults:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has said that if three more Congress Members get behind impeachment he will start the impeachment proceedings.

I was a guest today on Bree Walker’s radio show. She’s the progressive radio host from California who purchased Cindy Sheehan’s land from her in Crawford, Texas.

Bree attended an event on Friday in San Diego at which Congressman Conyers spoke about impeachment. Her report was extremely interesting. I had already heard reports that Conyers had said: “What are we waiting for? Let’s take these two guys out!” But, of course, what we’re waiting for is John Conyers. Is he ready to act? It was hard to tell from that comment. In January, Conyers spoke at a huge rally on the National Mall and declared “We can fire them!” but later explained that what he meant was that we could wait for two years and Bush and Cheney’s terms would end. Was this week’s remark just more empty rhetoric?

It appears to be more than that. Bree Walker told me, on the air, that Conyers said that all he needs is three more Congress Members backing impeachment, and he’ll move on it, even without Pelosi. I asked whether that meant specifically moving from 14 cosponsors of H Res 333 to 17, or adding 3 to the larger number of Congress Members who have spoken favorably of impeachment but not all signed onto bills. Bree said she didn’t know and that Conyers had declined to take any questions.

Either way, this target of three more members seems perfectly doable. It’s safe to assume, I think, that we’re talking about impeaching Cheney first. But, even if Conyers is talking about Bush, the target is perfectly achievable.

Cindy Sheehan is going to make sure Conyers keeps his word. Her followers have pledged to park themselves at his office until he makes his impeachment plans official. Meanwhile, the moonbats are touting a possible congressional campaign announcement from Sheehan. More from After Downing Street:

Cindy Sheehan to Lead March for Impeachment, Arlington to Capitol Hill, July 23rd

Congressional Campaign Announcement Possible

WHAT: March from Arlington National Cemetery to the Capitol Hill Office of Congressman John Conyers to ask him to begin impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney or President George W. Bush or both. Participants hope to meet with Congressman Conyers and receive his assurance that impeachment proceedings will begin at once in the House Judiciary Committee, which he chairs. Many of those participating have committed to only leave if Conyers agrees to begin impeachment or they are arrested.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been the driving force against impeachment in Congress. If there is no agreement to begin impeachment proceedings by Monday, Sheehan will announce her candidacy challenging Pelosi for election in California’s 8th Congressional District.

WHO: Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan, KIA in Iraq 2004, founder of Gold Star Families for Peace and of the Camp Casey Peace Institute; Ray McGovern, 27-year veteran of the CIA and cofounder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity; Rev. Lennox Yearwood, President of the Hip Hop Caucus; Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army Colonel and diplomat who resigned in protest the day the U.S. invaded Iraq; Debra Sweet, national coordinator of the World Can’t Wait; Dave Lindorff, author of “The Case for Impeachment,” David Swanson, cofounder of AfterDowningStreet.org; Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin, both cofounders of Code Pink; Kevin Zeese, director of Democracy Rising; Tina Richards, military mother and creator of GrassRootsAmerica4Us; and many many others.

WHEN AND WHERE:

10:00 a.m. gathering outside the Arlington National Cemetery metro stop. Cindy Sheehan will make remarks.
10:30 a.m. beginning march to Capitol Hill, to 2426 Rayburn House Office Building, office of Chairman John Conyers.
12:00 p.m. noon – approximate arrival time.

“We have the deepest respect for Chairman John Conyers,” Sheehan said, “and I’m glad he’s the one who will lead the impeachment hearings. But time is wasting and people are dying every day that he holds off. The majority of Americans want Dick Cheney impeached. We are bringing that message to the chairman of the judiciary committee of our house of representatives. It is our house, the house of American citizens, and any representatives currently serving there who disagree should be challenged in the next election.”

Freepers plan to be at Arlington to counter-protest. But what about the Republican Party? The BDS-ers are not going away. They’ve been emboldened by the White House’s reticence. And the Beltway Republicans’ idiotic dissing of its own base has weakened its ability to unite the Right when the president needs a strong defense. The GOP needs to do more than just remind Americans of Nancy Pelosi’s 60 Minutes pledge (“Impeachment is off the table…it’s a pledge. Of course it is. It is a waste of time…”). It needs to launch an aggressive counter-attack exposing the shadow party behind the Democrat Party.

Look at these people. Look. At. Them:

These people mean business. They’re organized, energized, and relentless. They have substantial public support, funding, and legal/academic infrastructure. Does the GOP plan to rely on Nancy Pelosi to fend these impeachment hounds off? If so, they vastly underestimate the nutroots’ zeal–and Pelosi’s fecklessness.

I can’t post here anymore because my potential run for Congress
is not on the Democratic ticket.

I have been deeply grateful for all of your support over the years. Your love and kindness helped me through lots of sleepless nights at Camp Casey ’05.

If Speaker Pelosi does her constitutionally mandated duty and I don’t run, then I can come back and post…

Hat tip: Allah, who has more.

LGF notes that some of the Kos Kids aren’t taking too kindly to St. Cindy’s “I’m doing it for your kids” line.

Looks like commenters also tried to rate Sheehan’s post a “troll diary.”

***

A sample from the dKos comments:

“Brother Dave” – “From a supremely moral position to a self absorbed independent candidate seems a tragic way to honor Casey and fight for others. Since the diary title starts with the Word “I” it obvious what Cindy is now all about.

“Mayan:” – “My initial thought is that I don’t need anyone telling me what is good for my children and grandchildren…Particularly those embarking on what I consider to be foolhardy and VERY divisive tactics during a time that we should be seeking ways to come together. I get enough in loco parentis stuff from Dick Cheney and George Bush.”

“Cacamp” – “Celebrity is like dope and she’s hooked on the spotlight.”

Musing85 – “I just love how Cindy Sheehan and all her supporters on this site continue to promote this false dilemma that you’re either with Cindy in her quixotic attempt to remain relevant or else you’re supporting Bush. The clue phone is ringing: I suggest you pick it up.”

***

Meanwhile, the “Draft Gore” campaign has delivered a petition with a reported 100,000-plus signatures to Big Al. John Kerry says he’d be a “credible candidate.”

Like he would know…

***

On a related note: Hillary’s going to the nutroots Yearly Kos convention. That is going to be quite a scene. Flashback to last year’s convention:

Photo via Yahoo! News

At the end of our HA musical tribute when Cindy Sheehan announced she was leaving the anti-war movement in May, I mumbled “I’ll be back.” And so she is. Following up on the weekend buzz that she would challenge Nancy Pelosi if the Dems didn’t move to impeach Bush in the next two weeks, Peace Mom has made it official today:

Bidding farewell to her former peace camp near President Bush’s ranch, Cindy Sheehan began a nearly two-week trek toward Washington D.C. on Tuesday with her sights set on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Officially announcing her run against Pelosi in 2008 if the San Francisco congresswoman doesn’t move to impeach Bush by July 23, Sheehan said she relates to the people in her home state and chided Pelosi for keeping troops in danger.

“I know what Californians care about,” said Sheehan, who plans to run as an independent. “They don’t care about the ruling power elite.”

Sheehan first told The Associated Press on Sunday about her plans to challenge the top-ranking Democrat. She made it official Tuesday at Camp Casey, named after her 24-year-old son who was slain in Iraq and whose death first led Sheehan to Crawford in 2005 to demand a meeting with Bush.

In response to Sheehan’s announcement, Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said Tuesday that the House Speaker is pushing for peace.

“As I said before, the Speaker’s focus is on ending the war in Iraq. She believes that the best way to support our troops in Iraq is to bring them home safely and soon,” Daly said. “Democrats will continue to hold the Bush administration accountable by having votes in July to change course in Iraq, to responsibly redeploy our troops, and to refocus our effort on protecting Americans from terrorism.”

But Sheehan said Tuesday that’s not enough.

Looks like the Code Pink house in D.C. is going to be full up this summer:

In case you missed it, here’s the vid of Cindy talking about the voice in her head telling her to run against San Fran Nan.

And here’s a taste of Cindy’s “I have a dream” stump speech, posted at the Camp Casey Peace Institute site:

We are going to walk from Atlanta, GA to Congress beginning July 13th and ending up in DC on July 23rd to send the mis-leaders back home to face the music of justice in their own districts.

It is about time us “peasants” (in the eyes of the Fascist Ruling Elite) march on DC with our “pitchforks” of righteous anger and our “torches” of truth to demand the ouster of BushCo. I have a dream of the detention centers that George has built and filled being instead filled with Orange Clad neo-cons and neo-connettes.

If Congress won’t dig BushCo’s political grave, it is the People’s job to do so. Thomas Jefferson said that we need a Revolution every 20 years, or so, to keep our Republic honest. Over 225 years have passed since our last Revolution (if you don’t count the War Between the States) and we are long overdue for one. Turn off your TVs, kiss your pets goodbye, bring the kids and flock to the federal seat of corruption, or join us on our walk there, for a People’s Accountability Movement to be in the face of the Criminal BushCo and the Complicit Congress for the last week of session before they go on their undeserved vacations (why do they get vacations when the Iraqi parliamentarians don’t?)

On the eve of our first revolution: You know it’s right!

***

NRO’s advice today on the war also applies here: Don’t panic.

The Syrian press reacted to Cindy Sheehan’s melodramatic announcement that she was leaving the anti-war movement with gushing articles about Mama Moonbat’s courage and honor. Who would ever have guessed that the Baathist dictatorship would approve of Sheehan’s activities?

Yeah. Whodathunk? Syria better go easy on Cindymania, though. Hugo’s the jealous type.

Cindy Sheehan bids adieu on The Daily Kos:

I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a “tool” of the Democratic Party. This label was to marginalize me and my message. How could a woman have an original thought, or be working outside of our “two-party” system?

However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the “left” started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used…

The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing…

I am going to take whatever I have left and go home.

And “home” would be…Caracas?

I hear Cindy’s squeeze Hugo has just acquired a few TV stations in need of far Left propagandist news directors…

***
More on the turmoil in Venezuela from Fox News producer and eyewitness Nora Zimmett. FNC’s Adam Housley blogged the protests.

***

Matt at Blackfive remembers Casey Sheehan the right way.

Guess what, Hillary? Cindy Sheehan will still hate you.

Dan Riehl: “How about paying attention to the CATO Institute and sunsetting some of our federal agencies, instead?”

Jim Hoft nominates Cindy Sheehan to head the PAND.

Rick Moran proposes other Democrat Departments.

Next: Changing all “departments” to “ministries.”

And Michael Moore for Minister of Health.

Many highlights there, but take special note of the face-off at the 6:00 minute mark. As you can see, we spent most of the day covering the march on the Eagles’ side of the fence. Why? Because almost all of the news camera crews we spotted–the ones that bothered to show up, that is–gathered around Cindy Sheehan and the anti-war freak show and then left. We didn’t see any of them covering the long lines of Eagles waiting to get through security to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Didn’t see them covering the speeches and performances by the vets and pro-military activists. Reporters mingled comfortably on the moonbat side, except to shoot drive-by photos casting pro-troops counterprotesters in a negative light. Bloggers continue to rip old media whitewashing of the historic event:

Newsbusters
GoE
HA thread
Cinnamon Stillwell:

This may mark the beginning of the end of mainstream America’s complacency in the face of a vastly outnumbered but vocal (and overreported) antiwar movement whose platform spells disaster for the United States and Iraq.

Never again will America’s brave warriors and their cause be abandoned and the people our country has pledged to liberate be left to perish at the hands of tyrants. Those days are most definitely over.

Bloggers also continue to report on the ugly behavior and background of the surrender lobbyists:

Don’t miss Tantor’s four-part series–including a description of what happened when a woman in a “Viva The Reagan Revolution” T-shirt jumped in the middle of a gaggle of socialists, waving an American flag and holding a sign: “Win the War or lose to Jihad!”

And check out A Soldier’s Perspective.

More: Jack Langer reports on an anarchist flag-burning that didn’t make the Washington Post’s photo gallery.

Christopher Cook chronicled the Leftist/reconquista protesters marching under the anti-war banner in Los Angeles.

***

We ventured into the ANSWER/Soros crowd when they started their march to the Pentagon. This was the view from the anti-war side of the fence. The horses are turned the right way:

A counterprotester in San Francisco stands up:

One of the most chuckle-worthy signs from the port-a-potty line at the Eagles event (via Sniper One):

***

FReeper/Gathering of Eagles organizer Kristinn Taylor appeared on Fox News this morning to talk about the event. Video here. He took Fox News to task for their weak coverage. Megyn Kendall pointed out that they did cover the protest/counterprotest. But it was superficial and concentrated mostly on the anti-war freaks. I regret to say that Kristinn was absolutely right: It was a missed opportunity for Fox.

Related good read: Michael Barone on the Blame-America-First crowd.

Noon update: President Bush speaks…

With Democrats pushing for an end to the
Iraq war now entering its fifth year,
President Bush pleaded for more patience Monday, saying success is possible but “will take months, not days or weeks.”

The war has stretched longer, with higher costs, than the White House ever predicted. On the fourth anniversary of the day Bush directed the invasion to begin, the president made a televised statement from the White House Roosevelt Room to defend continued U.S. involvement.

He said his plan to send 21,500 additional U.S. troops to secure Baghdad and Iraq’s troubled Anbar Province “will need more time to take effect,” especially since fewer than half of the troop reinforcements have yet arrived in the capital. Bush added: “There will be good days and bad days ahead as the security plan unfolds.”

Democrats are bringing up this week in the House a war spending bill that would effectively require the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008, on top of providing funding for the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan for the year. The White House has been pushing aggressively against this legislation, and Bush did so again on Monday.

“It can be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home,” he said. “That may be satisfying in the short run. But I believe the consequences for America’s security would be devastating.”

He said he had received news of positive signs during a morning briefing on the war with his National Security Council, and during a closed-circuit television conference call with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from Baghdad.

Bush ridiculed House Democrats’ legislation to remove troops, a measure he has promised to veto because it contains a timeline. He called it an abdication of U.S. commitments to Iraqis.

“There’s a lot more work to be done and Iraq’s leaders must continue to work to meet the benchmarks they have set forward,” he said. “As Iraqis work to meet their commitments, we have important commitments of our own.”

Don’t forget: Appeal for Courage.

Progress: Video: The Patriquin plan in action in Anbar

***Update March 18, 2007 1:30am: The NYTimes lies…***

Pure bullcrap. Yup, the journalistic standard-bearers of the NYTimes relied on “several veterans of the antiwar movement” to give them crowd estimates of the Gathering of Eagles. It’s the domestic equivalent of MSMers relying on dubious Iraqi stringers to provide them with war coverage while they sit in their comfy Green Zone offices in D.C. and Manhattan.

***Update March 18, 2007, 7:30am: Compare and contrast…***

College student Leslie Grainger sent me this striking photo she took of a proud American at the GoE yesterday:

She writes:

My name is Leslie Grainger, I met you earlier in the day today at the gathering of eagles ( I am the college student, that drove 12 hours from Massachusetts to go). The Vietnam veterans were abandoned by their generation, and they’ve always had to stand up for themselves, and on their own, I was there because I wanted to show the veterans that I love them and thank them for helping to ensure my freedom and safety. I was also there to show the veterans than I will not stand quietly, or look away (as their generation did) when our new veterans, and our troops are being disrespected. I think our effort today let the veterans of the past know that Americans will never let the disrespect or degradation of our troops go un-opposed again. I have been praying that one day the actions of the silent majority of America that supports the troops would speak louder than the cries of those who oppose them, and I think that happened today aswell.

I took a lot of photos but there is one in particular I think you’d like…It’s surely a photo the media, or liberals wouldnt like to see.

Now, here’s the GoE photo the Washington Post chose to spotlight:

Pictures that say a thousand words, no? As I wrote last night, “Having spent nearly 6 hours covering the event, I can tell you that the (com)Post cherry-picked one angry face out of thousands and thousands of proud, dignified, peaceful pro-victory, pro-troop participants. Typical of their selective photo bias. Just go back and look at how they cover illegal alien protesters and pro-life protesters. No surprises here.”

Tons more photos you won’t see in the WaPo or NYTimes over at our Hot Air Flickr album. A sample:

***

It was a breath-taking, historic, and emotional day in Washington, D.C. You won’t know it if you tune in to the usual MSM channels. But new media–bloggers, conservative documentarians, Internet activists, FReepers (giant thread here), citizen journalists, photojournalists, and talk radio hosts–turned out in full force to participate and cover the Gathering of Eagles counter-protest. Thousands upon thousands turned out despite freezing temperatures and hairy travel conditions. We met bikers who drove up all night from Huntsville, Alabama; a retired NYC firefighter who arrived here at 2am; college students who traveled from Massachusetts; a Vietnam veteran’s wife who bought plane tickets at the last minute from San Francisco; and countless participants who arrived as part of Move America Forward’s cross-country caravan.

A pure, grass-roots effort, the Gathering of Eagles’ volunteers matched the massive Soros-funded anti-war machine sign for sign, chant for chant, and marcher for marcher. The contrast was most stark right before the entrance to the Memorial Bridge, where Eagles gathered with a field of American flags–while anti-Bush, 9/11 conspiracy nuts wrapped themselves in a figurative blanket of yellow “Out of Iraq” placards. Several of the vets shouted, “Yellow! How appropriate!” in between spirited chants of “U.S.A! U.S.A!” While the classless Cindy Sheehan ranted profanely, the Eagles raised their voices in polite, but roaring disapproval and raised their American flags in answer to the ANSWER socialists’ Che banners and peace pennants.

Why did the Eagles come? One common refrain: Vietnam veterans, some fighting back tears, told us they came to show the kind of support for the troops that they did not receive when the surrender lobby marched on the Pentagon 40 years ago today.

Mission accomplished.

Meantime, the battle for victory against global jihad continues. God bless our troops on the front lines.

E-mail or track back if you were there for a GoE blogburst.

We’ll have a full video report on Hot Air Monday (update: here it is) and more coverage to come. Here are a few photos I snapped with frozen fingers. I’ll upload the rest to the Hot Air Flickr page later tonight:


Early Saturday morning, Eagles line up to pay tribute to fallen heroes at the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial. Security officers screened every visitor in the white tent on the right.

Face off…

***

Slapstick Politics covered the Denver moonbat protest.

Charles Ryder of Age of Hooper will have video of the Gathering up soon.

MKH has video.

Janet at SCSU Scholars observes:

My friend, Chris, and I were a bit worried about the turnout, but as we came down the hill from the Metro station and looked to our left, our concerns diminished rapidly. There were Vets everywhere, from all over the country.

Security for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was tight. Visitors could enter from one end only and exit at the other side. Everyone had to pass an electronic screening. The line was long but orderly.

For the demonstrations, The National Park Service had set locations for each side and patrolled the interim space constantly. There were no altercations that I saw. Some anti-war people tried to get to the Vets but they were asked to leave quickly and quietly – they did. It was apparent that the anti-US crowd did not expect a Veterans turnout of this size.

What will the media show? I don’t know but the line up of protesters walking to the Pentagon to protest will look long. What will be missing from the scene are the thousands of vets who lined the protest route and thousands more were on the other side of the grounds. Take all numbers with caution – my best guess, having walked back and forth multiple times is that the numbers were even at worst, Vets outnumbering protesters a bit at best.

I have just watched the “news” on Channel 4 in NBC in Washington DC. Their statement of “tens of thousands of protesters” is flat out wrong! More biased coverage – NBC never showed the number of vets other than the ones at the Wall. Thousands of Vets were everywhere. Perhaps NBC had to inflate the numbers because the crowd was so much smaller than expected. In addition, they had to revert to film from 1967 to show larger crowds. It also appears the “name” speakers didn’t arrive because only Cindy Sheehan was shown. ‘Tis a national disgrace when the media must enforce its anti-freedom agenda on the public.

In general, the anti- ____ crowd was comprised of naive and some very factually-challenged people. Signs with “data” were simply wrong.

The usual protest representatives were there: sixties hippies; their kids; ANSWER; Che Guevara; the pacifist and anti-fight for anything crowd. They were joined by another assortment of protesters: high school kids bussed in from Philly – they get extra credit in their US History classes if they participate in a protest (note, anti, not pro); a few who dressed like Palestinians and carried signs for the oppression of the Palestinians; “No war with Iran” crowd; impeach everyone crowd; anti-Halliburton; etc. These people are well-financed, signage is good.

On the other hand, the vets were proud, professional, and polite. Speakers summarized some real history – in particular, the real culprits for Vietnam casualties. One speaker, Kevin Michael of DC was particularly powerful! He is a Desert Storm Veteran and proud of it. He speaks well for all veterans.

After the protesters took their march to the Pentagon (who works there on a Saturday is beyond me) the Vets milled around, making sure key contacts will be maintained. An interesting side point: the grounds where the vets congregated were clean, no trash; the grounds where the protesters congregated – well, they apparently don’t know how to use trash cans.

More vid from Lifelike Pundits and Pam at Blogmeister.

Bryan Preston shares his thoughts on the astroturfed anti-war demonstrators and highlights an exclusive first-look at a new Move America Forward ad going national Monday. More at MAF here.

Old War Dogs posts rolling GOE coverage and after-action reports.

Photos from Right on the Right. And from Michael Fumento.

An e-mail that summed up the feelings of many vets we met:

I, a submarine force veteran from the Vietnam Era, was there with my Marine Corps Force Recon friend who fought in South Vietnam. As one speaker indicated, we have been quiet for 4 decades and now that congress is moving in the direction of abandoning Iraq as they did to South Vietnam, we will no longer remain silent. To me and others I talked with, this was a gathering that released the decades of disgust and personal anguish over our government’s abandonment of over 58,000 American men and women military personnel and those of our allies who died and the other hundreds of thousand who sacrificed to keep South Vietnam free from our mutual enemy. There was little talk of us not being held in high regard on our return, but open emotional displays of unity with those who shared our mission 40 years ago.

Whether or not it was recorded, we took the physical and moral high ground today, adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial, overlooking the ANSWER mob and displayed our greater strength with just a portion of our patriot warrior contingent. To those that I talked with over a 5 hour period from all over the United States and from our many military service and organizations, the consensus was that this is just the first shot across the bow of the anti-war and anti-American ANSWER and congress.

Alan M. Reasin
ETR2 SS
Conowingo, MD

The Redhunter has a good write-up and pics. So does This Ain’t Hell.

Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive reports on the Madison, WI moonbat convergence.

Robert C. Sampson drove 13 hours in hellish traffic from Connecticut on Friday to get to the Gathering of Eagles:

I am thrilled that I got the opportunity to go stand side by side with my patriot brothers and sisters today and I’m going to just briefly report the important facts you are not going to hear from the mainstream news outlets. I also strongly encourage you to visit some of my fellow bloggers who I am quite sure are going to elaborate on the event much more than I. Just since I’ve been back, I’ve been informed that CNN, C-Span and even Fox news made very little mention of the number of Eagles in attendance while they gave a lot of news coverage to the anti-war protesters…

Yup.

…We stuck around to the end and helped pick up the thousands of flags donated and placed by the Eagles before us. It was my understanding that they are to be shipped to our fighting men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many were signed and I was quite moved at some of the supportive comments inscribed on them.

Overall, I think today was a turning point in a lot of ways. I heard someone say that they got the impression that the anti-war folks were blown away at the turnout of Eagles and in some ways it quieted their normally “in your face” tactics having us shouting back at them. Also, I think it[']s worth noting that some of the forces on our side have finally reached the conclusion that we need to show up for events like this. We are ignored by the liberal media at large and if we are going to make an impact in the two minutes of news the average Joe watches per day, we need to make some news ourselves. Let[']s hope the trend continues. I know I’m up for it.

Many Eagles asked why big-name conservative celebrities didn’t attend the rally. I have no idea. I can only tell you that I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Special thanks to the gals at Euphoric Reality for driving this event in the blogosphere.

Semper Gratus sends a pic of Eagles armed with a spit shield:

Looks like Fox News’s Griff Jenkins could have used one of those spit shields.

Mark Levin Fans were there and have posted a photo gallery.

Here’s the WaPo’s unfair and unbalanced coverage of GoE. Check out the feature photo they chose to represent the face of the Eagles. Having spent nearly 6 hours covering the event, I can tell you that the (com)Post cherry-picked one angry face out of thousands and thousands of proud, dignified, peaceful pro-victory, pro-troop participants. Typical of their selective photo bias. Just go back and look at how they cover illegal alien protesters and pro-life protesters.

No surprises here.

***

More:

Baron Bodissey from Gates of Vienna was at GoE and has a terrific write-up, plus photos:

After a long walk down from the Metro station at Farragut West, I expected the area on the Mall around the Vietnam Memorial to be crowded with lefty demonstrators. But it wasn’t — apparently the moonbats like to sleep in. But the veterans were out in force; I saw a heartwarming combination of Rolling Thunder people, Patriot Guard Riders, and VFW representatives of various ages crowding their counter-demonstration area next to the memorial.

It was very cold and blustery with occasional snow showers, and the veterans’ area soon became a sea of icy mud. But that didn’t dampen the spirits of those who came to protect the memorial. I talked to people who had come in from California, New York, Florida, Texas, and many other places across the country.

The first veteran I talked to was a man named Kevin Gray, who was carrying a sign dissing Jane Fonda. Ms. Fonda is a frequent target of gibes and insults among vets — I heard one of the organizers announce over the PA system that the porta-johns were available along Constitution Avenue “for anyone who wants to take a Fonda or a Sheehan.”

More Reich-Wing Horse Pucky

The Gathering of Eagles is supposedly a veterans’ ad hoc group who are allowing themselves to be despicably stage-managed by Rove and Move America Forward using fascist tactics to lie about an anti-war group, just like BushCo lied our country into two abominable wars that have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. The actions around this are very similar to the Swift Boaters—who I believe are also involved in this current Reich-wing, Squawking-Head brouhaha.

The Rove backed tools of hatred and misguided propaganda are saying that in the March 17th march on the Pentagon that I am participating in which is sponsored by A.N.S.W.E.R. is planning on desecrating the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, by spitting on it, or throwing paint on it. What a monumental load of Reich-wing horse pucky!

[...]

Get a clue, buy a vowel, Eagles. You are being played like a banjo by Karl Rove and Move America Forward. You are becoming all irate for absolutely no reason. We are not even going into the memorial. Even if we did we would not desecrate it. How many of your VA benefits to the crooks in the White House have to cut before you finally wake up? They don’t care about you! Don’t let them shovel any more Reich-wing horse pucky down your throats. Refuse to be used. Don’t be minions of, or in league with devils.

A few days later, David Swanson posted the following on his own website:

Let’s not hide our faces. Let’s not allow them to dictate our clothing or our actions to us. And, by the same token, let’s not back off from the plan to visit the Vietnam Memorial. This can be a free country with the right to freely assemble, if we insist on making it so. And it is our right to visit that memorial, whatever we may think of it. We should visit it with respect for the names it bears and their families and friends, and with dedication to avoid the need for additional walls of that size. And we should keep in our thoughts the further unbearable grief of a wall that could be imagined to include the names of the Vietnamese dead, a wall that might stretch the length of the walk to the Pentagon.

How did this little bit of tactical intelligence slip past the Ministry of Truth?

Quick! Where is the nearest memory hole, Comrade?