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24 NOV 03: SHOWDOWN SUNDAY
What a confusing day Sunday was! So-called "linguini-spined liberals" opposed to war and violence rallied by the thousands outside Fort Benning -- yet the Benning supporters were the ones who wound up retreating and running away.
Sunday's "God Bless Fort Benning" rally was moved at the last minute from Torch Hill Road to a parking lot near Port Columbus. What a fitting location - a place which recalls another time in U.S. history when outnumbered Southerners retreated.
The official explanation for moving God Bless Fort Benning was that violent protesters might try to cause trouble. Maybe there's a lesson here for the organizers. Celebrate Fort Benning INSIDE the main gate - where soldiers and MP's can come to your rescue.
The alleged violent visitors to the SOA Watch rally reportedly were NOT part of the usual protest crowd. In other words, Father Roy Bourgeois could claim the anarchists somehow were connected to School of the Americas graduates.
(Hey, wait a minute! Violent people on the south side of Columbus?! I thought we were trying to get rid of these stereotypes....)
Organizer Miriam Tidwell said she wanted the "silent majority" in the Columbus area to back Fort Benning and attend Sunday's pro-military rally. Maybe the change of location explains why the majority is silent. Deep-down inside, they're nervous of doing anything that could get them in trouble.
(Hmmmm -- silent majority? That may explain why all the people in my neighborhood sat and stared when the Parade of Heroes came by last month....) [25 Oct]
Did I hear Miriam Tidwell right, when she said the God Bless Fort Benning rally had NOTHING to do with SOA Watch?! Isn't that a bit like saying a trip to church on Sunday has nothing to do with God?
One reporter at the scene said some of the SOA Watch protesters applauded, when the God Bless Fort Benning group left. Well, it's bad enough for them to compete against those new loudspeakers on the Fort Benning side of the fence....
Fort Benning set up loudspeakers near the Main Gate to play patriotic music, which at times drowned out the SOA Watch protesters. So it seems the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation trains people in "psy-ops" -- psychological operations, to drive the enemy crazy.
Did you hear what one protester from Miami said about the Fort Benning loudspeakers? She claimed it was part of a campaign to suppress free speech in the U.S. Well, no - you DO have free speech. It's a matter of who has the loudest speech.
Columbus Police required all SOA Watch protesters to undergo metal detector checks - to which some in the crowd chanted, "We do not accept this illegal search." I'm waiting now for a group to start chanting that at an airport.
Thankfully, terrorists and violent anarchists did NOT disrupt the SOA Watch demonstration. The closest thing to thugs in the crowd appeared on stage, doing an anti-violence rap number.
Only about 30 people crossed "the line" onto Fort Benning and were arrested. Last year with a smaller crowd, the number arrested was close to 100. So for you first-timers at the SOA Watch protest - you wimps have some work to do.
Was it just me, or was Father Roy Bourgeois noticeably quiet during the SOA Watch week this year? Maybe he feared that French-sounding last name would chase some protesters away....
Some of the SOA Watch protesters had nice places to stay over the weekend. I spotted three charter buses full of protesters Sunday morning, outside the downtown Wyndham Hotel. You almost wonder if they gathered for dinner inside Houlihan's Old Place, and raised a toast to the Irish Republican Army.
Have you ever wondered what happens inside Fort Benning on SOA Watch Sunday? One army wife told me over the weekend the Officer Candidate School conducted business as usual. Of course it would - it's the underlings who would be assigned the dirty work of arresting protesters.
The more I think about it, the more I conclude SOA Watch weekend is a lot like old-style pro wrestling. The moves by both sides are somewhat scripted, each side knows what the other's going to do - and even the blood on the street is fake.
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© 2003 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.