8/27.

1.  Liberals really are rude…and easy to [...]]]> I wanted to give a few anecdotes from our days in DC.    Not a review (you can find that here) of the rally but rather a set of events that give the weekend a greater context and flavor.   I hope you find them educational, if not entertaining.

8/27.

1.  Liberals really are rude…and easy to spot.  It is a fun game when in DC.

After walking the mall for 4 hours we were looking for  place to sit, rest our feet and have a drink, we asked the Capital Guard for a suggestion.   He sent us down a side street and we found an outside table at Hamilton’s.    We soon learned this was a locals hangout;  people arriving in pairs and singles to join up with groups after work.   We offered our spare chairs to a growing group and then slid over one of our two merged tables.   They took the charity graciously, but then we overheard them jokingly taking a poll about who would be attending the rally in the morning.  They all laughed and the game was afoot.   Each new person that arrived was judged as Left or Right, it was really easy.   Walking shyly, not looking the bouncer (or others in the eye), still wearing your tie… Liberal.   The two that threw us off were a younger pair of men dressed in business casual.   They seemed confident, yet probably worked here we guessed GOP staffers.    They joined a table that looked like 8/28 attendees.    We found found out later they worked for Johnny Isaacson and one of the 8/28 attendees was father to one of the men.  One other gentleman created a debate.   He was tall older man (50s) with strong features but did not show outward confidence.   He was not drinking wine but the sale beer of the house.    All was decided when he got up to leave, slung his fabric “briefcase” across his chest and over one shoulder and sauntered past.    It was a fun game but can only be played in rare locations.   I look forward to the chance to play again.

2.  Why is a Liberal Rally so angry?

While at the capital, a rally was going on to free someone “unjustly prosecuted” from prison.   Over the loudspeakers a few thinks broke over the blocks between us;  “The White MAN”…”not the white woman but the White Man”..yes that was a quote.   As we got closer we could see the fence-lined field in front of the capital.   Three groups stood out.  The attendees mostly in red shirts all with the same message to “Free..” someone.    A group of what I would assume were gospel singers but they stood in a row off to the side.  The third was a row of people dressed in ethnic or ceremonial garb.     I assume the last two groups were part of the event but we missed their involvement.   As we rounded the back of the field, between it and the capital, a fourth group was evident.  A group of 5-6 large men dressed in all black, arms folded, stood facing the capital (not the event).   The stone look on their faces let you know they meant business.  This was a stark contrast to the 8/28 folks milling around the capital, shaking hands, commenting on each other t-shirts and talking with the capital guard.    I know they were protesting and obviously upset at some perceived injustice.  But the negativity of the message and the anger makes it hard for others to listen and join the movement.

3.  Late night with many friends…and a long walk.

After our time at Hamilton’s we decided to check on the monuments after sunset.   My cohort in this venture had not been to DC for pleasure.     On our way back to the Lincoln Memorial we decided to take a detour to see the Jefferson Memorial.   I have been to DC three times and never made it to that memorial.     A quick walk off of the mall and across the street to the parking lot.   Then along the lake to the side of Jefferson.  And then a walk around to the “front” past the construction.   And then the pathway around the other side to the back (or maybe really the front) of the monument; with our backs to the White House.     Metaphor was not lost… As you stand there facing Jefferson eye-to-eye, your back is to the White House.     After a brief rest and then up the stairs we were awestruck but the power of the memorial and the quotes on the walls.    Any belief that Jefferson was atheist or agnostic is completely erased in that room.   We spent out brief time there among the 40 or so others that had made the trip over (and maybe were dreading the trip back) at 10:30 that night.   I for one was glad I had walked it and won the debates against my tired feet at each turn…  I took a cab over to Lincoln from here,  where about a hundred people adorned the stairs.

8/28

4.  A small applause that may have made made her heart skip a beat.

We arrived at the Crystal City Metro station at 6:25 with a few dozen friends.   As the clock neared 7:00 the crowd was near 100.   A small “excuse me” reached the crowd.  As the crowd opened, an applause echoed throughout the small entrance chamber.   It was a younger black woman in her Metro uniform.  She had come to open the gates.  As she moved the crowd opened and closed around her, clapping as she walked.   She reached the gate, opened it and went through, closing it behind herself.   She returned in a few moments to open the gate, no pushing, no shoving.  In fact the first few in line helped here push the gates back, lift the retaining arms and place the gates in the “closets” to the side.  Once her job was done we all progressed to the train platforms.   All I could think about was wishing I knew what she was thinking in those moments… approaching the crowd, walking through, closing the gate again, having to come back up to open the gate, watching us all parade past.    In all we were respectful and I hope that it had an impact.

5.  2.5 hours before Glenn.

We arrived at the rally at about 7:30am.   We found our spot for the day on the left side of the reflecting pool a few dozen yards short of the second set of screens.  We stood on the rise just under the tree line.   As people arrived, we introduced ourselves and talked about our reasons for coming.  We covered PA, MD, AZ, GA, NY, OH.   A working mother from Toyota, a painter, a salesman, an IT guy and a few others that were never really covered.   As the crowd filled, in the small plots of grass between our stations continued to fill.    After 9:00, a mother, father and child arrived looking for a place to stand.    She asked a few pople if they minded if she took a small spot next to them.  She then pointed forward for her spouse and offered a small spot to her daughter.   The small crowd around us simply reshuffled their locations expanding from the spot where they stood to give them space to stand together.    In the end, they spread out their blanket and sat down to wait the final minutes before the rally.

Once ensconced in their new location, I noticed a Notre Dame backpack.  Those that know me, know I am not a huge fan of the “Fighting Irish.”   Usually a involuntary visceral reaction occurs.   I noticed a complete lack of response on this day.    In this crowd, all those rivalries, opinions and reactions were gone.  Steelers and Browns fans,  ACC and SEC no longer mattered (though those shirts and logos were still proudly displayed).

Minutes before the rally began, applause broke out from behind us.  Looking skyward a formation of geese was making it way up the reflecting pool, from the Washington Monument.  As if released by Glenn himself, they followed the pool and then veered right over the Vietnam Memorial.   It was an event opening fly-over, in an area of very restricted airspace.

6.  Not a single scrap.

After the rally was over we turned to slowly walk among the crowd.  We noticed that the field was clearing faster than the sidewalk so we slid under the ropes and on to the field.   As we approached the end of the field we encountered a Marshall with a garbage bag.  I dropped off the banana peal and empty water bottle I was holding and walked on.  It was then it struck me, we had not seen a single scrap of paper, a water bottle or even a gum wrapper anywhere on our walk through this field.  Good work, good people.

7.   A runner on a mission.

As we continued our walk through the mall, we approached the Washington Monument at about 1:30pm.  A slightly stressed looking woman was in jogging gear was swimming upstream.   I wish my camera was at the ready.   All I could think was, “I picked the wrong day to start jogging at the mall.”

8.  It begins now, a small bit of charity.

We exited the Metro at the airport with the echoes of the event still fresh in our ears.  We were talking to another man as we exited the Metro, swiped our ride cards and walked into the airport.   We asked if he was from here, he said no.    I saw a man coming towards us on the moving walkway.  I “stopped” him (in fact he had to walk backwards slowly to talk).   I asked if he was going on the Metro, he said yes so I handed him my ride card.  I told him that I did not know how much was left on it (a few rides to and from the airport on a $20 card) but he was welcome to it.  Rob handed him his as well and told him to enjoy his day.    He smiled, said a hearty thank you and stopped walking backwards.  The man with which we were walking said something along the lines of…Charity starts now, with us.

9.   Dr. Alveda King and Angelica Tucker’s father at Delta Lounge.

While waiting for our flight in the Delta lounge we were lucky to run into Dr. Alveda King and the father of Angela Tucker (a 22 year old singer at the rally).   I was tempted to try and get a picture with Dr King, but the vibe was not right.  She was not unapproachable, she was polite and gracious for the complements she received.  but it seemed she was exhausted and completely wiped.  After hearing a bit from behind the scenes, I believe this was true.  But she had apparently been engulfed in an overall constricting fear for the past three days.  Regardless, she did step over while we where talking to Angela’s father with a polite “excuse me for interrupting.”   She then talked with him, gave him a coupon/voucher or something and walked off saying she was headed to her flight.  Maybe she could have used the arm on her shoulder.  I wish her well.

While talking to Angela’s father we found him to be a gracious and humble recording engineer who looks far younger than his years would indicate.  He was obviously proud of his daughter and had great things to say about his time with Glenn Beck.  We discussed the point that Angela is unlikely to ever see a crowd of this size again.  He said that he had mentioned that to her as well.  Right on queue for a 22 year old, she said something along the lines of  “My facebook page is blowing up, never seen this many requests.”

10.  Enough is Enough… the New Hope and Change.

On our flight was one sole protester from the Sharpten rally.  She was wearing a read shirt that stated the simple message “Enough is Enough.”  I wished I had the gall to ask her how her really went, but I refrained.    I did notice however that the message “Enough is Enough” was generic enough to garner my support.    Similar to “Taxed Enough Already”,  enough taxes,  enough spending, enough debt, enough divisiveness, enough politicians.   It reminded me of days just past, when “Hope and Change” was the motto of choice.  A motto that again, could be filled with anything you wanted.  An empty vessel that means whatever you want it to mean.

But there was an [...]]]> I did not expect to get too much out of Glenn Beck’s documentary.   A rehash of Hitler’s rise to power and communist murders.   I know they are bad and progressives are leaving those details out of history.  I appreciate his attempts to right history and fight back.  That alone warranted viewing.

But there was an AH HA moment that came from something very different.   Within the discussion of Hitler and Marx there was a mention of the fact the Marx wrote that Socialism is a step along the evolutionary path to Communism (not new) and that both were a societal step above Capitalism.   That I did not know.   Not that it was true but that Marx and his ilk believed it to be so.   Capitalism was a step beyond other forms of government but only a lesser step onward towards the ultimate goal of Communism.

What is so groundbreaking here?   You would expect Marx to think his form of government is superior.  I guess I always thought that capitalism and communism where opposites on a completely different plain of existence.  One for freedom and individuals and one for government control and serfdom.   I would have never put them on a continuum.

It goes beyond the simple belief by Marx and to the philosophy on which it lies and explains so very much.   Liberals that dominate academia consider themselves the thinkers.  They look upon the rest of society as inferior and flawed.   Those in the political arena would study Marx and find his desire to move “beyond” capitalism intriguing.   Glossing over the desire to murder all inferior minded within the citizenry, they would gravitate to the evolutionary aspect of the philosophy.     It explains the lefts distaste for corporations and profits, the sneers they give to those in fly over country, and this disrespect for the limits placed on them by the constitution (written by imbeciles that never understood Marxist philosophy (Karl Marx 1818-1883)).

That little segment and the connections it fired, so rapidly explained so much of the political landscape, I believe I let out a breath, followed a few moments later by a sigh.