I just got home from the anti-Schwarzenegger rally at the Capitol. Thousands of teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, and other union types--and I was the counter-protest.
It'll take me a couple of days to get my thoughts together, get the pictures developed, etc, but I'll give you a few teaser points.
1. I went there expecting one story and got something completely different.
2. It's worse then I thought. A.N.S.W.E.R. was involved.
3. Several people were very rude and offensive to me because of the sign I carried. I stood off to the side and didn't try to draw attention--but some people thought it important to come over and offer their foul-mouthed comments. One off-duty law enforcement officer (he claimed to be one, and was wearing a t-shirt of a law enforcement officer union) threatened me physically and called me homophobic names because of my sign.
4. On one side my sign said "I'm a teacher and I vote Republican" and on the other side it said
Corrupt
Teachers
Assn.
5. Five people (I counted) came up and engaged me in civil discussion. Katherine, the Green Party person I met on the light rail after the rally, was most cordial. I spoke to people who were civil; to those who postured or challenged, I said "I'm not engaging in a discussion with you. Thank you for sharing your opinion." Other times I said, "Isn't it great that we can disagree and you don't get thrown in jail? I love the First Amendment." Those 5 civil people were certainly outnumbered by the others.
So that's it for now. I'm hot, I'm sweaty, I'm thirsty, I'm hungry--have a great night!
7 comments:
Who or what is ANSWER?
Thanks!
Elizabeth
http://www.internationalanswer.org/
This is just their "steering committee":
Steering Committee:
IFCO/Pastors for Peace
Free Palestine Alliance - U.S.
Haiti Support Network
Partnership for Civil Justice - LDEF
Nicaragua Network
Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Phillippines
Korea Truth Commission
Muslim Student Association - National
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
Mexico Solidarity Network
Party for Socialism and Liberation
Middle East Children's Alliance
In short, they're a front group for the Stalinist Workers Party.
Here's a posting from Instapundit, written by a seemingly libertarian law professor in Tennessee. It's one of the most-read blogs on the planet. All the information you need about ANSWER, including a link to the New York Times, is here.
http://instapundit.com/archives/007017.php
Thanks for the summary. Now, when is the rally to support Schwarzenegger's policies?
Hold on.
I'm a Republican, and I don't like the CTA's policies. However, I'm also all for protesting Arnold's education agenda. I can't imagine any teacher finding the Governor's proposals acceptable.
This is where I get irriated with people that put partisonship ahead of Education.
Coach, the CTA is all about partisanship.
I don't agree with the governor's tenure idea--I don't see how it helps education at all. I liked the idea of merit pay, but that's now been scrapped.
Did he renege on agreement? *Maybe*. Did he increase the education budget this year? Definitely yes. CTA is being partisan here, and I wasn't supporting Schwarzenegger as much as I was opposing CTA.
My point *exactly*, quincy.
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