MONROE – An attempt by an extremist rightwing group to embarrass long time U.S. Rep. John Dingall, D-Dearborn, and disrupt the Monroe County Fair Parade on Sunday fell flat on its face.
Dingell served as the Grand Marshall of the parade, and the group had been, apparently, planning the protest for some time. In the end, it came down to just a handful of people with signs displaying the usual rightwing talking point and yelling at Dingell and his wife and at the Monroe County Democrats. There were more Democrats in the parade than protestors. I marched with the Monroe County Democratic Party, and they had an excellent float with life size cutouts of President and Michelle Obama that was very popular.
I saw one protester as he walked along the sidewalk, most of the time, with his dog from Jones Avenue, and then he walked in the street along side us, a violation of parade rules. We, the Monroe County Democratic Party, had at least 50-60 people marching in the parade. The lone protester joined a slightly larger group at the corner of Monroe and Sixth Street, I believe, and the group consisted of about- and I’m being generous here – 10 people yelling at us the top of their lungs. We ignored them, and as loud as they were I can’t even remember or hear what they said. Then I later saw one woman sitting in a chair holding a sign about health care on Elm Street.
Now, I didn’t see the front of the parade where the Grand Marshal rode, but a person commenting on an earlier post claimed she was part if the protest that consisted of about 40 protestors who yelled at the Congressman and his wife and left.
We received lots of cheers and applause, and there were a total of two negative comments.
In organizing the pathetic protest that tried to get around the strict rules of the fair board, the rightwing fringe group did not meet their goal of giving “Representative John Dingell a reception he won’t forget when he comes to Monroe to participate in the Monroe County Fair Parade.” John Dingell is well known in Monroe, and he comes here often in a career of selfless public service spanning 50 years. Why they chose to try and embarrass him at a family event when they have so many other opportunities to interact with him is beyond me.
After the parade, I spent about three hours working the county party’s booth at the fair, located just across from the MBT expo center. People were very positive. The life-size cutouts of the President and First Lady were very popular, and many people stopped to have their picture taken with them.
(Photo Courtesy of Otis Henderson)
12 comments:
You lie when you say there were plans to disrupt the parade. There were plans to protest...not disrupt.
Why do you so hate the First Amendment?
Why do you so hate the truth?
And besides, the demonstrators couldn't "disrespect" Dingell half as much as the disrepect shown by Pelosi and Waxman when they dumped him from his committee post. Longest-serving congressman whacked from a committee chairmanship that is vital to the Michigan automotive industry. That shows you want today's Democratic leadership thinks of Dingell...and of Michigan for that matter.
But, hey, no worries for you. You got to march in a parade.
The plan was disrupt the parade. I do more than march in parades. I phone bank for candidates and I knock on doors. I love this country too much not to do that vital work.
I disagree with the decision by the House leadership, but that kind of thing happens all the time on both sides of the aisle.
It sounds like this group might have been associated with (or taking their cues from) the corporate backed Freedom Works. Their aim is to disrupt and shut down as many town hall events as possible. When you can't sit down like an adult and discuss differences honestly and intelligently, people like this resort to mob rule.
Nice attempt at guilt by association, Kathy.
Please provide again for me any evidence that this group of protesters did anything disruptive, much less illegal.
They exercised their First Amendment rights and some folks are having a cow. What next? Will you advocate book-burning? I'm amazed at how anti-democratic that some Democrats can be.
There us no doubt they are, Kathy. This entire fake, “Tea Party” BS is the brainchild of a couple of partisan Republican DC lobbyist firms, and the extremists have jumped on board like the sheep they are.
I don't remember the guys name right now, but CG just made a mistake, or told a flat out lie (others can decide if he's lying again or just wrong again). The Tea Parties were actually the "brainchild" of the guy from CNBC when he said that he'd like to see people start protesting in the form of the Boston Tea Party, after the stimulus bill was passed without anyone in Congress reading it.
The first tea parties were a couple of weeks later. They were small, but they took place around the country. Then in April on the 15th, tea parties were held across the nation with over 1 million people attending to protest the spending that the Congress and the President were passing.
Now there is a traveling tea party taking place. It will be here in Michigan in early September after having started in California and traveling across the country.
The Tea Parties have worked. They have even worked on this blogsite. Mention tea party and CG goes into his "my diaper is wet" whine and starts with the vitriol and name calling.
They have inspired people to sit up and take notice and now, some of the fruits of the tea parties are beginning to take place. Sen. Specter and Kathleen Sebellius got a taste of it in Pa the past couple of days. In NY, there was another town hall that turned into a protest at what the congressman there was saying and in Austin Texas, Lloyd Dogget was greeted by people carrying signs and chanting "No we don't" about socialized health care plan being thrown out there.
Now videos are coming out with Obama who said that he wanted to start with the "public" option but to move to single payer (government takeover of the health industry) within 10-20 years. There was also Barney Frank saying that the proposed plan would get us to single payer and some congresswoman that reminds me of the tightfaced Pat Schroeder in Colorado said in front of an AFL CIO group that they were going to gradually move to the government taking over health care and putting the health care companies out of business.
Welcome to Amerika.
Wrong. You are thinking of Rick Santelli, but they are being organized by the rightwing lobbying group and think tanks “ Freedom Works“, chaired by former U.S. House Majority Leader and rightwing Republican Dick Armey, and so-called “Americans for Prosperity.”
I blogged about the bus tour you are talking about. This latest anti-Obama farce is sponsored by the “Our Country Deserves Better PAC (OCDB), formed in August 2008 by veteran Republican California political consultant Sal Russo and former GOP California Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian.
I don’t do any name-calling: I point out who they are and what they are about. You go right on keep believing they are working.
I certainly hope he moves to single payer. It has worked well for the military community and for Medicare.
Welcome to common sense and the 21st Century.
Nice attempt to put words in my mouth, Kevins, but no cigar.
When a group shows up with no purpose other than to shout and scream, that's disruptive.
As for First Amendments rights, I never advocated they be taken away (unlike the Bush administration where protesters were kept in cages and town hall meetings were staged with "by invitation only" guests), but I have the right to disagree with their very sophomoric and disrespectful methods. They need to grow up and start acting like adults if they want to be treated with respect. We wouldn't tolerate a mob of unruly kids acting like that at a movie, in school or at church, and we shouldn't have to tolerate it in adults who should know better.
guru makes up a story about a planned disruption and then when it doesn't happen, he says the non-existent plan fell flat on its face.
It's a 'straw dog' argument and typical of guru's style.
You've still failed to show one iota of evidence that this group planned anything illegal, or that they planned to disrupt.
They planned to stage a protest...something allowed under the First Amendment...and something that guru finds distasteful.
One more of his many lies...He says, "I don't do any name calling."
then he calls people thugs, wackos, nuts, etc. He's a lot more like Rush Limbaugh then he wants people to believe.
I didn’t make up anything, and I provided a link. Not much of a turnout, and it fell flat on its face.
I have never lied, and you certainly have never caught me in one, brett. I don’t name-call, but I respond when I am called a name. But one thing I never do is call someone a disgusting name and then hide behind an anonymous name.
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