I was at the Bush rally in York..long post..nauseating time [View All]

[DebJ]

First, has anyone seen attendance numbers reported? My guess would be about 4,000-5,000, although supposedly 8-10,000 were supposed to be there, with all tickets reportedly given out several days before the rally.

Maybe up to 1000 hand-picked people were seated in bleachers behind and to the left of the President. I'll have to look at my camera shots when I get the film developed; I didn't count while there. The rest of us standing in the open area in front I would guess were about 50-60 deep, with about 25 people pressed in front of me, and about 25 behind me, more spaced out. It was between 1/2 and 2/3 full standing room.

In the bleachers above, we noticed the different groupings of people walking in: Firemen and Rescue workers, police, military, lots of Secret Service looking types all in the same suits, and about 25-30 people in doctor's white coats (I've never seen a real doctor in a white coat...just on TV) and one in the O.R. room blues with stethoscopes. I took a picture of them coming on because I couldn't figure out what in the world that was going to be about. My husband starts saying loudly, hey, when is the Inner City African American and Hispanic group of representatives going to come on stage? As we described this scene to our friends later (whom we joined in the protest on the streets), one commented Sheez that's like a Broadway show. And of course, two little girls about ten years old were there to sing our national anthem. And Miss York County was there in her crown. Why do we do this at political rallies? I asked my husband if perhaps this is not some modern day version of the ancient practice of sacrificing the virgin to the gods or offering one's virgin daughter to the services of the king. It just strikes me as odd.

We went in around 3pm. I didn't have a watch, but close to 4pm some entertainers came on...Dana Alexander?? I think was her name, some Pennsylvania Christian rock (?) band, then the Oak Ridge Boys. Since we were standing in a congested area on hard concrete for almost three hours before Wubya came on, the music did help distract me somewhat from the pains in my legs and feet. As I tried to control the stabbing pains (bad shoe choice), I found myself asking, Why am I doing this to see someone I despise? And then I reminded myself of a friends advice that it's good to be quiet, absorb, see what is going on on the other side.

Then Santorum gives a speech. Oh yuk! Just seeing his face makes me recoil. His entire speech, the whole thing, all he did was try to invoke blood passion for war. That was it, his entire point, nothing else to say. You could translate his speech into other languages very simply: Fear! Fear! Fear! Kill! Kill! Kill!

The State Rep from the House gave a speech; frankly I sort of tuned out.

A Catholic (Orthodox) priest said a prayer, that God guide us in our choice of a leader, to which I gave a VERY LOUD, AMEN TO THAT! What I wanted to hear him say was: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Vengeance is Mine Says the Lord. Of course, he didn't.

The lights went down. The music to "Eye of the Tiger" started to play: Dum, dum-dum-dum, dummmmm....... Dum, dum-dum-dum, dummm....
The garage-type door to our right opened, and a bus pulled in. Bush walks on stage to cheers, some "Four more years", or USA USA.

Speaking of the bus, I went almost hysterical with laugher when he referred to it as his 'little' bus. Yep. The short-bus president bragging about his little bus that he was seeing the beautiful countryside in. Yep, just a little Mr. Average America, puke.

But before the speech, let me relate some comments to you from other people there.

When my husband asked where is the inner city reps on the stage, I looked around and saw all white faces...except for two CSPAN cameramen who were African American. The Bush supporter next to me claimed he saw five walking into the building. He said to me, yes, the Republicans need to get more minorities into the party. I said to him, And what do the Republicans have to offer these people. He just stared silently ahead, with a blank look on his face. He could not say anything at all...he was completely blank... I said, this party has absolutely nothing to offer to blacks and hispanics, except a 'job' that means death or dismemberment on the front lines. He had nothing to say. Frankly, I would like to hear a Republican explain what they think they have to offer to minorities. Have any of them even TRIED??? I've never heard a peep on this.

Before the speech, on the topic of the war, I contributed to a conversation that I am Christian, and what about Thou Shalt Not Kill and Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord. I said that several times to several Republicans. Again, all I got was a quiet blankness. No retorts, no explanations, no justifications. Just silence. No angry looks on my comments, just bewildered silence. I WANT THEM TO ANSWER ME, DAMN IT. But being in enemy territory, and not wanting to be thrown out, I did not push further.
This is too long...I'll continue in another post added to this about the speech and the demonstrations we participated in.