Grannies, pro-war activists clash in Times Square

[Barrett808]

Source: Reuters

Grannies, pro-war activists clash in Times Square
By Emily Chasan

NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - Grannies holding a knit-in to protest the war in Iraq clashed in a shouting match with pro-war activists in Times Square on Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict.

About 30 member of the Granny Peace Brigade, some sitting in rocking chairs and wheelchairs, were knitting stump socks for veteran amputees and baby clothes for Iraqi families at the Times Square military recruiting station that was damaged by a small bomb on March 6.

"You want a piece of granny?" Frederick Olbrey, 70, yelled at about half a dozen war supporters gathered across the way as the grandmothers sang "God Bless America."

Olbrey, a 1950s air force veteran, was campaigning with the granny brigade to demand that troops be brought home now.

"I think that the grannies have the right idea, but they don't want victory, they don't want our mission accomplished in Iraq," said Rock Peters, one of the pro-war organizers who said he supported the war so Iraqis could have democracy.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19323444.htm

[musette_sf]

1. "Rock Peters, one of the pro-war organizers"

as if that is his REAL name...

i guess someone else in his chickensh!t brigade claimed "Studly Hungwell" before "Rock" showed up...

[fascisthunter]

2. Lol.... good One

They are the biggest chickenshits.

[Tempest]

3. Goddamned chickenhawks

They should be thrown in a plane and air-dropped over Iraq.

[billyoc]

4. Big McLargeHuge

:rofl:

[Posteritatis]

27. Slab Bulkhead! (nt)

[PittPoliSci]

28. Split Chesthair!

[sakabatou]

29. Butch Deadlift

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFHlJ2voJHY

[SpiralHawk]

8. I would bet a doughnut he's yet another republicon chickenhawk

The ones that whine and shout the loudest are invariably chickenhawks, like Bush, Cheney, O'Reilly, Hannity and the disgraceful draft-dodger Rush "Anal Pimple Excuse" Limbaugh...

[RedSock]

12. i'm amazed they allowed themselves to get so close to a recruiting station!

i'm amazed they allowed themselves to get so close to a recruiting station!

seems like they'd avoid those places like the plague.

[saigon68]

23. Yes just like the chmip, cheney and clinton

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

14. I seem to remember...

A picture of him counter-protesting somewhere, dressed in all American flag regalia. He looked like he should be shot with a tranquilizer dart, at the earliest possible convenience.

[zanne]

19. I just love the names some of these buttholes give themselves.

I bet he has rubber testicles hanging from the back of his pickup truck.

[leftynyc]

21. Sounds like a porn star (n/t)

[ElboRuum]

26. Chest Rockwell?

:rofl:

[ElboRuum]

5. E. Normis Johnson?

:rofl:

[jaksavage]

6. Go granny,Go granny,Go granny,Go ! nt

[muntrv]

7. Rock Peters and his fellow kool aid drinkers need to go enlist, since they

have hard ons for war.

[Hissyspit]

9. At least one Granny photo here, also other protest/arrest photos:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3032800

[mac2]

10. Guess Blackwater had to show up to threaten Grannies.

Those who profit want the war to go on forever. Those who lose benefits, family,and pay for it don't.

Do you suppose Bush would have said,"It was worth it". If his daughter came home with half a face, a leg or arm missing? His other dead?

"It was worth it" Bush and Madeline Albright if you aren't there or a victim of it. How heartless and cruel. We don't deserve such dark repesentatives.

[TomInTib]

11. God damn those people

I am in NYC today and would have loved to have been there.

But I would probably be trying to make bail right now.

KnR

Tom

[mitchtv]

15. Heh, Rock Peters..

I guess Times Square hasn't changed that much after all

[TomInTib]

16. Yeah, it is a far cry...

from Tiburon.

[mitchtv]

13. Rock," friend of a friend"

You know Billo's friend Jack Mehoffer

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[booley]

18. Democracy was never the mission

"he supported the war so Iraqis could have democracy."

God it bugs me every time I hear this line of crap because Giving the Iraqis democracy was never the mission, it was never the goal. it was just PR to make invading a country and killing thousands of it's people sound like a good idea.

The victims of a con can be as bad as the con men. To often they will stand up for the con man rather then admit they were wrong.

[ElboRuum]

25. Another thing that always bugs me...

Even if it were true that we actually did want the Iraqis to have democracy, why is this naturally a good thing, and something that we should get behind? So far as I know, every democracy (or republic or constitutional monarchy or other such construct where the people choose their leaders) that works in the slightest has come about due to the desires of the people ruled, and usually this desire manifests under duress from some form of despotism. In other words, successful democracies seem to be earned rather than given. We've tried to 'politically westernize' foreign cultures before to ill result, but for some reason, our hawkish friends seem intent on the idea that democracy is some kind of gift that will always be well received by its recipient.

One of the most painful retorts to hear when I mention this in such discussions is, "Well what about WWII? Japan and most of Europe are democratized! So it HAS worked in the past!"

Well, we did not enter into WWII until the Axis had proven that they would not stop with the theater engagements in Europe and East Asia, but would instead cross the oceans to get rid of that other pesky power... us. We did not enter WWII to magically deliver democracy around the globe. Europe already WAS democratized prior to WWII, and Japan's democratization happened AFTER economic rebuilding was well underway and without much help from us. Moreover, we LEFT the theaters of engagement shortly after the final battles were completed. Honestly, we did not so much care what form of government was left in the war zones, just that it behave peaceably. When the Iron Curtain went up, it was clear that in some places democratization was not an option. Did we reinvade Europe when the Warsaw Pact was created? NO. And it was well wise we didn't.

Where the pain occurs is hearing how the "movie version" of WWII history has so completely replaced the full unabridged version.

[zanne]

20. Dammit-Now I have to learn how to knit. nt

[kineneb]

24. honest, it isn't that difficult

I taught myself by looking at books.

Handknit gifts carry the goodwill of the knitter.

[zanne]

30. I always appreciate a gift from the heart...

Especially hand-knit mittens.

[gratuitous]

22. Oh, good for you, "Rock"

Finally find an enemy you feel confident enough to confront, did you? I hope you found a baby in a stroller on your way home that you could swipe a lollipop from.