...I arrived at the Rosemount VFW at noon, thinking that I'd be pretty much alone. had spoken to PW Leo and he was going to be late because of several reasons. I didn't expect him until after 12:30. I pulled into the driveway of the VFW and both sides were lined with anti-Murtha and Rowley signs! There were three or four children and an elderly woman with Rowley campaign signs.Nonetheless, a good time was had by all... save for a few of those with a socialist bent, who kept on declaring that Bush was more dangerous than bin Laden--even a tinfoil hat-wearer who said Bush & Cheney brought down the WTC--you know the drill. My greatest satisfaction came from Bullhorn man, who said loud and clear everything John Murtha needed to hear-- how Murtha played judge, jury and executioner to the Haditha Marines without due process; how he continuously badmouths their mission and downgrades their morale and readiness--and it couldn't have come in a better place than in a VFW parking lot.
I was handed a sign I could really get behind: MURTHA GO HOME!! The signs, I found out, were courtesy of the John Kline campaign volunteers that were there. They did a great job. There were probably 30 of us working the driveway and both sides of Hwy 3.
Lots of young people, College Republicans, I found out, from the U, St. Thomas and Bethel. Saw a couple of those black Michael Savage t-shirts. Many of them had been at the "press conference" preceding the trip to Rosemount. Funny thing was, there was no press at the conference. Don't know if they weren't invited or they didn't consider it news.
Both sides treated each other with respect. But, there was the one guy, standing in the middle of the driveway with his Rowley t-shirt that was the designated talking-points-shouter. Never anything supporting Rowley or Murtha, he thinks Bush is going to run again, evidently. "COKE HEAD!!, DRUNK!!, DRAFT DODGER!!" A real sharp dude. The elderly woman had to finally be relieved of her Rowley sign for her own protection. She kept chasing our guy with the big American flag up and down Hwy 3, trying to create an association for the drive-by traffic. When our guy with the flag crossed Hwy 3 to get away from her, she crossed, too. This happened several times until someone stepped in and decided she wasn't as fast as the traffic and took away the sign.
I spoke with a couple of Vets/activists that had been inside the VFW and were now taking a blood-pressure break. I said that was why I was outside instead of inside!
Shortly before 1:00 is was announced that the meeting was breaking up and we started to re-deploy and line both sides of the driveway with our signs for the Murtha/Rowley/Oberstar getaway. Then, the strangest thing happened. The Kline folks announced that we were done and collected all of their signs. I still haven't seen Leo and figured he got hung up and wasn't going to make it. I thought, oh well and headed for home. I'm 30 seconds away from the VFW and Leo calls me and says he's at the VFW. 3-point Highway Patrol turn and I'm back.
Glad I didn't miss the next 15 minutes......
I met Leo, he hands me one of his signs and he offers one to another guy standing there, obviously also waitng for Jack, et al, to emerge from the VFW. Our new friend from Minneapolis declines Leo's offer, because he has something else in mind. A bullhorn. I'll call him "Mr. BH". Murtha comes out of the VFW to applause and starts shaking hands. Mr. BH cuts loose with two-and-half minutes of Murtha's career low-lites. Poor Jack couldn't get past the well-wishers fast enough to lumber into his waiting, gas guzzling, SUV. The only thing Mr. BH couldn't squeeze in before Jack's escape was Abscam. Well done!!
Evidently, all the real crabby people were inside the VFW all the time I was there. When they heard Mr. BH's tirade, they came a runnin', followed closely by their video cam geeks. There was some minor elbowing by the crowd that Mr. BH calmly put to a halt. Yelled talking point were easily defeated by Leo and Mr. BH. Leo was confronted by a gentleman who was so mad at Leo for speaking in a public place that he was shaking, no, vibrating. He basically told Leo to shutup. Leo don't play that. After four minutes and three cigarettes, Mr Shakey stomped off for his car. I hope he didn't have a coronary on the way home. One woman kept following me around the parking lot, demading over and over that I "delist and go fight in the war". Delist???
Out of talking points, they flipped us off one last time and scrambled for their vehicles.
Our response?
"CUT AND RUN!"
That two-minute diatribe by Mr. BH was music to my ears. I hope it was stinging Murtha's.
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