You call this a protest??
Ok, so I went. Unlike places such as L.A., there was no march I was aware of in D.C. but instead small rallies. It was, in a word, pitiful. As for the boycott (which I still strongly oppose), again unlike places such as L.A. in the D.C. area it appears to have fizzled, though some companies (such as the one I work for) had many absences (all of our Latino employees, nearly half the total work force was absent). Though even in those places where the boycott reported some success, it didn’t affect all sectors of business. I’m glad to hear that for while I hope the marches and rallies will have some effect, the boycott was an arrogant and stupid idea.
As I was saying, the rallies for the D.C. area as far as I’m aware of were small and rather pitiful. None of my friends even knew where any were held and it was only thanks to the LULAC website that we even found one they helped co-sponsor. It was in Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park in Northwest D.C., a predominantly Latino part of the city. I went with 2 friends, both of whom are legal immigrants, one from South America who is now a U.S. citizen and the other from El Salvador who has a work visa. We were pretty disappointed by the crowd, only about 200-300 people showed up and what a mix it was. This of course was only one rally so we have no idea what any of the others around the country were like. After listening to some of the angry rhetoric from the podium…
…we quickly grew bored. Nothing like listening to tired idiocies to make one’s mind wander (”oooh, look at his butt!”). So we proceeded to entertain ourselves by coming up with the best uses for the slogans we heard, such as the most common which would make a great advertisement: “Viagra: Si Se Puede!” (”Viagra: Yes We Can!”). This of course could only last for so long and though there were many cute guys there I didn’t think it would be a good idea to risk going around snapping pics of them (sorry guys). So I decided to amuse myself by taking pictures of the crowd and the signs I saw.
First of all, despite the small turn-out the media was of course there…
The groups in attendance were an odd lot. There were some I had never heard of and have no idea what they represent,
but there were some of the radical ones there. This includes one of the most notorious liberal slimeball organizations A.N.S.W.E.R. (a Marxist group) was there and they seemed to have the most pre-printed “pro-Amnesty” signs:
It’s doubtful most of the people holding these signs were even aware of what this group stands for. I was a little surprised, though perhaps I shouldn’t have been given the large numbers of Salvadorans in the D.C. area, to see representatives of the Salvadoran Marxist group FMLN there as well. You may recall this group from their lil’ part in the El Salvador Civil War during the 1980s. One of the people sitting at the table was giving me a dirty look so I had to snap the picture quickly:
I was amused to even find a disciple of Lyndon LaRouche there! They seem to turn up in the most amazing places…
There were plenty of flags there, mostly American which was nice to see (heartfelt or staged)…
Old Glory t-shirts…
shower curtains (?)…
A couple of Mexican flags, but for non-U.S. flags there were more Salvadoran (for obvious reasons), such as this fashionably-dressed fellow…
(pssst! you in the t-hirt! hello there, going my way?)
As for outrageous signs, there weren’t that many (smart move), but here are a couple:
Clever move trying to inject “white guilt” with a picture of the Amistad following the Mayflower! The classic touch of adding “THE ILLEGALS ARE COMING” was sheer ‘brilliance’!!! Farrakhan would undoubtedly be proud of this one, but that won’t win you many friends among the voting public (dumbass).
Then of course there was this bit of open-borders advocacy (opposition to which constitutes racism dontchaknow):
And this gentleman whose sign puzzles me somewhat: “THE LAND DOESN”T BELONG TO THE MAN THE MAN BELONG [sic] TO THE LAND”. Ok…
At least there was some measure of entertainment provided, though I’m not certain this was entirely the goal of this young lady…
(her sign reads: “3 CHEERS FOR LEGALIZATION” while her stilts read “LEGALIZE” and “LEGALIZAR”)
So there you have it. In fairness, there were many normal people there including families whom I tried not to take pictures of (doubt they’d appreciate being on a gay weblog). Yet, although I’m always glad to spend some time with my friends. we three came to the conclusion after about an hour that this was not for us and left to enjoy a meal (ha! got one of the guys who did stay home to break the boycott! hehehe). None of us changed our views after attending this (I know I didn’t), but the groups there certainly didn’t represent me or them. I guess radical protesters we ain’t. Ah well. Then again, there is supposed to be large march in D.C. on May 19th so perhaps that will be better. Eh, maybe they’ll at least have food…
Oh one more thing, as for the Mexicans who marched in their country for what they called “Dia Sin Gringos”, well allow me to put this as succinctly as I can: kiss my ass, you hypocrites
UPDATE (from GPW): Pajamas reports that rallies in LA were not as large as anticipated. Although the streets seemed less crowded than normal in the West Hollywood/Hollywood area where I live, all stores around me were open (that is, as far as I can tell). On my one errand, a (very friendly) Hispanic clerk helped me with my purchases. For a better report on what went on in LA, make sure to read Pajamas’ post and to check out Roger’s pictures.
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Pretty pathetic for the nation’s capitol, and with the high hispanic population here, huh??
HAHAHA!
Comment by ndtovent — May 1, 2006 @ 10:37 pm - May 1, 2006
Ah yes. LULAC.
Great at screwing law enforcement officers for doing their job.
Thanks, asses.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — May 1, 2006 @ 11:52 pm - May 1, 2006
BTW, where are the F.A.G.s on this issue?
Comment by ThatGayConservative — May 1, 2006 @ 11:56 pm - May 1, 2006
Thanks, Joe, for the pics and the commentary.
Comment by John in IL — May 2, 2006 @ 12:05 am - May 2, 2006
The only protest I saw was full of Mexican flags, portraits of Cuban Communist Che, A.N.S.W.E.R. signs demanding amnesty, signs insisting “We Have Rights!”, signs calling President Bush a “liar” and “war monger”, and lots of kids truant from school.
Sorry, folks, illegals don’t have rights. And the kids ought to be in school learning English, American history — including that we are a nation of laws!
Comment by Trace Phelps — May 2, 2006 @ 12:19 am - May 2, 2006
This is no surpize as the illegal immigration issue is mostly a west coast issue.
Comment by sonicfrog — May 2, 2006 @ 1:13 am - May 2, 2006
Oh how I miss that little strip of land on 16th Street. Reporting from the CA, passing by the scarcely attended protest at Concord’s Todos Santos Plaza, the one thought I had protest sure aren’t what they used to be. I figured my usual lunchtime burrito joint would be closed - something tells me the employees are half legal and half of questionable status - didn’t see them. Headed back to work, sure enough the joint was closed. Taken as a whole, it made me wonder if this was just a way to take a day off.
Just an observation, at least here in Concord, except for the kill the HR Bill all the signs were in Spanish. Really, if you want to talk to an American speak to him in a language that he can easily understand - English comes to mind.
Comment by ralph — May 2, 2006 @ 2:51 am - May 2, 2006
I wonder what the company atmosphere will be like when the absent latino employees return tomorrow.
Comment by Citygal — May 2, 2006 @ 3:16 am - May 2, 2006
AGJ, thanks for the pics from the park and reporting on the DC rally.
Here in Michigan we had less than 130 people from a local Hispanic Catholic Church parish show up on the steps of Capitol building and try to highlight the plight of legal immigrants and workers trying to get citizenship, visas, reuniting families, fair wages, etc. But it felt more like the proverbial Catholic “social justice” event than a boycott to end American hegemony of Hispanics. Still, better that than the boycott protest of illegal aliens trying to jump to the head of the line over legal, legit immigrant workers.
I love the MSM covering this story —it’s all about heart wrenching facial anguish of Anderson Cooper while telling of the plight of poor illegal workers seeking medical care and hospitals unable to shoulder the financial burden of the inevitable non-payment for services… even though the feds reimburse hospitals up to 65% of costs. Little vignettes into the plight of illegal workers… I wonder when we’ll get the stories of sexually abusive white bosses, slave labor sweat shops, and children held hostage in servitude so that Americans can have pretty, manicured lawns? What is it with the BlameAmericaFirst crowd?
BTW, the local Democrat county party folks had a voter registration desk set up nearby the Lansing rally. Gotta love that solidarity.
Comment by Michigan-Matt — May 2, 2006 @ 9:04 am - May 2, 2006
Lou Dobbs gets it right: Who is really behind the immigration protests?…
I am not a huge fan of his, but regardless of how I may or may not agree with him on other issues, on this one he makes sense.
Read it for yourself. I have very little to add.
Dobbs: Radical groups taking control of immigrant movement
We all awok…
Trackback by Leaning Straight Up — May 2, 2006 @ 11:20 am - May 2, 2006
Nope, illegals don’t have rights. But people do. Whether illegal or not. Even prisoners are entitled to medical care, etc.
I didn’t attend, but the LA march was terrific, in the sense that it seemed to dramatically cut traffic on the freeways. It was nice not having to spend 3 hours in my car yesterday.
Comment by Patrick (Gryph) — May 2, 2006 @ 2:18 pm - May 2, 2006
Prisoners are citizens; illegal immigrants are not.
Comment by rightwingprof — May 2, 2006 @ 2:25 pm - May 2, 2006
I like the idea of the “Dia Sin Gringos”, and will be happy to oblige Mexicans by cancelling my trip to Puerta Vallarta.
Comment by John — May 2, 2006 @ 2:25 pm - May 2, 2006
Fine, Gryph. Let illegal immigration become a criminal act worthy of imprisonment, and they can have all the free medical care they want.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — May 2, 2006 @ 4:32 pm - May 2, 2006
It already is, its just not enforced.
And I did NOT say that illegals should get free educations or job benefits etc. And I’m not proposing free boob jobs for illegals either.
But if someone is sick or injured and in pain I think you have a moral obligation to help them. Even if its not “life-threatening”.
Human “rights” and the privileges of American citizenship are not always the same things. Human rights are for everybody, not just Americans.
Comment by Patrick (Gryph) — May 2, 2006 @ 6:38 pm - May 2, 2006
Gryph, my comment that illegal aliens don’t have rights was in the context of what the illegal aliens out on the streets were saying: that they have rights to be heard by Congress, to have citizenship and so forth. No they don’t!
No foreigner has a “right” to American citizenship. It is a privilege this country decides to offer to those who wait their turns and work their way through a process established by law.
Comment by Trace Phelps — May 2, 2006 @ 7:45 pm - May 2, 2006
Here in Houston, if the local/national media hadn’t told us, we’d have never known there was an illegal alien protest going on. And life went on pretty much as usual around here…
The one nice thing about the protest was that it took most of the uninsured drivers off the roads for a day!
And I agree with the “boycott Mexico/Mexican products” idea. I for one would rather travel to Montreal than Cancun. At least we’ve got Stephen Harper, Canada’s PM, on our side!
Regards,
Peter H.
PS - Anderson Cooper is such a pouf. Open his mouth and a purse falls out. Just my opinion.
Comment by Peter Hughes — May 3, 2006 @ 1:32 pm - May 3, 2006