Ghost
04-15-2009, 05:35 PM
I was down in Lafayette Park today for 3 hours or so, across from the White House, in a cold, windy rain, with about 3000 people. Pretty tame for political protests. Lots of irritated people, sure, but not the sorts who tip cars over mob-fashion. Lots of good signs. "Legalize Capitalism" struck me, among others.
But at one point we were all quickly ushered out of the park. Lots of suspicious grumbling from the crowd (there was an unexplained change of venue earlier in the day--that didn't help much). But no unruly behavior. I went up to the two guys with megaphones who were griping about their rights after being pushed out of the park, and suggested they take a different tone (aka, find out what is going on before griping. Security details have protocols they must follow, and time may be needed to sort something out. Several others joined me after I did this, and it at least stopped the stupid use of the megaphone at that point.)
Some snide comments were directed at the police, not a whole lot. I made a point of chatting a few of them up, being friendly, and letting them know I disagreed with the few who'd made obnoxious comments to them, and thanked them for serving as police. Most seemed like good guys. A couple seemed like jerks. The big mistake was communication. All the police needed to do was say there was a security issue, and it was vital to clear the park, and they'd keep us posted to get us back in ASAP. This would have disarmed most of the suspicion and ill will on both sides.
A few minutes after being ushered to the sidewalks out of the park, word got out that "something" had been thrown on the White House lawn. Maybe half an hour later we were re-admitted to the park, and we got an announcement that it was some sort of package, a Secret Service robot had been called out to deal with it, and that no one knew the contents.
Now on to the fun part. I listened VERY closely, and by the time we were rushed out for the incident, the 3000+ who were there had whittled down to less than half of that or fewer. And nobody seemed to have seen the incident at all. There were a few people who appeared to be plants, designed as disruptors, throughout the day. Maybe 3 or 4 that I saw. And people seemed to understand not to engage them, which was what I think they wanted, to no avail.
So, the big question was, who threw the package? I made some rounds and nobody seemed to even know anything, and people all over were pissed that it had happened. Nobody saw it, and even if it was one of the protesters, the protesting crowd was NOT happy about it.
Also interesting was the low profile on any press that were about. Nobody was making himself very known as being press. There were some folks there I believe were, mostly still cameras, one videocam, but they were lying pretty low.
Well, low and behold, when I got home and googled it, we have the answer. Despite nobody who was there seeming to know who had thrown the package (or even seeing it happen, including all the police lined up along the White House fence), and what I would call universal condemnation by the crowd, somehow the AP magically figured it out. Furthermore, the park where the real crowd gathered was all the way across WIDE Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House lawn, plus at least 75 feet of park, so it would not have come from the main group even if it was from real protesters. It would have been from a group of 30 or fewer across the street. But the AP somehow knows.
Protesters throw apparent tea bags at White House
2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service says a suspicious package thrown over the fence and onto the White House's North Lawn was not dangerous.
Tax protesters threw what appeared to be a box of tea bags toward the White House on Wednesday, prompting officials to lockdown the compound. The Secret Service also used a robot to inspect the package thrown in an apparent act of defiance meant to echo the rebellion of the Boston Tea Party.
Demonstrators said they disapproved of government spending since President Barack Obama took office. They organized protests across the country, including outside the White House.
One other thing. I listened all day, and demonstrators complained mostly about government spending, Republican and Democrat alike, as well as both parties trampling the Constitution. A very few seemed focused on Obama, per se. Yet another creation of the AP bit. Not surprising, but worth noting in my opinion.
I never saw a tea bag all day. I did hear one person say she'd seen exactly one, in a puddle, and there were people with cameras taking pictures of it. The implication being it was perhaps a plant. Apparently there had been some boxes of tea bags that were supposed to get there, but they had been interdicted. Like I say, I never saw a single one all day. Curious if I see a prominent picture of one show up, but who knows.
But at one point we were all quickly ushered out of the park. Lots of suspicious grumbling from the crowd (there was an unexplained change of venue earlier in the day--that didn't help much). But no unruly behavior. I went up to the two guys with megaphones who were griping about their rights after being pushed out of the park, and suggested they take a different tone (aka, find out what is going on before griping. Security details have protocols they must follow, and time may be needed to sort something out. Several others joined me after I did this, and it at least stopped the stupid use of the megaphone at that point.)
Some snide comments were directed at the police, not a whole lot. I made a point of chatting a few of them up, being friendly, and letting them know I disagreed with the few who'd made obnoxious comments to them, and thanked them for serving as police. Most seemed like good guys. A couple seemed like jerks. The big mistake was communication. All the police needed to do was say there was a security issue, and it was vital to clear the park, and they'd keep us posted to get us back in ASAP. This would have disarmed most of the suspicion and ill will on both sides.
A few minutes after being ushered to the sidewalks out of the park, word got out that "something" had been thrown on the White House lawn. Maybe half an hour later we were re-admitted to the park, and we got an announcement that it was some sort of package, a Secret Service robot had been called out to deal with it, and that no one knew the contents.
Now on to the fun part. I listened VERY closely, and by the time we were rushed out for the incident, the 3000+ who were there had whittled down to less than half of that or fewer. And nobody seemed to have seen the incident at all. There were a few people who appeared to be plants, designed as disruptors, throughout the day. Maybe 3 or 4 that I saw. And people seemed to understand not to engage them, which was what I think they wanted, to no avail.
So, the big question was, who threw the package? I made some rounds and nobody seemed to even know anything, and people all over were pissed that it had happened. Nobody saw it, and even if it was one of the protesters, the protesting crowd was NOT happy about it.
Also interesting was the low profile on any press that were about. Nobody was making himself very known as being press. There were some folks there I believe were, mostly still cameras, one videocam, but they were lying pretty low.
Well, low and behold, when I got home and googled it, we have the answer. Despite nobody who was there seeming to know who had thrown the package (or even seeing it happen, including all the police lined up along the White House fence), and what I would call universal condemnation by the crowd, somehow the AP magically figured it out. Furthermore, the park where the real crowd gathered was all the way across WIDE Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House lawn, plus at least 75 feet of park, so it would not have come from the main group even if it was from real protesters. It would have been from a group of 30 or fewer across the street. But the AP somehow knows.
Protesters throw apparent tea bags at White House
2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service says a suspicious package thrown over the fence and onto the White House's North Lawn was not dangerous.
Tax protesters threw what appeared to be a box of tea bags toward the White House on Wednesday, prompting officials to lockdown the compound. The Secret Service also used a robot to inspect the package thrown in an apparent act of defiance meant to echo the rebellion of the Boston Tea Party.
Demonstrators said they disapproved of government spending since President Barack Obama took office. They organized protests across the country, including outside the White House.
One other thing. I listened all day, and demonstrators complained mostly about government spending, Republican and Democrat alike, as well as both parties trampling the Constitution. A very few seemed focused on Obama, per se. Yet another creation of the AP bit. Not surprising, but worth noting in my opinion.
I never saw a tea bag all day. I did hear one person say she'd seen exactly one, in a puddle, and there were people with cameras taking pictures of it. The implication being it was perhaps a plant. Apparently there had been some boxes of tea bags that were supposed to get there, but they had been interdicted. Like I say, I never saw a single one all day. Curious if I see a prominent picture of one show up, but who knows.