Who is the real enemy of patriotic Americans?
by digby
Here’s a little reminder of what really got the pro-Iraq war patriots going back in 2003:
Note the fawning CNN commentary:
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, promoters here were predicting a crowd of about 10,000 here at Atlanta, at the Rally for America, but they’re now saying on the podium that they have more than doubled that.
Let’s take a look at this crowd. People coming out today, decked out in their red, white and blue, thousands of people. Thousands of people carrying banners and signs, offering patriotic sentiments and supporting U.S. troops.
A part of what you’re looking at could also be the power of talk radio. Stations across the country have been promoting rallies for America. They’ve been striking a chord that seems to resonate deeply with people in this crowd. They are pro-U.S., pro-military.
And some of the featured speakers also taking shots at anti-war demonstrators, particularly Hollywood celebrities protesting war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were starting to believe that we were surrounded by them, by the ones that are the freaks in the limousine, the ones with the hairy armpits and the lesbian, whatever that is. We thought we were being surrounded by California.
Today, today, I’m proud to tell you they are clear, we surround them
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Things wrapping up right now. They just had the song, “Proud to be an American” playing. People singing along with it.
Again quite a few thousand more people than they expected for this rally, particularly with this kind of rain. So promoters very happy with the showing here today and people leaving with a very good feeling that their opinion is being made known across the country.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: And David, to make it clear, the folks that are assembling there in Atlanta say this is not a pro-war rally but instead, it is one showing patriotism, showing support of the troops, as you mentioned, as well as the president’s plans?
MATTINGLY: That is the theme here, support for the troops, for American soldiers right now in the Middle East. They say they don’t want a repeat of what they saw after Vietnam, where soldiers came home and were not treated with respect. They want to make sure that does not happen again this time.
But there are some political undercurrents going on. There’s a lot of signs here, a very partisan in support of the president, and a lot of signs critical of anti-war protesters, as we showed you before