They Didn't Get It

I attended the Restore the Constitution (RTC) rally yesterday. Mrs. PolyKahr and I arrived at Ft. Hunt Park, only to encounter everyone leaving for Gravelly Point, so we followed. After arriving at Gravelly Point, she dropped me off and went shopping. I will have more on the rally as I get settled again here at home. I took some pictures, and will post them as soon as I can figure out how to get them out of her camera, and into blogger.

The RTC rally was held on the banks of the Potomac, at the nearest point to the District of Columbia because there the participants would be allowed to have guns, and most did. Indeed, the press seemed more interested in the guns, which weren't that impressive, than they were in what the speakers had to say. Every speaker spoke about some aspect of the loss of our Constitution, and with it the loss of our freedoms and our representative Republic, through Unconstitutional legislation, through Supreme Court rulings that have not followed what are the fairly clear words and intentions of the Founders, or through power grabs by the Executive. But the press didn't get that. I listened to, or watched three broadcasts that showed the rally. Each of them insisted on calling it a "gun rally" and insisted on making everyone there out to be some kind of yahoo. They also insisted on pointing out that April 19 was the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. They didn't point out that it is also Patriots' Day, and the commemoration of the Ride of Paul Revere.

Fearing that the media would already have a template for the story, I avoided interviews. But one "journalist" did catch me. As I was waiting for Mrs. PolyKahr to pick me up, a "journalist" came up and asked if the demonstration was over. I said yes. He seemed disappointed. "I wanted to get some pictures..." "Of guys with guns?" I asked. He looked sheepish, but replied in the affirmative. I said the rally had not been about the guns. The guns had been to show the seriousness of our intentions. It had been about restoring Constitution governance to the Republic. His eyes seemed to glaze over, and he went on.

There were two protesters there! But they were certainly loud, and the press was eating them up. I wanted to tell them that they were probably in the safest place on earth at that moment, but the glower from the two women kept me from it. Apparently they seemed to think we were threatening them in some way, but were putting up a "brave" front to be there. Sheez.

Mike Vanderboegh gave a rousing speech, as you might expect. He wanted to impress on anyone listening that the last thing in the world they wanted, or we wanted, was a civil war. He was concerned that their side would keep pushing, and inadvertently start one. He was also at pains to state, for anyone who might be listening, that our side is through backing up. Mike V. had a lot of questions from the press as the guy who started the Window War. Ain't it funny how when they were bombing buildings, and shooting police officers, it was all good, but when someone breaks a few windows, suddenly they are scandalized.

Of course I also couldn't help being a bit of a fan boy. I met David Codrea, and got his picture. He estimated the crowd at the Second Amendment March to be a few thousand. By contrast, the RTC sported only 200 or so, with as many "journalists" as participants. Mike V graciously agreed to pose with me as well, and announced that he had completed Absolved, and will be sending it to the publisher soon.