<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>>RKBA Defenders,
>
>The SAS-AIM DC March - as I saw it.
>
>Was at the DC 40K Mom March / SAS-AIM Countermarch today. Got there a
>little after noon. The weather was beautiful, warm, clear and sunny.
>
>Lots of street vendors selling MMM t-shirts (the kind with the gun
>pointing at the wearers' head). The MMMs were concentrated towards the
>Congressional Building end of the Mall. There were quite a few, yes,
>but nowhere close to a million. Estimates were between 40,000 to
>150,000, depending upon which News service you listened to. Glitzy, big
>screen for the speaker, LOTS of professionally done signage, t-shirts
>and stickers.
>
>Getting off the Smithsonian Metro stop, I looked for SAS-AIM. Nowhere
>to be seen. I knew from their website that they were to be meeting near
>the intersection of 17th and Constitution. Over the rise, beyond the
>Washington Monument, was another crowd. Home made signs, lots of
>American flags. Not as many as the MMMs.
>
>As I got closer I noticed, to my surprise, that the media WAS there and
>doing interviews. A young, well-spoken black representative (Innis?)
>had just finished his speech and was being video interviewed behind the
>stage. Two old-lady MMM infiltrators opened up signs right behind him.
>Pro-RKBA supporters surrounded them like white corpuscles, asking them
>if any pro-RKBA types were trying to disrupt the MMMs. These two ladies
>were in high screech mode, but were eventually escorted from the SAS-AIM
>rally. They later returned to heckle the speaker, who responded to the
>effect that "ma'am, I love you and embrace you." It really came across
>very nicely, certainly better than if Clinton had said it.
>
>The screeches were overheard to say "it's scary to see so many of you
>down there." That got a big laugh. It seems the MMM were largely driven
>by fear.
>
>Some of the best speakers were foreigners who had come from strictly
>gun-controlled dictatorships. The loudest applause came from the son of
>a Holocaust survivor who related the story of how his father had killed
>SS troops who had come to his home and killed his mother and sister, and
>also how his mother had heard the SS saying that 'they came looking for
>guns and found Jews.'
>
>Around 2:00 p.m. one of the coordinators announced that 'we will not be
>marching.' Talk about a mini-insurrection! The ladies shouted 'we want
>to march!' and started out on their own. The coordinators called them
>back, saying, okay, okay we'll march, just wait for the police escorts.
>
>At 2:30 p.m. we headed out. The media was there with many video cameras
>paying particular attention to the wimmenfolk. The crowds we passed on
>Constitution Avenue came in three flavors: i) the bewildered and bemused
>foreign tourists, who seemed to have no idea of what was going on; ii)
>the mildly-disapproving MMMers, who showed disapproval as we marched by,
>but noteably, made a face as if encountering a bad smell when we spoke
>of or showed the Constitution (they DETEST the Constitution!); and iii)
>the actively hostile hecklers. There were only a few of the last kind,
>and I got the distinct impression that some of them were just using this
>as an opportunity to be a**h*les in public, rather than actually
>believing what they were shouting.
>
>The police kept a very neutral, hands-off attitude. When the hecklers
>got in some faces, the motorcycle cops were right there running
>interference. The media pounced on shouting matches when they erupted.
>
>Again, I did not see ONE AMERICAN FLAG among the ranks of the MMMers the
>entire day. We marched up to and past the Congressional Building up
>Capitol Hill to the Carillion (Bell tower). The pro-RKBA crowd broke
>out into 'God Bless America,' which the bell tower had started to play.
>We should bring more full-size American flags on poles to these marches.
>
>By about 3:45 p.m. the respective crowds were headed to the exits. I
>heard a few bitter exchanges when their paths crossed, but by and large
>the crowds kept to themselves. On the way back through I did hear a
>speaker from the MMM saying that 'there was a lot of work that still
>needed to be done" and that "we will have to harness this energy and use
>it in the November elections."
>
>The actual coverage. CNN made no mention of SAS-AIM (that I saw), but
>our local DC channel 8 did a switcheroo, giving great and extended
>soundbites for the SAS-AIM crowd, Wayne LaPierre (gun laws are a
>controlled burn of our freedoms), and then cut Dies-Thomases off (Ha!).
>
>
>Suggestions for future marches:
>
>1) Location, location, location. SAS-AIM were WAY too far away from the
>action to really be seen. Next time, PLEASE reserve the space either on
>the Mall itself, in front of Congress, or better yet, on the Ellipse
>right in front of the White House. Think of the crowds' backdrop for
>photo Ops!
>
>Instead of ending the march away from the White House or Congress, end
>it in front of one or the other. We seemed to be on the sidelines,
>while the MMM got center stage.
>
>2) T-Shirts! We need T-shirts! Preferably one standard design for all
>groups, and then make that design available for sale right there at the
>march itself. T-shirts are walking signposts to be seen before, during
>and long after the march itself has passed. When you see them on the
>metros and in the malls, it gives the impression that they MMMs are
>everywhere. We should have that too!
>
>3) Slogans. We had no standard, catchy slogans or chants. The Left
>spends years coming up with short, evocative, catchy, easy to shout and
>remember slogans. ex. "Hi-Ho-Ho-Chi-Mihn." "Hell No We Won't Go."
>
>(ex. ? "My-my, Hey-Hey, Arr-Kay, Bee-Ay" ?)
>
>We were pretty much making them up on the fly. Too complicated or not
>evocative. Guns Save Lives sounded pretty good. Some girls were
>shouting "No More Lies" [referring to 12, or 13 children killed each day
>propaganda].
>
>4) Conduct of the march. More fifes and drums, more bagpipes and other
>sorts of music to march to. Most gunnies are not the hippy-shouting
>types. After all, it's not dignified. But music helps in more than one
>way.
>
>First, for the close-in observer, it creates a powerful aural impact and
>an impression of greater numbers, as opposed to a relatively quiet or
>uncoordinated crowd of people. For people far off in the distance, they
>can now hear you. It reaches out far beyond the immediate setting and
>curiosity could bring these folks in, or at least strike fear in the
>hearts of the Left;
>
>Secondly, it helps to encourage and invigorate the troops. Scots have
>known this for ages, and it does work. A lot of folks were getting
>tired. Music or at least snare drums would help.
>
>Lastly, the marchers would convey the impression of greater numbers if
>they did not bunch up, but limited themselves to to about five abreast
>and increased the distance between themselves from front to rear. This
>makes the parade last longer from the perspective of the stationary
>sidewalk observer.
>
>This is not to say we should all form military-style ranks, which would
>probably cut across the fiercely-independent grains of many
>Libertarians, but at least should do so in a general fashion.
>
>5) Bring lots and lots of pocket Constitutions to hand out! Wave them
>in the faces of the anti-RKBA crowd. It illustrates to you and anyone
>else watching, just WHO is on the side of freedom and who is against
>it. Get in their faces with the Constitution! People kept asking for
>my copy and I felt bad having only one. Wave the Constitution the way
>the Cultural Revolutionary Guards waved their little red books. Imagine
>a parade of Constitutions held aloft!
>
>Just my suggestions.
>
>Thank you Ladies. It is so good to have you in the fray. It is so good
>to have you speak out in defense of the right to be free from fear.
>
>In Liberty,
>
>
>Rick V.
>
>--
>http://www.freeyellow.com/members8/iurist
>---------------------------------------------------------------[/quote]
