A Nod to Cincy Counter-Protesters
Some (many?) may be surprised to hear me say that I found most of the counter-protesters, and others of dissimilar views, that I encountered at the rally, to have generally been respectful, friendly, and good natured. Some were even open to reasoned dialogue, though others were too busy chanting or were too determined to stay on message. I only wish I had more time to speak with them and hope that some of them, to whom I provided my CTP card, do avail themselves of the opportunity to make further contact.
Here are some of my experiences…
Shortly before the “official” rally was to start, I was told someone may have been shouting down some counter-protesters in the middle of the square. When I went over to check things out, though, everything was quite calm and I encountered a couple guys who were interviewing people in the crowd while taping with a camcorder. When I came close, they asked a couple questions of me as well. One, was “Would you be here if Obama wasn’t President?” Great question! My answer was “Yes,” IF whoever was in office was spending money the way the Obama admin is. I added that we were also unhappy with Bush’s spending throughout his presidency but became more outraged at TARP at the end of his last term. One of the guys then asked if I didn’t think it was important that we unite as a country. I said that I did, but that it is important to unite to move in the right direction. Running, united, off a cliff, I said, is not a good thing. These guys were very polite, asked reasonable questions, and also seemed willing to listen. 
(Ozzy and friend pictured here. They were friendlier than this may appear. {Sorry guys. } I just had trouble getting a shot with both of them in it.)
The one I later learned was named Ozzy (from a radio station: WPLZ?), then asked me if I lived in Cincinnati. I mentioned that I knew some were concerned that we (the CTP organizers) were using Cincy public facilities without paying taxes that support the facilities. I pointed out that while I live in a suburb of the city, I work in, and pay taxes in, the city as an employee. One thing I neglected to mention (in case he’s reading) is that CTP (with private citizen donor support) also paid for permits to use the square and for police security at both recent events. Let us also not forget that a large percentage of the participants are Cincinnati residents. This is not, after all, about us organizers. We only facilitate. As it turned out, I then had to cut this meeting shorter than I’d have liked as I had things to do as the official rally started and I needed to make sure people in the back could hear the speakers, etc. Still, I took the opportunity to give them my card and hope they’ll use it. (Update: I’ve decided to clarify that lumping Ozzy and friend in with counter-protesters may not be fair/accurate. This is part of why I added ”and others of dissimilar views” in the intro paragraph. That said, Ozzy said he considers him self “center of the line” so I’m not sure how dissimilar our views realy are. I’d be interested in hearing his treatment of the Tea Party on the radio. So, Ozzy, if you get this message, please consider providing us with a link, transcript, or clip that we may be able to link or publish from this blog. And, let me know if I’m spelling your name right. 
My own efforts to find a frequency or website for WPLZ radio have failed. Anyone knowing details, please add a comment to this blog.)
A little later I encountered a couple young men (teens?) holding signs that said “Yes to” healthcare, education, etc. I greeted them in a friendly way and told them I agreed all those things are important and think we can improve on them without destroying our country with debt spending. Later toward the end of the rally, before the march, one of these two looked tired and asked when it was going to be over. I just smiled and said, it shouldn’t be too much longer.. hang in there! I don’t think his heart was quite in it. I heard later that someone said a couple of the young men had just been hanging out somewhere and were approached to come and hold signs at the rally. If that were true, these guys could have been the ones. Nice kids though. They were very polite, if not outgoing, whenever I engaged them. I felt for them a bit seeing how bored they looked.
Another counter-protester I spoke with, Marjorie (sorry if not correct spelling), was an absolute hoot. She was clearly having a good time (should have said “great time!”).
(Since I’ve not had success inserting a video clip, I’m adding a couple pictures of Marjorie including the quote from what she shouted at the time, in the first caption.)
” I just got down here so I could be in the protest! Yaaay! Yes! Yes! Yes! It’s the American waaay!!!”
(Sorry below image is blurry. My software for capturing pics from vid is not very sophisticated)
Later, as we all departed after the march, she told me she had a great time and hoped we all had a good time too. This lady clearly loves being a part of the process and exercising her freedom of speech! She also asked me if some of us might want to join her in protesting against proposed energy rate increases. I told her I hadn’t had time, recently, to follow that but would check it out. What I didn’t get a chance to ask her, was if she had given much thought to further energy cost increases if cap-and-trade gets passed. Regardless, she and I agreed that while we may have differences, we may also find common ground on some causes. I liked Marjorie, gave her my card, and hope I get to meet her again.
One guy I tried to talk to just kept telling me I need to watch PBS. Ha… I think someone in the crowd said they’d watch PBS if he’d watch Fox. He just laughed. To him, I have to say, I’ve watched PBS. They usually get it wrong.
One of the other interesting encounters was with a counter-protester who seemed genuinely surprised to learn that all this spending by Obama and Congress is with borrowed and printed money. I appreciated his openness in indicating he didn’t know this and even more for agreeing with me when I used an analogy of borrowing money for his family to help get his family out of debt, suggesting that it wouldn’t help his family any in the long run. Didn’t get his name, but I did give him my card in case he’d like to talk more in the future.
To be balanced, honest, and thorough, there were some exceptions to the “happy times” with the counter protesters.
For one, I’m just not really a fan of chanting during someone else’s rally. This is not because I don’t want everyone to have a voice; quite the opposite, in fact. Those at the rally are there to hear the speakers, not the counter-protest chants. I think they should be allowed to.
To be clear, I don’t agree with people shouting down Liberal speakers at their events either. Let them have their say! Let us have ours! Mutual respect!
In my, sometimes humble, opinion, part of free speech is giving the other side the chance to have their say. If every time anyone of any position gets up to talk, there is someone there from the opposition to chant loudly so the speaker cannot be heard, then do we really have free speech?
If someone wants to hold a rally in favor of borrowing and printing money to put our nation further into debt, I’ll be there to quietly carry my sign in opposition, but I will not shout slogans when their speakers are trying to make their points. That said, during the march, as far as I’m concerned, is fair game.
That all said, these are simply my opinions regarding civil discourse. Others are, of course, free to disagree. Also, I should clarify that most people at the rally were far enough away from the few counter-protesters that it did not impede there ability to hear the speakers. But, the square was packed and many were stuck in the area and, I’m sure, were unable to hear what was said on stage. I was specifically nearby just to keep an eye on things and make sure folks from both sides were reasonably respectful (which was not a problem). So, because of the chanting, I didn’t get to hear the speakers. Hopefully someone who was up front will be able to provide a video. J
Lastly, there was one man over at City Hall, after the march, who had a sign and offered enthusiastic rhetoric (i.e. yelled) with the point being that our rally was not about spending, taxes, or anything else other than just hate. He said we were all just haters. I didn’t bother to try to engage this guy. His entire point had the base assumption that we did not simply disagree but that everything we (Tea Partiers) do and say is a lie. So, if he sees all I say as a lie, then there’s no point wasting my time, or his, by talking. It’s all just noise at that point.
To get back on point, though, my personal overall experience with the counter protesters was friendly, respectful, and in many cases, enjoyable. Until we meet again…
Regards,
April 16th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
How do you live with your infinite hypocrisy?
April 17th, 2009 at 9:17 am
An insult coming from a saint is quite ironic, especially when that insult is about hypocrisy.
The truth is that I enjoy an honest, respectful exchange of ideas, even (especially) with those with whom I do not see eye to eye. That made meeting the genuine and respectful counter-protesters interesting and even enjoyable.
I can’t prove my feelings, nor my genuine thoughts. I can only let my actions with and regarding the counter-protesters speak for themselves. They know. They were there.
I should have expected that there will be those who will doubt the truth of what I have said. I suppose these belong in the same category as the last man by City Hall I described in my blog. Therefore, I’ll not reply to any more comments that just call me a liar in no specific terms. There’s simply nothing I can do for that.
My suggestion for such, in general, is that they may want to look inward and consider if they are projecting.
I also am willing to look at myself. If my language in the post was a bit too flowery or a bit too “nicey-nice” and this leads to an impression that I was being disingenuous, then I can only say that these were true and positive feelings that were pouring out of me as I started drafting that entry immediately after leaving what I thought was a very successful and very friendly rally.
I must admit to having been pleasantly surprised at just how pleasant interaction with the counter-protesters was. Perhaps I was expecting more attitudes like our “saint”, above. As things were so cordial, I was very happy with all this and perhaps some of that leaked out in my writing. Not apologizing for that, just sharing.
Regards,
April 17th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Can you try to find someone who actually WANTS to pay MORE taxes…I’d guess that person does not exist in America?
No one disagrees with us, do they?
April 17th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I’d like to see some small organizational Tea Party meetings, with larger rallies in mind, be they local or regional even national. It might be good to utilize Zip Codes for gatherings so that people who want to pitch in can more easily meet.
April 18th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Mike K,
As they say “watch this space”.
There is a large spectrum of plans in the works for future activities from smaller community tea parties to larger scale rallies than what we have seen to date.
We’ll be releasing this info as quickly as a bunch of people doing this in their spare time can get it all together.
Regards,
April 19th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Brian, you are a sincere genuine person who means what he says. Reading your reply to the Liberal Troll here makes me wince. Reading their vitriolic hateful Ad Hominem attacks all over conservative blogs for several years now, I’ve reached the point of no return. There truly is, as the saying goes, no arguing with ignorance. But your attitude speaks to those who don’t completely share their Leftist Socialist Ideology, and is a good example for all. I can’t do it anymore myself. More power to you.
April 19th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
The Cincinnati Tea Party was quite a success. It was reassuring and uplifting that there are thousands of people in Cincinnati, and hundreds of thousands of people across the US, who believe it is time to reign in government spending. The atmosphere was quite energetic, but also, quite civil.
April 15, 2009 was a special day. Despite some mischaracterizations by some in the media, for the most part, the message came through. Most of the Sunday news programs discussed it and the big government pundits are still perplexed and confused that middle class America would protest against them.
But for this movement to really impact the country, the effort needs to continue so that it can impact the 2010 elections. I encourage the Tea Party organizers to put some thought into when and where to stage future demonstrations so that this movement can impact elections and thereby impact the future of this country.
Also, to avoid mischaracterizations by the media, I encourage all the participants to keep it clean, civil, and non-partisan.
April 21st, 2009 at 7:18 am
I attended the rally and came away with such a sense of pride; pride in my country and pride in the American right of free speech. I hope these rallies continue and become a movement the likes of which have not been seen since the civil rights marches in the 60’s. I hope that a national rally takes place soon where we can fill the capital mall from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capital. It was a peaceful march; one that will send an unmistakable message to every lawmaker in this country. Tax paying people are sick and tired of working, simply to give it over to an out of control government that blindly spends with little to no accountability. This is NOT a party thing, nor does it have ANYTHING to do with the color of the skin of the President. It has everything to do with wasteful, out of control government and that is made up of people from both parties. We need to take back our country and get us back in the right direction. The answer isn’t to do away with taxes, but rather to implement fare taxes to do the work of the government as stated in our constitution. We all need to participate in the responsible spending of government and we all have a right to question and change it when it gets out of control. I believe that a growing number of Americans are fed up with the tax and spend mentality of the average politician. We need to give them a huge wake up call and the rally in Cincinnati, one of 750 plus across the nation, is certainly a step in that direction. Thank you to the organizers but most of all to the people who made a sacrifice and took vacation time to make their voice heard on Tax day. Let’s all vow to keep this movement alive and take it directly to Washington where these out of control politicians live!