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All Your Base Are Belong To Jeff
I’m not a complete stiff regarding this whole thing, by the way. I think some of the Photoshops of my picture are really clever. I especially lke this one:
Visit one of my favorite sites, Pam’s House Blend, for the whole collection of Jeff Gannon Photoshops.
Jeff Gannon at Rally for Families, Becomes Liberal Gannon Fodder
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When I saw Jeff Gannon at first on Sunday, I did a double take. Oh sure I’ve seen him around town before, specifically outside of the Tom DeLay support dinner I covered back in May, but this time he was literally standing right next to me when I glanced to my right, and he caught me off guard. “Oh, It’s Jeff Gannon,” I thought, “Big deal.” It was only later in the day when he began calling out to protesters across the street that I felt his presence at the rally was photo-newsworthy.
Well apparently my fellow liberal bloggers are so fascinated by this simple photo of Gannon that they can’t help but make Gannon-fodder out of him. “He’s fat.” “He must be cruising.” “He loves war.” All our Base Are Belong to Him. I suppose this is the political discourse in the age of the Internet, much like Revolutionary politics consisted of slandering opponents over a pint of ale. Personally, I’m kinda sick of it.
I try to approach everything I do fairly and with an open mind. Let me tell you what I observed. Gannon was apparently alone. He didn’t appear to know the young man holding the sign. I never saw him cruising. He stood quietly at the front barrier of the rally, applauded at the speakers, and shook hands of the handful of people who came up to greet him.
After the rally ended, he walked behind the stage to the sidewalk across the street from the 30 or so anti-war protesters, and began taking pot-shots from the gallery of protesters, many of whom were dressed like anarchists (as opposed to the rally on Saturday which brought out every corner of the mainstream). Gannon smiled, waved, and shouted, “Thank you all for coming!” several times. Sure he was a smartass when he said it, but he was saying it to people who were just screaming the nastiest things to him that I’d prefer not to print on this journal.
I just don’t get why people care about Gannon. Really, I mean here’s a guy who was an accidental tourist to the White House and he got caught asking lame questions. I’m not convinced that he was sleeping with anyone inside, nor that anyone in the White House even knew of his alleged past. Gannon surely isn’t the first questioner to suck-up in his queries to the White House. And he’s certainly not the first amateur journalist trying to do something in the age of new media. He may be a symptom of media manipulation by this administration, but he’s not worth getting all worked up over, is he?
I suppose the photo was an easy target to ridicule Gannon and the 400 or so people who attended the “Rally to Honor the Families of the Military.” It sure is easy to grab a photo and paste it next to a sentence or two of insults toward military widows and call it a blog. Bloggers who make a decent commentary or good satire I can appreciate. But sometimes comments from visitors are unworthy of the decent people we are supposed to be.
When I arrived at the rally, the stage was filled with families who had lost a loved one in this war: someone’s father, identical twin brother, son, daughter… Many attendees have a family member at war right now. The rally was filled with genuine and kind people. There was a lot of pain in their eyes. These families of dead service members hurt as much as Cindy Sheehan, and may need something stronger than themselves to cling to. Some parents may have only a triangularly folded flag to cry into. Some of these parents worry about their children every moment of the day, and in their nightmares. You may not agree with their positions, but these are your fellow countrymen in a time of war. They have given their flesh and blood to our country, and they deserve our respect.
LCpl Bryan Patrick Kelly died in Iraq. I shook the hand of his father, Mr. Patrick Kelly, after he told me his son’s name for my notes. And I said thank you and that I was sorry for his loss. Mr. Kelly loves his son and he loves his country, and I can see how he and others who support our actions in Iraq may have genuine anger at many in the left, like the anarchists who reportedly burned an American flag at their counter-protest across the street, or the Left’s extreme speakers who honor communists and anti-Americans.
Why didn’t progressives come out in droves to an event called “Rally to Honor the Families of the Military?” I survived. Truly, progressives would have felt uncomfortable with the speakers and the message of “stay the course.” Some speakers were very angry with Cindy Sheehan especially.
But what if 500 progressives had come out to support the troops, but refused to applaud at a “stay the course” or anti-Sheehan message. What if 500 for-the-troops-but-against-the-war people had come to the rally and started quiet personal conversations with the people there, asking them why they support the war? No preaching. No name calling. No “Bush sucks” T-shirts. No trying to change minds on the spot. Just quiet personal real conversations. Or even to show up and say “Hon, I am so sorry you are worried about your son every day. I have such a tough time supporting the administration, but I want to let you know I want your son’s mission to be successful and for him to come home safely.”
One thing I did notice is that the rally for the families was very white, middle aged, military type people. The anti-war rally was all ages, every race but mostly white like the make-up of America, with a lot of different religious representation. And yes, the reports are true. There was no unity in message. But what the march lacked in unity, it made up in size. Surely most of these people were on the same track, and will likely bring that message back home.
So Gannon sightings are like the “Runaway Bride” of the blogosphere. There you go. There’s two new pictures of Gannon. Do we all feel more satisfied or are we tired of it yet? There was so much pain on display in Washington this weekend. When will we get away from this shit-for-discourse and begin having real conversations with people?
Forget the paparrazzi photos. Visit my photos of the rallies. I virtually surfed a wave of protesters this weekend to get some cool stuff. If you haven’t seen the pictures, visit:
Friday: Camp Casey DC
Saturday: Huge Anti-war March
Sunday: Honor Military Families
Sunday night: Prayer Revival
Monday: Prayer and Disobedience
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