They came in bus load after bus load from all the states bordering Louisiana, and from states farther away too. There were several contingents from California.
The state police said the crowd was at least 15,000, probably 20,000. Organizers thought it was double what the police were saying.
At midday, buses were still bringing marchers into town. At some point the gridlock was so bad that many simply got out of the buses and went in on foot.
By afternoon, organizers said, the crowd ballooned to 50,000. By that point, state police said, it was too spread out to count.
One measure of the symbolic significance of Jena and of Thursday’s march in Louisiana was demonstrated at an LA event Thursday night at the California African American Museum. It was a gala affair organized to honor the LAPD’s highest ranking black officer, Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger, and Douglas Barry, the city’s first black fire chief, and had no particular political overtones.
The evening drew a big crowd. All but a smattering in the audience were African American. (I was among the smattering.) At some point in the night, one of the speakers brought up Jena.
“This night is made more powerful,” he said, “by the fact that it’s being held today….on the day of the Jena march.” Heads nodded all over the room, then the applause grew and grew.
The speaker never said why Jena was important.
He didn’t have to.
Various news outlets are reporting that the Jena issue has thrown something of a hand grenade straight into the midst of the field of Democratic presidential candidates.
Good.
Organizers thought it was double what the police were saying.
Like the really 100,000 “million man march?” Celeste, why deceive readers for the benefit of the protestors with such comments for which they obviously have a major interest in exaggerating and have no way of verifying and for which you know that? Then, the organizers said the numbers went even higher during the day to fifty thousand, which you cheerfully reported. My guess, like most protests of this type, is that you could put all of the protestors in the L.A. Coliseum and they wouldn’t come close to filling up an end zone.
Who’s paying for all of these buses and protestors? Now, that would be a good story to investigate.
What about the rights of the kid the six ganged upon? Where’s sympathy for him?
Well, I just got back from the ER with my second kidney stone in as many months and am really doped up, so that’s it for now before my head hits the keyboarrrrrrrrojvowjow.
I wonder if it was the liberal democrats or Bill & Hillary Clinton who are responsible for Woody’s kidney stones. We all know how devious Hillary Clinton is and she will resort to any measure to silence her critics. Woody be careful there may be liberals hiding under your bed. Make sure you have your double barrel shotgun locked and loaded. And what ever you do, make sure don’t let a liberal get the shotgun out of your hands. Put up a damn good fight, and the only way a liberal can take your shotgun is from your “cold dead handsâ€Â. But if somehow a sneaky liberal takes your shotgun we will charge the liberals for stealing you shotgun. And it doesn’t matter if a million liberals show up in welfare paid buses we will prevail. We will even string rope nooses under our favorite old oak tree if we have to.
From the Newsday link:
“Clinton, who tops all Democrats in polls, risks stumbling should she directly challenge U.S. citizens to ponder racial inequity. Nor can Obama, who has been buoyed by support from liberal whites, risk being seen as racially polarizing…”
BECAUSE HE HAS BLACK SKIN. I don’t blame Newsday for noting it, but it’s a pretty reprehensible reality: a black man running for president can’t speak candidly about issues of injustice because it’d scare white voters.
Is a Noose – Free Speech?
The hanging of nooses is morally reprehensible and offensive to blacks, just as the full page advertisement in the New York Times calling the commander of troops in Iraq a Betrayer is offensive to most Americans especially the troops risking their lives in Iraq.
But our Constitution says: “Congress shall make no law … prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speechâ€Â, and as a result we must accept that we will be offended from time to time.
Those who choose to offend must also be ready to deal with the social and personal consequences regardless if they are school children, the Dixie chicks or members of the US Senate.
Those who choose to offend must also be ready to deal with the social and personal consequences regardless if they are school children, the Dixie chicks or members of the US Senate.
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That is absolutely correct, and that is why the white kid the mullet hair cut (Justin Barker) got a good old fashion ass whoopin,
“The young black folks don’t know the significance of a noose.â€Â
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIEZNcT-nts
Woody, drink plenty of water and stay away from salt — the main cause of kidney stones. (My mom keeps getting them, too, and has a heavy hand with the salt, finds water “boring.”) Whether or not we agree with your views, most of us think it’s an interesting balance to the ultra-liberals who chime in.
Celeste, you mention new LAFD Chief Barry, and from what I’ve heard and read, he’s a standup guy. The Daily News ran an Editorial yesterday disputing that, because not enough heads have rolled and people been demoted at LAFD, but seems to me, that chopping heads just for the sake of it is easy to do: it might be actually more difficult to work with what he’s got. And having started at LAFD in the days of real discrimination, he knows what he’s doing. The Tennie Pierce thing does seem more and more like playing the race card, since he was involved in that dumb fratboy stuff himself, and like many of our electeds have said, we need the payout money to really reform and retrain the department.
That’s as close as I’ll come to touching this Jena issue right now directly, it’s way too complicated and fraught with emotions. Which is why I wish Maxine Waters, Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the usual cast of characters wouldn’t use it as another chance to grandstand for themselves, but tried to calm tensions to deal with the issues rationally. Posters are probably right that Clinton and Obama have to be very cautious about how to approach the issue publicly, but that can be a good thing, too, when we look at the overt agitating of the situation by these black leaders. Leaves the real issues and participants behind in the smoke.
Feel better, Woody. Sounds like no fun.
Maggie, I was quite impressed with him (Chief Barry), at least on first bounce. In the time he’s been in, he’s already visited 60 fire stations to meet and greet the front line men and women, to praise and support them, and also to say that harassment and hazing of any kind stops here, period, the end. That sounded like leadership to me.
“good old fashion ass whoopin”
Thats right Joe, as my mamma would say, “If you tease the bear, be prepared to get eaten.”
Today’s L A Times article on the protesters in Jena quotes Joe Hicks, former head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, as advising the black leaders (Sharpton, Jackson, etc.) not to use this for their own “political opportunism,” and reminds that this same group rushed to convict the three guys at Duke before the evidence was in. Part of the pressure that caused Nifong to do what he did, and ended in his disgrace and ruined the lives and finances of three young men. There clearly is something amiss in Jena, as those two driving past the march with a noose (what lowlifes) attests, but this rush to judgment is only polarizing the situation. Luckily, the whole scene down there is peaceful so far.
By the way, Mos Def, who the article mentions as down there doing his rap thing, was on Bill Maher just a week or two ago with Cornell West, opining that 9/11 was really a plot by our administration to make the “Muslim brothers” look bad. Another reminder that when emotions get the best of people, reason is easily trampled.
Celeste, glad to hear your take on Barry. We now have a black head of LAUSD, black head of LAFD, and a black head of the Police Commission. Promising.
L.A. Resident, I just woke up to see your post. Something notable about my ER experience is that I went to a private hospital, it took me right in without volumes of paperwork, the doctor and staff were efficient and courteous, I was wheeled right in to the CT scan unit, and then provided with effective and inexpensive medications. Somehow, I find this all very comforting as opposed to what I might have experienced under Hillary-Care, which would have forced me to obtain faster diagnosis and treatment, outside of her system and perhaps in violation of her rules, just to stop the severe pain.
How many outsider kids are at Jena because they mainly wanted to skip school and have a grand time meeting other kids? We should find out in nine months.
Nothing to do with topic, I had this interesting/funny blog link sent to me. A person who video blogs (????) and drives. Too much technology?
LA Vlogger caught in Pedestrian Sting Operation
http://blogging.la/archives/2007/09/la_vlogger_caught_in_pedestria.phtml
http://www.mickipedia.com/?p=967
A little light reading for the Iraq war supporters and Bush lovers (maybe Pokey and Woody). Few talk about the other 180,000+ contractors in Iraq making hundreds of millions from the war.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16076312/the_great_iraq_swindle
LAR, Thursday night I had dinner with a friend and client who is one of those contractors making “millions” in Iraq on construction. He has been over there about six months and was home for about ten days. He’s not in one of the more secured areas and told me about bombings and gunfire that happen around his work area and how the temperature stays around 110 degrees. People like him are at risk and are doing jobs that allow our troops to do their jobs. He is necessary and earns his money.
I guess that you and the folks at RS are still bitter about the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after WWII.
Now, back to the Jena attackers.
I guess that you and the folks at RS are still bitter about the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after WWII.
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I’m not sure who “RS†folks are, but comparing the rebuilding of Europe to the rebuilding of Iraq is like comparing the Reginald Denny assault to a Mohammed Ali vs. Joe Frazier prize fight.
I just wonder why we are spending billions of dollars rebuilding so much of the infrastructure we destroyed. I wonder was it just plain stupidity, poor planning or incompetence.
I don’t claim to be an expert on the planning of a war but when so many people who are experts on war tell me this administration did a lousy job I would be listening. Someone gave Celeste some excellent advice and told Celeste listen to the experts and not those with an axe to grind.
Listen to what Dick Cheney had to say about invading Iraq in the previous war on Iraq, it’s a very telling statement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8MePwb6TEk
I was so doped when I wrote that comment, that I cannot even now remember what RS meant.
You can hand pick all the quotes that you want, but the voices that count most are those with first hand knowledge about the situation today and whose comments are current rather than years old.
Oh, it just occurred to me. RS is Rolling Stone.
You can hand pick all the quotes that you want, but the voices that count most are those with first hand knowledge about the situation today and whose comments are current rather than years old.
**********************
Ok Woody I already took your advice and found these current reports and news stories, I have read them. I would suggest you do the same and don’t blindly believe everything Bush tells you.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071222t.pdf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/05/AR2007090502466.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-violence1sep01,0,3069115.story
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20543737/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20440397/
http://www.politico.com/pdf/PPM44_070823iraq_nie_-_kj's_-_08-23-07.pdf
http://media.csis.org/isf.pdf
L.A. Resident, do you have any kind of a life? Are you suggesting that the major media is trustworthy when I know that it’s not?
Yes I do, I am a founding member of move.org and I try to educate people who make silly comments such as “are you suggesting that the major media is trustworthy when I know that it’s not?”
By the way the first link is for a report from the GAO and the last link is a report from Independent commission of security forces in Iraq which are written by government employees paid to know what is happening in Iraq. But I guess you don’t want to be influenced with such facts.
L.A. Resident, you just blew any credibility that you might have had. You might as well said that you belong to the Klan, because of the level of sanity and honesty found both in it and MoveOn.
I took a quick look at the first and last links (altogether 170 pages!) just to please you, LAR. With that, I say, “So?” It’s pretty weak when you provide links with no analysis and links which have apparent surface problems.
On benchmarks for the Iraqi government, any salesman knows that, just because the home office gives him a sales quota, it doesn’t mean that the quotas are realistic or that they take into account changing conditions. Wars and war reconstruction are a little more complicated than selling vacuum cleaners.
You guys are clamoring that there would never be a democratically held vote in Iraq. I guess you were wrong there, too.
I just remembered that this post is about Jena. It’s amazing how, to the left, EVERYTHING has to do with Iraq.
I just remembered that this post is about Jena. It’s amazing how, to the left, EVERYTHING has to do with Iraq.
****************
That’s pretty funny coming from a guy who can’t go more than a couple of hours before saying “it’s the liberals or the Clinton’s faultâ€Â, no matter what the topic. Your last few comments apply more to you than anyone else.
So according to Woody we have no measurable objectives or measurable goals in Iraq and the war will continue until Bush can say “it’s the liberals or the Clinton’s fault†after he is out of office. And it does not matter if reductions in violence which form the centerpiece of the Bush administration’s claim that it’s war strategy is working, are being shown to be a BIG FAT LIE by many sources. Is your last mane Woodpecker because you sure seem like a cartoon character?
Conclusions of GAO report …………..
“As of August 30, 2007, the Iraqi government met 3, partially met 4, and had not met 11 of 18 legislative, security, and economic benchmarks. The Iraqi government has not fulfilled commitments it first made in June 2006 to advance legislative, security, and economic measures that would promote national reconciliation among Iraq’s warring factions. Of particular concern is the lack of progress on de-Ba’athification legislation that could promote greater Sunni participation in the national government and comprehensive hydrocarbon legislation that would distribute Iraq’s vast oil wealth. In late August, Iraq’s senior Shi’a, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political leaders signed a Unity Accord signaling efforts to foster greater national reconciliation. The Accord covered draft legislation on de-Ba’thification reform and provincial powers laws, as well as setting up a mechanism to release some Sunni detainees being held without charges. However, the polarization of Iraq’s major sects and ethnic groups and fighting among Sh’ia factions further diminishes the stability of Iraq’s governing coalition and its potential to enact legislation needed for sectarian reconciliation. Reconciliation was also premised on a reduction in violence.
While the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, it is unclear whether violence has been reduced. Measuring such violence may be difficult since the perpetrators’ intents are not clearly known. Other measures, such as the number of enemy-initiated attacks, show that violence has remained high through July 2007â€Â
You’re really pathetic, L.A. Resident. Of course, in typical style of a MoveOn supporter, you mistated (I’m sure intentionally) what I said. And, you still cherry-pick articles from people, even government agencies, who happen to agree with you if you twist what they say and limit the discussion to their narrow focus. Tell me again why you consider our commanding general in Iraq to be a traitor.
Yeah, it’s always about Iraq with you lefties. What sad lives you must lead.
Woody,
It’s not my fault if the only few blind mice which agree with Bush’s recent assessment of the situation in Iraq, are the current General, Woody and other Bush loyalists.
It’s not my fault that so many former generals are critical of Bush and the war in Iraq It’s not my fault that independent government agencies such as the GAO’s assessment of the war contradict Bush. It’s not my fault that so many news agencies have reports and sources who contradict the current lies about their being improvements in Iraq. Be mad at the people managing the war in Iraq not me.
If anybody is pathetic it is you who resorts to name calling because you arguments are so weak and pathetic. Try using logic and not your gut feelings to debate a topic. (I.e. my gut says all newspapers are always wrong) During our brief debate you provided ZERO sources for you opinions. I provided you with six sources which helped form my opinions; I can also provide you an additional 20+ sources which contradict Bush’s current lies about the conditions in Iraq. Therefore my statement of you being a silly cartoon character seems apropos to me.
For the person who posted the 1st Amendment reference…while all of that may be true, that the first amendment protects so-called “hate speech,” students on school grounds don’t have free reign to express whatever it is that they’re feeling. The 1st amendment is limited and restricted on a school campus. It is perfectly within a school district’s abilities to limit speech that is disruptive to the learning environment.
L.A. Resident, gathering selected articles favorable to your position and posting links to them is not the same thing as presenting logical and honest arguments or presenting facts. Are you only able to regurgitate what other people say rather than think and express your own conclusions?
How about this one link with 2,310,000 references: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=moveon+is+crazy
Woody make up your mind, first you said “listen to the experts” now you want me be make an emotional decision like i.e. “are you suggesting that the major media is trustworthy when I know that it’s not” You have prented NO facts as of yet so waht are you trying to prove.
I gave you links to government agencies/reports which debunk you president’s claim of progress in Iraq. I have not personally been to Iraq, therefore I have to read reports (GAO) and Independent Commission of Security Forces in Iraq and news stories to be informed and educated. But you don’t need to read anything which contradicts what you already know. LOL
Another very weak attempt Woody Woodpecker, go back and watch Bill O’Riley, your debating skills are cartoonish at best.
L.A. Resident, you continue to show that any topic still brings you to Iraq. Pretty sad. Jena=Iraq, Schools=Iraq, Dodgers=Iraq.
If I have to prove to you that the media is biased to the left, then you wouldn’t be convinced that the sky is blue. I really don’t want to take time to look up other sources on Iraq for someone who is as closed minded as you, and I don’t need references to deduce your inflexibility. You know that the sources are there, yet you pretend that they aren’t if I don’t spoonfeed them to you. You would just put any opposing sources in your same class as O’Reilly and call them liars, like your organization did Gen. Petraeus.
I offered Gen. Petraeus as the most credible source, who is the commanding general who just testified to Congress. That should be enough. But, you rely on dated and more narrowly focused sources that weren’t even subjected to Congressional or Presidential questioning.
But, to paraphrase your words, you and MoveOn had already made up your positions on him and so condemned him even before he had testified, since he presumably would contradict what you already knew. That calls for a bigger belly laugh or shaking of the head in dismay.
I guess you knew that there would never be a democratic vote in Iraq, too, but you were wrong there.
You guys cheer for the enemies and don’t deserve any respect.
Oh, I did mean to give this one reference of media bias to the left: N.Y. Times admits Petraeus ad sold to Moveon.org at 1/2 off
You guys cheer for the enemies and don’t deserve any respect.
*************
You’re dead wrong about me supporting the enemies and not supporting the troops. Typical weak statement when people like you are wrong. Only and idiot would defend the war in Iraq as a good or just decision. The you “don’t support the troops†and “America love it or leave†is just stupid rhetoric when you have no valid arguments left.
Bush is the one who is responsible for the death of thousands of American soldiers for his stupid war. There are also many more thousands of seriously injured soldiers because of Bush’s ill conceived war? And there is thousands of Iraqi killed and injured but I know they don’t even count to you.
L.A. Resident, when you present an option that was better than taking Saddam Hussein out of power, then you might have room to talk. I’ve only heard complaints from your side. Resolutions over 14 years didn’t work.
Now, back to the “Jena 6.” Here’s an article that dispels some of the myths that many of you believe.
LINK: Black and white becomes gray in La. town
What happened, exactly? Why don’t writers find out before accepting rumor as fact and before they throw gas on the fire? Read the article.