Via Atrios, professional Freeper agitator Kristinn Taylor tried to distance FR from a fellow pro-war protestor in Crawford yesterday:
A handful also got themselves arrested, including a protester whose anti-Sheehan sign was deemed unnecessarily offensive by organizers of a
large pro-Bush rally. The man carrying the sign became violent when he was asked to put it down.Ken Robinson, of Richardson, Texas, who described himself as aVietnam veteran, was carrying a sign at a “You Don’t Speak for Me, Cindy!” rally. The sign read, “How to wreck your family in 30 days by ‘b**** in the ditch’ Cindy Sheehan.”
Kristinn Taylor, an event organizer with FreeRepublic.com, heard about the sign and rushed up to Robinson.
“This is our rally and you can’t do that here,” he said, only for Robinson to insist he was within his rights.
Camera crews rushed in and Taylor turned to face them.
“To all the media here, this sign is not representative of the crowd
here today,” Taylor announced. Some of the crowd around Robinson came
forward to shake his hand, while others chanted, “Idiot, go home.”The two men then squared off and raised their voices.
“Just get outta here!” Robinson yelled, and aimed a kick at Taylor’s midsection. Taylor called for security, and a young Woodway policeman
quickly showed up.“I have the right to freedom of speech,” Robinson said.
Robinson continued to protest loudly as police handcuffed him and led him away.
The only way the sign wouldn’t be "“representative of the crowd here today,” is if there weren’t any Freepers there, because as you can see here and here, the sign is highly representative of Freeper attitudes and rhetoric, more shame to all of them. The Free Republic website is monitored, highly censored and demands conformity of ideology so if posts calling Cindy Sheehan "The bitch in the ditch" or "Ditch Bitch" were unwelcome, they’d be out of there. They’re displayed in all their vicious glory still.
Were there Freepers in Crawford this weekend? Well, who else would be stupid enough to attack their fellow pro-war Republicans? Apparently, some reading-challenged Freepers were enraged at some Protest Warrior signs that were sufficiently complex for the message to go right over their heads, so they did what comes naturally to them – they eliminated them.
AP reports: At the pro-Bush rally several miles away, there
were some heated moments when two members of Protest Warrior, a group
that frequently holds counter protests to anti-war rallies, walked in
with a sign that read "Say No to War Unless a Democrat is President."
Many Bush supporters only saw the top of the sign and believed the men
were war protesters, so they began shouting and chasing the pair out.
One man tore up their signs. When Will Marean of Minneapolis kept
repeating that he was on the Bush side and tried to explain Protest
Warrior’s mission, one Bush supporter shook his hand and apologized.
A Freeper who was there posted, "Even the "victim" admitted that he could see how the misunderstanding could happen. But it WAS quite a scene, and I think the poor guy was literally terrified."