This is what deomcracy looks like (part 2)

(I recommend you scroll down and read part 1 of my report on our march first if you have not done so.)

As we marched on our appointed route the local police thought we would need protecting from all the right wing nut bags who live around here and Johnson City's finest also got wind of a counter demonstration that was alleged to be going to be out there to counter ours. It's better to be safe than sorry so we gladly accepted the offer of our local men and women in blue to follow us along the way, although really how sorry is it that asswipes might try to do something to harm people out exercising their Constitutional rights? So as we marched the cops kept watch on us until we got to the ETSU campus.

It turns out there was indeed a group of people out to protest our protest. But for those of you keeping score at home, there were over 200 of us and about 15 of them. And I swear this is true, all of them were bikers. And not just any bikers mind you, they were all gray haired bikers with gray beards and moustaches, and the male bikers also had tons of gray facial hair as well. These cheezy riders decided to slap flags on their Japanese made bikes, oh the irony!, and they rode up and down the street as we marched. They'd glower at us and rev their little penises, oops, I mean their motorbikes, and try to act all tough. Here's a photo of one of the pro war, or as they should be called, pro senseless murder and mayhem supporters. Notice how he wants us to "stay the course" and by doing so we will in his small mind "support the troops." Notice also how old he is, he's obviously too old to go fight himself, and if he did go fight, then I'm damn sure he'd want out of that hell hole after about 5 seconds into his first fire fight. That is if he survived the first five seconds of that fire fight. Oh well, it's all "stay the course" as long as it's not his ass on that battlefield.

Note to you old geezer motorcyclists, no one except imbeciles and toddlers are afraid of bikers anymore, especially bikers who drink Metamucil. You guys officially became defunct as scary dudes when my old dentist bought a freakin' Harley. And really, if you guys really wanted to support Americans who are fighting, then you ought to trade in those rice burners and buy some American made cycles. If you do then you'll be helping all those American workers who are in the fight of their lives against imports and against their employers who want to screw them so badly.

Anyhoo, after about 45 minutes of marching all 212 of us made it to the campus of ETSU where the bikers were promptly told to leave since they were not part of the march that was sponsored in part by the ETSU College Democrats and the Campus Clean Energy Initiative (At least I think that's their name anyway.).

Once we all got to Borchuck Plaza on the campus of ETSU we were greeted by more folks who did not march with us but were part of the rally. And by the time we had all marched in 80 degree plus heat some of us were tired.

Those scheming Quaker vixens Blue Gal and Suzy sent their Quaker spies to infiltrate our rally! Actually this guy and his wife and their teenage daughter have been to all the local war protest events and they are one of the reasons why I admire Quakers. They actually live their faith, unlike people like Pat Robertson and everyone on the Trinity Broadcast Network.

This protester sat down on the job.

So did this one. Man, this sitting crap better not be catching on or there may be trouble!

"Git up ya damn dirty liberuls and hippies. Ya'll ain't fit ta breathe the air them soldiers ain't over here breathin'! Ahm gonna wave my penis, oops, Ah means mah gun, at ya!"

This dude is the artistic genius who made that huge puppet of our Chickenhawk in Chief. He's got my vote for artist of the decade.

After everyone milled around and chatted a bit it was time for some music! Sandra introduced the band du jour, ladies and gentlemen, the Feral Throes!

The band has a trippy dreamy country-esque rock and roll sound that reminded me of a less somnambulant Cowboy Junkies. And they also had a cooler than thou, cuter than anything, lead singer. Once again my photography skills are not doing this woman any justice because she is cute, cute, cute. And a damn fine singer and guitarist as well.Here's the rest of the Feral Throes. These dudes worked it like a rented mule. Yay local bands! Yay local bands who play anti war rallies! Yay Feral Thores! If you're in Asheville, Johnson City, or anywhere where these kids play I recommend you check them out.

After a few numbers by the kids in the band we had our first speaker, the Rev. John Shuck. The hipster in the vestments is the Rev. Shuck. John is the kind of minister we need more of in this world. He preaches about justice and peace and he's always been a friend to gays, lesbians, transgendered people, environmentalists, and people who are usually shut out of most churches these days. And get this, he's not a Unitarian, he a freakin' Presbyterian! He gave a great talk to the assembled throng and we all gave him a huge hand after he finished. It's nice to see the kind of man of the cloth that I was taught to look up to when I was a little kid. If I ever go back to church I'd look up the Rev. Shuck and join his church where ever that may be. Unlike most ministers and religious authorities, John is one of the good guys and I'm proud to be agitating with him. After Senor Shuck left the mic the Feral Throes came back on to play a few more numbers and then after them was our next speaker. He is the guy in the far right of this photo in the shades. His name is Jason H. and he's an Iraq war vet. Unlike those denture dudes on the rice burners, Jason actually went to war and thank goodness he came home alive. He served in Baghdad and other places in Iraq. He was in a National Guard medical unit that is based here in Johnson City that got called up. He's back now and he's out of the army all together! Yay Jason! He spoke for a few moments about how the shame he felt over having to wear the same uniform as the liar Gen. Petraus. He also spoke about meeting Iraqi citizens who told him that until the US invaded that they never had to worry about IED's and Al Qaeda and how they never had to worry about their kids getting killed while walking to school or about getting shot by US soldiers for simply driving down their streets. I like Jason a lot and I'm glad he's out and that he can speak out with out losing any of his benefits. As you can see the ladies also like Jason. Go Jason, go.

The final speaker was Joseph F., you remember him from the previous post. Joseph has a doctorate in Political Science, is a Greek native, speaks about four billion languages, does emergency surgery in a pinch, has mastered the black arts of dentistry, and has forgotten more than you mortals will ever know. He's also one of the masterminds behind Democracy Now! Tri-Cities, which is a progressive group dedicated to keeping Democracy Now! on our local NPR station and which is a clearing house for local progressive groups to network with one another. I swear if Joseph is not Sec. General of the UN before he dies then there is no justice in this world. And if I could, I'd have his babies. My man Joseph gave a fiery speech about taking back our country from the bastards who are ruining it, about ending the war, and about how we all could be better activists. I was in awe of him, the dude threw down like nobody's business. That's why I like him so much, he's smart, he's progressive, and he's fun to be around. Vote Joseph for President of the World!

The guy holding the Bush with Mickey Mouse ears sign is Keith. He's father of the two good looking lads in the previous post.

We were quite the eclectic group today. Many diverse organizations joined out march/rally to end the war. Groups such as Bare Assed Babies For Peace,Ron Paul supporters (yes, it's true, Ron Paul supporters joined us today),

Dogs Against Bush,local Muslims, Parasols for Peace and Justice,Cute Moms Against The War,Wall Sitting Coeds for Positive Change,and the gals from The Peace Loving Tye Dyes. We also had some real celebs at our not so little event. Frank Zappa came back from the dead to be at our rally/march. Those dead years have been kind to Frank, haven't they? Lily Allen dropped by for a bit. Or was it Parker Posey?And oddly enough, the V for Vendetta dude showed up. Turns out he's quite the womanizer. Check him out hitting on Travis's wife. Yo, V, that shit ain't cool man. You had your shot with Natalie Portman, leave Travis's wife alone.By the end of the afternoon we found out we had managed to put on the biggest anti war protest in this area since the Vietnam war. Not bad for a small town in one of the most heavily Republican areas of the country. I hope we can build on this positive event and that we can draw more and more people out to protest and to stand up to Bush and the corporate media bullies. I also hope that you folks will agitate in your areas because if we had this big a turn out in east Tennessee then imagine what you could do in your area.

I'm not a religious guy but in honor of all the folks who are people of faith at our march/rally yesterday, I'm leaving you with this photo of a super nice woman with a great sign.

UPDATE: Read one of our local newspaper's account of our march here.