Military Past and Present Meets Code Pink

[Annie]

Links, audio and pics at site:

http://www.indepundit.com/archive2/2006/09/the_cold_should.html#

The Cold Shoulder

Welcome Instapundit readers! For more on my recent history with Code Pink at Walter Reed, including interviews with founders Gael Murphy and Medea Benjamin, start here.

...And while you're here, please check out our book, "The Blog of War," now on sale at Amazon.

IT’S FRIDAY NIGHT, and I’m trolling for interviews at the Code Pink protest outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. But this time, Bruce “The Bouncer” Wolf makes it clear that I am persona non grata.

(Click here for audio)

Pinkos2.jpg

Bruce: I’ve gotta ask you something… in a nice way. Sir, please leave... I’m not trying to be fascist or something...

SMASH: No, hopefully not! Nobody wants that...

Bruce: But it’s making people feel uncomfortable... You guys up there have your spot, we have our spot, no one’s hurting each other... Just let us do our thing, you do your thing, and what’s the problem?

SMASH: I’m not trying to hurt anybody. I’m trying to get information, and understand what everybody here is talking about…

BRUCE: We’re here to make a statement of our own...

SMASH: Oh, I understand. You’ve made it perfectly clear what you’re here for...

BRUCE: Right, thank you… But you don’t need to pumping people for information...

SMASH: I had a nice long conversation with different people who were willing to talk to me, and you’re not, and that’s fine... But please understand, I’m not trying to hurt anybody, or make anybody upset.

BRUCE: I agree… But I wanted to be frank and honest with you... Once or twice was fine, but it’s starting to make people uncomfortable.

SMASH: If people are uncomfortable, they don’t have to talk to me…

BRUCE: You see, we have two hours when we do our vigil… So this isn’t the time for us to be talking to anybody else or anything... We’re not here to do interviews... What we’re thinking about, to be really honest, are the soldiers. You know, whether you believe us or not, that’s what we’re here for. So, we’re just staying focused on that… We’re really not here for ourselves. To be honest... We don’t go out of our way to attract media attention... But we’re not here, between seven and nine, to get into… I know it happens sometimes, because we’re human...

SMASH: Well, maybe you’re not here to do that, but everybody here is an individual, in addition to being part of a larger group, but if people want to talk to me… I’m not trying to break up the protest, or anything, I just want to talk to them… That shouldn’t be a problem.

BRUCE: You’re right, if anybody wants to talk to you, that’s perfectly OK... I’m just trying to communicate to you, the general thrust, and rules if you wanna say… Well, they’re not rules, but you know what I mean... What we’re here for, that is, we’re trying to be facing out this way (he gestures towards the street). And that’s basically what we’re doing. Well, I will admit, when soldiers come out, we like to talk to them, because we know that they need to… I mean, it’s healthy for them. They can say whatever they want, but just to be able to speak their minds. We have no problem with that. We communicate, and they can tell us what’s going on. But, that’s 'cause we’re here for them.
​

Once Bruce has run out of steam, I make my exit, returning to the pro-troops rally outside the main gate.

ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, a couple of soldiers come out the gate from the hospital. They are greeted warmly by the Freepers, who thank them for their service and ask them how their recovery is coming along.

A few minutes later, the soldiers decide to head on down to attempt a dialogue with the protesters. I follow several yards behind, to observe the interaction.

Even though I’m out of earshot, I can tell from the body language that it’s not going well. Bruce attempts to keep the soldiers away from the protest, and most of the Pinkos won’t even acknowledge their presence. Eventually, they leave.
Get lost.jpg
Bruce tells soldiers to "get lost."

I introduce myself to the two soldiers. P.D. had served a tour in Afghanistan, but was later injured in Iraq. He has visible scars on the back of his head. Mason is a tanker who was nearly killed in an ambush. He also has multiple scars, and is totally blind in his left eye. Both would go back to finish their tours in Iraq, if given the opportunity.

(Click here for audio)

P.D.: Initially, [Bruce] wouldn’t talk to us, he ignored us. Eventually, we were talking to another guy long enough, he eventually came out and expressed his views of the war, and what was happening over there...

Mason: Although they did make some interesting comments about us being from the South, as if that mattered.

SMASH: Did they disparage your Southern heritage?

Mason: Roger. They didn’t like that. They were going "Ah, you’re from the South..." And I was like, "Maybe I am..."

P.D.: Initially, they wouldn’t talk to us at all. There was only one guy out there that would even talk to us.

Mason: Nice guy. He’s got different beliefs, you know…

SMASH: The guy in the skirt?

Both: (Laughing) Yeah, the guy in the skirt.

SMASH: So, what did they say?

Mason: They’re supporting the soldiers "in their way." Iraq is wrong. The government is evil. It’s all...

P.D.: Yeah. They don’t like anybody in today’s government. I don’t know if it’s because it’s mainly Republican right now, or not. But to me, that’s what it sounded like, that they just didn’t like the Republicans that are running our country at this point.

SMASH: What do you think their general attitude was towards the military?

P.D.: Towards the military... they really don’t support what we’re doing over there.

Mason: But they say they "support" us.

P.D.: I’m not saying that they do, but they say that they support us.

SMASH: Did you feel supported?

P.D.: I don’t feel supported, because they’re...

Mason: They wouldn’t even talk to us! How are they supporting us, if they won’t even talk to us, or look us in the eye?

P.D.: Exactly! That’s what we got from them. If they won’t even talk to us...

SMASH: Well, what was the general attitude, when you first got down there?

P.D.: The general attitude was, they were kind of pushing us out. Wouldn’t talk to us. Just blowing us off.

SMASH: Had you identified yourselves as soldiers from Walter Reed?

P.D.: Oh, yeah...

Mason: Oh, yes sir. We had told them all about our background. I served in Iraq. He served in Afghanistan and Iraq. We were patients at the hospital. That we were just curious... But that did not seem like a good answer to them.

P.D.: We tried to explain to them that we were fighting for freedom. They said "no."

Mason: And then they basically told us that if we weren’t there, the terrorists wouldn’t be there. And that the terrorists, you know, even though the terrorists murder civilians, and children, that if we left it would all... stop. And I... I literally saw, with my own eyes, families be executed by ‘em. And I don’t think it would matter if we were there or not. The terrorists are terrorists. That's what they do.

P.D.: It’d be a lot more people getting executed if we weren’t there.

SMASH: Did you try to express any of that to the folks down there?

Both: Yes, sir.

SMASH: And how was it received?

P.D.: It was received negatively. They were closed-minded. They have their beliefs, and they won’t even open their minds to what we believe.

SMASH: They weren’t interested in dialogue?

P.D.: Exactly.

Mason: The majority of ‘em, ninety-nine percent of ‘em, didn’t even look us in the eye. Wouldn’t even turn and acknowledge our presence.

P.D.: Yeah, they wouldn’t even turn around and look at us.

SMASH: Do you feel that they’re being sincere when they say they support the troops? Or do they think they’re sincere?

P.D.: I don’t feel they are.

Mason: One or two, maybe. But the majority, no. Not at all. I mean, if you really support the troops, as we said before, you’d turn around and talk to us. Acknowledge us. You know, all these people here (indicates the pro-troops rally), we walked out, and they said "thank you," you know, "how are you feeling?" Those guys (indicates Code Pink) say, "Don’t talk to them." That guy literally came out and said, "Don’t talk to them."​

Is this what Code Pink calls "supporting the troops?"

More to follow, including an interview with Kristinn Taylor, the head of D.C. Free Republic.

CJ GRISHAM had a similar run-in with Bruce two weeks ago.
JOHN at OP-FOR notes another stupid protester trick.

Posted by Smash on September 12, 2006

 

[Gunny]

Links, audio and pics at site:

http://www.indepundit.com/archive2/2006/09/the_cold_should.html#

SOunds like a job for a "runaway" 3-ton.