Rally at the Blamemorial - Phoenix

Its 5:30 and I just got back from Phoenix where I met with other protestwarriors to rally with other americans to bring attention that we are NOT going to give in without a fight, and we HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN that this memorial needs to be fixed!

In attendance today were Flight Pundit, Mackers-world, Speed of Thought, Me and another PW named Rachel.

Arriving at the blamemorial around 1140 I was pleased to see that we were early enough to get a good parking spot, in the park. Gathering our signs, Rachel and I, who had carpooled together from Tucson, got out and I spotted Speed of Thought coming towards us. Shaking his hand he announced that there are no bathrooms for blocks that are available...ack...mental note: Drink little or no water.

Going to the memorial, one thing stuck out like a sore thumb to Rachel, she let me know that it is in FACT shaped liked a crescent, even down to the hole in it where the sun is supposed to shine on the piece from the world trade center..which is placed EXACTLY where the star on the Crescent symbol for Islam is placed.

Being as this was my first time to the memorial I took time to really let it sink in before I commented on it...I honestly wanted, even though I was coming in to it with a jaded view, to let the reality of what I had been reading and seeing sink in. There is a plaque on the memorial right below the piece from the world trade center which talks about the motivation for the memorial, the ideology behind it and the conclusions it draws...nowhere did it say ANYTHING about who are what was responsible for the attack on 9/11.

Looking down on the pedestal I spotted the names of each commission member, the governor and others involved with the building and planning, nowhere was it noted the names of the victims or given mention. Feeling my blood boil I turned around to see the infamous inscriptions.




You must forgive the quality of the pictures..these were taken with my camera phone. Macker, Speed of Thought and Flight Pundit all had better quality cameras and I will publish those as they become available.

At seeing the 2 above inscriptions I was seething with anger. This truly was what everyone had been talking about...a blame america memorial and a political statement.

I went around to the other side of the memorial where they had setup audio equipment for the day, Speed of THought was standing there and pointed out the inscription on the 46 usurguans (SP?) killed and he was pissed as well, saying something to the effect of what I was thinking, this isnt a memorial. I needed peace..and a smoke, so I went onto the grassy hill behind the memorial and fired up. I had been, up until this point holding my American Flag, unfurled in glory. As I was feeling rather down, I thought it better to roll it back up while I smoked. I noticed a young lady sitting and pointing at me, talking about my shirt (I was wearing my INFIDEL shirt, as per the norm), she took a picture and I just continued looking out over the rest of the park. Next thing I know, she was approaching me, asking if I was someone (I Dont remember who) and I said no, and I introduced myself, she introduced back and it turned out to be Kirly from Little Green Footballs..I had been DYING to talk to her about where she got information on the legislative session that discussed the memorial and she went into detail how it was in the local rag, 1 week before the meeting, in a very small section, buried in the back. Figures.

We chatted for a moment then she was gone. Going back down to the speakers area, I unfurled my flag and let it fly in proud glory. Stood and surveyed the area, on my way down Flight Pundit walked up muttering something about those D**ned smokers and I looked and was pleased to see him again, wearing his trademark cowboy hat. I shook his hand. Macker joined us at the speakers area and I was approached by a few people to get a picture of me and my shirt..it always seems to be a hit at events like this. One man, who was with his young daughter holding a Len Munsil for Governor sign, approached me and asked how to get a shirt like mine. I explained where I was from, that the shirts were a limited item and that I would have to contact him to arrange delivery of one. He gave me his card and it showed that he worked at the University of Phoenix..I couldnt let this one pass me up so I remarked how he was a conservative in a liberal cesspool....he agreed and said that there are some conservative thinkers in higher education and that it was true, it was mostly liberals. He then went on to say that he was a middle east education instructor (I think that is right, Flight Pundit, help me out here) and he was going to require the first book read and reported on in the class to be one that rips apart the indoctrination of Islam on American Society (somehow I get the distinct impression I am way off base with that, so I defer to any corrections that can be made by the parties present) I tucked his card into my wallet and assured him that I would be in touch.

I was then approached by Mike Broomhead from Arizona Honors 9/11 I introduced myself and he said I had a great shirt, then went on to say that he remembered my email and was looking forward to seeing me...at the time, I couldnt quite remember why or how he would say that, it failed my old tired brain that I had sent him a comment through his website announcing Protestwarriors intent to be there...it isnt until JUST NOW that I remembered this. He asked me if I would do the honors of flying the colors when they recited the pledge, I told him it would be an honor and he gave me some instructions on what to do and when.

(More later...this is going to be a long one folks....watch for updates!)

SHORT UPDATE 7:15 PM 10/28/06 - Macker has an audio of the event speakers HERE

Update 10:03 PM 10/28/06 -

They brought everyone up who was going to speak then introduced Jack Harper to lead the pledge, I stepped forward, raised the flag and proudly stood with my hand over my heart facing the main flag in the park that was on a pole mounted high above. Then Mr Broomhead introduced who was going to be speaking:

The McEvoy family who lost a brother AND a friend in the tower collapse
Earl Johnson, who is a 51st floor survivor of the collapse he is with Spirit of 911
The Harold family who lost a brother in the tower collapse
Then he introduce a fellow DJ from 550 am in Phoenix, Bruce Jacobsen.

Listen to the audio on Mackers site.

UPDATE 11:30 AM 10/29/06

So after the rally broke up people were milling about, I went to the families that had spoke and thanked them. The 5 of us started to talk about lunch and where we wanted to go and we were hailed by Barbara Lang from AML Productions. She has a website that she has dedicated to the heroes of the world trade center her bio on her website says that she is the author of an upcoming book titled "Heroes of the World Trade Center, No Greater Love" An absolutely lovely woman she encouraged us by asking if there was anything we wanted to say...I finally spoke up and got in front of the camera and let her interview me. She asked questions such as why I was there, what I thought, who I was and then asked me to point something out about the memorial which when Macker, Barbara, Flight Pundit, Rachel and myself had noticed in standing back and studying the memorial.

1. The Memorial is in FACT a crescent shape, the part where the inscriptions end open up into a single flat piece which arcs around in a perfect crescent shape.

2. There is a hole in the direct center of the crescent which allows the sun to shine down on the piece of steel from the World Trade Center. This hole is in the EXACT spot where the star would be.

3. The upper point of the crescent which if you were looking at it from above, is ligned EXACTLY with the direction in which Mecca would be.

Others have said they dont see the crescent shape..I strongly DISAGREE...its THERE, and its obvious in its subtlety.

Barbara then asked me if I had a message to New Yorkers. I said, "Yes I do, The american people are behind you, we stand in support of your suffering and America loves you" As I said this I got a little choked up...the whole day was closing in on me and the emotion was at a high at that time.

All in all a great day. Pictures can be found over at Flight Pundit. Macker also took a lot, watch for an update when he posts them.