Tag: protesters

I mean maybe not actually enjoy the loud BOOOOOOO given by 75-100 demonstrators with hate filled resolve, but still feel .. umm I'm not sure.  Its just plain strange, but there was a thrill, perhaps even a weird exhilaration that these people took special notice as I walked through taking their pictures with my cell phone going into the governor's breakfast.  It was like they secretly LOVED [to hate] me.

Perhaps it was the realization that this is all they have.  The signs being carried to object to Snyder's budget, or EFM law or what have you, completely forgotten as the entire cadre of hard core lefties in the Grand Traverse region (from several counties I believe) turned to give me their full attention.  I realized the enjoyment of course as I burst out laughing at them, which made it louder.

Most of these folks were not the typical lefties mind you, they were the area's seasoned veterans who aren't afraid to block a sidewalk, lean on people's private vehicles, and generally prove that the maturity of the hyper liberal mind can be questionable.  As I have said before, I have Democrat friends.  And I know of a few who have even supported my efforts.  These folks in front of the venue holding the yearly affair, were the elite.

Pro-democracy demonstrations represent hope for the future.

Twenty years ago, as a young college student, I was in a public square in Prague, the capital of the former nation of Czechoslovakia, being chased by riot police with dogs and water cannons, along with tens of thousands of other people.

Our group from Calvin College had wandered into the middle of a pro-democracy demonstration, and the communist government was having none of it.

Five months later, back home in Zeeland, I remember standing transfixed in front of a television screen, watching brave Chinese students demand democratic reforms in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Later that fall the world witnessed the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

Forward to 2005, when the new Iraqi government held its first public election. Despite predictions of Muslim disinterest in democracy, millions of people joyfully walked miles to cast their ballots, then proudly displayed their ink-stained hands after voting.

And this week, in the streets of Tehran, the human hunger for freedom and self-rule continued to manifest itself.

(Read on...)