Yep, folks, this is my hometown area once again. Down here in the Triangle, we support the justice system by dragging innocent young men with solid alibis through a year-long rape case while hiding exculpatory evidence. And, we support the troops with cans of spray paint!
Police charged five protesters on Friday during the second demonstration in a month outside the new Army recruiting station.
"We thought it was important to not have this recruiting station open quietly," said Emily McFarlane, a UNC-Chapel Hill junior who helped organize the protest at the Army Career Center, 1502 E. Franklin St.
Quiet is was not:
In addition to the protests, two government cars parked outside the recruiting station were vandalized with spray painted messages, "Go home!" on one and "Not welcome!" on the other.
"Go home," troops that we totally support. You're "not welcome," good men and women of the armed services, whose service we appreciate so sincerely even though we don't necessarily support your mission in Iraq. Riiight. Tell me more about it.
And, the Chamber of Commerce, which holds a ribbon-cutting ceremony for any new member that requests it, wussed out of this one, citing safety concerns posed by thuggish lefties.
The troops can face down IEDs in Iraq, but the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce can't handle a handful of SDSers and "Raging Grannies" to come out and show support for them? Lame.
Of course, it's not as it campus lefties have a reputation for utterly "peaceful" protests, but a bit of backbone in the face of these thugs would be much appreciated and much applauded by the mostly silent majority of sane people in the Triangle.
Luckily someone had some backbone. Check out the classy side of this protest:
I think I may take some cookies over to Franklin Street while I'm home for Christmas. I'm sure the folks working in those recruiting centers would be glad to find that there are many people in the Triangle who think they're more than welcome in our town.Veteran Al Meyer, 86, came from his home in Hillsborough to support the new station.
"I just wanted to let [the protesters] know there are other people around who don't share their opinion," said Meyer, who served for eight years in the Mighty Eighth Air Corps in England.
"There are so many nations that don't like us anymore," he said. "We've got to be strong and take actions people don't like, and make sure we still have a good ol' USA."
Chapel Hill anti-troops flashback, courtesy of Michelle Malkin. The newspaper didn't run any pictures of this most recent vandalism. Anyone back home got pictures? Send them along if you do.
And, people wonder how I became conservative. Sheesh.
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