RIGHT-WING DISAPPOINTED BY PEACEFUL IMMIGRATION PROTESTS

Well, Dallas right-wing radio is seriously disappointed that there was no violence and no arrests associated with the 350,000-500,000-person march yesterday on City Hall. Greg Knapp of KLIF 570 this afternoon accused the media of buying in to the march and not reporting incidents of trouble. I heard a biker call in to say he and three others had shown up at 9 a.m. to protest illegal immigration because of economic reasons... oh, and also so they could explain to their kids that law-breaking is not to be tolerated. Well, the biker had lots of ugly stuff about the march to tell. Seems young demonstrators who were near him and his group turned their backs and patted their fannies, all to provoke the bikers!

Greg is incensed that march organizers (as he characterized it) smartened up after seeing and hearing the reactions to the first protests, when the waving of Mexican flags offended, even outraged, many Americans. The NERVE that this time organizers should have distributed 14,000 American flags and programmed marchers to demonstrate their love of the U.S.A.!!! He encourages his listeners to call in to tell him the true story of Sunday, March 9. Heaven forbid that it go down in history as the largest, AND MOST PEACEFUL, of Dallas demonstrations.

As a progressive who has lived in Dallas for 20 years, I find it really, REALLY hard to believe that the Dallas police would put a good face on a bad situation. Dallas cops are, by nature, experience and training, ready to do battle at the slightest provocation. Chief Kunkle may be the font of wisdom and restraint, but he's very new and hasn't had time to reindoctrinate the entire police force.

From my view, this was a triumph of the American experiment. Everyone involved, from the march organizers to the city fathers to the PARTICIPANTS were pledged to adhere to the principles of peaceful, unobstructed expression of speech. And listen, wingers -- these people brought their babies in strollers. They never had any intention except to exercise their right to free expression. Yes, young people are harder to restrain -- but if you're so offended by a pat on the butt, what are you doing being a biker?

Tags: Dallas, immigration march