The Obama/Corzine Protest

Hah, this is my first protest since the early 90's in Romania. It was a fun day at the park, and probably the first political event I went to this year where I actually felt old. 90% of the protesters were college kids, so it was a cool atmosphere. We met at the Holmdel Park, and right when we were ready to start marching, someone brought us some passes and we drove to the official parking lot. There we "commandeered" about 3 shuttle buses, so we got bused in on Corzine's expense. It was funny how on our bus also go 3 Obamaniacs, and otherwise it was all College Republicans, so they might've felt quite awkward.



We regrouped on the big lawn in fron of the entrance, and the Dems were very polite, they didn't shoul at us, actually they all seemed mostly surprised and confused. As if they couldn't concieve that there are people who don't like their chosen one, and they even dared come on their turf. After spending some time there, the state troopers starting gathering around, and told us the Obama rally is a "no-free-speech" zone (they used different words, actually), so we started walking slowly through the stunned crowds. There were different groups of protesters moving around, with anti-Corzine, anti-socialism signs, or with the yellow "Don't Tread On Me" flags, when we were together I'd say we were almost 100 people.





Next stop was by the VIP entrance, but after a while the state troopers came again and told us we're blocking the walkway. Even better, apparently they had set up a "designated protest area", which was way back in the woods, a mile from the ArtsCenter. They wer enever physically violent, but they were verbally agressive, up until the Asbury Park Press came and started taking pictures of them, so they offered a compromise: we can stay there, but we can't block the walkway. Actually, we spent the next half hour talking to various reporters from all the local news outlets and posing for their cameras.




After the 5 (five) "Marine One" helicopters flew over, we moved back to the main road, waiting for the Big O, but he never came, so once we heard commotion inside the arena we figured he sneaked through. On my way back through the back roads, I actually figured out the secret access way, we went around on Holland and Telegraph Hill road, and used the back entrance behind the big satelite dishes.




It was a very peaceful protest, nothing spectacular, and it's great we showed his irrational fans that there still are people in this country who don't like him and who believe in "free speech".