A brief update on President Bush's visit to Fargo, ND on Thursday. The entire family took the day off as a field trip.
We listened to the radio on the way to Fargo - got the play-by-play update as to who was where, when the plane was due into Hector Airport, roads blocked, etc.
The car was parked and we waited on the 12th Avenue Bridge - Air Force One came right over the bridge when the President came in for his previous visit. Well, not this time. The plane came in from the north. Everyone back to the car.
My husband drove up as close as he could get to the Bison Sport's Arena (THE venue). The kids and I jumped out - hoping for a glimpse of a car, SUV or whatever was being used for transport. No such luck, but we did get a great look at various individuals exercising their first amendment rights - freedom of speech. Wow - probably my favorite was a hippy-era woman carrying a sign with a hand-drawn cannabis plant and text that said something like "at least I don't smoke cocaine." No, she doesn't (according to her hand-written testimony), but she appeared to have utilized the depicted plant. The kids were troubled by the protestors' shouting, but we are studying the constitution in our homeschool and I reminded them that it was everyone's right to say what they wished, as long as it doesn't harm others.
OK, back to the race to see SOMETHING. To the car - oh yeah, this entire time I was in contact with my Dad, who was inside the arena - we couldn't get tickets, only 7,000 available. We zoomed up to the airport and saw where the plane was parked - TOO COOL! It sure beats George Washington's first official vehicle (can you tell that we are studying early American history?). He had a canary yellow carriage drawn by white horses that were brushed with marble dust, hooves blacked, and their teeth cleaned before every outing - George might have had a tooth fetish.
We were able to get a great view of Air Force One taking off. No matter your political affiliation - we still had the privilege of seeing the President of the United States come to Fargo, ND.
Oh yes - the title of this entry. Well, on the 5 o'clock news we watched the blow-by-blow coverage. It turns out that as the attendees were leaving the arena there was a scuffle between the various protestors and supporters. No one is sure who started it, but people started shouting at one other (still freedom of speech) but then it went bad. To paraphrase the newspaper (The Forum) and the television coverage - snowballs were thrown, the police were called, but no arrests were made. BIG NEWS, thank you very much, for Fargo.
Before you start making fun - think about what horrifying crime led your newscast on Friday evening and then know why we are thankful for the tame (usually), but amusing headlines here.
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