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| Kansas Hate Group Drowned Out in Oregon |
| 2006-08-28 |
| Man -- this video took my breath away. Seeing is believing. This is a video of the Phelps group showing up at Navy Seal Marc Lee's funeral yesterday in Oregon as Tim King Salem-News.com reveals his being an American in his report and his video as, "The harsh noise of this hate group was drowned out by music from a bagpipe intended to honor the dead, and their efforts accomplished nothing in the way of diminishing the purpose of the day." Watch this video to get the real feeling of the hated so very evident. And, seeing the efforts of Americans like the Patriot Guard that works to protect our military families from this hatred. This is a report of their vial words being spewed at SEAL Marc Lee's funeral. This video needs to be seen. It caused me to get up from my chair at the computer, and step back, watching the scene. God love our veterans and Americans who are giving of their time, to protect families from this kind of hatred. I'm not for media giving these folks attention, but this kind of hatred just has to be viewed to believe. And his revealing that the Phelps are low on money, says, our folks are exhibiting the love and the patience at these funerals that keep additional lawsuits from happening. Print report (HOOD RIVER) - Hood River may not always be the quietest place in Oregon. It is a popular recreational area with plenty of boats on the water, and it is the place where Navy SEAL Marc Lee grew up. It’s also the place where Marc's Memorial was held Saturday, following his recent death in Iraq. But a different kind of noise was in the air, it’s the last noise these people who came to say goodbye to a hero, wanted to hear. A hate group from Kansas that disrupts military funerals drug American flags on the ground, carried anti-American and anti-gay signs, and did their best to harass people. None of the veteran’s whose funerals they picket were selected because they were gay. Margie Phelps is the ringleader of the hate group from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. People say there isn’t much they don’t hate, but they focus on being anti-gay. They claim that American military personnel are only dying in the wars overseas because America condones homosexuality. Yes, the same nation that soundly defeated a recent gay marriage proposal. The morning started peacefully, and at first it looked like the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas might be a no show. That’s what happened the last time they threatened to attend a funeral in Oregon, when Madras, Oregon laid Pf. Thomas Tucker, an Army Airborne Ranger, to rest. But this event was prepared for the possible arrival of the dreaded right wing protestors from Kansas did arrive, a motorcycle group called the Patriot Guard showed up Margie Phelps pelts vets with insults and desecrates flags Along with other motorcycle groups and clubs, they have been making it to all of the northwest military funerals. For a while it looked like the show of force would center on supporting the family of Mark Lee, the reason everybody was there. They come from all backgrounds, most are veterans, and they are serious about supporting the families of those who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They had their work cut out for them, and they had help from the locals. Then the alarm was sounded for uninvited guests. MJ Kesterson is the mom of Blackhawk helicopter pilot Erik Kesterson who was killed in Mosul, Iraq in 2003. She said it was outrageous that anyone would fail to see the sacrifice her son and Marc Lee had made, “They wore those uniforms with pride. I’m extremely proud of my son for serving his country.” And there, waiting to yell her beliefs in the face of everyone was Margie Phelps. As she began singing a mockery of the Navy song, veterans raised the noise level on her. It was something about RPG’s and IOD’s and “die, die die die” sung to Anchors Away. The veterans surrounded the woman ahd held their flags high as they grimaced over the sounds she produced, as offensive and indecent as anything a person could imagine. It sounded like two groups and first and plenty of people, but only about five members of the Westboro Church showed up. The word is that the group is running low on money, they’re traveling less Scowling and yelling insults at the veterans, the Westboro Baptist Church members from Kansas showed their colors and many people said the outward hatred they profess seems contrary to anything like Christianity. Confrontational right down to the last word, Margie Phelps hurled more insults than a bully on an elementary school playground. Any chance of making a sound point was lost as the irrational blabber droned on. As Phelps continued pelting the veterans with insults, she also made a victim of an active duty Army soldier in uniform, “Hey, there’s an Army soldier, rape anybody lately?” My longer than average hair earned the title of “ma’am” when she spoke to me. She called the veterans crybabies and said it was America’s fault that God was killing the servicemen. The video has much of her dialogue and that amounts to a collection of the most whacked out fundamentalist religious values that I’ve ever heard anyone try to lay down. A plan was in place to drown the hate protestors out as the family and official party arrived. Motors revved and even the bagpiper came through to drown out the words of this Midwest hate group. The family arrived and saw little to nothing of Phelps and her band of women with hate signs. They went on to bury Marc Lee without interruption from the unwanted group that was allowed to protest at a distance from where the actual service was held. For many, the protestors are simply baffling. Phelps and her followers come in the wake of the Westboro Church reverend Fred Phelps. Word is he won’t go out in public because it’s too dangerous, imagine that? While they say they like to be in the news, they only show their harsh hateful side and it seems important to expose this small, extreme right wing fundamental religious extremist group for what it is, anything but religious. The harsh noise of this hate group was drowned out by music from a bagpipe intended to honor the dead, and their efforts accomplished nothing in the way of diminishing the purpose of the day. Just click on the title and watch this video. extra hugs and thanks to our military folks for what doing what you do |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #14 Phelps used to be close to Al Gore and a supporter of Gore's political campaigns. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2006-08-28 23:24 |
| #13 Al -- they have to be so many ???? feet away (I foget the number) 500 maybe? But still can be there. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2006-08-28 16:37 |
| #12 I thought a Federal law was passed preventing demonstrations of this type. Aren't these guys breaking the law? Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2006-08-28 14:55 |
| #11 Good God Deacon, you have my sincere sympathies and respect for your self-control. I was almost losing it just watching the video. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2006-08-28 14:15 |
| #10 These Phelpses are no McGovernites. They're a couple of extra steps down the road Pat Robertson was on when he blamed 9/11 on the US's toleration of gays, femnists and liberals. The same spot somewhere on the far side of the circle where the extreme left and the extreme right meet back up in the neighborhood of LaRouche and Farrakhan. |
| Posted by: Unomoter Elmiting6222 2006-08-28 14:10 |
| #9 I've never seen them in person. Thank God they weren't at the funeral for Danny Dietz. |
| Posted by: Jan 2006-08-28 12:41 |
| #8 I've seen them in action in person. I don't know if I could refrain from bashing a few heads if I aee them again. I hopw with all my heart no one has to be subjected to those hate-mongers again. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-08-28 10:08 |
| #7 I feel nauseated after seeing that... harpy. The dignity of the people holding flags and doing their best for the family was something to see though. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2006-08-28 09:04 |
| #6 The group threatened to show up at a New Mexico funeral as well. Never showed. However, unlike the placid green hills of blue Oregon, NM is still the wild west where shoot'n irons are still nearby. Heck the local boys usually shoot it out after the bars close on the weekend just to keep in practice. Got to have something to do. |
| Posted by: Glinert Cromogum8898 2006-08-28 09:03 |
| #5 the have to travel the same roads as the rest of us, and as we know, there's accidents all the time, with people losing their lives here's to hoping these animals are roadkill some day |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-08-28 08:46 |
| #4 When The Cleansing begins, it should begin with this lot. |
| Posted by: Threatch Unons6270 2006-08-28 03:15 |
| #3 The Phelps group is a cult, not a religous organization. See this for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_phelps |
| Posted by: Been There, Done That 2006-08-28 02:46 |
| #2 Is this for real - a fundamentalist religious group demonstrating at the funeral of a local boy-turned-hero whom died in the service of his country during a war/WOT that America is winning??? Can it be - do McGovernites still exist in America and the Dem Party, ala 1972??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-08-28 01:24 |
| #1 Tim Smith later posted: I admit that at Salem-News.com, this thing with the Westboro Baptist Church got a bit personal. It is hard to draw the line on exactly where the role of a media group is with all of this, but as one, if not the only news organization in the country that is primarily staffed and operated by veterans, we feel it is our duty to sound the alarm, because the Westboro Baptist Church will be considered invaders by most people here, and their unsavory behavior is clearly not in OregonÂ’s good public interest. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2006-08-28 01:09 |