Keyes Booed At Bud Billiken Parade?!?!?!?

[KharmaTrain]

I've been scanning the papers and the 10:00 news to see if there's a report that I had seen/heard earlier that Alan Keyes was roundly booed throughout the Bud Billiken parade and supposedly reciprocated with various gestures (or what appeared to be them) at various points along the route.

A friend of mine records the parade and is going to watch it back to see if he can cap something...and my wife says she heard ABC reported the booing, but I tuned in at 10 and didn't see anything.

Anyone there or see/hear anything? I need amusement.

[movonne]

1. I read someone on here that had been there and said he didn't

think that Alan Keyes was there.

[w13rd0]

2. wyndycty took pictures...

...didn't see Keyes anywhere, didn't hear of him being there. Maybe he found his way into an Illinois GOP meeting, and got booed there. Either is equally likely.

[KharmaTrain]

3. What I Heard...

A friend of mine was there...out of "camera range"...he said he saw Keyes and Topinka in either a convertible or a car with a large moon/sun roof...supposedly he stuck he head out a couple of times to the crowd and got hooted and went back inside (supposedly making some gestures in the process).

He also did mention the loud ovation Obama got all along the route. He's been to this parade since for 40 years and hadn't seen that kind of reaction since the Harold Washington days. He joked that "if the brothers were gonna stay home a couple months ago, Obama's speech and now Keyes is the best thing to happen since the 80's".

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. Today's Tribune has an article on it.

Not many at the parade supported Keyes, which supposedly surprised him.

[KharmaTrain]

5. Not Supported? On King Drive? Duh! LOL!

While this parade isn't anywhere near as rowdy as the St. Pat's parade...(I've seen them boo the weathermen for the rain)...there's a difference between "not supporting" and booing. Gotta love the Tower spin...LOL.

Now when do we hear the words..."gaining exceptance"...LOL!

That article by Roeser in yesterday's Sun-Times was a hoot! Somehow making heroes out of all these morons. Is this what happens when one drinks too much well water???

[JimT]

6. Duh!

Yes. Read about the booing in the paper this morning. Hilarious! Did the GOP really think he would be easily accepted because of his color? Are they that out of touch? Or is there some brilliant strategic plan at play here that is not obvious to me?

[barb162]

7. amusement you say?

the conservatives are angry that the Trib reported the booing...that if three people, you know THREE WHOLE PEOPLE booed, then that is the Trib's "ugly" reporting style and they will be calling/writing the paper about this.

Actually my favorite part of the Trib report was where the lady with an Obama sign yelled at Keyes. Teehee.

[barb162]

8. a few paragraphs from the SunTimes

Newly chosen Republican candidate Keyes marched with a small group of supporters, stopping to shake hands with the sea of people who were there to see 200 floats and several thousand participants over the course of six hours.

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Obama's float passed.

"Tell Obama he's got our vote 'cause he's a Democrat and I like his principles and his values, and he's got a strong family core," said Lastagia Roberson, 28, of Springfield.

"Besides being very charismatic, his background and his stands speak for itself," said Chuck Arceneaux, 48, of Richton Park. "I think he'd be a fine representative of the people, not only black people, but all people."

The crowd was mostly quiet and ambivalent toward Keyes, a former presidential candidate and radio and television commentator from Maryland, as he passed. Some booing followed him.

"Tell Alan Keyes to go back to Maryland," said Lena Sullivan, 43, of Carbondale, who was booing. "He's not even from here. He knows nothing about Illinois."

Undaunted, Keyes took the opportunity to hammer at Obama's stand on such issues as gay marriage and abortion.

"He's the extremist. He's the one that seems to be willing to cross every line of conscience for the sake of his ideological position, and it's just wrong," charged Keyes.

[barb162]

9. "Hey, Sambo, go back to Maryland" from the IL Leader

IL Leader on the Billiken parade:

"...But as the crowds grew thicker and Keyes inched closer to a sea of Obama supporters, spectators grew more aggressive in denouncing him. As Keyes tried to shake hands... a woman ran up to him, lifted an Obama sign above her head and screamed repeatedly into Keyes' face: "Obama for president! Obama for president!"


Another man briefly grabbed Keyes' arm and advised Keyes, "Take your back to Maryland."


Yet others were courteous, shaking Keyes' hand and flashing a smile at him. A few requested his autograph, and he obliged in each instance.


More than boos were heard. "You’re a puppet to white people!" shouted one spectator. "You're an Uncle Tom!" yelled another.


A woman held a sign up to Keyes that said, "Hey, Sambo, go back to Maryland."