The real story, National Air and Space Museum closure

[tridim]

I smelled the stank immediately. When a story doesn't make sense, the story is usually wrong.

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/10/08/standoff-in-dc/print

Anti-capitalist protests engulf the nation's capital -- and one American Spectator reporter gets pepper-sprayed.

WASHINGTON -- The fastest-running protesters charged up the steps of Washington's National Air and Space Museum Saturday afternoon to infiltrate the building and hang banners on the "shameful" exhibits promoting American imperialism. As the white-uniformed security guards hurried to physically block the entrances, only a select few -- myself, for journalistic purposes, included -- kept charging forward.

Roughly one hundred protesters marched on the Air and Space Museum Saturday, following a planned assembly held the night before in Freedom Plaza. At that assembly, the "Action Committee" for the protest movement organized by October2011.com suggested storming the museum in order to state their opposition to American militarism, which they perceive as a root cause of the federal deficit. The marchers started out in the early afternoon, and after a roughly half-hour parade through the streets of D.C. they reached their target. As the museum doors approached, all of a sudden liberal shoes started marching less forcefully, and the crowd split into two factions -- those rushing the doors, and those staying behind.

After sneaking past the guard at the first entrance, I found myself trapped in a small entranceway outside the second interior door behind a muscle-bound left-wing fanatic and a 300-pound guard. The fanatic shoved the guard and the guard shoved back, hard, sending this comrade -- and, by domino effect, me -- sprawling against the wall. After squeezing myself out from under him, I sprinted toward the door. Then I got hit.

snip

But as far as anyone knew I was part of this cause -- a cause that I had infiltrated the day before in order to mock and undermine in the pages of The American Spectator -- and I wasn't giving up before I had my story. Under a cloud of pepper spray I forced myself into the doors and sprinted blindly across the floor of the Air and Space Museum, drawing the attention of hundreds of stunned khaki-clad tourists (some of whom began snapping off disposable-camera portraits of me). I strained to glance behind me at the dozens of protesters I was sure were backing me up, and then I got hit again, this time with a cold realization: I was the only one who had made it through the doors. As two guards pointed at me and started running, I dodged a circle of gawking old housewives and bolted upstairs.

snip

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/10/08/standoff-in-dc/print

Thanks to Mr. Pitt for posting this on Facebook.

[leveymg]

1. I'll betya Patrick Howley made that whole thing up. Little neocon dweeb going for a Stephen Glass

Award for pseudo-journalism or a broken skull James O'Keefe Prize as a political provocateur. Little shit stain on an ass wipe Right-wing magazine.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Not exactly

This is a report from one guy who likely suffered brain damage from being pepper sprayed.

The protest at the air and Space Museum had been planned for months. I'm on the email list. This is the 10th anniversary of the war on Afghanistan. It just happened to coincide with OSW, which came about long after anti-war groups began planning their events. David Swanson has even posted about the protests here on DU.

[leveymg]

3. I mean his own reported role in the incident.

I guess it just goes to prove, Rightwing shit-stains just run faster.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. LOL How could I forget?

They do run fast. And spell poorly :)