There are two types of people in the world, those who respond to taunts by chanting “Sticks and stones may break my bones, etc” – and those who just answer back with a punch in the nose.
McAlester, Oklahoma is given to fisticuffs.
Westboro at McAlester (Courtesy Tulsa World)
My adopted home town was the site of a military funeral some months back, at which the aberrant Westboro Baptist Church made an appearance. They are the Kansas knuckleheads who claim each fallen US soldier represents retribution from their god, and each death – they claim – is payback for homosexual behavior in the United States.
There was a loud counter-protest in McAlester that day, and in the ensuing ruckus, someone slashed all the tires on all the Westboro vehicles. Sort of a punch in the nose for their disrespectful shouts. Later, when the group discovered the flats and called around for repairs, no one – not a single McAlester service business – would install a patch. Finally, the group bought all new tires at a store that agreed to a sale, just to get the placard-bearing ying-yangs back on the highway and out of town.
Today, the group tried a protest at the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards, once the wife of vice-presidential hopeful John Edwards. A group of counter-protesters out-shouted the five Westboros in a steady rain.
The so-called church group arrived at the Edwards protest direct from McAlester, where they had staged a second set of shenanigans. Their return appearance was to protest the poor reception they received earlier, but mostly, to protest the tire-slashings. This time, they had to shout over the roaring of motorcycle engines at one location, and at a second designated shout-spot, no one showed up all.
This time, McAlester kept its fists in pocket. With a group of law-enforcement protection, the Westboro banana-heads lamented the fact that no one was there to heckle back, and then slunk out of town.
No doubt McAlester has made an impression on the group, and although vandalism should not be condoned, I’m secretly smirking at the idea of my home town sticking up for itself against a pack of loud-mouthed bullies.