An Ugly Message on Parade
Chiquita is at the Breakfast Table
Good Morning, Breakfastpoppers. Today is Wednesday, September 17, 2014. Our noisy, but beloved friend, Cicada Chiquita, is at the breakfast table this morning. She spent last week-end in New York City and she was extremely dismayed to witness the Muslim Day Parade. Chiquita has asked for the pleasure of your company this morning. She has created a breakfast pizza for your enjoyment. I have created 1,000 Bloody Marys to add to the meal. Please join us at the table. Chiquita is anxious to tell you what she witnessed.
Everyone Loves a Parade!
Thank you all for meeting with me this morning. I strolled over to Madison Avenue in New York City expecting to do some window shopping. Instead I discovered that I had stumbled into the site of the 29th annual Muslim Day Parade. This is the first time I watched this parade. I have no idea where I was the last 28 years, but I can say for certain that it wasn't at this event. Let me cut to the chase, I did not appreciate what I saw. I can say with complete candor that I felt horrified and afraid by the images that paraded before me. You might want to slug down a bit of your Bloody Mary about now, because I believe you will react as I did when I tell you what transpired.
Where Were the Clowns?
The big parade began with representation from the NYPD and a group of Girls Scouts from New Jersey. The girls were in full Muslim garb, but the NYPD were not! People watching the parade were waving the black flags of jihad. Things took an even uglier turn when a float went by that depicted a hanging. Sip your breakfast drink! A mannequin on the float was dangling from a noose. The mannequin was draped in the flag of Egypt. Do you get the picture? The Girls Scouts, not in uniform, were marching along with a float depicting a hanging. Do they earn a merit badge for participating? The float wasn't fancy. It was simply a pickup truck with 'Free Egypt" symbols normally associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. It was adorned with pictures of the riots of 2011. How upbeat and uplifting? Don't you just love a parade? A contingent of women and children dressed from head to toe in yellow garb followed the floating truck or is that the truck posing as a float?
Not Your Normal Float
Adding to the celebration was a float named "Pharaoh's Chariot." The "float" was really just a small cart carrying a man dressed in a military uniform. I have no idea whose military he was supposed to represent. He kept cracking a whip. Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood dragged the man and the cart down Madison Avenue. There was also the delightful addition of men dressed in black carrying sticks as they walked beside the cart. It was reported that before the "parade" began these same men in black were seen holding extremely realistic weapons that were actually toy replicas of guns.
It Should Have Rained
Given the hanging, the Muslim Brotherhood, the military depiction and the whole feel of the event, perhaps the NYPD or the mayor should have gone further than to stop the participants from carrying toy guns. Perhaps they should have stopped them from marching. It wouldn't be politically correct to do so in the minds and hearts of some, but it would have resonated as honest in the minds and hearts of many. This is America. We don't worship the Muslim Brotherhood and our Girls Scouts wear uniforms adorned with merit badges. We don't think the depiction of a hanging is cool. We do our best to be civilized and fair, but this event made a mockery of all we stand for. It should have rained on this parade.....
Chiquita's Song
I'm Chiquita Cicada
And I'm here to say
I wish the rain
Had washed the parade away.