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Archives for 09/24/2005 - 09/24/2005

Saturday, September 24, 2005

More than 100,000 people

Posted by on September 24 at 5:16 PM

That’s the figure the nightly news is reporting for the march here in D.C., which means the protest organizers hit their goal. And the Washington Post says 150,000 to 200,000, which means they more than hit their goal.

Meanwhile, the networks and the cable news shows seem to be essentially ignoring the march and focusing on Hurricane Rita. We’ll see what the major papers do tomorrow. This was a huge march, and Rita was not as huge a hurricane as expected. It would seem a mistake, then, to ignore 150,000 people marching on the nation’s capitol — not to mention the people marching in Seattle and elsewhere around the world — especially when the marches concern a war that is the major news story of the last three years.

Buck Fush

Posted by on September 24 at 3:34 PM

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The calm after the storm.

So, the Seattle march has officially ended. (And by officially, I mean I overheard the die-hard, “Buck Fush” stickered couple next to me sigh, “So, ready to go?”) Westlake Center has returned to, well, Westlake Center—home to fat bottomed shoppers. I have to say that on the whole I’m impressed. Westlake Center was packed. I’d guess 3,000 people. We’ll see what the cops say tomorrow.

The Veterans of Peace closed the event, emphasizing the need for young people interested in joining the service to get objective information as to what they are getting themselves into before enlisting.

Linda Averill, Socialist city council primary candidate, was spotted thanking Seattleites “for the 12,000 votes.”

Full Force

Posted by on September 24 at 3:26 PM

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In the middle of the fray.
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Just when I, the lowly news intern, thought I was alone, I realized I was in the eye of the storm. The marchers, 3,000? have returned from the federal building, and they are here in full force chanting and waving pompoms, fists, and peace signs. A “Cindy Serves the Prince of Peace” sign just went by in the hands of a middle-aged woman, along with a “Bring Our Troops Home” banner.

There are drums, there is a giant white dove puppet made from a sheet and most of all there are excited, friendly people sending an unabashed message against the war in Iraq. The first bullhorn has been spotted in the hands of a makeshift drill-squad performing an anti-war cheer.

So far, the only opposition to the protest was demonstrated by two blonde-haired, big bottomed shoppers who shouted, “GO BUSH!” a few times as they passed by me. I was about to retaliate when a man on a bicycle did the job.

Empty Square, Busy Streets

Posted by on September 24 at 2:44 PM

Westlake Center is now essentially empty. Just a minute ago the square was crowded and now a small band stands alone on the stage. The march has begun. The crowd, spanning 4-6 blocks, are on their way to the Federal Building. As a testament to the silence an elderly woman holds a white 3x5 index card with “No War” written in ballpoint pen.

The Rants (and the Rents) Against the War

Posted by on September 24 at 2:24 PM

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Above the bicycle cops a stilt-walker creates a quiet display.


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No bullhorns, but we’ve got her.


While Eli surveys the protest in the heart of our nation’s capital, I (the lowly Stranger news intern) am surveying a little piece of the day’s action here at Westlake Center. So far, our own peace demonstration appears to be defying the typical Seattle protest stereotype. Instead of the familiar melee of gas masks, angsty rebels, and teens in black spandex with unwashed hair selling bongs and anarchy patches, today about 3,000 protestors have shown up including respectable grown ups (boasting a bouquet of signage from “Impeach Bush” posters made in bulk to homemade banners exclaiming “OUT, OUT, NOW!”); small children (with tiny homemade anti-war vests); and a great turnout of the rarely sighted family unit.

Caskets on Parade

Posted by on September 24 at 2:00 PM

As I wrote that last post, a parade of “caskets” draped in American flags was passing by. In the past, these types of casket demonstrations have had one casket for each American soldier killed in Iraq.

There are close to 2,000 American soldiers now dead from the Iraq war. I’ve been sitting at this window for about 20 minutes, and the caskets are still passing by outside.

Huge

Posted by on September 24 at 1:55 PM

Ok, this march is huge. I just disappeared into a Starbucks for an hour to write that last post, and to eat something, and when I reemerged I expected to tag on to the tail end of the march, or to walk the empty march route back to the Washington Memorial. Instead, I found myself still in a sea of people stretching ahead and behind me as far as I could see. The march has now been going on for four hours, and I keep falling further and further back in it as I duck out for various reasons, and there’s still no end.

I’m no expert in crowd estimations, but if there’s not more than 100,000 people here I would be very surprised. I’d actually guess 200,000 or more.

All that was needed was 100,000 people coming out today in order to create a bigger anti-war protest than any held here since the Iraq war began, and perhaps bigger than any in D.C. in a long time. If they’ve hit that number, that’s one more step toward this being viewed as a major turning point.

(Also difficult to count: The number of Starbuckses along the march route, which makes it quite easy for me to march and slog, march and slog, march and slog…)

This is What the Protest Movement Looks Like

Posted by on September 24 at 12:28 PM

I had planted myself at what I was told would be the head of the D.C. march, only to find that the march had many heads, or at least many people with many ideas about where the head of the march should be. And of course, each one of these people seemed to have a bullhorn.

Cindy Sheehan, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, et al were supposed to lead off the march, followed by the Gold Star Families for Peace, including Lynn Bradach. But because some of the marchers had other ideas, this is what the protest movement looked like at around 12:30 today: Native Americans against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other such groups marching off in one direction, while the military families, Al Sharpton, and others prepared to march in a different direction.

At one point I saw Jesse Jackson and Cindy Sheehan bust through a line of police horses and into a police car, so that they could be whisked up ahead of the anarchists and Palestinian nationalists and anti-IMF protesters who had taken the lead. They never did make it to the actual front, but Jesse and Cindy did manage to charge in and create a nice moment for the press gathered in front of the White House. Around them, a strange scene unfolded, often seeming more like the WTO protests than an anti-war march.

I waited at the White House for Lynn and the Gold Star moms to pass. By then they were stuck in the middle of the march, outflanked by the anarchists, outmaneuvered by Jesse and Cindy, but still full of rage. They finally arrived, stopped in front of the White House, held up pictures of their dead sons, and chanted: “Not one more.”

Candle Wax and Nice Weather

Posted by on September 24 at 6:36 AM

Hello from D.C. I am sitting at the epicenter of latte liberal organizing, a Starbucks at the corner of 14th and G Street. The view from here allows me to report with certainty: “Vermont Says No To The War.”

Last night I went to a vigil at the new Camp Casey, set up just across the street from the Washington Monument. The original Camp Casey, close followers of the news will recall, was set up outside president Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, this summer by Cindy Sheehan, who ignited the movement of anti-war military families now heading up today’s march on the capitol.

I saw Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, last night before the vigil. She was wearing a rainbow tie-died shirt and jean shorts, and is much taller in person than she appears on television. She is also much stronger than she appears—workman legs, toned arms, firm jaw. She was being swarmed by people who wanted her picture, or her autograph, and left the camp quickly, perhaps a victim of her new celebrity.

The vigil drew several hundred people and smelled of candle wax and the melting plastic cups that shielded the candle-flames. It also smelled of carnations and roses, which the people at the vigil delivered, in a short procession across the mall, to the Vietnam Memorial. Joan Baez appeared just before the procession began (and just after “Taps” was played by a giant anti-war Marine who would not give his name to the crowd). Baez sang “Amazing Grace,” and then at the Vietnam Memorial she kneeled, pressed her palm and forehead against the wall of names, and perhaps cried. I couldn’t tell for sure. There was a lot of crying, and if the sobs I heard weren’t from Baez, then they were from the giant Marine or the aging Veterans Against the War or the Gold Star moms.

This morning the Metro was filled with people carrying protest signs, and now the city feels as if it is filling up with them too. The weather is perfect for marching—light cloud cover, light breeze, no blazing sun (yet). How big will it be? We’ll know shortly. I am off to meet up with Lynn Bradach, the Gold Star mom from Protland who I recently profiled in The Stranger, and I’ll return to a wireless connection when possible.