Final details for Sept. 15 march and meetup -- please read and sign in!

[SharonRB]

On Friday night, September 14, we will be having a DU meetup at the Hawk & Dove:

7 p.m. - whenever
329 Pennsylvania Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20003
202-543-3300

The closest Metro stop is Capitol Hill South. It's just a few block from the Metro.

Since no one from DC has suggested a meeting place for the march, I've made an executive decision with my daughter, who lived in DC for a number of years.

Let's start meeting at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday at the corner of 15th St. and I, which is at the NE corner of Lafayette Park. We will have the DU banner with us, which is a long vertical banner that is purple, yellow and white.

Please indicate here or in the thread in the DC forum if you will be attending the meetup and/or joining us for the march.

Hope to see lots of DUers there!

[bluethruandthru]

1. My husband and I will be at the march but

I don't think we can make the meet up. See you there!

[Oilwellian]

2. Hi Sharon, thanks for the heads up

I'm just coming up for the day on Saturday so won't be able to make the meetup on Friday night, and I'm not sure we'll be hitting D.C. before 12:30pm. If I can't get there before everyone starts marching, I'll be sure and look for the DU banner and hook up with you all sometime during the day.

Here's a video I did from pics posted on DU from the last rally. The second half is the best part and hopefully it'll get you psyched for next weekend. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ4ucbx45vg

[SharonRB]

4. Hope to meet you at some point.

[spiderpig]

3. Mr. catnapper and I will be at the Friday night meetup.

I don't think he'll march on Saturday, but I sure will!

[SharonRB]

5. I look forward to seeing you again

:hi:

[stuntcat]

6. I'm most likely/almost definitely going :)

:hi: :hi: :hi:

[Marrah_G]

7. Hi Sharon!

You should post in GD also.

My daughter and I are coming down on an A.N.S.W.E.R bus from Boston. I will try and find the DU Banner.

This is our first time going to one of these and we don't know anyone, seeing the DU banner will be a welcome site.

[SharonRB]

8. GD drops so fast!

But now that it's a day before I leave, I'll post it there.

Thanks -- hope you find us.

[bdamomma]

9. oh you guys I wish I was going, I will be with you in spirit!!

take care and yell for me, THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!!!! be careful too.

[EFerrari]

10. I'm jealous! Go forth and kick @ss!

:applause:

[SharonRB]

17. We'll miss you sfexpat!

[Marrah_G]

28. Awwww

Wish you were going my friend.

[stuntcat]

11. 15th St. and I, the NE corner of Lafayette Park.

I'm looking at Metro maps to plan getting there and the maps say that H is the street next to Lafayette Park! So I'll try to get there early so I can look for the banner, but look out for me, I'll be the one who looks lost, I think I'll wear a purple shirt :hi:

[VolcanoJen]

14. Love your profile, stuntcat!

"Fighty Buttholes." ;-)

See you in DC!

[stuntcat]

20. The Fighty..

WHY do they come to a site full of Democrats to pick fights?
Well at least since I came here I don't have to see people telling how safe GWB is making us.

I'll see you Saturday :D

[SharonRB]

15. On the map I looked at, I thought the park went all the way to I

I picked an outside corner so we'd be easier to find. If it's not part of the park, it might be even better -- it won't be as crowded. I got no help from the DC people when I tried to find a spot.

[stuntcat]

19. ooooo, we'll all find each other!

the banner will help too.
I'm in Arlington but I'm lost in my own neighborhood, so when I go into DC I'm even more lost than the rest of the tourists :+

How far away do you live? I've wished I could invite people to stay at my house when this stuff goes on but I don't know anyone well enough and my husband might get freaked out anyway.. although I have had internet friends come visit before! When I see people saying they're coming down or up from far away to join in this I just hope they have a cheap place to stay.

[SharonRB]

21. I live in Michigan

I'm flying into DC tomorrow with another DUer from here (livvy) and one of her friends. Livvy and I always go to marches together. It's her friend's first.

We're staying at the Capitol Hill Suites. It's very convenient to where the marches are.

See you in DC.

[bottomofthehill]

22. Also close to the Hawk and Dove

[SharonRB]

23. Exactly!

It's really easy to walk everywhere we need to go.

[Puregonzo1188]

12. I'll be going with some people from school, but won't be at any DU meetups, however,

the last email I got from impeachbush.org had an article from the Washington Post which quotes ANSWER as expecting 10,000 people. Having been to antiwar protests in the past few years with as many as several hundred thousand, this seems like a low number to me. Does anyone know why they are only expecting 10,000 paticulary considering how well advertised this march has been?

[SharonRB]

16. I sure hope it's a lot more than that

I've only been to marches with hundreds of thousands. It will be very disappointing if it's only 10,000. I do notice that it doesn't seem like as many DUers are going this time as usually go. Maybe it's because of the march going on at the end of the month. I may have picked the wrong one to go to.

[indythinker1776]

25. I was at the march in March.

Answer had between 10,000 and 12,000 people. That was abut 6 weeks after the Jan and the weather was horrible. I’m expecting a lot more this time.

[VolcanoJen]

13. I'll be there Sharon!

Not sure if I'll make it to DC before the meetup Friday ends, but I'll try for certain!

Will look for you and the banner near Lafayette... it would be an honor to march with my DU brethren.

Peace, and see everyone in DC!

[rox63]

18. I'm now in DeeCee!!!!

I'm spending a few extra days in town to do the tourist thing. I'm very hopeful that I'll be at the meetup Friday night, as long as I'm not totally exhausted by my daytime tourist stuff on Friday. I'm staying at a hotel in Thomas Circle. McPherson Square is the nearest Metro stop. What's the best way to get to the Hawk and Dove via the Metro?

Rox

[SharonRB]

24. The closest Metro stop is at Capitol Hill South

Check a map to see where it is from there. It's just a few blocks.

[stuntcat]

34. omg I'm a dummy today

I saw this message and didn't realize it was about Friday night, then today I got off the Metro at Capital South to get to the rally. So I walked all the way and didn't make it to Lafayette Park until noon.
I feel so dumb, I'm sorry I didn't get to see people :(

[indythinker1776]

26. When is the Rally?

Is the rally at Lafayette Park before the march or at the Capitol after? On the ANSWER web site it says a permitted rally will take place at the same as the die in. The WP says the official rally is from 12 - 1:30 at Lafayette parks. Does anyone know for sure?

[leftupnorth]

27. Mrs leftpnorth and I arrived in DC about 24 hours ago.

We noticed riding the Metro that it was running until 2 am friday because they expected extra heavy use, they say it's for a football game and Effi Barry's funeral, but who knows for sure?

We probably won't see you at the Hawk and Dove, we're such non conformists we don't even conform to non conformity. :D

Anyway, we'll be marching. Maybe we'll see you anyway!

Also, there is expected delays on the metro red green and orange lines.

http://www.wmata.com/about/met_news/story.cfm?ID=1468

Leave early, stay late folks!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

29. joining for hte march

[stuntcat]

30. :party:

:party: yay!

[tomg]

31. Ca't make the meetup but

my wife, son and I will be there on Saturday. Thanks for the info.

[rox63]

32. It was great meeting everyone last night

See you all at Lafayette Park in a little bit. :patriot:

[stuntcat]

33. pics :D

I'm gonna look at my pictures and post some but I have to lay around a while first. I couldn't find the DU'ers because when I came up from the Metro I went for the first crowd I could find and it was the pro-war crowd x( hearing their BS started pissing me off but then I started going the right way and in a while found people with signs. I couldn't find the DU'ers, I couldn't tell if there was a march going on or who to listen to either. I'm always kinda lost but I feel so dumb about today, I don't know why I thought I could make it without a map!

[VolcanoJen]

35. Don't feel bad!

When I got off the subway at Farragut, I was really lost too. I was disappointed because I thought I'd see marchers, and started thinking the whole thing was a huge bust. By the time I finally figured out where Lafayette Park was, I was blown away by the enormous crowd!!! Never could find the DUers because I was back too far, probably right in the middle of the march.

It was really a great march, very peaceful on a very beautiful day. It was awesome to talk to all the people around. It didn't get hairy until we reached the pro-war folks, who were complete asses with one goal: confrontation. For the most part, peace marchers just kept walking, but the pro-war gang would yell out horrible things just trying to get marchers pissed off. That part of the march was weird... but encouraging, because there weren't very many of them, and there were tens of thousands of us!!

I'll write more about my experiences when I'm back home, and post some of our photos. I love you guys and I'm sorry we couldn't find each other!!

[stuntcat]

36. oh I missed the marching completely :(

I didn't even know if it happened. I couldn't tell which way to go so after I was at the rally a couple of hours I called my husband to come pick me up. I'm always kinda confused but yesterday I maybe shouldn't have even been out on my own lol! But every single body who shows up is important I think, that's why I have to always go to this stuff.

The pro-war people made me sicker than ever this time, repeating "freedom" over and over and calling people communists, they're just scared dummies who want to fight.

:hug: :party:

[Marrah_G]

39. oops wrong spot n/t

[SharonRB]

37. I'm so sorry you didn't find us.

We had me, livvy and her friend, rox63 and her frend, Skinner, EarlG, JohnnyBlitz, and catnapper starting from our meeting spot and we found FogerRox right after we started out and then Hugh Beaumont. Somewhere along the way we lost rox and her friend and then Skinner, EarlG, JohnnyBlitz and Hugh Beaumont. By the time we got to the Capitol, it was just me, FogerRox, livvy and her friend and catnapper and then we lost her, too.

I wish the other DUers had found us.

[stuntcat]

38. dang!

next time then :headbang:

[Marrah_G]

40. Sorry we missed you guys

I was off helping ANSWER with security for the vets most of the time and the time I did have to wander around I couldn't find you all to say hello. My daughter got some great shots (from a safe spot) of the cops coming down the stairs. It really un-nerved her and she is now throwing herself into the anti-war movement with a new passion.

I'll post what we have for pictures later today (if I can figure out how to do it).

I somehow managed to tune out the anti-war folks. I was the right side front corner around the VFP area and at one point I did ask the big guy next to me to swap places when it got a little scary. There were some Arab-American kids in monitor shirts walking ahead of the march and they got into a few scuffles before people convinced them that the pro-war types just weren't worth it. Then there was some incident with the coffin on the other side but I couldn't really see. The Pro-war side looked like they came directly from the Springer show and desperately wanted to throw a chair. I thought the police did a pretty good job keeping the peace during the march part.

The scariest part was trying to keep people from stepping on the "dead" vets on the walkway. It was like herding cats and I was nervous that the cops might use gas and people would run over the folks lying down.

All in all I think it went really great and I am looking forward to the next rally in Boston in October.