I think these marches

[hippywife]

are viewed as no more than a temporary inconvenience by the powers that be. I think what it's going to take is a massive march and long-term encampment. But they know it would be difficult to pull off. We're living paycheck to paycheck so that would be impossible for us to do even though the spirit is willing.

I wonder if UFPJ has thought about an encampment? Folks can rotate in and out as they are able and it would give more folks a chance to participate who may not be able to on a certain date. People who can afford it could sponsor those who are unemployed to take up camp and stay, too.

Any thoughts?

[Redstone]

1. Remember when TEN MILLION PLUS people marched worldwide before the

Iraq war, and bushyboy responded by saying he "doesn't listen to focus groups?"

It's different these days. The ones in charge simply DO NOT CARE what the people think.

Redstone

[hippywife]

2. You don't think it

would make an impact if we just refused to go away? I think if we raised such a clamor on more than one or two days a year and refused to back down instead of going back to our day to day lives, it would give the impression, correctly, that we mean business and aren't going to take this lying down.

Hope you are feeling fine tonight, Redstone! :hi:

[Redstone]

6. Thank you, m'dear; I'm having a pretty good night. And you are correct; if the pressure

was constant like it was in the late '60s, it might make a difference.

Redstone

[John Q. Citizen]

3. I've thought exactly the same thing, hippywife. The government

killed Martin King because he planned a poor peoples march and encampment in DC, with people lobbying their representatives for weeks on end.

Just the thought of it scared the crap out of the man.

This would work, but I'd say wait until late spring so the campers would be a bit happier.

[hippywife]

7. It would take alot of

teamwork and organization. That's why I was thinking of UFPJ and other groups heading it up.

And it would take the determination of the people to stay no matter the weather conditions. When we would stand in protest locally, if it was hot or cold, I would get through by thinking of what the troops and the citizens of Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, etc. were going through and know I could stand there for a few hours of discomfort.

[FogerRox]

4. Occupy the city

[hippywife]

5. Exactly!

But peaceably! :hi:

[babylonsister]

8. I don't know where that might happen; you couldn't even get a bottle

of water during this protest unless you went outside the area. No water, no t-shirts, no buttons, no nada. As DUer Pharoah said, if it had been a pro-war march, perhaps the rules would have been different.

[hippywife]

11. See post #10

where I responded to Warren Stupidity. Same answer applies here.

[NotGivingUp]

14. that's ridiculous! what reason do they give?

[babylonsister]

16. I don't know, but I'd like to . It is ridiculous. This is OUR government,

supposedly. I've read helos weren't allowed to fly over either. Huh? If I knew how to research this, I would.

[NotGivingUp]

17. they want us to think it's our govenment....i'm not falling for it anymore

[Warren Stupidity]

9. Well ok sure but...

how do we get there? What it will take is something on the order of a general strike. To get there we need to build a movement, a mass movement, of millions of people who are ready and willing to act together for political change. These demonstrations are part of that process. Consider them as training for larger actions. Note also that while we had a really big demonstration in DC, at the same time we had many smaller demonstrations all over this country. We do have a national organization and it can mobilize a large number of people and get them to act together. Yes we need many more people. Any suggestions on how to grow the numbers?

[hippywife]

10. That's why I'm thinking

that a national organization should pull it together, such as UFPJ, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace or a coalition of all of them if they're willing.

It would take tons of ground work and organization with teams to provide ground support like food and water, etc. It's been done before and could be done again.

And no one would be required to stay the duration. Folks can rotate in and out.

[tnlurker]

12. My Proposal is

I think that these weekend protest are amounting to a bunch of slight inconvenience to the powers that be. Most of Congress and the President leave town for the protest and most government workers and functions are not interrupted in the least.

What needs to happen is a fifty state protest in all state capitals and major cities in states that have small state capitals (like KY, PA and IL). The protest need to start on a weekday such as a tuesday and people should plan on a couple of days if necessary.

We should include as many truckers with big rigs and farmers with large farm equipment as possible.
The point will be to block the state government offices and major centers of commerce. I mean really inconvenience the work of government and commerce.

Ask everybody to where nearly the same outfit (blue jeans and white shirts or better yet khaki pants and blue shirts). That will show the we can work together and have the same agenda. End the war and hold this government accountable.

[hippywife]

13. That's also a possibility

but would involve lots acts of civil disobedience. I think there are far more people right now to begin with that wouldn't be up for going that far if we are talking a long term situation. Plus arrests tend to dampen a long term goal. Civil disobedience is a good tool but in the right situations. I think if we want bodies in place for a long period of time, it needs to start out and stay legal for as long as it can hold out.

I'm off to bed. Feel free to kick this around for awhile in my absence. You have some good thoughts and the spirit of the idea. :hi:

[OutNow]

15. Maybe It's Time for a rerun of may day 1971

Here's an example to consider.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_May_Day_Protests

I had the pleasure of spending 2 days/nights in the basement of the D.C jail with 40 of my closest friends in a cell built for 6 or 7. Breakfast, baloney sandwich - lunch, baloney sandwich, guess what they served for dinner? When a cell full of people would get too loud the guards would come by and spray them with mace. They must have bought it by the truck load.

On the third day lawyers showed up (the rumor was that they were hired by Ted Kennedy - they were all from Boston) demanding our release, waving judicial orders declaring our arrests to be illegal.

Would I do it again to stop the Iraq War?

Yes.

Bring the troops home now

[EndElectoral]

18. You could be there a month or a day. THe issue is WILL the MEDIA give it genuine coverage!!!!