March in New York tomorrow...

[Blue_State_Elitist]

I'm attending the march tomorrow, but I've been thinking about the lack of effectiveness of these demonstrations as a result of simply having too many messages displayed at once. Certainly labor, immigration, peace, women's rights, civil rights etc. are all important issues, but how effective is a march that includes a myriad of people who are concerned with so many issues? Honestly, how serious does it make us look when someone with an anti-war banner marches along side someone with a "Free Mumia" banner?

Moral high ground aside, how much more effective would a rally simply against the Bush administration be?

[bluestateguy]

1. It's a common problem we have on the Left

I went to some anti war rallies 2 years ago and I was a bit taken aback by the mixed stew of different causes that seemed to be piggy-backing along. People tagged along from groups representing labor rights, socialist activists, environmentalists, "Free Mumia", feminist causes and I could have sworn I even saw some animal rights signs.

On the right, if you go to an anti-abortion rally, it's an anti-abortion rally. If you go to a gun rights rally, it's a gun rights rally. They are much more disciplined with the articulation of their message.

[IntravenousDemilo]

2. April in Toronto the day after. May both places on Monday. June soon.

:)

[OKDem08]

3. not to diminsh the importance of the cause; however, it will

prob pale in comparison to the May 1 nationwide immigrant protest

[bananas]

4. I hope you realize that DU is not an "anti-war" board

In fact, if you advocate for only "anti-war" candidates, you will get banned, because most Dems are not anti-war, and one of the major DU rules is to be "generally supportive" of Dem candidates. Long-time DUers like Walt Starr left DU because their opposition to the war outweighed party loyalty.

So if you are "anti-Bush" - why? Is it because innocent people like Mumia have been in jail for decades without a fair trial? Or is it because you are anti-war and would vote for an anti-war Republican like Ron Paul or Walter Jones instead of a pro-war Democrat? If you advocate for an anti-war candidate like Ron Paul or Walter Jones here you will get tombstoned.

Do you have any principles other than being anti-war? Are you just anti-this-war or anti-all-war? Are you an advocate of justice for all or are you just against this particular president?

I hope you realize that most Dems in the House just voted for the Iran War.
The vote was 391-27, if you are just anti-war then you either don't belong at DU or you should spend some time trying to convince Skinner et al that the war is wrong.

edit: Oops, my mistake, the vote was 397-21.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1052802

[npincus]

5. I agree, but wil be attending anyway.

[bklyncowgirl]

6. I'll be the one with the big 'AXIS OF INSANITY SIGN'

Gotta put the finishing touches on it now.

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. Those are some of the reasons they are ineffective...

but they are minor. The more important question is :"Who's even going to know that we marched?" Local TV news will give it about 15 seconds, if that. Broadcast networks will ignore it entirely. I can't speak for cable.

Even people in Manhattan won't know we're there since we're starting below midtown ( the people in Manhattan on Saturday are in Midtown, for the most part.)and marching to downtown, Foley Square.

There's no one *IN* Foley Square on Saturday.

We should move on from the DEMO thing to more effective ways of influencing policy: responsible consumerism, targeted buying, boycotts, etc.

Yes, I will march today but there must be more effective ways to oppose this war.

Re. rally: splinter message people will attend a rally also.