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There they are, out on the streets on our behalf, and on behalf of the poor Iraqis, and on behalf of our poor soldiers, dragged back into the hell the Bush Junta has created there, time and again, on multiple tours of duty. I am so grateful to these folks for protesting!
And, PLEASE, don't ever apologize for the size of a crowd at a public protest against great wrongdoing. Even two or three people--and, yes, even just ONE--is an extremely powerful event that ripples through the world with astonishing effects.
"However, the crowd was quite small, only a couple thousand people."
Also, size is relative. A couple of thousand is NOT a small crowd! That's a lot of people willing to put up with a lot of inconvenience--personal arrangements, loss of pay, babysitter costs, transportation, etc., etc.--on activity that's hard and tiring (marching, singing/chanting, holding up signs, for hours), and possibly facing danger, from cops or kooks--and in the certain knowledge that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the Junta don't give a crap. I value every one of them. And as I said, only one--only one!--out there in public holding a sign against this heinous regime and its heinous war, earns my reverence. Protesting is a sacred act. It keeps public consciousness alive--in obvious ways (being visible) and in not-obvious ways, such as inspiring someone half way round the world with notions of public participation, democracy and peaceful ways. YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE INSPIRING! You may never know. That's what witness is all about.
Try to get over this idea that protests are for the war profiteering corporate news monopolies. They are NOT. They are for US, the people in them, the people who see them, the people who hear about them, and the people who happen upon photos and accounts of them. For US! Not for THEM! And so, numbers don't matter! It's always nice and great fun to be in a huge crowd all wanting peace. I can't deny that. But that is not the heart and soul of peaceful civil protest, which is an individual decision and act of profound significance, all on its own.
CELEBRATE these people, as you have! PRAISE their vision and courage and gumption--and stamina! Here they are protesting this horrible war in a situation of seeming hopelessness, and general, aggravated demoralization and disenfranchisement. What moxie! What greatness! How inspiring they are! And don't compare them to people who are NOT there. See only THEM! Think of their stories of that day; think of their lives. These are the ones who WERE there; who did NOT give in to despair; and who WILL NOT be silenced. These are the ones who put everything aside to BE THERE! These are the heroes and the greatest Americans! These are the people that the rest of the world will notice, and that the future will honor.
The Grandmothers Against the War.
The Students Against U.S. Empire.
The New York City Veterans for Peace, Chapter 34.
The Delaware Veterans for Peace.
And all others not in these photos.
They were THERE. For US. For all the victims of this war. I salute them! May their love of peace spread like the sweetest of clouds over the world!
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BUST THE MACHINES! VOTE BY ABSENTEE BALLOT THIS NOVEMBER! And, New Yorkers, hang onto to your old, reliable, unriggable lever voting machines for dear life! Don't let them bring Diebold, ES&S or any other election theft machines into your state!
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