Right now, well over 150,000 people are in Washington, DC at an anti-war rally -- that is the current estimate. In addition, tens of thousands of people are also gathering in San Francisco today to protest war. I have one simple thing to say: regardless of whether there are moral or practical grounds to go to war, there is SIGNIFICANT dissenting opinion in this country, and abroad. George Bush is wrong when he says this country speaks with one voice. As I'm watching this on C-SPAN, I'm struck by the overwhelming diversity of races, religions, ages, and backgrounds of the people speaking and attending. These aren't all liberals and radicals, college students, what have you -- these are normal people like you and me.
I just want you to know, if you think this war is bullshit, you are not alone.
There are rallies going on this weekend in India, South Korea, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, Italy, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium to speak out against Bush and his Iraqi war agenda.
September 7: 20,000 in SF.
September 10: thousands in NYC.
September 28: 4-500,000 in Britain. 100,000 in Rome. tens of thousands in Cairo, Berlin, Madrid, Dublin, Sydney, and New Zealand.
October 5-6: 20,000 in NYC. thousands in LA, SF, Portland, Oregon, and more US cities. 1,500,000 in Italy. 1,100 in Belgium and 300 in Australia arrested outside U.S. bases.
In September, we had protesters during presidential visits to Flagstaff, Phoenix, Houston, and Trenton, New Jersey. Over 3,500 in Denver protested Bush's visit there.
Is it unpatriotic, un-American, or anti-American to believe or speak out against this war? How can it be? I have my own reasons for believing that war is wrong and must be stopped if we hope to curb terrorism against the US, or to retain any shred of dignity amongst the people of the world. But I won't talk about those now -- right now I just want people to hear, whatever our specific differences, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Don't be afraid to speak your mind, and listen. Peace.
P.S. [13:40] They're over 200,000 now, and soon they'll start marching on the Capitol.
Posted by mlee at October 26, 2002 1:02 PMBy the way, I think it's really valuable to see the images and hear the people who are there. I think it's easy to have preconceived notions about who these protesters are, and seeing them breaks those down. It really is incredible.
You can catch the action nationwide on C-SPAN and on Pacifica radio networks. The C-SPAN broadcast just ended, showing the marchers. Looks like they're rebroadcasting it at 8pm ET today.
Hmm, C-SPAN is having former Attorney General Ramsey Clark as a guest on "Washington Journal" at Sunday 7am ET. This guy knows a LOT of stuff, and is quite a speaker. A bit early though. Hrmm.
Posted by: mlee at October 26, 2002 2:13 PMFor an American to feel unpatriotic or un-American to speak out against this war, or to speak out for or against any issue, would be the ultimate failure of all that America stands for. It is the very essence of freedom to encourage all voices to speak.
Posted by: jet at October 31, 2002 3:21 AMA couple of my friends went to the one in Seattle, which apparently had "several thousand people". I'm pretty shocked, actually - I had no idea it was going on. Didn't deal with any backed-up traffic or closed-off roads, didn't hear about it all day, nothing. Weird.
Posted by: freesia at November 1, 2002 2:47 PMYeah, the media coverage has been fairly poor (*shock*). I was quite impressed that C-SPAN carried it.
BTW, the pro-war rally being held at the same time (they aired that one later) was absolutely pathetic -- in attendance and in content -- from what I happened to catch anyway.
Posted by: mlee at November 5, 2002 6:02 AMI didn't even know of dubya's visit to the valley until after he had left and I saw the footage on the 2AM recap of the news.
Had I known that, and read this, I might have been fired up enough to go protest with some percentage of my family.
Sadly, all I can do now is be an armchair liberal. Feh feh feh feh.
Posted by: swansong at November 19, 2002 11:08 AMWe went to the rally in NYC on 2/15. I decided to go even thought I disagreed with some of the principles that underpinned the protest. I do think that war is necessary at times (in contrast to many of the demonstrators, at least judging from their signs and chants) and as a last resort: when a country is defending itself (the "clear and present danger" argument) or when the international community collectively determines that force is necessary. My beef with current policy is that I don't think either condition has been met (at least not yet) and I am particularly appalled by the adminisration's overt efforts to tell the rest of the world (allies and enemies alike) how little regard we have for their opinions.
So anyway, we went to the rally and stood for 30 minutes or so around 50th and Lexington. The rally hadn't been very well planned either by the organizers or the NYC police so things got very crowded very quickly and it was obvious we weren't going to be able to get to the main gathering point (supposedly 51st and 1st ave). Efter 30 minutes or so it got too crowded for us to feel safe with a 2 year old so we left. It was neat to see the wide diversity of people, though, and feel a strong sense of people coming together to exercise their right to protest. It made me proud to be an American and happy that my daughter is growing up here and that my wife will become a citizen soon. Now if only the protests will have some effect on policy...
Posted by: Andrew Brook at February 20, 2003 9:09 PM