Because you might never read it in the paper
MaxSpeak reports on the anti-war rally in Washington yesterday:
First, self-identified vets were much in evidence. The organized contingent had posters showing individual mug shots of the War Party luminaries (Cheney, Bush, Lott, Wolfowitz, etc.) with the legend underneath: "Never Served!" They worked the chicken-hawk thing hard. An unaffiliated vet had a sign that said "Remember Pearl Harbor: the U.S. doesn't start wars." Not literally correct, but you get the idea.Second, lots of church ladies and church guys. I realize this is not new to a peace movement, but there seemed to be more than usual.
Third, what I call the lone wonks. Guys who looked like they were on lunch break from a job at State, bookish types with succinct signs like "Deterrence works" and the like.
Four, high school kids. Lots of them.
Five, a combined, organized (with sound effects) Korean/Filipino contingent. Maybe 75 people.
Six, anti-communists for peace. A couple of signs here and there against war and in support of Cuban political prisoners. In the same vein, 'Libertarians for Peace.' I met up with a small contingent of Stand Down participants, including the Niels[e]n[ ]Haydens, Matt Hogan, and my neighbor, the dean of real libertarian bloggers, Jim Henley. He had a sign that said "Peace Now, Socialism Never." If he was trying to provoke people, the results were negligible.
Seven, and my favorite: "Fighting Scots for Peace." This was not, as I thought, some Euro-Social-Dem type. This was some people from a midwest college whose mascot was the "Fighting Scots." I'd say when such people are turning out at anti-war rallies, the War Party has a problem.
A comment to this entry notes that in Bozeman, Montana 750 protesters turned out. In a conservative state, in a city of 30,000, that's noteworthy.