I’m getting a cold, so this is going to be a stream-of-consciousness post about the rally. There are some photos here.
We got there a little after 1pm, and stayed until it ended around 5 or 5:30. As we walked from the subway station (the 6) to the park, a couple of people yelled at us that this was a “good war”, or that we must be Saddam Hussein lovers. All of these people were driving SUVs. In the station itself, things got started early, even before we were out on the street, with a group of college students chanting.
One of the most moving people I saw was a rescue worked from Ground Zero — I think his organization was Ground Zero for Peace, but I’m not sure. He said that rescue workers rescue anyone, regardless of their politics or race or religion, and they didn’t want more casualties.
Signs and t-shirts spotted that I liked:
- Fighting for Peace is like Fucking for Virginity
- All Bully No Pulpit
- Silence = Consent
- Madness of King George
- The Emperor has no Brain
- Regime change starts at home
- Bombing Iraq is so 10 years ago
- Autogeddon
One interesting tidbit — out of the 20,000 or so people there, I only saw a single smoker.
The main announcer sounded a lot like a South Asian Eleanor Roosevelt.
There were a number of celebrities. Susan Sarandon was very good, telling Bush and those that saw questioning the government as treasonous, “This is what democracy looks like. This is what an intelligent citizenry does.” She also said that a pre-emptive strike “as defense” was what Pearl Harbor was. She mentioned that Robert Byrd is talking about doing a filibuster to prevent a vote on war with Iraq. It was probably the first time a crowd like that ever cheered Byrd. Go read James’s account of Byrd’s speech last week.
Susan’s significant other, Tim Robbins, was great. He talked about how this is all basically a ruse to distract us from the scandals of Halliburton and Enron, and the bad economy. He said that fundamentalism of any kind was abhorrent to him, because it was opposed to the things that mattered to him: art, music, film, books, and independent women.
Tom Duane was the only currently-elected official I saw there. He said he wished he had more politicians to stand with him at the rally.
A young woman from Stuyvesant H.S. said that it was the duty of youth to dissent, since they would have to live with the world that is being created now, and much longer than Bush will.
Martin Sheen reminded us that 40 years ago next week, the Cuban Missile Crisis was worked out without going to war. He also read part of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech.
A woman from Global Exchange, the group that interrupted Rumsfeld at his Armed Services Committee appearance a few weeks ago, said they were called “rude and unreasonable women”. She also used the great phrase “Weapons of Mass Distraction”.
Two young girls — nine and ten — read a great statement they had written. My favorite part: “We have more than enough money to buy the oil we need, so why do we need to steal it?”
Cynthia McKinney spoke, and I can see why the Republicans hate her so much. She said that Bush, et al, are so gung ho for war, but none of them had actually fought in any wars.
There was a lot more, including appearances by Reno and David Byrne, but I think you get the picture.
Resources:
Final note: I can’t find coverage of today’s event in any U.S. media right now, but there’s an article on the BBC web site. They estimate the crowd at 20,000.
