United for Peace and Justice signaled that they had folks going to DC from 36 states, so I really expected a great turnout. I kept an eye on their website off and on all day yesterday..sadly, there were very few updates to be found, even this morning as I checked it to write this post. When I googled for ‘protests’ I had a hard time finding anything either, even from the Independent Media. I found San Francisco of course as well as LA, and then New Haven CT? The DC event, had hundreds not thousands in attendance according to WaPo. WTF? From the WaPo writeup:
Organizers downplayed the low turnout. “This is a different type of action than the peace movement has done before,” said Ted Glick of the No War, No Warming Coalition. “It’s more edgy. . . . We think this is actually an important step forward for the peace and justice movement.”
But demonstrator Gary Krane, of Oakland, Calif., expressed dismay.
“The apathy of my fellow Americans is very frightening, very horrific,” he said. “I thought there would be hundreds if not thousands of people getting arrested.”
It saddens me too. Why are the people so apathetic? Are they spending all their energy on the friggin election? Why was a sickening anniversary largely ignored?
This time around there were civil disobedience actions..which are good..but only if such actions are taken by thousands of people..not just a handful. The LAT writeup was the most comprehensive:
While about 1,000 protested in Washington on Wednesday, larger rallies were organized in Chicago, New York and San Francisco.
Antiwar demonstrators gathered in downtown Chicago’s Federal Plaza on Wednesday evening for a rally and march. Organizers were expecting thousands of demonstrators.
At one event in New York City, women sang and counted the war dead outside the Times Square military recruiting station, which was recently the target of a bomb.
In Miami, half a dozen antiwar protesters dressed in black placed flowers outside the U.S. Southern Command during the morning rush hour.
In San Francisco, police arrested about 100 protesters by early afternoon for blocking traffic and chaining themselves to buildings, police said.
The LAT writeup said MoveOn was sponsoring the LA protest..yet when I went to the MoveOn site..there were no pictures or writeups about their protest this morning.
The last event I attended in LA..thousands were there protesting this war..but yesterday..it was just sad.
