THE March
WOW!! What a spectacular day! The turnout was huge. How huge? I can't say...I'm sure there will be figures kicked around for a few days, one side bidding low, the other high. But suffice to say, there were a LOT of people! It was tremendously exciting! The weather was glorious: very hot, but with a bit of cloud to occasionally cover the sun, and a very nice sustained breeze. The atmosphere was very festive...as lefty marches and rallies often are. Lots of very cool, fun street theater. Lots of families, the full spectrum of ages, genders, ethnicities... and eccentricities!
At first the police presence was very light...bike cops mostly. As we got closer to the Xcel, we began to encounter fully tricked-out riot police at various intersections, but they were calm, and so were we. At one point, down a block from the main body of the march, we heard a pop and saw a tear gas cloud. Don't know what was up, but while we saw newsies running down the block to catch the action, our parade marshals very expertly kept us calm and kept us moving. There were no further incidents that I, at least, witnessed.
When we finally got to the Xcel, we met...the infamous free speech zone! They had set up a corridor with what amounted to heavy steel cages. The setup forced the march to dogleg into this corridor, slowing things a bit (intentionally I'm sure). I must say, it was somewhat unnerving to be in that cage. I noticed that our section of the march became rather quiet while we made our way through it. I'm not sure if this really qualified as the "free speech zones" we've heard so much about. For instance, I believe the one at the DNC was quite far from the site of the convention; this one was right there at the Xcel, closer, actually, than I'd expected to get.
Anyway, there were no incidents and we left the cage and swung back around to head back to the Capitol grounds. The last quarter mile or so were on a slight but tiring upward grade. Not fair! :-)
We made it back to the Capitol grounds, where we kind of collapsed in the shade to rest and watch those behind us arriving. The event became a spectacular sort of lefty picnic on the grounds of the Capitol.
I would have to say that this event was successful on all sides. I will say that I was very afraid in the weeks leading up to the march. There was great potential for terrible violence. Were the busts earlier in the week of the so-called anarchists the reason the march was largely peaceful?? Remains to be seen. But from where I was, I would commend all sides for restraint.
Did we stick it to them hard? Did this march shake the very ground the GOP walks on? Perhaps not; the mood was very festive rather than smoldering and angry, although there was plenty of anger, too. But we were there and there big-time to let the world know that there was real opposition to the policies of the last 8 years (and perhaps years to come). I hope the wider world will find some inspiration in that.
Now off to an event not on my original list:
THE IRAN TALKS/THE TUMBLEWEED CABARET
Scott Ritter and Ray McGovern (6:00)
Lizzie West and Baba Buffalo CD release party (8:00)
Plus Medea Benjamin and other special guests
At first the police presence was very light...bike cops mostly. As we got closer to the Xcel, we began to encounter fully tricked-out riot police at various intersections, but they were calm, and so were we. At one point, down a block from the main body of the march, we heard a pop and saw a tear gas cloud. Don't know what was up, but while we saw newsies running down the block to catch the action, our parade marshals very expertly kept us calm and kept us moving. There were no further incidents that I, at least, witnessed.
When we finally got to the Xcel, we met...the infamous free speech zone! They had set up a corridor with what amounted to heavy steel cages. The setup forced the march to dogleg into this corridor, slowing things a bit (intentionally I'm sure). I must say, it was somewhat unnerving to be in that cage. I noticed that our section of the march became rather quiet while we made our way through it. I'm not sure if this really qualified as the "free speech zones" we've heard so much about. For instance, I believe the one at the DNC was quite far from the site of the convention; this one was right there at the Xcel, closer, actually, than I'd expected to get.
Anyway, there were no incidents and we left the cage and swung back around to head back to the Capitol grounds. The last quarter mile or so were on a slight but tiring upward grade. Not fair! :-)
We made it back to the Capitol grounds, where we kind of collapsed in the shade to rest and watch those behind us arriving. The event became a spectacular sort of lefty picnic on the grounds of the Capitol.
I would have to say that this event was successful on all sides. I will say that I was very afraid in the weeks leading up to the march. There was great potential for terrible violence. Were the busts earlier in the week of the so-called anarchists the reason the march was largely peaceful?? Remains to be seen. But from where I was, I would commend all sides for restraint.
Did we stick it to them hard? Did this march shake the very ground the GOP walks on? Perhaps not; the mood was very festive rather than smoldering and angry, although there was plenty of anger, too. But we were there and there big-time to let the world know that there was real opposition to the policies of the last 8 years (and perhaps years to come). I hope the wider world will find some inspiration in that.
Now off to an event not on my original list:
THE IRAN TALKS/THE TUMBLEWEED CABARET
Scott Ritter and Ray McGovern (6:00)
Lizzie West and Baba Buffalo CD release party (8:00)
Plus Medea Benjamin and other special guests
posted by Your_pops at 3:00 PM
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