by Derek & Tim
Monday, Jan. 22, 2001 at 4:51 AM
malkavai@aol.com
2000-3500 people; dissident Democrats and Greens took the stage; an enthusiastic march; hokey folk music before the Federal Building; and an unusual amount of restraint from the good 'ol head-bashin' LAPD.
Plenty of Los Angeles' citizens took to the streets today for a rally and march to counter George "Dubya" Bush's InFraudulation. Current estimates of the number of participants in today's action range between 2000-3500 people. The rally at Pershing Square, which had been the staging area for the Democratic National Convention protests, featured, among others, Maxine Waters, Ed Asner, Sara Knopp of the ISO, and Kevin McKeown, a Green holding a seat in the Santa Monica City Council. LAPD was noticeable everywhere, in riot gear, on bicycles, and in the helicopter hum above us -- but they pretty much left us alone.
The march to the Federal Building had great energy. Contingents from the International Socialist Organization, the Green Party, the National Organization for Women, the Revolutionary Communist Party, the NAACP, Alienmindcontrol, and some anarchists marched with the crowd of mostly disillusioned Democrats. Chants heard during the march included "Hey, hey, ho, ho, George Bush has got to go!" "Dump George Bush" "Bush, Cheney, CIA, election fraud USA! and "What do we want? Democracy! When do we want it? NOW!"
The march went some twelve blocks up to the Federal Building, where another rally took place. Hokey folk squealers on the truck stage nearly killed all the good momentum from the march, but fortunately a few resourceful musicians and a powerful drummer in the crowd picked up the slack. Surprisingly, the LAPD didn't overeact or get their freak-on even once today. Apparently, the Democrats were running cover for us.
www.alliancegreens.com