The biggest and the best the federal building has seen!

“WAR!; What is it good for absolutely nothin!” NO WAR ON IRAQ

"Careful Larry, that's not a PEZ dispenser.”

Vietnam Vet calls on the soldiers in the armory to come out and join the thousands for peace.

Simply evil.

10/6/02

Guys,

This Not in Our Name protest was TOTALLY COOL! I took my two kids to it for about an hour, early in the afternoon. They were amazed to see the gathering crowd, and how huge it became even as we had to leave.

They were thrilled at all the cars honking and all the signs and posters and the kaleidoscopic mixture of people and styles of dress and political persuasions, the drum circles, the guy on stilts, the guy with the one-man-band-type papier mache contraption with the tongue hanging out, the people with Bush masks, people in the crowd and driving by who were flashing peace signs, the many other kids who were there with their parents, the grandmothers, the wheelchair-bound, the veterans, the babies with "Future Conscientious Objector" signs on their strollers, the people with dogs, the people dancing, the people wearing feathered headdresses, the saxophone players, the speakers, the booths, and the overall gentility and downright sweetness of the crowd. Even the police were pleasant and laid-back.

When we actually took to the street, they were thrilled at the idea of walking right down the middle of Wilshire Boulevard! At the time we left, about 2:30, the crowd estimates were at a height of about 7,000, and people were still coming.

You couldn't find parking to save your life - we had to go to a parking structure blocks away. My kids collected leaflets, buttons, multicolor flag posters and more. They clapped to the drumming and petted the dogs. They noticed everything.

There was MUCH media, lots of remote trucks from different TV stations and several hovering police and news choppers. We talked to a couple of officers who were enjoying standing in the shade, because my son was scared of getting hurt or arrested. They were very polite and friendly. They estimated the crowd at about 2,000, but that was early-on. They also reassured my kids that, even though they provided serious coverage, "this isn't the type of crowd that does that kind of thing" - in their words.

I told my kids, proudly, that they had witnessed actual democracy in action, maybe for the first time in their young lives. They were interested, receptive, and really got into it - flashing their own peace signs along with others in the crowd. After we came home they said they'd actually had fun. My daughter put her multicolored flag poster up in her room.

I was so impressed. What an experience! Instead of listening to me fulminate over and over about the stolen election and the constant disaster stream that's occurred since, it was refreshing to introduce them to positive activism. They drank it all in, and I was tickled to death to share it with them.

Moreover, it was SO encouraging to be out there - felt almost like the "good ol' days" when we protested the war in Vietnam as college students. It was wonderful to see so many people out there - who shared my views. After hearing over and over, ad nauseam, how high the popularity poll numbers are for Shrub, it was so incredibly reaffirming to see evidence that... just maybe... those poll numbers are wrong. Seeing the cars honking and the steady streams of people coming, and of so many different ethnicities and ages and social strata, I saw only one single person carrying a sign that said "Vote Republican." And, believe me, I was searching for naysayers in an attempt to ascertain an unofficial public opinion survey of my own. It gave me solace and comfort and reassurance that maybe eventually the good guys actually will win. Especially since THIS anti-war movement is really only beginning. And it's this large, already.

THANK YOU to everyone who was there. Thank you for reminding me that I'm not alone! Thank you for being so well-behaved and showing yourselves as the truly intelligent, committed, dedicated, informed, and peace-loving people you are! It was an honor and privilege to witness and to be part of, and to share with my children. It was an honor to be able to show them that democracy is NOT dead in this country. In that hot afternoon sun, it gave me chills. I'm counting the minutes til the next one, and we'll be staying much longer next time.

MUCH love -

Mary

Your last photograph cracks me up! lmao... Great work :D

Thanks for your shots and the kind words.
jim

You all might want peace and that is great, but all of you are missing the point. If we don't stop Saddam he with NUKE all of us! Do you really think that Iraq wants peace? When everyone in Iraq and same type countries want to see us dead. I guess everyone on this sight has forgot about 9-11-01. What about our innocent people that where killed in the towers? So when Saddam and the other haters of America nuke the heck out of us then what are you going to cry? Please save us President Bush or Why didn't you do something President Bush. I am glad for one thing, that all of you wimps weren't around during World War 2. If we didn't have brave men and women during that era we would be speaking German now. Or being sent off to the gas chambers. How easy it is to forget when you only look at it one sided. That's ok when my children loose there freedom I will be sure to let them know why.... The Jews lost there freedom and some lost their lives. Time to wake up people Saddam is the Hitler of the future! Never under estimate Iraq.

"GW Bush has the country headed in the right direction"

How so? Be specific. Give examples. We want to see some content from you, not just mindless assertions arrived at from nowhere.

Kevin, B.A. & .......

You're a bunch of ingnoramo's. Does it occur to you that if we perpetuate the cycle of violence, it will be neverending? And that the war isn't about weapons of mass destruction (hello, it's okay that WE have them?), but about money? What are you getting out of it...other than looking like a sucker?

You should do something worthwhile and teach your children about respect. Respect for the human race, no matter where they are in this small world. Do your research and know that the government has supported the murder of millions of innocent people around the world and when recently a small group tried to get back at us (remember the cycle?), it instantly became propaganda in keeping the people of America fearful as they have constantly used "terror" as a means to rely on them evermore.

God Bless us all.

They WANT it to be neverending. That's the whole point. That's how it works. Pyramid schemes are all about keeping the whole thing going as long as you can before it all falls apart. In this case, the pyramid is capital, and the violence required to keep it going.

hey Kevin, we don't need to speak German--we just need to speak Bushese and CNNese and FOX Newsese and all the other doublespeak dialects that control us.

And you're right, it is easy to forget when you only look at one side--that's exactly what happened to all those brave German men and women who went off to conquer the world with swastikas on their arms.

Saddam may be the Hitler of the future, but I'm a little more concerned with the Hitler of Right Now--Fuhrer Bush.

The word is Seig, not Seige. A seige is an attempt to take a fortified place. Now, get back to work.

Drat! Hoisted on my own petard! The word is Sieg, not Seig. I stepped in it that time.

--all that effort on your part to make fun of a stupid pun on my part combining English and German in order to make a point.

back to work.

--all that effort on your part to make fun of a stupid pun on my part combining English and German in order to make a point.

back to work.

Bush justs wants to make his dad happy.

Bush is starting a war to make people forget that his daugthers was drinking under age.

Kevin dont do drugs!!! That pretzel should have kill GW Bush.

what about all the innocent people of countries who die everyday by american weapons? how bout all the innocent children who cant even get medical needs because of our sanction? what about israeal and there killing of the paletsines with americas support? why wont america just leave muslims alone? america is the real terriost! I love the people of america i just dont like the goverment! the american goverment worships the dollar! there was no eveidnece that the the taliban was connected to al qeda, the only reason amercia destroyed the whole country was because of the valubale resorces. leave the country and u will see how many people hate americans and why!

Bush is a trigger happy texan who is was shamed by his daddy's failure in killin Saddam, he is gettin daddy's revenge i willl be suprised if bush as a higher IQ than room temperature! plz next election just dont vote!
for god sakes who in the world would vote for a man who looks like a damn monkey. i mean he proves darwin's theory rite look at him!

GW BUSH: Finally we can sleep in peace!
LUARA BUSH: Home Land Security?
GW BUSH: NO the twins r finally 21.

I don't get it how is Saddam like Hitler? I hear this all the time. Bush is the one circumventing our national constitution and our rights, Bush is the one asking for the registration of an ethnic minority, Bush is the one deploying troops into foreign lands in the name of American national security, Bush is the one with a concentration camp in Guantanamo Bay. Besides if Saddam ever uses a nuclear device, that would just make him more American. Stupid Bush, Nukes are for wimps.

Read a bit of Saddam's history and you'll quickly see the parallels with hitler. Suppression and extermination of ethnic groups he dislikes. Military ambitions to conquer his neighbors. Hatred of Jews.

Here's a good starting point if you really do want to get educated on this topic:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/rrpage/

WHAT!!!!!! SAY WHAT!!!!!!

THE WAR'S FOR OIL??????

Exuse me, but if it was over oil, we would have finished it 11 years ago during the gulf war.

In Iraq, the Taliban opressed women relentlessly. They could (and have) been executed for letting the smallest amount of skin show.

A U.S. army doctor is the first medical attention many afghans have recived in there lives. Many have starved to death before we came.

And you are telling me that Saddam is just peachy keen compared? He's doing many of the same things. He's gassed his own people.

1/3rd of North Koreas population is fed by U.S food aid.

If you don't belive in this country, get out. Ever seicne those Planes hit the Trade Center, the U.S don't give a damn what anybody else thinks.

This particular thread sure is a magnet for dittoheads.
Do ANY of you nitwits do something else than post the same
tired spam? You come over to this site and blather the SAME
BS THAT HAS BEEN SHREDDED HUNDREDS OF TIMES.
Try reading through some of the posts before spewing the crap you think of as an insight. Back up your opinions with
references. You know, like books or articles or links so we
don't have to dance with the braindead all the time. Prove
to us that you CAN read.

5000 degress and cloudy in bagdad

kill those sand niggers

Way to go, ghtyres. Whenever we rightwingers don't have anything intelligent to say, we can always resort to racial slurs.

Great empires are always built upon conservatism and destroyed by liberalism.....alas the last days of Rome....

"Great empires are always built upon conservatism and destroyed by liberalism..."

Unsubstantiated Allegation
For more on logic at your level, try reading "Logic for Dummies."