I have been anxiously awaiting a posting and pictures of the Anti-War Rally & March that took place yesterday at Hart Park, in the city of Orange. I have only seen one picture and a few words dedicated to it, so here is my take on it. I attended with two of my protester comrades: Manny (an 80-year old spitfire who has attended 100’s of rallies and protests) and Gearhart (an energetic 18-year old excited and dedicated to getting involved). We pinned signs to our backs that had a quote from Howard Zinn, “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people”.

There were some great speakers before the march. The two that stood out in our minds were Dr. Jarrett Lovell and Reverend Stephen Mather. During the speeches, some of the protesters could not wait and lined the street above the park with their signs. As a result, the speeches were constantly filled with the honks of support of drivers passing by - the park is located right next to freeway on and off ramps so there was a steady stream of noisy support which got everybody more excited to get going!

It took a while, once we started walking, to get the crowed thinned out to single file – there were so many people! It was reported that the protest in Yorba Linda on 01/18 had 1,200 attendees – this event had about triple that number! I know that to outsiders that may seem measly but for Orange County it’s quite impressive! (The Orange County Register is reporting 1,200 and 2,000 attendees – keep in mind that they also reported that there were 15,000 at the Los Angeles protest so) We walked from the park through the entrance of the old town area right into the center pedestrian area of the traffic circle. Police directed traffic in the circle during our stay (thirty minutes is my guess). Traffic was held up and many of the people driving by rolled down their windows to voice their support and encourage the protesters as well as honked their support. I only witnessed three people voice their opposition to the protesters. We were one of the first groups to make it to the center area, and it was amazing to watch the crowd pour in – with a constant stream of them, it took almost 20 minutes for all of the protesters to finally arrive. There was music and many chants going on – a very positive ‘vibe’. On the way there and back many of the store employees came out to the sidewalk to offer encouragement.

Once we got back to the park, there was an open mic for the protesters to speak. We enjoyed listening to all of them but two really got the crowd going – a Vietnam veteran and a British citizen. On the way to lunch at Rutabegorz in Tustin (fabulous food by the way!), we listened to the KPFK broadcast of the Los Angeles event and got inspired all over again. We heard a speaker quote General Dwight D. Eisenhower, here is his full quote, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children... This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” Thank you to everyone who participated in the organization of the event, all of the speakers (formal and informal), the attendees and supporters. When do we meet again?!

I forgot to mention the signs! There were lots of children at this protest and I loved their homemade signs and drawings some of which read, “I love peace”, “Please no war”, etc. My personal favorite were two children carrying signs that read, “Arms Are For Hugging – Not For Killing”. Other standouts: “Stop Mad Cowboy Disease”; a picture of Colin Powell with the caption, “War Whore” (somebody let me borrow an extra one!); a peace sign made of a collage of faces that read “Imagine All The People”; “How Many Lives Per Gallon”; Manny’s perennial favorite, “Fuck War”. There were so many but I can’t remember them all! I also forgot to mention the band that played (excellent) and at the end of the day we ended with a round of “We Shall Overcome” – a great end to a great day.

Dear fellow anti-war protesters,
this is saddam hussein, and i would like to thank you for supporting me against your own countries and for helping me to stay in power. Now i can use your protests as a way to divide the world and hopefully develop even more weapons before anyone can do anything about it. I praise your support, now i will proceed to kill my civilians, degrade and rape women, kill any politcal opponents, control all my slaves, oops, i mean my fellow iraqi citizens, form more terrorist ties with al quada, give support to north korea and drop nuclear/biological/chemical weapons on you democratic, capitalist, freedom loving pigs, thanks once again LIBERALS!

Thank you, Christy, for the report on the Hart Park rally and march. It was truly an extraordinary event for Orange County, and I am so glad I participated.

I'm hoping that more pictures will be posted soon.

We arrived at the protest late. Our 5 kids got in on the tail end of the march. We let them out to join it and went to find parking, joining them in the park after the march.

We were surprised at the turnout. after the march, our whole family of 7 joined the protesters on the sidewalk on Glassell St. chanting, "War kills children!" and other things. I am sickened by the all the fuss about how America's children are "coping with anxiety". What about the children in Iraq who know they are all going to die in our war?

Our main concern is the 11 million or so Iraqi children who will be affected by the bombing, contaminated water, food shortages (already acute because of our sanctions for 11 years) homelessness, and loss of parents. We also grieve for the mothers who will never forget the deaths of their children as long as they live.

Our ten year old held up a sign saying, "War kills children like me." Lots of people took his picture. We have photos and will try to post them soon. One of our signs said, "War is Terrorism." Our country's style of war is actually designed to terrorize. We bomb innocent civillians from 50,000 feet up so that our men won't have to face other men on the battle field. it's a coward's war.

. Our kids counted 6 signs like ours that read, "Who would Jesus bomb?" We also had a sign saying, "Must we wage war to bring peace?" War will only breed more terrorism, as more and more Middle Eastern men are imbittered by our bloody bomblings.

We were outraged when we saw the OC Register coverage of the Orange protest. They had a pro-war demonstrater- one out of just a handful, in the photo blocking all of the anti-war protest signs with his body and his sign saying "Bomb Saddam." That was their only photo for theri article on the war protest in Orange County. Some balanced coverage!!!!!!

Americans are not being given a fair picture of the growing anti-war sentiment in this country and abroad. Protests are hidden in back pages and grossly understated. Many Americans seem to view war as something like a football game- we just gotta get out there and win.

It's like they think the entire country of Iraq is one big Saddam Hussein, amd that all war will do is to kill terrorists. But the new American war strategy is always to bomb heavily from high altitudes, causing massive human suffering for innocent civillians first- and then go mop up what is left of military resistance. It is nothing short of the most repugnant form of terrorism- government sponsored terrorism! We say "Not in our name."

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I can see that the moron who wrote this note is against innocent Iraqi citizens being killed at the hands of their own government. Apparently Mr. Genius thinks it would be a better idea if the US governement killed citizens in Iraq (not to mention the 1000's of US soldiers that will inevitably die, too) instead.

I recently started reading these commentaries on this website and I am disgusted to read these anti-American comments.

You guys should not be allowed to return to the US, you should spend the rest of your lives as foreigners.

Actions from Americans such as this makes me think: Have people forgotten what has happened in the not-so-distant past? The USS Cole, embassies in Africa, Bali, the Pentagon, the World Trade Center, etc.

Islamic extremists hate us. They do not want us to live on their Earth. They believe we are infidels and should not be breathing their air.

Hollywood celebrities are now making commercials asking: ''Why War?''. I'll tell you why: because it is the only way to stop this disease that has finally crept upon us and is eating away at our soul as Americans.

Could you imagine celebrities doing commercials against WWII? Are we supposed to sit down with our enemies and ask politely if they would stop terrorizing the world?

It will happen, a terrorist will act upon the US again and it will be just as destructive as 9-11. Maybe AMericans will understand the real threat is upon us.

Well, good luck anti-war protesters. I hope you don't get mistaken as an enemy (which wouldn't be hard) and catch a 30 mm round as a result.

Joke of the day:

What do you leftist bastards call a nuclear blast within your cities (LA, San Fran, etc, etc)?!

''Proof that inspections are working''!

Hahahahhahahahahahahhhahahhahaha!!

Gosh, did you think that up all by your little old self?

Here's one for you:

What do you call a moron who buys all the terror spin in the media and on Talk Radio?

A moron.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, , ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

> Joke of the day:

> What do you leftist bastards call a nuclear blast within your cities (LA, San Fran, etc, etc)?!

> ''Proof that inspections are working''!

Actually it's proof of how he totally mishandled Korea.
(Ever heard of the place, Dave?)

Hahahahahahahahaha, how bush mishandled Korea?!?!?!?!? The funniest shit ever, really. Who gave them nuclear power plants, 6 billion dollars, technology to build their light-water reactors? YOU FUCKING RETARD.

It was Clinton, dumbshit, if we ever get nuked by N Korea its because of you liberal cocksuckers who have to befriend Communist/dictactorships. Read your history book, idiot.

Good thing Bush is finally standing up for America, you retards would probably give them even more shit and then wonder why they attack us with nukes up the ass.

Thanks liberal retard!

I have to admit I am really bothered by the obvious hatred behind some or these comments. This hatred and lack of understanding on the part of the people that support this has bothered me all day. Not because I think they are right but because of their unwillingness to see both sides of the issue.

The people that want to stop this war are doing so because of the consequences of war. It is not just a war, they are thinking about the issue the whole way through. They want to stop the war for the soldiers themselves and they’re loved ones. Not for any selfish reasons or personal gain. Do we support the soldiers in the middle east? Of course, I pray for them, and their families that they can come home alive. Do I think what they’re doing is noble, yes with a doubt. I think it is a big mistake to say we do not support our soldiers, we are trying to save there lives by stopping a war, isn’t that support? In fact, it is the people that want to go to war that are not supporting them. It is the people that support this war that think our military is a bunch of Americans that do are expendable. That they will not suffer any emotion or physical harm from this war. To me, no one is expendable, to me no one should suffer the consequences of a war. It is not because I am a liberal scum, it is because I am stopping to think about what war really means.

Here are the questions I have asked myself.
Do I want they’re kids to grow up without fathers, wives without husbands or husbands without wives? Have I ever met someone that has come home from a war a happy man? Do I think they enjoyed seeing death around them? What kind of damage does that do to a man/woman, especially a young man/woman?

When I think about this war, these are the things I think about. The consequences. What effect will it have on our soldiers. What about the Iraqi people? What about their families? What about their suffering? Because we wont just bomb Saddam, we are going to be bombing Iraq. The whole country. Do you honestly think they will be thankful after burying their dead and tending to their wounded and after cleaning up the destruction. I don’t know about you, but I would would be a little more than upset. Am I anti american? no. Is there anything about stopping a war that is? not unless you think starting a war is american.

What if celebrities protested WWII? As a matter of fact, they did. Remember Charles Lindburgh, American hero? He was strongly against American involvement in the war. Many were until Pearl Harbor. Just thought you'd like to know. Look it up, be wowed by the facts.

It's our history, the least you can do is know a little about it.

alex