Thoughts on the Anti-War/Anti-Bush Demonstrations in NYC on Saturday. I went this morning with 2 friends. I wanted to go to lend a voice in what I think is an important issue, as well as to see what the tenor of the event would be. The police had the entire east side of midtown Manhattan locked down tight. It was really similar to a New Years Eve situation, where they keep most of the crowd moving in a circle around the periphery. At every blockaded intersection, people would ask the police how much further they had to walk to get further east. Police would recite back that they 'didn't know' and told everyone to keep moving. People were walking north on Lexington in the 60's in hopes of cutting east on 70th when the demonstration was on 49th an 1st. Police were posted in the lobbies of every condo/hotel so people wouldnt cut through in attempts to get east toward the demonstration. We eventually got through barricades (3) by cutting through the hair salon side-door of Bloomingdales, and two hotel courtyards to eventually get over to 1st ave. At 1st, the police had everyone corralled into blocks. They'd let a fixed number through the gates at long intervals to continue down toward the speaker systems that were broadcasting the speakers. Their goal was clearly to prevent anything resembling a large-scale demonstration. They'd only let a set number of people through every block (we were south toward the U.N.) Very few people seemed to be getting mad at the cops, even while begging to get to their cars/homes.
We finally got to a stage area on 1st ave that had somewhat of an international feel, with speakers from different countries decrying war, repeating the same message. They were shooting for the Unity/One World/Peace message, and most of the crowd seemed to be receptive. There were very few 'piggy-backers', and the message was mostly on-point. I spotted a handfull of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, and I'm not sure who they expected to identify with. Some populist/pro-labor people, and many "faith-based" protestors, but mostly the crowd was politely anti-war. I was expecting more of a 'Fight the Power' message, but both the police and the already peaceful motives of the crowd seemed to prevail. It made me wonder how bad it really had to get before people would take some kind of direct action instead of being hearded around and playing drums for peace. There were a few outbursts, but the sheer number of police that swarmed on any incident made quick work of whoever was doing whatever they were doing. It was too crowded to see what the particulars were. Police Vans were stuffed full of people who had apparently done something wrong, but this was the exception rather than the rule.
The bottom line was that a vast, vast majority of the people who came to protest Bush's antics were kept miles from the planned demonstration site. I'm sure this left many frustrated (as well as really cold and tired due to the hours of walking). Even so, the crowd was overwhelmingly peaceful, cooperative, and positive despite having such strict and unyielding parameters placed on their mission to unify in protest. I'm glad I went. It helped restore some hope that the collective will of citizens might have some voice in how we're represented, despite the dramatic, institutionalized clash of interests that takes place in Washington. But even if we get past this point peacefully, we've still got Bush and ultraconservative foreign policy staff to deal with. We've already alienated Europe with his lack of finesse and total disregard for diplomacy. We've already marginalized the voice of the U.N. because they're applying pressure for the U.S. not to rush in and slaughter children where they live. How much better can things get? How can we repair the political and economic disaster that this guy has saddled us with? Once the oil companies get the quick payoff that BushCo has obviously teed up for them, there are damages that future generations are going to continue to pay for because of our poor, shortsighted leadership today.
We finally got to a stage area on 1st ave that had somewhat of an international feel, with speakers from different countries decrying war, repeating the same message. They were shooting for the Unity/One World/Peace message, and most of the crowd seemed to be receptive. There were very few 'piggy-backers', and the message was mostly on-point. I spotted a handfull of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, and I'm not sure who they expected to identify with. Some populist/pro-labor people, and many "faith-based" protestors, but mostly the crowd was politely anti-war. I was expecting more of a 'Fight the Power' message, but both the police and the already peaceful motives of the crowd seemed to prevail. It made me wonder how bad it really had to get before people would take some kind of direct action instead of being hearded around and playing drums for peace. There were a few outbursts, but the sheer number of police that swarmed on any incident made quick work of whoever was doing whatever they were doing. It was too crowded to see what the particulars were. Police Vans were stuffed full of people who had apparently done something wrong, but this was the exception rather than the rule.
The bottom line was that a vast, vast majority of the people who came to protest Bush's antics were kept miles from the planned demonstration site. I'm sure this left many frustrated (as well as really cold and tired due to the hours of walking). Even so, the crowd was overwhelmingly peaceful, cooperative, and positive despite having such strict and unyielding parameters placed on their mission to unify in protest. I'm glad I went. It helped restore some hope that the collective will of citizens might have some voice in how we're represented, despite the dramatic, institutionalized clash of interests that takes place in Washington. But even if we get past this point peacefully, we've still got Bush and ultraconservative foreign policy staff to deal with. We've already alienated Europe with his lack of finesse and total disregard for diplomacy. We've already marginalized the voice of the U.N. because they're applying pressure for the U.S. not to rush in and slaughter children where they live. How much better can things get? How can we repair the political and economic disaster that this guy has saddled us with? Once the oil companies get the quick payoff that BushCo has obviously teed up for them, there are damages that future generations are going to continue to pay for because of our poor, shortsighted leadership today.
