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So S-11: and thousands more die in the continuing cycle of violence.
Requiesat in Pacem and yet.,.
I hope we can remember Gandhi: |
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Another J-20 - six months later in Genoa - "A hundred thousand people don't take to the streets |
I went off to yell "Hail to the Thief" in Washington D.C. Why? Because I hadn't done a D.C. protest since the Cambodian invasion (1970). Because I really do think George II stole it.
The final report, with pictures. Walking In An American Tradition: Report from a Denied Majority is a report by G. W. Troxler. We did about the same stuff. He writes better than i do.
http://www.countercoup.org
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http://www.fringefolk.com
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http://www.votermarch.org
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| Anti-Bush Logos for Envelopes |
http://www.toostupidtobepresident.com/
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Visitors: 
Hotel and air booked. I haven't decided what exactly I'll do there, but the voter march http://www.votermarch.org/ looks good. Also JAM http://www.inaugurauction.org/ sounds reasonable. The Black Bloc http://www.infoshop.org/coronation.html is a little to the left of me.
People are getting more permits to protest in D.C. a friend (Mark Schmeider) writes:
Yes, George stole the election, but personally I can't get too upset about it because it's all part of the game these days. The game being that Al (under Clinton) took illegal contributions from Indonesia and China, which influenced our foreign policy.Also, it's hard to feel sorry for someone like Gore who has such a sanctimonious attitude. And I don't trust him because he historically was a conservative in the Senate, so I doubt he would have continued Clinton policies.
Anyway, I am more than ever dedicated to the third party movement, and the stealing of this election has reinforced that view rather than caused me to sympathise with the Demos. But I do hope that Wellstone runs in 2004, and he just might be able to pull it off without being labeled a "Red".
Anyway, it IS important to protest the election being stolen, even if the alternative was just a shade of grey lighter in terms of coporate indebtedness, etc.
I voted for Gore even though I preferred Nader. History: If I hadn't voted for Eldridge Cleaver maybe Nixon would have lost...
Small world department: I was a faculty member at Carleton College in Minnesota the same time as Paul Wellstone (early 70's).
Celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King!
IT will be interesting to be there but it's too bad ALL of the protests apparently won't be together. But who knows, between then and now many things can happen.
"The Leg Irons"
With hungry mouth open like a wicked monster,
Each night the irons devour the legs of people:
The jaws grip the right leg of every prisoner:
Only the left is free to bend and stretch.
Yet there is one thing stranger in this world:
People rush in to place their legs in irons.
Once they are shackled, they can sleep in peace.
Otherwise they would have no place to lay their heads.
--Ho Chi Minh
(From "Prison Poems" translated by Alleen Palmer)
The DC Indy media center is the best place for info on what's happening.
a bumper sticker if you want..(click on image to order)
whoopee, I'm in the Colorado Daily!- Wednesday, January 17, 2001.
Exerpt
One of the local people planning to participate is Pierre Malraison, 55, of Longmont. He's going by himself, not as part of any organized group.
"Last time I was in Washington, D.C., demonstrating, was 30 years ago -- the bombing of Cambodia," Malraison recalled.
Malraison hasn't taken part in any of the recent anti-globalization protests that have erupted in Seattle, Washington and other cities. But when the U.S. Supreme Court effectively handed Bush the presidency last month, it motivated Malraison to finally take to the streets.
"I just got fed up," he said. "I decided it was something I needed to do."
Malraison said that while he supported Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, he voted for Democrat Al Gore and felt that all of Florida's votes should have been properly counted.
"Bush stole the election," he said.
Malraison said he might participate in the Voter March, which has permits to demonstrate at DuPont Circle and on a portion of the Ellipse -- a large park across from the White House.
J-2: January 18
"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.."Radical chic: I used frequent flyer miles to upgrade to business class for the trip out.
To maintain my sense of balance I'm taking "THe Life of Milarepa" for airplane reading. Just for the record, "The Path of Compassion : Writings on Socially Engaged Buddhism" (Parallax Pr; ISBN: 0938077023 ) says among other things why (non-violent) protest is NOT inconsistent with Buddhism.
J-1: January 19th
Alive and well in Washington D.C. (O.K. actually College Park Maryland) about 10:00 p.m. This update courtesy of kinko's.
Thanks to the Super Shuttle I took from Dulles to here i now have the "Official Guide to the inauguration". Too late to get into town tonite, but I plan to be up early tomorrow and off to Dupont Circle.
J-20: the protest
3:50 p.m. kinko's, college park, md.
i'm on my way back to my hotel. It was cold and wet.I don't know what will show up in the mainstream media but it was INCREDIBLE. I'll do more later (i'm a little cold (but glad i wore my rubber booties) and kinda tired after 5 hrs on my feet).. but there was ed from nyc who moved from one end of the metro car to the other to avoid punching out a Republican, the eloquence of Granny D at Dupont Circle, the "Buck Fush" button I gave away to a young black woman from new jersey, people from Walnut Creek california, steve who is pushing negative icnome tax for ecoinomic equality, the Buddhists in support of people of color,kentucky, new jersey, the Detroit chapter of the naacp, al sharpton, the rush,[ NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE ...] the march from stanton park to the supreme court. My own personal favorite (I hope the pictures come out): someone bought a pile of Fearless Leader [-as in rocky and bullwinkle ] dolls, labelled them "scalia" "bush" and put them on sticks and gave them away. No, I didn't get one.
Oodles of cops: probably denser along the parade route.
I'm off for a hot shower and maybe a nap but I am very glad I came.
J20 + 10: January 30th
Is it already more than a week ago? So this is history, not reporting.
On the metro from College Park to Dupont Circle
Ed from New York City gets out at one stop and back in at my end of the car "to avoid punching a Republican". He's about my age. Three women from Oberlin have cloth signs pinned on their backs: "Fuck Bush" "Fuck Gore" and "Fuck this whole system".
Dupont Circle
We get off at the Dupont Circle metro and I lose my new friends. The speakers I pay attention to:
- Patricia Ireland - NOW
The link is to her testimony against John Ashcroft.
- Granny D
- Adam Eidinger - JAM
The protest is well attended. A wide range of ages, views and locales. One sign from Walnut Creek, California.
Dupont Circle to Stanton Park
I decide that walking from here to the Ellipse is a bit much, so I head off to Stanton Park to hear Al Sharpton and then march to the Supreme court. I ride the metro and walk with Steven Shafarman (A local Green activist; Granny D stayed at his house) and Nancy, a Republican from Arlington Virginia who is outraged Bush stole the election.
Stanton Park
Many more folks of color ( supported by local Buddhists!). A young black woman from New Jersey REALLY likes my "Buck Fush" button so I give it to her.
The Detroit chapter of the NAACP is here on buses.
My favorite protest: a Fealress Leader doll labelled "SCALIA".
Lots of good speeches, but Al Sharpton is the best. My favorite phrase-
People talk about the Christian Right but I am here to talk about the Right Christians..
Stanton Park to the Supreme Court
We march. Chanting "NO JUSTICE - NO PEACE". Lots of cops but no problems. I meet people from Ohio and Kentucky.
and back...
After this I am very tired so rather than try to get to the Ellipse I head home. I meet "Who's Vote Next" at the metro: she's calling it a day also. I am glad i came, exhilarated by the speeches and the march, but also cold and wet and glad to get back to a warm hotel room
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