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03/20/2004: "Chicago Peace March"
This being the first Saturday after the one year anniversary of the onset of Iraq's liberation, there was a peace rally here in Chicago. I have 250 MB (or so) of pictures and movies; I used a 4 Mega Pixel camera. If anyone wants the datafiles to rebut overstated attendance numbers, let me know.
I'll post my favorite pictures later. Until then, let me share some favorite moments.
- The rally was held at Chicago's historic Water Tower. Loyola of Chicago owns a building across the street. They hosted an antiwar exhibit. When I asked how they felt about Saddam's mass graves, they said that we supplied the weapons.
- My favorite tshirt had four words: "Good Bush Bad Bush". It was not as pornographic as it could have been. I'm not against humor.
- One sign had eight sections.
- Stop Living in Denial about 9/11!
- If You Believe the Official Story of 9/11, You Shouldn't Be At This Peace Rally!
- Where Is The "Official" Left?
- In Total Denial of the Truth of 9/11-MOJO, Nation, IIT, Progressive, Z are all Fakes!
- This war is unjustified...
- ...Because 9/11 Was A Lie-There's Never Been Any Real Proof of Arab Highjackers!
- The WTC Towers Were Bombed
- Obviously They Were Imploded With Explosives-The Seismic Record Proves It
- Stop Living in Denial about 9/11!
- The parade organizers wanted to march down Michigan Avenue. Their request was denied. Instead, they were sent West on Chicago Avenue to Southbound Clark Street. I preceded the procession to the intersection of Clark and Chicago, where I intermittently captured the entire parade.
Preceding the parade was a large contingent of riot-ready police officers. Parade organizers wanted some disabled group to be the first marchers. Jesse Jackson showed up and placed himself at the head of the parade.
As the parade approached my position at the Northeast corner of Clark and Chicago, The police stopped it. It seems that it was getting too spread out. After a minute long (?) pause, the parade lurched forward about 30 feet. Then Jesse Jackson gave some interviews in the intersection. After Rev. Jackson joined the handicapped marchers to lead the parade, the police escort began their march South on Clark.
This was not good enough for one man with a bullhorn. He did not want the police to lead the parade. So he raced to the front, turned to the crowd, and exhorted them to "stop the parade". He asked if they wanted the Chicago police to be in the lead. After the crowd advanced ten feet (inertia is a powerful force), the crowd stopped. Right in front of me, I heard chants of "let us march! Let us march!"
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29 Pictures here (1.15 MB)
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I just saw a comment on Tim Blair's site saying it's unfair to link these disparate groups together. I can't disagree.
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Crimeny, I'm late for the door, and here I am blathering on. There is one observation I did not share above. When the protest organizers announced that the Chicago Police department would close Chicago and Clark to traffic for the marchers, the crowd cheered. They seemed to enjoy discommoding ordinary Chicagoans.
Yes, I poke fun at "musical fruit" and associate Spartacus with mainstream anti war folks. No, that does not promote rational debate. But I'd be curious to learn how dressing up and blocking traffic does promote rational debate.
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I just added another picture, taken at 12:17. And as the 12:13 is getting all the play, I slipped a shameless plug into it. I'll going to post my thoughts on that in a moment.
