Operation Buck Fush
Somethings you need to experience first hand. Take for instance being in the middle of a simmering mass whose mutual interest is that they care about where the country is headed, who refuse to shut up and be ignored, and who take pride and joy in being with others who feel the same way.
This was not the lilly white Freedom March of two weeks ago. This was We the People, up close and personal.
The day started for me as it often does, by oversleeping. Having missed the crowd gathered at the Corner Bakery, I walked over to Freedom Plaza, where I managed to miss the DC for Democracy folks I had planned to march with. I called eRobin, who turned out to be within shouting distance, and managed to connect with Riggsveda and Thomas Nephew. This turned out to be a very enjoyable crew, and hopefully we’ll all connect in the future.
While the protest was billed as a march against the war, I’d say neither were precisely true. Meaning, when you gather a couple hundred thousand folks on a few miles of street, it’s unlikely they’ll have a single focused message. Just as unlikely is that they’ll be able to do anything besides stand and shuffle.
For me, the message of this rally went beyond the Iraq War, a war that history will not look at kindly. No, for me this was an indictment of the last four years. An indictment of the politics of division. An indictment handed down not by a Republican-controlled House, but by ordinary citizens.
Bush has famously said that you’re either for him, or against him. Read my lips, George: the People have spoken.
