The Student walk-out.
Nov. 2nd, 2005 06:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusI marched in the anti-war, anti-Bush protest today.
I wasn't going to, but then I had an irritating conversation with a pro-Bush classmate yesterday. Then this morning I read Frist's whinging about Congress' closed session and got more annoyed.
Then I read Bush's Henny Penny distraction from the Libby resignation. "Bird Flu! Think about the Bird Flu and, and -- the sky is falling! And look over there! I mean, don't notice this big indictment of Libby and the corruption of Tom DeLay and 2,000 dead and my failed supreme court nomination and, and..."
So I walked out with much of my school, and joined the college and (primarily) high school students downtown. There were - depending on when you counted - between 500 and 700 students, most of them oh so very young.
I confess, they were adorable!
They looked like this was their protest ever and they weren't sure what to do, but they were against Bush and the war in various ways. Very sincere. Some were there with their parents. Others it was clear their parents had dropped them off downtown, cell phones in hand.
There were many cheers when the kids at the mikes protested military recruitment in schools. Then we made lots of noise marching through the streets of downtown, the new kids looking around with starry startled eyes. (Did I mention cute? Even the female cops were suppressing "awwww..." smiles. They looked 15!)
A group of kids hammered buckets and water bottles circling the protest, keeping the energy high. Signs read "Prune Bush!" and "2,000 Dead!"
People along the street in business suits looked surprised and often pleased at how many young kids were against the war. Many people in the more residential Capitol Hill waved from windows -- a favorite was the big guy with the tats on the third floor apartment who leaned out his window the whole time the group was in sight. He looked so happy about the protest and flashed a peace sign to everyone. There was only one negative guy with longish hair and blue jeans who gave the protest the bird. But it was preplanned: he had a pink paper sleeve over the end of his finger and just stood there. (Get it? "Fuck you, pinko commies"? Yeah, he waited for this.)
Construction crews stopped work to watch, and the owners of the little stores beamed and grinned at us from the doors, flashing peace signs and waving.
What I liked was the absence of cynicism. The protest was slightly disorganized at the beginning and end, but it didn't have any of the "professional" protesters you see everywhere (I recognized people in the WTO demonstrations that I'd seen in 1989 protesting the Tiennamen square massacre).
It was so heartening. I kept thinking: "In 2008, these kids will be voters."
I'm sure the Republicans are thinking the same thing.
I wasn't going to, but then I had an irritating conversation with a pro-Bush classmate yesterday. Then this morning I read Frist's whinging about Congress' closed session and got more annoyed.
Then I read Bush's Henny Penny distraction from the Libby resignation. "Bird Flu! Think about the Bird Flu and, and -- the sky is falling! And look over there! I mean, don't notice this big indictment of Libby and the corruption of Tom DeLay and 2,000 dead and my failed supreme court nomination and, and..."
So I walked out with much of my school, and joined the college and (primarily) high school students downtown. There were - depending on when you counted - between 500 and 700 students, most of them oh so very young.
I confess, they were adorable!
They looked like this was their protest ever and they weren't sure what to do, but they were against Bush and the war in various ways. Very sincere. Some were there with their parents. Others it was clear their parents had dropped them off downtown, cell phones in hand.
There were many cheers when the kids at the mikes protested military recruitment in schools. Then we made lots of noise marching through the streets of downtown, the new kids looking around with starry startled eyes. (Did I mention cute? Even the female cops were suppressing "awwww..." smiles. They looked 15!)
A group of kids hammered buckets and water bottles circling the protest, keeping the energy high. Signs read "Prune Bush!" and "2,000 Dead!"
People along the street in business suits looked surprised and often pleased at how many young kids were against the war. Many people in the more residential Capitol Hill waved from windows -- a favorite was the big guy with the tats on the third floor apartment who leaned out his window the whole time the group was in sight. He looked so happy about the protest and flashed a peace sign to everyone. There was only one negative guy with longish hair and blue jeans who gave the protest the bird. But it was preplanned: he had a pink paper sleeve over the end of his finger and just stood there. (Get it? "Fuck you, pinko commies"? Yeah, he waited for this.)
Construction crews stopped work to watch, and the owners of the little stores beamed and grinned at us from the doors, flashing peace signs and waving.
What I liked was the absence of cynicism. The protest was slightly disorganized at the beginning and end, but it didn't have any of the "professional" protesters you see everywhere (I recognized people in the WTO demonstrations that I'd seen in 1989 protesting the Tiennamen square massacre).
It was so heartening. I kept thinking: "In 2008, these kids will be voters."
I'm sure the Republicans are thinking the same thing.
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Date: 2005-11-03 12:50 pm (UTC)