On a sunny winter day my fellow Americans spoke out against Bush’s immoral, illegal war and in support of our troops. People carried signs and banners with messages so powerful, I feel compelled to share them.
He’s too wrong for fixin’
And too dumb to teach
So just like with Nixon
It’s time to impeach
Though he stole the election
He’s not out of reach
Let’s make the connection
It’s time to impeach
Stand up to the tyrants
Our founders would preach
Let’s show our defiance
It’s time to impeach
We’ll take back our nation
Our right of free speech
For the next generation
It’s time to impeach
Not one more death, not one more day, not one more dime
Bush = Al Qaeda Recruiter of the Year
Kill One Person it’s Murder - Kill Thousands it’s Foreign Policy
When the Power of Love is Greater Than the Love of Power, We Will Have Peace
My Deployed Husband Would Protest if He Could
We’re Making Enemies Faster Than we Can Kill Them
Bush Shatters the Myth of White Supremacy for All Time (attributed to Congressman Charles Rangel)
Will Someone Give This Man a Blow Job So We Can Impeach Him?
Lame Duck Bush - Don’t Send Sitting Ducks to Iraq
Mad Cowboy Disease
Silence Is No Longer an Option
Among the banners and other displays of protest were poignant images:
-a woman carrying her infant in her arms - the sign on the woman’s back was a photo of an American solider holding a wounded Iraqi child in his arms
-a young man carrying a poster with toy soldiers glued around the message “No Surge”
-a 20-foot long paper mache backbone carried by dozens of people with the words impeach indict imprison in bold letters along the length of the spine
I’m amazed at the effort and time my fellow protesters put into preparing for this march. It is a beautiful example of cooperation and teamwork.
There were people as far as my eyes could see; I’ll bet that we numbered 100,000. Americans from 8-weeks-old to 80-years-old, representing every racial and socioeconomic group, all marching, chanting and singing in solidarity. Bush is oblivious to the will of the people. Monday’s lobbying efforts are designed to ensure that our Congressional representatives will not be oblivious to those of us who voted for them.
As the luminaries and celebrities gave their speeches, we learned that Karl Rove has been subpoenaed. It’s about time.
I’m excited. My faith in our system and my fellow citizens has been restored. We shall overcome.
I was there too and saw these same uplifting signs hope and more! The senior citizen couple with the large white letters IM on the wife’s jacket and PEACH on the husband’s. The 10 year old girl from Long Island in pajamas with peace signs all over them who convinced her mother to bring her. The wonderful sounding, makeshift-looking, brass band of older musicians who turned out to be faculty from a local university. The "Bush as Pinocchio" caricature on a stick. The huge white cloth "peace" dove floating through the crowd. Signs from people who traveled thousands of miles. The slogans, "JUSTICE not JUST U.S.", "We can bomb the world to pieces, we can’t bomb it to peace (peace symbol)", and many other creative expressions of outrage at what the U.S. government is doing.
Having lived all of my life in a very conservative part of the country, it was so encouraging to see that many Americans have not yet been brainwashed by the lies of this administration that have been spread with the collusion of the mainstream media. I believe access to the internet has made that more difficult to achieve. I also have to believe that many more people are beginning to wake up. I am relieved that the right to gather and protest has not YET been taken from us. I just pray that it isn’t too late to turn this country around.
I also participated in the grassroots lobbying that took place on Monday. Although parts of that experience were somewhat discouraging, it was very educational and satisfying to see that we had gotten the attention of our representatives. Overall the events of my long weekend were very inspiring and have motivated me to continue to support the movement for change, and to encourage others to speak out as well!.
By the way, according to very credible sources, the crowd numbers were at least 400,000 and realistically more than 500,000, since the methods used to estimate crowd size was very conservative! We COMPLETELY surrounded the Nation’s Capitol! On the other hand, there were only about 40 counter-protestors (But then, I guess they represented those who are content to let the government "take care of things", right?) .
THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!!!!!
Comment by bekkw — February 1, 2007 @ 4:33 am
Bekkw, thanks for sharing your experiences and your heartfelt point of view. As long as we have hope, we will be able to persevere and reclaim our lives and our culture.
Thanks also for sharing your lobbying experience - and for the updated crowd estimate - 400,000 - 500,000 people attended. Each attendee represents hundreds of people who could not attend - that’s millions!
If those numbers don’t get the attention of our elected officials, it’s time to elect the people who do represent the views of their constituents.
Let’s hope this is the first step in a decisive effort to restore the Constitution and American Democracy.
Comment by Admin — February 1, 2007 @ 6:50 am