Just back from DC

People, get ready -- there's a change a comin'!

There must have been close to 200,000 people there today to protest the war. I read in the Washington Post on-line that the Police Chief thought 150,000 was a reasonable estimate. Walking in that huge throng, it was really impossible to tell how many people were there, but it was way more people than I have ever seen in one place.

Tank Woman, Marigolds and I represented TBV, and I am hoping we will have some pictures soon to share. We had never actually met before -- so the day was really a special treat for me.

It was exciting. There were young kids, parents and children, middle agers, grannies and everything in between. There were some great signs, some good cheers, some interesting drummers, and a lot of people who seemed (like myself) to be surprised to find themselves for the first time in their lives marching in protest.

I marched with people from NJ, NY, Delaware, DC, Massachusetts, West Virginia, South Carolina, Minnesota, and those are just the states I remember seeing on signs and banners.

Along the route we saw a few police here and there, and a small number (perhaps 100?) of pro-war protesters. No real friction between the two groups as far as I could see. The atmosphere was cheerful, not combative. There was a sense that we had accomplished a great deal by getting so many people to show up -- and that our message would be heard.

I am feeling very hopeful tonight. The war in Iraq is the tip of the iceberg. We have so much work to do, to take the country back from the radical right -- to undo the mayhem that has been done by the Bush regime. You could feel it today -- people get it. Bush's many failures are in plain sight. You don't have to explain it to anyone.

We have a long way to go, and much to do. But there is a tide in the lives of men, and this tide is coming in!

-- Neil

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