For too long now, American’s have politely given over the right to free assembly, the right to gather and express, promote, pursue and defend common interests, by agreeing to march in DC only after obtaining a ‘permit’. Not only do we request and obtain a permit to engage in a constitutional right, we agree not to bother Capitol Hill or the White House by agreeing to the main condition of the permit which is to only gather on a weekend.
A predetermined parade route is written into the permit application to further ‘civilize’ the assembly process along with a ‘date certain’ and specific hours and a schedule to allow the Capitol police to prepare their oversight. Unfortunately, these weekend assemblies are rarely witnessed by anybody other than the participants and the police. The intended audience, Congress, the White House and the rest of America miss out and the media coverage is generally pretty lax.
This is why this protest, held on a weekday had the potential, if a few hundred thousand people had known about it and shown up, to actually accomplish something and garner attention for the cause of ending the wars. To engage in civil disobedience, (“oh, but first, let’s get a permit”), do it when it actually might matter. Blocking the metro and overloading the cafeterias might force Congress to stay inside and work until hunger forces them to vote on something.
While, I have thoroughly enjoyed the marches I have attended in DC, I will never again waste my time to march on a weekend.
Sadly, despite some prestigious attendees, Daniel Ellsberg, Coleen Rowley, Pulitzer Prize winner, Chris Hedges and Ray McGovern, the same people that raised awareness of huge rallies protesting the wars begun by the Bush administration, this time stayed silent.
My thanks to everyone who braved the cold and the snow and participated on this Thursday to end the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
