The anti-war crowd had a protest the other day. Their flyers said they planned on blocking the delivery of 500 million dollars worth of JDAMs and ALCMs. It was of course symbolic, for even if they had blocked the delivery that day, deliveries would have simply taken place the next. The flyer said that participants could simply be present in a non-violent sort of way, and that you could also get arrested, if you so desired. At the bottom was the time and date of the non-violence class protesters should attend.
The really weird thing (I have to respect people who want to peaceably assemble to make a political statement) is how choreographed the whole thing was. Boeing Security new days in advance when and where the demonstration would be, there were riot police (with two kinds of shields but just one kind of helmet), mounted police, K-9 police, so many police they needed 3 porta potties and hundreds of bottles of water. There were paddy wagons, school buses, squad cars, an ambulance, a wrecker, and a fire truck. The police were ready for anything. What they got was a small crowd making speeches, and then blocking the road when people wanted to get in or out. The protesters started late (1 PM was the start time), but the police came early and stayed late.
Last Friday, I took part in the Light the Night Walk for Leukemia. It raised $225,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, and it too was a well behaved but far larger crowd. The police also were present, but just to block off the route of the walk, and no riot gear was in sight. My cub pack helped clean up afterward, but there wasn’t much to do as there was practically no litter. I bring this up just because this is America, and the two events were different expressions of civic mindedness American style, part of the warp and woof of community. In different ways, they are why I love this country.
