From: "Max Sawicky" <sawicky at bellatlantic.net> Subject: Buck Fush Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 11:10:17 -0500
I missed the big action at 14th and K. Started at Dupont Circle, which the rain had turned into a bowl of mud. Marched south towards PA ave, uneventfully. At one point a young women started yelling to people to disperse, since there was no permit to march and any gathering of 25 plus was subject to mass arrest. This sounded like good advice at the time so I peeled off and made my own way for a bit. Most people stayed together and nothing happened. The crowd was overwhelmingly 20- and 30-something, here and elsewhere that I saw. Not many sects in evidence. Pretty racially diverse, notwithstanding the principal African- American march led by Rev. Sharpton (well- covered on local news) was elsewhere.
Besides the title of this ms., signs said "Fight Bush with bush, I'm Already Sick of Bush, Fuck Bush and the Harris He Rode In On, and my personal favorite, a huge black sign with white letters saying simply, "I Hate You." Those were the creative ones; most said Not My President, Hail to the Thief, or just Democracy (also the most common chants).
When we got to the 'secured' area we confronted so-called security checkpoints. People waited on lines several blocks long. It was clear the purpose of these checkpoints was to not let people near the parade route. I hung around near the fence. It was fun watching formal- dressed Republicans trying to get through, to no avail. They were told to wait on line with everyone else. None of them got through, despite their tickets and "I know so-and-so" routines. I even saw the diminutive Ralph Reed get turned away. I'd like to report he had three prostitutes with him, but instead they were three matronly types. Meanwhile I heard that at one checkpoint people had kicked the barriers down and hundreds streamed through to the Avenue.
I thought I'd look for other 'checkpoints' with shorter lines so I headed east. Going between a few buildings, I managed to get to the Avenue itself. I could have been wheeling an atom bomb on a handtruck. In effect there was no security -- just futile efforts to keep people off the parade route.
Once on PA ave people were jammed together like sardines. Babies crying, then it started to rain pretty good. Across the street, the bleachers, for which you needed a ticket, were sparsely filled. On our side (north), people with tickets couldn't move and get to their seats. Natch, the streets were lined completely with police every two yards.
We're standing there, nobody can move in any direction, and the parade has yet to arrive on time. Then this small band dressed something like Sergeant Pepper comes by -- the first thing we've seen -- playing Yankee Doodle Dandy. Slightly surreal. I'm jammed together with a gaggle of Republicans and realize if I don't get where most of the demonstrators are, I'm just another spectator. Most people were in good humor, despite their offense at the weather, the botched schedule, and the demonstrators.
Things thin out a bit and I manage to get to Freedom Plaza, at 8th and PA, where there is a good concentration of protestors. Earlier there had been an NOW rally here. It was odd to see people with "Planned Parenthood" signs mixed in with black bloc anarchists and other characters. There are faux-ship masts on the plaza and the anarchists took the flags down and ran up a couple of pathetic looking black and red ones. At one point they burned an american flag. Most of the protestors voiced disapproval but the anarchists ignored them. Later they ran up an unside-down American flag, and a bit later still some cops moved in and drove them off the flagpole. One idiot -- from a very safe distance -- was urging the crowd to fight back. The police were mostly restrained when they went into the crowd a few times. I think they hurt one small girl by jabbing her in the gut with a pugil stick, but she walked away from it.
The parade was late but finally the presidential motorcade went by. The crowd whipped itself into a frenzy and gave President Bush a one-finger salute. There were three small contingents from each of the armed services, then nothing. People started to ask, was that it, others began to leave.
Somewhat after the parade proper began to come by -- large contingents of armed services, marine band, navy band, a few floats, college and high school bands. When military went by protestors evinced simple anti-soldier feeling, nothing so enlightened as 'get out of Colombia' or anything like that. One person got arrested for throwing a bottle at some helicopters that were wheeled by.
By this time (4-4:30) the protest had mostly evaporated and there were more police than spectators. My legs & feet were killing me from walking and standing for five hours; I wouldn't last long on the Long March.
The basic components of this affair, from my standpoint, were liberal outrage over a breach of democracy, and anarchist rage against everything. Most striking was the notion of illegitimacy that the overwhelming bulk of the protestors -- anarchists or not -- reflected. Other than 'democracy', 'not my president,' the best organized chant was, "Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Bush and Cheney go away."
Consciousness has a long way to go, but it seems to have gotten a start.
mbs