I went to the Los Angeles march against the war today (downtown). I had to leave early because my knees were giving out, but otherwise it was interesting. It was very large, which is the most important thing. I'd like to see how the media report it, though.
About the time the US war against Iraq started, there was a similar march near the West LA Federal Building. After that, there was a demo in the rain downtown. This one was unique in that it was associated with Cindy Sheehan in some way. Otherwise, it was similar. As usual, the ANSWER/Workers' World Party people were central to organizing it.
At the West LA demo a couple of years ago, the ANSWER folks used a truck as a loudspeaker platform. No-one listened to their speeches, as far as I could tell. This time, they told us that they weren't going to start the demo right away, because waiting for stragglers would allow the march to be really large. BS. They had us in a place where they could force us to listen to their damned speeches. Each individual speech was fine, but there were more than 5 of them, all seemingly expressing the Party Line. People got sick of standing in the hot sun and started chanting that we should start marching. In the labor contingent (where I was), almost everyone was yelling to get us moving. I didn't hear any of the last 2 or 3 speeches because of this. Not that I missed anything.
The ANSWER/WWP people seem to be trying to prove that "sectarianism is its own reward." By trying to impose their agenda on the march, they simply generated antagonism toward the ANSWER/WWP. They don't understand that the only crucial things about these rallies are (1) what cause is being endorsed: and (2) how many people attend.
One of the speakers told us that in order to undermine the Washington, DC, march, the Bush people had cancelled Amtrak trains between NYC and DC. Is this true?
-- Jim Devine "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.