> Bizarre sour grapes. I personally don't care whether there were 50,000
> or 500,000 at the demo. It seems to me that Chuck0 is being at least as
> sectarian about his low estimates as the sectarians are about their high
> ones. The numbers are meaningless.
This has nothing to do with sour grapes! Why should I be angry that ANSWER and UFPJ are drawing fewer people onto the streets than they did in the past few years? One thing that should be understood about the Washington mobilization strategy is that each protest has to be bigger than the previous one. If you want to show that people are mobilizing behind your flag, there has to be some growth in numbers. Public opposition to the war is at an all time high, yet DC mobilization draw fewer and fewer people (even usual suspects).
The numbers are important to the extent that they are used by UFPJ and ANSWER to establish that they are leaders of some movement. People opposed to the war could accomplish more and inspire more people if they reject UFPJ and ANSWER and organize accordingly.
> The other thing I don't get about the conversation on this thread is
> that there doesn't seem to be any acknowledgement that the action isn't
> over. Today there is a conference and lobbying and nonviolence training
> workshops scheduled. Tomorrow there is a day of congressional lobbying
> and a mass civil disobedience action.
Right. There were anti-globalization protests today, which were totally eclipsed by the opportunistic UFPJ and ANSWER who picked this weekend to leach off of the anti-globalization movement. ANSWER/IAC/WWP has been playing this sick game since Seattle.
> It seems to me that to be effective the rally only had to be large
> enough to boost the morale of the people who are continuing on.
Continuing on to do what? What is the strategy? How do these people plug in? What about the increasing number of people who are turned off by these mass protests?
Chuck