Just got back from The March on the Pentagon.

[arcadian]

It was actually the March past the Pentagon into the heart of the United States Military Industrial Complex. The rallying spot was the triangle of land between the State Department and the the Lincoln Memorial, just north of the memorial. We marched for about 2.5 miles.


Medea Benjamin and Col Anne Wright


Federal Reserve Board building, next to the State Department, should have protested these places as well.

Marched across the Arlington Memorial bridge, past the Pentagon, down to Crystal City in Arlington County. Crystal City along with Pentagon City are the nexus of the Defense Department and Military Industrial Complex. If the Military Industrial Complex had a capital, it would be Crystal City/Pentagon City.


Protesters on the Arlington Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River with Lincoln Memorial in the background

Freeper contingency was about 15 people. Right when we got into Virginia. They had an effigy of "Hanoi Jane" hanging from a noose saying, "American Traitor Bitch Fonda". Damn those idiots really hate her.


Creeper Freeper

The police presence in D.C. was minimal. In Virginia it looked like a fucking Leni Riefenstahl propaganda film cum Orwellian nightmare. The Virginia State Police and the Defense Department Force Protection Agency had the entire Pentagon blocked off.


Highway closed off, Welcome to Virginia. Virginia State Police shock troops.

We actually marched past the spot where several of the past marches stopped and marched another 1.5 miles to Crystal City and the headquarters of Boeing. There we delivered mock coffins representing the children of Afghanistan and Iraq to Boeing. The Arlington County Police had the building occupied. There were police officers with rubber bullet guns, staff batons, police filming protesters, tear gas guns, riot shotguns, massive body armor, and they were all huddled in and around the Boeing building. Stormtrooper shock troops. I asked if Boeing was paying for them protecting the building and one of the police officers laughed and said "Yeah right!, Hell no!.


In The belly of the beast, protesters in Crystal City. Virginia.

My guess probably about 10,000 protesters. I really didn't think there was going to be a lot of people. But there were. A lot young people, old people, in between people, pissed off people, loud people. Great protest. More pics, will post later.

[femmocrat]

1. Thank you. nt

[Hardrada]

2. Good for you.

I wish I'd been there.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

3. K&R

[midnight]

4. This march draws attention to what is probably very obvious

to many here at D.U. Our infrastructure has been intentionally attacked. We have been told that there is no money for college students, helping Katrina victims, health care, or keeping people in their own homes. We have been told by the media and some in congress that the war is necessary for our national security, and that bailing out the wealthy and assuring that they make a couple hundred thousand dollars a year, plus millions in bonus is more important than the infrastructure of this country. I'm very grateful that people took the time to take this to the streets to voice this outrage-many thanks.

[Tim01]

8. Correct me if I am wrong

I thought infrastructure is specifically things like highways, power grids, water supplies. The hardware necessary for us to go about our lives.
You mention college, disaster recovery, and health care.

Am I wrong on this?

Sorry for going off topic.

[barbtries]

31. i saw it as you did

Main Entry:
in·fra·struc·ture Listen to the pronunciation of infrastructure
Pronunciation:
\ˈin-frə-ˌstrək-chər, -(ˌ)frä-\
Function:
noun
Date:
1927

1: the underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or organization)
2: the permanent installations required for military purposes
3: the system of public works of a country, state, or region ; also : the resources (as personnel, buildings, or equipment) required for an activity

[Tim01]

5. Wow! Welcome to Virginia. nt

[gratuitous]

6. Excellent report, excellent pictures

Thank you for your service to America.

[malaise]

7. Thank you

Great pix

[Hello_Kitty]

9. A Jane Fonda effigy?? Damn, the Freepers need new material.

Otherwise, great protest. :thumbsup:

[arcadian]

10. Yeah, I just added a pic of that.

Those idiots are dripping with misogyny.

[progressoid]

15. Yeah, get with it Freeps. Jane found Jesus so all is right with the world.

That's what my RW aunt told me anyway.

[Quantess]

18. That's what I thought immediately. Jane Fonda is old news.

They are still upset at her antics from, what, 35 years ago? It's like the Freeps are stuck in a time warp.

But then, they also think that liberals all look like relics of the 1960s. Yeah, right.

[defendandprotect]

40. And the two or three of them you can see probably weren't born yet at time of VN . . .

But Freep hatreds are infinite --!!!

In fact, it's a farce if you've read what Jane Fonda wrote about the "event" in her book.

[daughter of liberty2]

11. Thanks for the pics...

We need more marches like this one.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

12. I thought about you all, all day long. I love all of you for your courage and persistence.

I just wanted to let you know that each of you speaks for many who, for whatever reason, can't be next to you.

[Gregorian]

13. Bless you.

Thank you so much for going there. I for one am anxious to see this military madness ended. Give us mil-spec health care and mil-spec food. Put the energy that is spent on the military into other things. And that's one HELL of a lot of energy.

It's a disease that is killing this country. But then, like I've always said, if you steal something, you never quite feel comfortable about it. It's time to just give it up. It'll take more than ten thousand people, but that's a great gesture.

[OwnedByFerrets]

14. Thank you.....and death and hate is all freepers know.

[roody]

16. Thanks for being there.

[arcadian]

17. Johnny Law's goin' to film school.

At the Boeing office building, Crystal City, Virginia

[alarimer]

47. I hope someone has cameras trained on the police.

They need watching more than a few marchers do.

I hate the militarization of the police. Absolutely hate it.

[arcadian]

19. Army of One. We Are the Borg

Resistance is futile. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service ours.

[arcadian]

20. A morning kick with a pic.

Canister contains high pressured tear gas capable of being focused in a fine stream.

[FailureToCommunicate]

34. Man, all that gear the police are toting looks EXPENSIVE!! Guess that's where

a lot of the post 9/11 domestic security funding went!

[earth mom]

21. 10,000 people that will be reported to be 1000 of the "fringe".

GRR! :grr:

You all have my Thanks and appreciation! :applause:

[arcadian]

22. Thanks, I was surprised there was no mention of the protests on DU

Here yesterday.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Those threads are dropping like a rock

Folks are more poutraged over the AIG crap than the war. Sadly.

[earth mom]

25. So it's "poutrage" to be upset with the AIG ripoff?! WTF?!

That's the most unbelievable post I've seen on DU in long time.

You might like being ripped off by the rich a$$holes on Wall Street, but I don't and neither do most DUers. :grr:

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. Excuse me for believing murdering people in a war is a bit worse

[arcadian]

33. Do you know why AIG gave out big bonuses?

Because they can and nobody will be held accountable. Congress is ineffective. It's all part of this culture in the U.S. which made it possible to invade Iraq. Lies, corruption, religious institutions based on lies, financial institutions based on lies, government based on lies. We're fucked and AIG is only a small part of it.

[defendandprotect]

41. It begins with the buying of government and legislators . . .!!

[earth mom]

48. True, but I still don't think what's happening with AIG is unimportant or

that discussing it is "poutrage".

If nothing more, the outrage about AIG may wake the majority of this country up in order fight the crap Congress is pulling and force them to do their damn jobs-at the will of the people.

[earth mom]

26. I remember the days when there would be several threads with photos & lots of recs

whenever there were protests. I don't get what's going on now. :shrug:

[defendandprotect]

42. This is the first thread I've seen . . . if there are others, let's kick them . ... !!!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. Bravo to you and the rest of the protesters. K&R

[creeksneakers2]

27. That's a nice sized crowd

Nice protest.

[arcadian]

38. That top pic is only one of the large clumps of people.

There were three more just like that and a lot of people in between. I was at the very front at this point and I let the entire march go by me. It took me the whole rest of the way. I caught up to the front right when the front of the march reached Boeing.

[barbtries]

29. thank you for posting

i was gonna go, had a ride lined up and everything. then i realized i couldn't afford it because it's more than a week before payday. i was there in spirit. i will be there soon.

[anaxarchos]

30. K & R

[KoKo]

32. K&R....Many Thanks!

[FailureToCommunicate]

35. Brings me right back to a March on Pentagon May 1982. Especially the Arl. Bridge pic

Only, back then the police had a lot fewer toys. Just guns and nightsticks, and cuffs. We were arrested, loaded onto school busses and driven for "processing" into
Virginia. Once we discovered our bus didn't have an officer aboard we asked the driver to let us out and we all streamed back to the protest site.

And in those days you wouldn't have had to explain who Hanoi Jane was!

Ah, good times, good times.

Thanks for posting.

[lob1]

36. I haven't seen this mentioned on the MSM today.

But then, they never mention protests. We had a protest march here in L.A. yesterday. They mentioned the march on the local news, but never a mention of how many attended. It looked like thousands, but they never did a full shot to show how big the crowd was.

[inna]

37. thank you, thank you! and please post more pics and descriptions later!

i can't believe the "hanoi jane" effigy; these people are seriously sick.

seeing the pic of the police in full riot gear was a bit creepy as well.

i haven't heard a word mentioning the march on the news; seems like a total media black out to me.

again, thank you so much for posting this.

[maryf]

39. K&R plus a picture

I'll be posting some other pix on edit too, one of the speakers at the rally was MC Son of Nun, a hip hop poet. He was dead on about just about everything. Check out his work at www.myspace.com/socialistmc. The movement still lives, next time we need to get all here to be there too!

[defendandprotect]

43. Thanks for the news -- activism -- what did the leaders have to say . .. ???

Was it mainly Code Pink?

GREAT PHOTOS . .!!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

44. The guy in the red hat and plaid shirt in the Jane Fonda

effigy photo reminds me of that yahoo standing behind Palin at the turkey farm.

K&R

[Captain Hilts]

45. The Army and Marines didn't want to go to Iraq either. nt

[TBF]

46. Kick. n/t

:kick:

[blindpig]

49. Too late to reccomend, here's a kick

[raccoon]

50. Thanks to you and all the others, Arcadian. nt