BACK FROM THE LA PROTEST

Yeehaw...

Yeah, I shouldn't bag on protests but I really feel like they're boring as hell. Half the people that are supposed to show up don't and then there's no real focus to the protest. At the State of the Empire speech protest back in January Gore Vidal was supposed to show and at the last minute he bailed, but they read a something he had "sent along" in his stead. It was his version of the State of the Union speech and I had already heard it on that day's podcast of DemocracyNow.

Today we were supposed to be treated to a speech from actress and relative hottie Mario Bello. Turns out, she spoke at the pre-rally rally but couldn't stick around. I decided if Maria didn't have to stick around, neither did I, so I left.

See, when I got there, I thought, according to the flyer I got from ANSWER.org that I would see a huge crowd at Hollywood and Vine. Again, according to the flyer, the march began at H'wood and Vine and ended at H'wood and Highland. I was running late, so I decided to just go to H'wood and Highland (a big shopping area in the literal heart of Hollywood) and join the fun then.

I get there 40 minutes after the start time and no crowd was there. A few booths and tables were set up, but that was it. H'wood Blvd was blocked off but empty. I decide to walk down to Vine--it's only 10 blocks or so. I reach Cahuenga and see that there is a huge crowd, a block south from H'wood, on Cahuenga and Sunset. I figure it's a huge protest that probably started at H'wood and Vine and stretches that far, so I keep walking a few more blocks to Vine.

I get there and no crowd. I look down to Sunset and nothing--nada. The streets are partially blocked and some traffic is being let through.

WTH??

So, I turn around and head back to H'wood and H'land. About halfway there, I see the march turn the corner of Highland, onto Hollywood Blvd. NICE. The flyer says start at H'wood and Vine, end at H'wood and H'land. WTF!! NICE organization, ANSWERLA.ORG!!!

Losers...

By the time I caught up with the march, I could only be part of it for like ten minutes before we got where we were going. With a shrug I decided to take some pics and listen to the speakers. Of course, you know how that turned out.

Before I made my way (foolishly) to H'wood and Vine I did have a look a the tables and booths set up by various groups only to discover the same lack of focus I mentioned earlier. There were all sorts of folks there including, just one table away from a booth on socialism, a booth selling T-shirts for profit. Sure, according to their website "A percentage of" my "purchase goes to worthy politically progressive causes…" whatever those are, but do you really need to charge $20-30 for an anti-war T-shirt? Isn't getting the anti-war message out more important than making a profit?

And they were cool T-shirts, too--I even saw the one Natalie Portman wears in the shot you see to the left. It was $25. Too much to spend on my meager budget, so I decided to skip it and check their website out after a few more paychecks. You can check them out at COTAM.org. Don't ask me what it stands for--it's too long to type it all out.

There were also two people handing out postcards advertizing a site called "RabbleRouzer.com" which sold protestery-type shirts. So, when I get home, I check out the site and they've got a whopping three designs and, in my humble opinion, they kinda suck. You'd think they'd have more than three designs, though. I guess the hook is that each design connects with a particular charity--so a chunk of money you spend on one shirt goes to that shirt's charity--definitely cool, but I need a bigger selection than three.

So, in the end it was pretty so-so. The LAPD didn't even send any SWAT cops. There were a few motorcycle cops and the odd B&W cruiser, but mostly there were just bicycle cops. That's how far the peace movement has come--we're so effective they don't even send SWAT out for us anymore.

Sheesh...

I think I'll sit the next one out, thank you very much.

[http://flickr.com/photos/thepete/tags/march182006antiwarprotest/|Check out all of the pics I took] at Flickr.com.