Well, I most certainly am not a very good Be The News-type blogger. If I were, I probably wouldn't wait 5 days to post about events, but there you go. I bin bizzy.
Last Monday Bush was in town to give a speech "justifying" the war in Iraq (I don't quite understand how he does that when there is no justification, but there you go.) He stayed in Coronado, so people gathered along Ocean Blvd starting around 6pm for a candlelight vigil. Some reports said there were "dozens", some said 600. I wouldn't be surprised if it were closer to 1,000. We stretched WAAAAAAY down the sidewalk.
Overall, it was great. It was a vigil and not a rally or protest, so the goal was quiet, but that was impossible with so many people. Not bad for a group that size though. There wasn't much shouting, but there was some singing. There were a group of counter protestors across the street, but at the most there were 40-50 and they were all recruited from a radio station to heckle us and shout vile things so there wasn't a lot of credibility there. They had signs that said things like "I'm only here for the girls" but they gave the media the ability to insist there were actual counter protesters there so I guess they did their job. They tried to drown us out by singing God Bless America, but many of the vigil crowd joined in and drown THEM out instead...after that the vigilers went on and sang America the Beautiful. It was dueling patriotism! Funny. However, they eventually got uglier and more worrisome, so the police had to surround them to keep them on their side of the street. Finally at about 10 to 9, the police told us we should break it up because they were concerned about our safety. They said they'd keep the counterprotesters surrounded there while we made our way to our cars. So we did.
BUT....their presence didn't stop nearly 1,000 people from holding this vigil. Fernando Suarez de Solar was there and he spoke to the press and the crowd. He's a very moving speaker, who's son was one of the first American casualties in Iraq and he has since founded Guerrero Azteca here in San Diego. The Coalition for Peace and Justice built a beautiful alter, covered in flowers and candles and Mr. Suarez placed a photo of his son in his military dress uniform among the flowers. There were many military families and Vets there, and one gentleman stood on the riprap and played "taps" as the sun sunk into the ocean. Very moving and beautiful. Then everyone lit their candles, and we stood there until nearly 9pm. I doubt Bush even looked out his window to set his eyes upon us, but we were there and the peace movement is growing strong so we will be there again and again and again.
Last Monday Bush was in town to give a speech "justifying" the war in Iraq (I don't quite understand how he does that when there is no justification, but there you go.) He stayed in Coronado, so people gathered along Ocean Blvd starting around 6pm for a candlelight vigil. Some reports said there were "dozens", some said 600. I wouldn't be surprised if it were closer to 1,000. We stretched WAAAAAAY down the sidewalk.
Overall, it was great. It was a vigil and not a rally or protest, so the goal was quiet, but that was impossible with so many people. Not bad for a group that size though. There wasn't much shouting, but there was some singing. There were a group of counter protestors across the street, but at the most there were 40-50 and they were all recruited from a radio station to heckle us and shout vile things so there wasn't a lot of credibility there. They had signs that said things like "I'm only here for the girls" but they gave the media the ability to insist there were actual counter protesters there so I guess they did their job. They tried to drown us out by singing God Bless America, but many of the vigil crowd joined in and drown THEM out instead...after that the vigilers went on and sang America the Beautiful. It was dueling patriotism! Funny. However, they eventually got uglier and more worrisome, so the police had to surround them to keep them on their side of the street. Finally at about 10 to 9, the police told us we should break it up because they were concerned about our safety. They said they'd keep the counterprotesters surrounded there while we made our way to our cars. So we did.
BUT....their presence didn't stop nearly 1,000 people from holding this vigil. Fernando Suarez de Solar was there and he spoke to the press and the crowd. He's a very moving speaker, who's son was one of the first American casualties in Iraq and he has since founded Guerrero Azteca here in San Diego. The Coalition for Peace and Justice built a beautiful alter, covered in flowers and candles and Mr. Suarez placed a photo of his son in his military dress uniform among the flowers. There were many military families and Vets there, and one gentleman stood on the riprap and played "taps" as the sun sunk into the ocean. Very moving and beautiful. Then everyone lit their candles, and we stood there until nearly 9pm. I doubt Bush even looked out his window to set his eyes upon us, but we were there and the peace movement is growing strong so we will be there again and again and again.
posted by Terry at 6:45 AM
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