Proud

I am tired, sore, sun burned, sad, frustrated, and feeling lost for this moment in time. Today was a day that I will not soon forget. I attended a mass anti war rally and march in DC. I figured, what better time for my first political protest then while I am living in our nation's capitol? It was quite an experience... We gathered in front of the White House, I heard an estimated number of 100,000 of us! We listened to countless speeches saying the same empowering things over and over as we roasted in the sun (I am now bright red). I was excited to hear from Ralph Nadir and Cindy Sheehan in person though. Finally, we got underway and we thundered down the 16 blocks to the Capitol building. It was an intense feeling walking among all those other individuals, united by a single cause. Chants and calls rang out in front of and behind me, clashing in rhythms and adding to the beat of our march. At one point in the march, anti-anti-war protesters lined the sides of the street and shouted angrily at us. I was shocked at their violent response to us. They spat and yelled and cussed and gestured and insulted. I smiled at them and held my "War is not the answer" sign up high and they worked themselves into even more of a frenzy yelling "Get some soap hippies!" The height of their ignorance astounded me. I appreciate their right to their opinion just as I appreciate mine, but certainly they realize that they simply sounded like vindictive idiots? Ah well, we marched right past the perhaps 1,000 0f them (only 1% our size) and continued up to the steps of the Capitol. A line of police in riot gear was waiting for us and I stood briefly in the front lines, staring them down. Here is where they staged the "die-in" lead by the Veterans, hundreds laid down on the steps and the pathway, representing the fallen soldiers in the Iraq war. I laid down in the grass lawn with a hundred others, where we were not in risk of being arrested (as much as I would have loved to support the cause with civil disobedience, I have a commitment to my job and cannot risk jail time). The police started arresting those who laid down and any who pushed past their barrier, lining them up in front of the building where our legislation is decided, patting them down, and tying their hands with white plastic zip tie hand cuffs. They paraded them up the steps and away to the waiting police vehicles while we cheered and clapped to support them. Some were struggled and were forcefully restrained, some refused to move and were carried, others were chemical sprayed. We got up and moved closer to watch the front line and it was announced that it was now an arrestable offense to be present on the lawn as well, our permit had expired. We stayed anyways, watching as more groups of law enforcement, martial police, all in riot gear, poured down the steps towards us. It was exhilarating, watching them arrest veteran after veteran and then increasingly more civilian protesters. We yelled "You had better thank that soldier before you put the cuffs on" and "Arrest the real criminal, Impeach Bush!" My heart pounded as I stood literally feet from a police shield line. I am proud to be an American. Proud to exercise, support, and fight for my freedoms. Proud to proclaim the abomination that is the Bush regime and the degradations of our country's values that it embodies. I believe that war is not the answer. It may be an easy answer and a quick one to come to these days, but it is not the right answer. We call ourselves a civilization, and yet when it comes down to it, we are acting in the least civilized manner possible. I believe that somewhere amongst us we have the means, we have the intelligence, and we have the compassion to find a better way. Anything war can do, peace can do better! Pulling the troops out now might not be the perfect solution, but it is a better one than blindly following a plan already so besmirched. I am proud to be an American! I am proud to fight for a better way, a better world!