Pictures of Today's Impeachment Rally in Washington DC

[Time for change]

Here are some pictures that my brother took of today's impeachment rally. He came to visit me from California and to attend the impeachment rally with me. We heard that at least 60,000 protesters participated. I don't doubt that was true, but it was very difficult for us to estimate the numbers, since we could never see where the crowd ended. The rally started in Lafayette Square near the White House. It began with about two and a half hours of speeches, featuring Cindy Sheehan, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Ralph Nader, Iraq Veterans against the War, and many others. It ran from about 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Then the march started, led by the Iraq Veterans, and ended up in front of the Capital.


Rally starting in Lafayette Square




Rally in Lafayette Square with view of the White House




March on the way to the Capital




We met some pro-war people along the way. One of their many intelligent signs said "Dear hippies: The troops need support like your mama needs a bra". I don't understand what he meant, but it sounded kind of hostile.




Crowd congregating shortly before arrival at the capital




Arrival at the capital




Police getting ready for trouble




Protesters lying down to protest the Iraq war dead




Arrests begin of protesters who jumped the barricade in front of the capital.

[patrice]

1. About 100 people marched here today too.

To Sam Brownback's office near one of our biggest malls. Lots of traffic. IVAW lead the way. We had drummers, a big street puppet "Recruiter" character, and many "Impeach" signs. Traffic honked generously, sometimes 2-3 cars at a time.

[L. Coyote]

2. Why did they barricade the Capital?

[Control-Z]

9. Not sure if this was the case today but

when I marched in 2004 (for women's lives) we had a permit for the areas where we marched and gathered. (National Mall and the route there.) The anti-choice protesters were not allowed in our reserved areas but were permitted in the confines of a two block area and only on the sidewalks.

I was surprised when I learned about the permit. I'm not sure if it works that way for every event or if we were just well organized and going by the book.

[Time for change]

28. The permit didn't extend up the steps of the capital

I guess that there might have been concern about the possibility that if they allowed the crowd to get too close to the Capital they might have tried to break in.

I saw no signs of violence in the crowd whatsoever, and it's difficult to believe that they would have tried something like that. But when you have a crowd of many tens of thousands of people I guess there's always a possibility that things can get out of hand.

[countingbluecars]

3. Thanks for sharing!

[gateley]

4. Interesting about the "Dear Hippie" sign. There was some expert on a CNN or

MSNBC clip I saw on line saying (paraphrasing) that protests 'like this' don't have any impact, because face it -- it's the middle class people who have the power and they generally are supportive of the president.

I just didn't realize that all the protesters were brain-dead stoners, uneducated losers, and blue collar workers. And if THAT'S the case, Lord knows they have no right to have a say in how their country is being run.

Gotta give them this, though -- they managed to make their way to DC, organize well, and in most cases add to the local economy with their hotel and eating expenses. No doubt raised the $$$ by selling pot.

[DavidDvorkin]

7. The middle class supports the president?

I doubt if the numbers support that claim.

[gateley]

10. Yeah, he was a jerk. Pompous, too. Obviously Middle Class. nt

[EFerrari]

14. Yeah, that's why the Thuggery had to steal the last two federal elections.

lol

[cui bono]

17. Yeah, that's why BushCo is doing everything they can to erode it.

:eyes:


(eyes not directed at you, directed at the ignorant media newscaster actor)

[Time for change]

33. Absolutely NOT

With approval ratings under 30% and the wealthy being his biggest supporters by far, his approval by the middle class, which makes up a large percent of voters, is probably lower than his overall approval ratings, and it certainly couldn't be much higher. Hardly anyone believes that his policies favor the middle class.

[EFerrari]

8. We had every kind of citizen at our deal today.

On one side of me was a lady who works for the city and on the other was a young dad with two kids. Lots of dogs for impeachment, too. lol

[gateley]

11. Exactly. Which is a snapshot of our country's citizens. But this guy couldn't

seem to fathom that anybody of the 'acceptable class' would be against the war.

Love the Dogs for Impeachment! They're VERY bright animals, you know!

[Arugula Latte]

12. Riiiiight ... And that's why "the president" has such overwhelmingly high approval #s

Oh ... wait ...

I swear, the corporate media just makes up crap that it wants to believe. Screw reality, that's their motto.

[Control-Z]

15. Middle class people

are supportive of the president? :rofl:

[onethatcares]

19. who is the middle class?

that floors me.

[Seabiscuit]

20. The "hippie" slogan is one of the dumbest pejoratives freeps toss around:

My wife has some right-wing relatives, who occasionally refer to "hippies" and "liberals" the way Limbaugh and Coulter use the words. One of them circulated an e-mail asking everyone to fill in blanks in answer to questions.

One question asked to tell something about oneself that others didn't know about.

I'm 62, and responded honestly:

"I was a hippie back when hippies really existed (1967-1969), and not just some figment of Rush Limbaugh's fetid, putrid imagination."

I haven't heard from them since.

[Time for change]

32. Geez, it sounds like you're better off not having anything to do with those people

I find it so irritating to talk with people like that.

[Time for change]

24. Yes, I thought it was very interesting too

A lot of conservatives are capable of only thinking in stereotypes. If you're anti-war -- regarding any war -- you're a "hippie".

With regard to the MSNBC clip, that is so absurd. Right, all the protesters, who took out nearly a whole day to try to make their voices heard regarding the most lawless presidential administration in our history, many coming from all parts of the country to do that, wouldn't even take the trouble to vote :sarcasm:

Talk about uneducated losers. I would put a good percentage of today's "journalists" in that category.

[porphyrian]

5. How much corporate press did it get? - n/t

[gateley]

13. From what I could tell, between zilch and minimal, but others may be more

on top of it than I am.

[porphyrian]

21. That's about what I expected. - n/t

[EFerrari]

16. Reuters came through for our local deal and took a good picture.

I took a nap after the event, so am still waiting to hear what our media take was.

[porphyrian]

22. I guess that beats nothing. - n/t

[EFerrari]

26. It's 11 am here. From what I can see, the AP posted one story

about DC but ignored local events. Our local whore media don't seem to have done anything or, I haven't seen anything. It's maddening but we better get used to it and to building the Indy Media or to expecting to do it ourselves.

[porphyrian]

29. We should probably be happy they bothered to say anything at all. - n/t

[Time for change]

25. More than I thought originally

There was the AP report yesterday about the 150 people being arrested.

And then this morning "Iraq Veterans against the War" were interviewed on TV by two local and one national station.

That's a lot better than I had thought.

[porphyrian]

30. Wow, that surprises me. I wonder how long before it gets buried in pap. - n/t

[Time for change]

27. I saw a story in this morning's Washington Post

It says that there were "thousands" of demonstrators. That's like saying that there are "millions" of U.S. citizens living in our country. True, but nevertheless very misleading in failing to indicate the true extent of the crowd.

Also of note, I found out that it has been against the rules over the past couple of years for the DC police to estimate crowd numbers, or for anyone else to do that either. Hmmmm .... I wonder why.

[porphyrian]

31. Aren't the DC police the ones who so underestimated the numbers of the pre-war marches?

*sigh*

[Time for change]

34. I don't know

What I know is that there seems to be a systmatic effort in the corporate media to underestimate the degree of dissatisfaction with Bush.

You hardly ever hear them talk about impeachment.

And the article in the Washington Post today made it seem as if the pro-war protestors at the march turned out in about equal numbers to the pro-impeachment anti-war protesters, when in fact the ratio was about 1000 to 1 in the latter's favor. They referred to the sixty thousand plus pro-impeachment protesters as "a vocal minority".

[EFerrari]

6. Thanks, Time for change!

Looks like a great crowd. Kind of gives you the will to live!

:applause:

[Time for change]

23. It was a great crowd -- and yes, it was quite exhiliarating to be among so many people who

care enough about what happens to our country to ignore all the corporate media crap and get involved in doing something about the Bush/Cheney outrages.

[cui bono]

18. Thanks for the pics!

Good job!

:patriot::thumbsup: