March on Washington, September 24th
I made the pilgrimage to Washington DC on Saturday, September 24th to protest the war in Iraq. The bus ride there took 18 hours. We had a few problems during that journey. One person had a seizure at a rest stop in Indiana, and two of the three buses that were in our caravan had mechanical difficulties. I don’t think I ever want to ride a bus again, however, I’m glad I made the journey. I’ve heard attendance estimates of anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000, but I’m sure there were easily 100,000. It was encouraging to see that some people still care. The counter-protest was only able to muster about 400 despite expecting between 10,000 and 20,000. I guess people support the war as long as they don’t have to make any sacrifices themselves, even if it’s as simple as attending a rally to support the war. Maybe it’s too expensive to drive their gas-guzzling SUV’s to DC. (OK, that was a cheap shot 
)
I honestly believe that the tide is turning in support of the war. I think this rally was a perfect example of this. The vibe was very similar to the RNC protests last August. However, the thing that really struck me this time was the number of veterans protesting. You almost couldn’t turn around without seeing a sign or t-shirt that read something like “another veteran against the war”.
One thing I’ve noticed about these types of events is the friendliness of the people that I met. From the RNC protests last year, to the Cindy Sheehan vigil this summer, everyone was extremely kind and friendly.
You can check out my photos here.