and my feet hurt

[gordonzola]

We shut down much of downtown SF today. I'm tired and going to bed. The acting police chief (father of the fajita-craving cop with anger management issues) called it the most disruptive protest in his 30 years on the job.

I woke up to helicopters and it seems like I'll be going to sleep to them also.

Comments

[jwz.livejournal.com]

So, you're a guy who Thinks About Things, so I want to ask... why? I'm curious what your reason is for thinking this was a good idea.

And I don't mean that in the sense of "you're wrong, let's fight!" but really just because most of the other people who've tried to explain their reasons to me have just made me want to sentence them to a manditory critical thinking class. I'm curious to hear the answer from someone who actually has one.

[rzr-grl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was hoping to hear from you as well. I have such conflicting opinions, it all just boils down into a frustratingly ambivalent stupor.

So many of the "protesters" I know are motivated by "Dood, we're fucking shit up! Woo!" or "Look what a moralistic martyr I am - I got handcuffed for fucking shit up! Woo!"

Also a lot of other stuff besides that. Yeah.
(You see now why I'm asking?!)

[vestalvixen.livejournal.com]

Had a feeling you'd be a part of that.

[whysoblue.livejournal.com]

I wish I were there.

[defenestr8r.livejournal.com]

we definitely need to drink and trade protest stories. it's been an amazing few days...

shut em down!!

[(Anonymous)]

i too was downtown and it was amazing!!! the black bloc are a bunch of idiots who tried to get into a violent confrontation with the cops on wednes in the mission district. i was over by the federal building, market and 5th and civic center areas where there were sizable numbers of demostrators. we shut down the federal building because we had hella people. (i was amazed by the # of fed. employess bummed that they couldn't get into the building and lurked around for hours. who here would do that??)i'm not an adocate of non-violent civil disobedience but 'fuck shit up' tactic makes no sense to me especially when outnumbered by the cops. i for one would rather be giving, not receiving, an ass kicking. in SF when POC/Queers resort to such actions, we're singled out arrested on all sorts of chumped up charges.

fuck the complacent

[mark27.livejournal.com]

You know within any large group of people there will be a certain percentage that are just there for the intensity. That goes for the left and the right. Lots of those military gorillas just want to get in there and blow stuff up; they don't care why. And lots of the lefty demonstrator people just wanna throw a brick and smash a window.

Whatever, you just have to take for granted the existence of those people in any group. And they don't change the fact that amerikkkans using their money and weapons to bully the world merits some serious action on the "home" front.

There will always be those that just don't get it. There will be those that say that Rosa Parks inconvenienced those poor white people on the bus who just wanted to get to work. Those same people might say that she accomplished nothing because they don't understand the value of making a statement or expressing one's opinion outside of the safe, acceptable (and more easily ignored) methods. That's cool. Their lack of comprehension will never diminish the nobility of her actions.

But for myself, I know that I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror if I had sat at home or work and done nothing. Apathy and complacency are some of the most disgraceful characteristics one can have. I have more respect for the cops than I do the apathetic.

So take heart, cheez-man. You fought the good fight. You should be proud of yourself. The world is a better place with people like you in it. You rock.

[walktheplank.livejournal.com]

I'm jealous -both of the ability to shut down the city, and of the sheer numbers of people involved. That was pretty awesome.

...On the other hand, the sad reality is that shutting down San Francisco is going to have zero impact on the war effort / zero impact on the White House / and a negligable effect on public opinion. Most people will simply dismiss it out of hand -just because it's happening in San Francisco. As I was saying to Mimi, San Francisco could sink beneath the ocean, and most Americans wouldn't even care. (Massive demos? -"Oh, it's just some people in San Francisco...They're all crazy out there.")

[walktheplank.livejournal.com]

Two words: "Freedom Fries."

[psoup.livejournal.com]

Our peace protest in Montrose is tomorrow.....let's see if we get some decent #s. Nothing to fuck up here, just make our resistance known. It makes me want to sob watching the news. So glad to hear about protest in SF - the New Yorkers that I talked to were impressed by the numbers that showed up.
As I was driving home from work yesterday, I noticed more candles lit in windows than flags flying outside houses.
Gab won't go to the peace march, she has a skateboarding date with a guy. Sheesh. Teenagers. Nik's going, though.

[psoup.livejournal.com]

BTW, there is a donut shop outside Scranton that changed the French cruellers to Freedom cruellers.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey G, are ya going to post with more details later? I feel so outta the loop-- mainstream news isn't giving me what I want to see/hear about SF, and I think indymedia's servers are overwhelmed-- most of the links seem broken or fucked up....

-No Doi

[walktheplank.livejournal.com]

I *AM* glad that you were all out there! I'm just feeling a little helpless/hopeless right now (not too mention feverish -running around in the freezing rain yesterday did wonders for my chest cold).

Quote of the day: "If you're protesting then you are a terrorist."

BTW -You DID manage to enlarge the box... check this out:

"Mass Civil Disobedience in Rural Northfield"
http://twincities.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=11108&group=webcast

war

[(Anonymous)]

the 5th Marine unit that entered iraq, earlier than expected, decided to name the assault operation camel toe. did anyone else catch that?