More Photos from Last Saturday's End The War Now! Antiwar Protest in San Francisco

31 October 2007
San Francisco

Citing the Boston Globe and the New York Times, Jerry Larson wrote in the Christian Science Monitor yesterday that he found it unsettling, and remarkable that "major news outlets treated [last Saturday's] "Global Day of Action' as though it did not exist." http://tinyurl.com/ywfxl4

I was also dismayed when I searched for news of the event.

I noticed that the San Francisco Chronicle's web portal, SFGate, had a particularly spare story which commanded a lead on the internet search engines. Relayed far and wide, it was even (to my dismay) re-posted in the one contribution here at Indybay.org. (It was re-posted at Znet as well. http://tinyurl.com/yucktd-- are we to assume that the Chronicle reflects a progressive perspective?)

About Cindy Sheehan, who was a major highlight of the day's many noteworthy events and speakers, the Chronicle writers reported simply:

"At the park, demonstrators listened to an array of speakers, including American Indian Movement leader Dennis Banks and anti-war activist and congressional candidate Cindy Sheehan. She asked people to vote for her instead of her opponent, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in 2008."

That was it!?

"She asked people to vote for her instead of her opponent, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in 2008!?"

Duh.

(That sentence in the Chronicle says about as much about Nancy Pelosi as it does about Cindy Sheehan!)

Thank you Mainstream Media for covering vital issues in a way that makes us more informed and responsible citizens.

Sigh.

And turning elsewhere, what is it with Borat, may I ask? Out of curiosity, I watched that subtly hateful movie for the first time last weekend.

Kick me for not having a sense of humor-- at least not of that crude type. Why were some protesters so fixated with that movie character? What message had they hoped to send?

Even so-- despite my gripes with the mainstream and some of the alternative coverage of last Saturday's event-- I believe that something more noble and wonderful happened that has yet to be described.

Part of that "something" comes from how the people's deepest desire for a healthier and better world was made tangible (at least temporarily) through the drama of spontaneous pageantry. Almost as if driven by a self-preservational instinct, people in unison marched, sang, and waved placards and flags. They beat on drums, staked out little spaces for themselves in the crowded parks, and listened with rapt attention to speakers who poured out their hearts against the truly evil absurdities of our times.

All participants spoke and thought about how we need leaders to listen, how we want the wars to end now, how we want our troops home now.

All understood that in the absence of representation in Washington-- it is now becoming time to take initiative and become the leaders that we lack.

Below are a few of my photos of the days events.

Many more photos can be viewed at: