I am planning on attending the March 9/15 anti-war march in Washington DC, but have a couple concerns I wanted to see if anyone else shares them.
First, I am from San Francisco, admittedly the protest capital of the free world. I used to attend rallies against the war, but stopped when they became a podium for every crackpot's 15 minutes and every cause under the sun. This is a symbol of both the blessing and the curse of the Democratic party (of which I am a member but considering revoking my status in light of recent events): we represent the wide swath of interests and concerns corresponding to intelligent, interested citizens, but this leads us to drown any specific signal we might be trying to convey in a sea of noise. As an example, at an anti-war rally, you might see anarchists, socialists, anti-WTO folks, PETA people, legalize maijuana advocates, and a host of other individuals attending to support many causes. While these are all worthy of consideration, and these individuals are rightly passionate, the overall implication is one of disorganization and rambling. This lets others (read faux news and the soon to be New York Lies for example) cherry-pick individuals and portray them, and by extension the whole rally, as just a bunch of anti-establishment fringe groups. Thus the reason for the rally, to show support for our men and women in the armed forces while condeming this corrupt and muderous regime we currently live under, gets obscured and spun. Not to say, of course, that they won't find a way to do this anyway, but we should try to make it as hard for them as possible. A united front of resistance--a strong signal--is easy to see, and has a better chance of resonating with those watching. Admittedly, I am not a group leader. I will not be assembling groups to go to march. I will be marching however to end this war. I am hoping that those rallying support, those groups whose values line up with ours, will try and convey how important it is that we stick to the message. Part of the reason this regime has been so effective is their tight message control. I hate to say it, but we should take a cue.
Second, security. As we know, the police have already stepped up their assault on free speech and self-assembly, most recently seen in xxxdr zombiexx's diary today: Cops Shut Down Anti-War Press Conference in DC 9.6.2007. We also know that police have illegally infiltrated anti-war groups with spies, to both gather intelligence on actitivites and to sew distrust and paranoia among members. This is what's called a "twofer" for them. I am wondering what organizers are doing to combat these tactics, and if anyone has solutions. I suppose this forum might prove to public for full disclosure, but I am hoping these things are being addressed.
I am loking forward to seeing some of you in DC, viva la resistance!