I take exception to the Associated Press article published in The Forum on Sunday, Sept. 27. The article states that there were "100,000 or more" protesters on Saturday. I was there. I can assure all Forum readers that this estimate was far under the real number of protesters. I have been to football games with about 100,000 people and there were at least twice that many in Washington on Saturday.
It also said in the Chicago Tribune that there were "hundreds of pro-Bush supporters" there in counter protest. I walked the entire route, as well as the White House ellipse, and I personally counted eight pro-Bush demonstrators.
Now, the chances of the AP both "accidentally" underestimating the number of anti-war protesters and also "accidentally" overestimating the number of pro-Bush demonstrators are infinitesimal. The truth is this was a huge demonstration with virtually no opposition. Why is that so difficult for the AP to just state clearly?
The protesters were virtually of all ages. I saw whole families marching, with even their pets wearing anti-war T-shirts. I saw thousands of Vietnam vets some marching with their children. There were college-aged people chanting "College not combat!" It was amazingly peaceful for such huge numbers. For every profane poster, like "F-you, Bush," I saw, I also saw about 20 catchy, funny, or profound posters as well. In fact, it is probably not too surprising that the pro-Bush demonstrators were the most belligerent people involved.
While the anti-war protestors, like a group calling themselves the "Ragin' Grammas," sang nursery rhyme songs with the words changed, the pro-Bush demonstrators tried to physically intimidate us while screaming at the top of their lungs,"Traitor!" The anti-war protesters carried signs that for the most part were rational pleas for peace or illuminating the ironies of the country's present policy. Posters like, "We're making more enemies than we can kill," and "Fund human needs not war," are just some of the examples that I remember now.
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So what do the sheer numbers of participants and basic tenor of the demonstrations tell me? First of all, this is getting to be a very, very unpopular war. Secondly, the anti-war movement is rational and calm, while the pro-Bush movement is irrational and very close to out of control. Last Saturday, I was glad to be on the side of rational, calm logic.
The whole experience made me proud to be American again. I hadn't felt that way in a long, long time.
Smith lives in Moorhead.
E-mail smithb@mnstate.edu
