It was tax day. The
Mountain View Voices for Peace were spreading information about what
the war in Iraq is currently costing us. Mike had made us a table full
of literature, Fred had made a great display about our burn rate, and
most of us took turns handing out literature. This is about what people
coming in to drop off their taxes saw:
If people wanted more information there
was a lot on the table. Things like copies of an article saying the
Iraq war has cost us three trillion dollars already, including things
like the medical care for the Veterans we've committed to by sending
them over there to get severely wounded.
Me, I'm in favor of
being a law abiding citizen. Many times I pointed to the bushes across
the street and told somebody else "I consider those harmless bushes,
and I think it's a good thing to have harmless bushes in your world."
Lots of times I got a laugh. Every now and then I got a comment like
"that Bush in the White House is dangerous." Quite a few people chatted
for a little while before going on with their days. Time passed quickly.
We packed up after the Post Office closed at 6:00 PM, satisfied that we
had done something. I went by late in the evening and found out there
was still a line of people waiting in line to use the APC. Apparently,
if you buy your postage from that machine it time stamps and cancels
the postage, which is good enough for the IRS. It was like old times,
with the procrastinators having their tax day party as tradition
remembers it. Next year I'm going to try and be there until the bitter
end.