When we got there people were still setting up, and the crowd was just gathering.
The action on the stage was started by the Raging Grannies leading everybody in song.
Paul from the
PPJC
thanked everybody for coming and led us in a chanting of What do we
want? PEACE! When do we want it? NOW! Then he became the MC and
introduced acts one at a time for hours.
The crowd grew
and
grew as the day progressed. This snapshot was taken long before it
reached its peak.
The priest told
us
what he had learned from an email about what happened the day before at
the Pentagon. Several bus loads of people had been arrested for
"crossing
the line", and after being put on buses the police had decided that the
buses were "jails". These were parked on New York Avenue in DC
overnight. The email was effective 6 AM, still to early to tell the
rest of the story.
The fine print
on
that Bait & Switch sign reads "Tasers were sold
to the public as a device that would be used as an alternative to
deadly force. In fact, according to Amnesty International, tasers have
been used eighty percent of the time on unarmed citizens. Thirty six
percent of the time, tasers were simply used for 'verbal
noncompliance'."
Mike represented
the
Green Party. He said we were participating in the Impeachment
coalition, and had a table where people could go for more information.
He urged anybody that was interested to come to our next meeting, 7 PM
on the first
Thursday of the month at the Peace Center in San Jose.
John represented the Mountain View Voices for Peace. He said we are participating in the Impeachment Coalition, which vigils every Friday at the corner of El Camino And Castro in Mountain View, starting around 6:30 PM. He also invited everybody to drop by City Hall Plaza the next day, when we were going to read the names of every American soldier killed in Iraq.
Talking to both of these speakers later, they agreed that they got their biggest bursts of applause when they mentioned supporting work towards impeachment of the Bush Administration.
John represented the Mountain View Voices for Peace. He said we are participating in the Impeachment Coalition, which vigils every Friday at the corner of El Camino And Castro in Mountain View, starting around 6:30 PM. He also invited everybody to drop by City Hall Plaza the next day, when we were going to read the names of every American soldier killed in Iraq.
Talking to both of these speakers later, they agreed that they got their biggest bursts of applause when they mentioned supporting work towards impeachment of the Bush Administration.
Click on the
silver robot on the right to see more pictures of what was
probably the most thoughtful visual presentation anybody made that I
saw at the event.
The last speaker
was
Karen Meredeth, our local Gold Star Mom. Pat remembered it as the most
powerful speech of the day. After that we marched around downtown Palo
Alto.
After the march
got back to City Hall we dispersed. Soon all that was left were the
volunteers cleaning up and a few
T shirt vendors looking for one more sale.
Talking about the event with friends later, somebody expressed disappointment that Palo Alto had a bigger march a few years ago. Somebody else pointed out that at that time all of the peace groups on the peninsula had focused all their energy on getting people here. This year it was quite different. Palo Alto had a march. San Jose had a march. Morgan Hill had a march. Mountain View did something on Sunday, as did San Francisco, Redwood City and many other places. Monday the action continued in Los Altos and who knows where else. It was only Palo Alto that really showed up for this march, and it was still big enough to fill the plaza and the streets for many blocks. After hearing that, I realized on a per capita basis the march was an incredible show of strength.
Talking about the event with friends later, somebody expressed disappointment that Palo Alto had a bigger march a few years ago. Somebody else pointed out that at that time all of the peace groups on the peninsula had focused all their energy on getting people here. This year it was quite different. Palo Alto had a march. San Jose had a march. Morgan Hill had a march. Mountain View did something on Sunday, as did San Francisco, Redwood City and many other places. Monday the action continued in Los Altos and who knows where else. It was only Palo Alto that really showed up for this march, and it was still big enough to fill the plaza and the streets for many blocks. After hearing that, I realized on a per capita basis the march was an incredible show of strength.