My report from Constitution Hall - Democratic Underground

MountainLaurel

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Mon Jan-16-06 04:42 PM
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My report from Constitution Hall

Edited on Mon Jan-16-06 04:44 PM by MountainLaurel

One of the perks of living in Washington is the ability, when one isn't busy down in the salt mines trying to keep the cat in kibble, to go to all sorts of incredible events, often free. And sometimes, you get to participate in history. I've been at some of the largest protest marches since the Vietnam War and carried signs along with hundreds of thousands of others in honor of women's health. Today was another one of those days.

By now most of you have probably read the transcripts of the speech and thus you know the content, as well as the early reactions of the opposition. But I wanted to throw in a few comments of my own, from the perspective of one who was there.

By the time we got downtown around 11:25, parking was already scarce in the blocks nearest CH despite today being a federal holiday. (And my husband has the golden touch with parking, so if it was there, he would have sniffed it out.) As we got within about three or four blocks, you could see the groups of people walking toward the hall. You could tell who was going to the speech, because they all had the printout of their ticket reservation waving from their hands. We ended up about 8 or 9 blocks away, ironically, across from the State Department.

Just as it's been at every march I've been to in DC, the crowd spanned the ranges of age, color, and income. There were elderly men in suits, college students in their woolies, and older children with their parents. By the time we got there, most of the seats on the floor were taken, but we found two seats in the back row on the left. About half of the seats in the balcony area were taken. Just before noon, someone began passing around photocopies signs that read "Impeach Bush and Cheney." Everything started on time, with the leader from the American Constitutional Society speaking. After sending a shout-out to Tipper Gore in the audience, she gave a strong summary of the situation we face today in terms of assaults on the Constitution. There was a large screen on the stage above the speaker's podium, and a total of 10 American flags.

Then there was the issue with Bob Barr. While the first woman was speaking, an assistant handed her a piece of paper. She stopped for a second to read it, and then continued. She concluded her speech and explained that Barr would be "with us" in a second; by the way she kept looking up at the screen and by the fact that there were only two chairs on stage, we figured he would be on a live feed from somewhere. While we were waiting, we heard a few people shout things, and others laugh and applaud. There was a tension in the air as we waited for the main event, and perhaps some worries that the crowd might get unruly. The only one I caught was the final one, when someone shouted "Impeach Bush." It was just after that that an unknown man stepped up on the stage to go ahead and introduce Gore.

Then, Gore came to speak. He must have fine natural projection vocally, because the volume that had been just fine with the other speakers now became almost too loud. You could tell he had a righteous conviction behind his words: It was powerful. After a few minutes, I looked over at my husband to see tears streaming down his face, perhaps at finally hearing someone in politics with the courage to call a spade a spade and to say the things we've known for five years. It wasn't the last time. I was just amazed at hearing a natural orator at work. No mispronounciations or words that do not exist. Everything he mentioned was backed up with facts, including the MLK/COINTELPRO information, the pressure on CIA staff about the Iraq-al Qaeda link, and the suppresion of scientists and other experts. Again, the power of Gore's convictions drove the speech, and he was interrupted many times with standing ovations and applause. In most cases, he spoke over it. Throughout the speech, you could see people nodding vigorously as he spoke. During the last few minutes, people were on their feet much of the time, particularly has he laid out his five points. A few people raised their impeachment signs, but overall the crowd was respectful but enthusiastic.

Afterward, as we walked back to the car, we heard people around us who had also been at the speech talking about the same things we were: whether or not the mainstream media would pay attention, the call-out to Congressional leaders on both sides of the aise, the call to the American people to take back their country.

All in all, wow.