Are large protests still possible and likey to have an affect ?

[blues90]

I see some senators are trying to get people out to protest in large numbers to end this war . I know there were very large numbers protesting at the beginning of this attack on Iraq but the attack proceeded unhampered and still it goes on .

Even though we had a large turnut in nov of democratic votes do you really feel protests will come about and result in a positive outcome .


I know before the elections there was a huge attempt to get the protesters out there with little numbers and no coverage . I know bush could care less about protests other than they are a glitch in his day if even that .

I do thing it is the people who need to change this horrid situation not the politicians . The people are the ones who have to change all that is wrong in this country too . We are controlled by this admin and still the huge corporations and the military industrial complex and the medical and insurance industrial complex and this global bs economy .

[rpgamerd00d]

1. People do not have the time/ability to protest like we used to.

Modern jobs/livlihoods just don't allow citizens to have the huge protests that we used to in the past. At least, not on a weekday. We are resigned to be "Weekend War-Protesters".

[Ezlivin]

2. If the protesters are carrying loaded AK-47s

They'll get attention. Otherwise they will be ignored even if their numbers are great.

See: Lead-up to Iraq war.

[spanone]

3. If bush* continues to piss on the will of the people, there will be no choice.

The PEOPLE govern this nation ultimately.

[bryant69]

4. I think they are possible, but would have to be in rsponse to something

Rather than just business as usual. If the Bush Administration did some kind of atrocity beyond the terrible run of the mill atrocities they committ, than you might see it.

But you need a sort of flash point toget people willing to go out there again I should think.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[peace13]

5. The media would actually have to cover the event next time!

The lack of media coverage is why this country is so far down the toilet now.

[Lefty-Taylor]

6. Yes, they are possible and will have an effect. We need to get out there again, just

as we did before the war. Mainstream America needs us to lead. And now, most people finally understand.

[FedUpWithIt All]

7. I was in DC at the protest on Sept 24 a little over a year ago.

One estimate i heard placed the number at over a hundred thousand people. C-span apparently placed the number at 500,000. Entire blocks were shut down and filled with people. I returned to my hotel that evening and watched the news, hoping to see some coverage. The news reported the protest...sorta. They said "several hundred" people were in attendance. I was very disheartened.

[Dora]

8. Protest with money. Stop spending it. n/t

[blogslut]

9. Senators want us to protest?

Which ones? This is the first time I've heard that.

As for protests, they're coming, just maybe not soon or in anti-war form per se. We've got a growing population of Iraq veterans that are being screwed out of treatment and benefits. There are also thousands of displaced citizens from the Gulf Coast that are and will be falling through the mighty big cracks left by Bush and the 109th Congress. Protests are coming but they won't be your hippie daddy's protests.

[Rageneau]

10. A major reason why the right-wing took over the media was to keep protests unreported.

I was at Smirk's first inagauration, in the bitter icy rain in DC. There were many thousands of us there -- 30,000 at least -- to protest the Thief. We were visible and loud, so much so, that the limos with Smirk and Snarl in them had to hurry past us like fleeing bankrobbers. It was the largest such protest since Nixon's second inagauration -- a huge event.

But when I got my wet, cold, tired body back to the hotel room that night and watched the coverage of the inagaural parade, we were nowhere to be seen. At most, we were mentioned in passing as being a 'contingent' of protesters -- not the howling mob we actually were. I even distinctly remember the network "camera truck" - a flatbed with about 30 cameras aboard it, passing by us protesters without ever once turning even one camera in our direction. Instead, they stayed focused on Bush's limo, which was right behind them.

It was OBVIOUS that the major media was going out of its way NOT to show what was really happening that day. And that was -- and remains -- no accident.