Moratorium

Today was the day of the National Moratorium to Stop the War in Iraq, in which students and employed people were asked to take the day off and join protests.  Along with such cities as San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, and Dallas, and along with college towns and high school campuses, there was a Not In Our Name-sponsored “convergence” in Seattle.

I can’t say that our event was earth-shattering in its size or in its fervor.  On a raw, gray, and breezy afternoon at Seattle’s Westlake Park, the total number of participants came to somewhere between “more than 1000” (Post-Intelligencer) and “about 2000” (according to an organizer quoted in the Seattle Times).  Given that the principal organizations leading Seattle’s anti-war/anti-Bush movement, e.g. the SNOW Coalition and the Church Council of Greater Seattle, didn’t do much of anything to promote or encourage this event, the turnout was actually fairly significant.

I was underwhelmed by the speakers.  They seemed more interested in five-second applause lines than in raising logical or factual arguments in support of their/our stances against Dubya’s multi-pronged attack on America and the world.  With so very many kids in the audience, I suppose that’s OK.  This wasn’t a Vietnam-era teach-in, after all.

Without a doubt, the best part came when representatives of all the schools involved in the day’s activities got up on the stage and gave *their* applause lines.  Hign schools and middle schools, colleges and elementary schools ... three or four dozen different schools, from inside the city to Puget Sound islands to Eastside suburbs!  The enthusiasm of youth was evident, and in many cases, it was clear that these kids had been pondering the big world events swirling around them very intensively.

All in all, despite the rather meager turnout, I’m glad I went.  I can’t say that it reinvigorated me or that my spirits were lifted, but it’s always good to see that there are others out there who are willing to speak their minds, raise their voices, and practice the highest form of American patriotism ... freely and openly protesting against the actions of the people occupying the highest seats of government in the land.

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