Tomorrow is the big anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. which you’ve hopefully by now seen signs for on your college campus. The protest, organized by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), begins with a rally near the White House, continues with a march to the U.S. Capitol, and concludes with a “die-in” that organizers estimate will involve approximately 1,000 people lying down near the Capitol in a symbolic effort to represent dead U.S. soldiers and dead Iraqis.

To get you pumped for the action, I thought I’d belatedly share some photos from the last anti-war event I attended, a “Take A Stand Town Hall” co-sponsored by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq and MoveOn.org. The event was targeted at Senator Specter who “chose to stand with President Bush and his reckless Iraq war policy instead of his constituents” by failing to attend. (The organizers left an empty chair on the panel to remind the audience of Specter’s absence.)

 

After galvanizing the anti-war sentiment among rush hour drivers (I probably counted close to 200 horn honks in about an hour), we headed in to the Philadelphia Free Library where Jeff Garis, Executive Director of Penn Action, broke down just how in bed Specter has been with Bush on Iraq despite the senator’s admirable opposition to torture and Alberto Gonzales’ handling of the Justice Department. Rand Beers, who served on the National Security Council under Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, and G.W.B. until he resigned in protest five days before commencement of the invasion of Iraq, followed up with some lucid analysis of the situation in Iraq, reminding us that there will be no peace until there is political reconciliation and our military involvement has not created nor will it create the opportunity for such reconciliation.

Enough words. More pictures.

Sweet sign.

That old woman on the end was the loudest protester out there. On a side note, she also had some interesting thoughts on Philly’s murder rate, currently the highest in the nation.

 

I’ve never seen anyone as determined to get cars to honk as this man.

 

Notice the chair reserved for Senator Specter. Time for a poultry joke: war hawk Specter chickens out of town hall meeting!