Vietnam Reflux

The Washington Post writes:

Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets

Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq

By Petula Dvorak

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 25, 2005; A01

Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington yesterday and marched past the White House in the largest show of antiwar sentiment in the nation's capital since the conflict in Iraq began.

The demonstration drew grandmothers in wheelchairs and babies in strollers, military veterans in fatigues and protest veterans in tie-dye. It was the first time in a decade that protest groups had a permit to march in front of the executive mansion, and, even though President Bush was not there, the setting seemed to electrify the crowd.

Signs, T-shirts, slogans and speeches outlined the cost of the Iraq conflict in human as well as economic terms. They memorialized dead U.S. troops and Iraqis, and contrasted the price of war with the price of recovery for areas battered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Riffs on Vietnam-era protests were plentiful, with messages declaring, "Make Levees, Not War," "I never thought I'd miss Nixon" and "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam." Many in the crowd had protested in the 1960s; others weren't even born during those tumultuous years.

It's no suprise that Vietnam would figure so prominently in the signs, t-shirts, and slogans used by Saturday's crowd.

The protesters seem to be under the impression that Iraq is Vietnam. They are allowing their nostalgia for those bygone glory days to cloud the reality of today.

IRAQ IS NOT VIETNAM.

The repercussions of an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops would be disastrous for Iraq, for the Middle East, and for us. Peace would not be achieved by bringing the troops home at once.

But, why let that get in the way of a good protest?

Saturday's events reminded me of those groups that stage Civil War reenactments, only the costumed drama was set in the 1960s, not the 1860s.
...Once protesters arrived, they joined throngs headed toward the rally on the Ellipse, which featured numerous speakers, including the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, actress Jessica Lange and Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who drew thousands of demonstrators to her 26-day vigil outside Bush's Crawford, Tex., ranch last month and was the inspiration for many protesters yesterday. Her son, Casey, 24, was killed in Iraq last year.

"This is amazing!" Sheehan said. "You're part of history."

Make that part of a historical reenactment.
Some of the biggest applause went to someone not even on the program. Adam Hathaway, an 8-year-old who became lost while mingling in the crowds. Before he was separated from his mother, Adam was showing people his jar of pennies and proclaiming that "President Bush is taking lots of this and using it in the war."

Several announcements were made seeking help in finding the blond boy from Maine. He was reunited with his mother, Julia Hathaway, as the crowd cheered.

Ah, the innocence of childhood.

It's nice the eight-year-old and his mother got back together with the aid of announcements blaring from the stage in order to reunite them.

It seems like the protesters were more than just a gathering of people. They formed a community.

I wonder if there were any announcements like this:

"There’s a rumor circulating that the brown acid going around is poison. Cool it. It’s not poison—it’s just badly manufactured."
...Bush and Cheney were depicted on posters, T-shirts and in makeshift costumes. Several demonstrators wore masks of Bush's likeness and prison jumpsuits. They were often asked to pose for photographs.

How fun!

Who needs to protest government policy in a dignified fashion when there are people dressed up like the Commander-in-Chief in a prison jumpsuit willing to pose for pictures?

It must have been thrilling for the protesters, kind of like kids having pictures taken with Santa.

All in all, it sounds like it was a festive event, for some a trip down memory lane, and for others a chance to be part of an era a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....