"What did you do in the war, auntie meerkat?"

[lagilman]

And so yesterday the Guy and I headed downtown to attend (first) the Stand with America rally

A lot of good speeches about how this isn't a "union thing" but a "working person's survival" thing, some of the usual over-the-top rhetoric, but a really good crowd-rousing experience wherein blue collar, white collar, union members and management actually got together for one common cause:



There were about two thousand people filling the square - and confusing the hell out of tourists riding the hop-on hop-off buses. Unlike the other nationwide protests of the day, ours started at 11, not noon, so that many of us could head a few blocks over to support Planned Parenthood and protest the defunding of Title X.

(G, walking over, noted that the second rally looked more organized. "Do mot mess with Planned Parenthood," we informed him. "The GOP has forgotten what really pissed-off women can do." And children, there were some mighty pissed off people, male and female, out there yesterday.)






The crowd was about 70% female, and ranging in age from babes-in-arms to grandmothers in wheelchairs, with the guys mostly in their 20's to 50's - most but not all there with women. I don't have an official estimate of the crowd, but (knowing how large the space is) I wouldn't be surprised if we were close to the permit's limit of 5,000 bodies there. About the same number of uniformed cops visible as the earlier rally, but we spotted a few solitary guys who kinda screamed "undercover cop" loitering with casual intent (actually, one of them we kept an eye on thinking he was either a cop or someone looking to cause trouble The "does not belong" vibe was strong in him.).

A few anti-choice protesters showed up, carrying their own signs, but there wasn't any trouble that we saw - it would be a very very stupid person who tried to start anything there, even without the cops. This isn't about abortion. This is about pushing back to when women were second-class citizens. No rights, no options, no hope. Hell no.


And then we headed off to Les Halles for Irish coffee and a late lunch, where the waitress -- proud of us, apparently -- laid on with a rather heavy hand of Irish. Virtue is its own reward, but fresh-made whipped cream in your coffee is nice, too.)

It was the kind of day that leaves you feeling both worried and hopeful, angry and proud. And glad that I got out and stood up and made my voice heard.


(More photos at my flicker site)

Comments

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for them to shut the government down and then try to blame everyone else. They didn't learn their lesson 15 years ago.

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

My brother teaches math at a last-chance high school in Wisconsin and my s-i-l is a nurse there. My brother has been at the Capitol on the weekends and my niece, who attends the university there, has been protesting almost non-stop for weeks now and they appreciate the solidarity around the country.

I don't think that protests elsewhere will have an effect on Wisconsin, because the governor there is clueless and stupid, but they seem to be having an effect on other states considering the same move. At this point, they have to measure not only whether the tea party wins this battle in Wisconsin, but also whether that causes the whole country to rise up in revolt and throw them all out of office at the next election.

[lagilman]

Oh, this was clearly a message aimed less at Walker himself and more at other governors, yah (in addition to being encouragement to those the ground in WI). Although did you read about Walker being asked to leave a local (Madison) restaurant because he was so roundly booed?

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

I hope you shook your signs in the direction of New Jersey!

I hadn't heard about the restaurant, but the prank call scandal made it even clearer that Walker is working for the Koch brothers, not Wisconsin. I kept thinking that some of the republicans would grow a conscience and vote against it, but apparently enough money will buy you a whole government.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Although did you read about Walker being asked to leave a local (Madison) restaurant because he was so roundly booed?

I hadn't, and I love it. There's some voice of the people, there, Walker. (I have yet to hear a coherent explanation from him on how collective bargaining over working conditions will balance the budget.)

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Good for you.

Anti-abortion (I won't call it 'pro-life,' because it isn't) is pretty much a non-issue in the UK. The last time I heard of anyone picketing a clinic here, the protestors were a Texas-based group. That doesn't mean that things can't change, and change fast. We need to remain vigilant.

With regard to Wisconsin, it will be interesting to see what happens. We have a nominally right wing govt here, but I suspect they'd been seen as suspiciously socialist in many parts of the US.

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

It's not truly a pro-life movement because so many of the anti-abortion people are adamantly in favor of things like capital punishment and military intervention.

[lagilman]

One of the popular sign variants was "want rights under the GOP? Stay a fetus."

[lagilman]

The defunding of Title X is less about abortion than the framers of it want their radical folk to believe, since federal law prohibits any federal funds to go toward abortion services. The federal funds are used for pap smears, cancer screenings, preventative care and yes, pre-natal care for women who have no other options in their community. It asks no questions, demands no obligation, and Does Not Judge.

The defunding is, in a word, anti-women.

[lagilman]

Many people in many parts of the US have no idea what socialism is, other than The Thing Under the Bed.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

"Every Period is Murder"? Which side was that sign on? Because I've heard equivalent propaganda from the anti-abortion, anti-birth control side.

Turns out NARAL and PP had marches in other states too, but they were piss-poor in getting the message out (I found out about the DC one on Friday night.) This looks like a good, solid rally - hope people are listening!

Good for you for going out. I still feel a bit guilty I didn't.

[lagilman]

We wondered about that at first, but the woman carrying it had a pro sticker on her jacket so it was tongue in check/angry, I guess. It got a good discussion going, tho, about how that wasn't true because "it only matters if sperm are killed, donchaknow. Nobody cares about only the egg."

{anyone using the "murder" argument against choice is several screws short of a sturdy table, IMO. What, we're supposed to get pregnant every 10 months? Every girl past puberty? ]


As to the turnout -- NYC is... militant about this. And we have political support, which helps. Several of the local politicians are affiliated with PP, either themselves or via their spouses, and we had our congresscritters announcing that any attempts to roll back rights would be "dead on arrival." Chuck Schumer is much-beloved for a reason - he not only walks the walk, he talks the talk LOUDLY.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Chuck Schumer is much-beloved for a reason - he not only walks the walk, he talks the talk LOUDLY.

Steny Hoyer isn't beloved, but he's a reliable voice for women's rights, which is why I keep pulling the lever for him.

What, we're supposed to get pregnant every 10 months? Every girl past puberty?

For the sake of your sanity, never google the word "quiverfull." Suffice it to say the answer is "yes."

[lagilman]

Suffice it to say the answer is "yes."

Into every world some batshit crazy must fall.

Anyone who actively supports that I categorize with child molesters ("post-pubescent" =/= "consenting adult") and the psychotically selfish/self-absorbed/racist ("the world needs more of MY SPAWN.")

[neadods.livejournal.com]

the world needs more of MY SPAWN.

More like "Jesus' army needs more footsoldiers, so let's outbreed the opposition."

[lagilman]

Considering how many of my liberal and/or left wing friends came from conservative religious households, They might want to rethink that....

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Statistically speaking, large families also add to the homosexual population.

[lagilman]

Nature's way of saying "okay, let's slow this roller coaster down a generation or two..."?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

One assumes.

[debg.livejournal.com]

What, we're supposed to get pregnant every 10 months? Every girl past puberty?

Of course. Not being a believer in anyone's deity of choice, I stand back and scour the landscape occasionally for anything resembling a functional theology that isn't based on some variant of "go forth and multiply". The very definition puts it on the woman - which means they need some way of controlling her, and ovaries, just in case she balks. It varies from culture to culture - we haven't yet reached the Talibani "cut her nose and ears off if she refuses" stage - but we're not looking good, are we?

And besides, they have to get their cannon fodder somewhere

[neadods.livejournal.com]

What I love (not!) is the argument that we mustn't teach evolution because it "makes people think they're just animals" and then deifies treating all women like a stray cat in heat - if it's fertile, it's gotta produce every cycle and no stopping or interfering with it!

[debg.livejournal.com]

This is one reason why I no longer live in Europe, where damned near every place I've lived or worked has an official state religion. Ireland may or may not still be putting girls in jail for leaving the country to get an abortion after they're raped and impregnated. France, last I looked, was still officially Catholic. England, where I lived for years, has its own official church. Let's not even talk about the Middle East and their stuff.

So I chose to live in the US, where freedom of religion is supposed to cover freedom from religion, as well. But frankly, this country is getting just as theopathic as the Vatican at its worst. And the way it's going, given enough time and not enough slp-back from a complacent citizenry, it'll look like a blonde blue-eyed edition of Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan or Sudan.

Not a heartening picture.

[lagilman]

and the way it's going, given enough time and not enough slp-back from a complacent citizenry, it'll look like a blonde blue-eyed edition of Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan or Sudan.



*raises eyebrow* I am certainly not seeing much complacency on this side of the country [in fact, quite the opposite, even among folk who aren't much for marching or posting political screeds, but have strong personal opinions nonetheless and no desire to see their daughters turned into second class citizens].

While we have never had a state religion, we have always had strongly religious communities in conflict with Federal law. That's as much a tradition as anything else, over the past few hundred years.

(Nor, actually, have I spotted a specific trend of blue-eyed blonds among the crazies....)

[debg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Mercury's retrograde, all right. Must be, if you - who were AT the demonstration in NY yesterday - managed to take that comment personally. Not so much.

That said, my definition of "slap-back" is a hell of a lot broader than even the wonderful numbers who came out in the cities. I've been a noisy pissed-off civil-disobedience gadfly for, literally, over forty years now. I also vote the way I believe.

Demonstrations, and posting opinions, is a nice start. It's a necessary start: you know my stance on being seen and being heard.

But we - yes, we - collectively allowed the rightwing media to redraw the lines and rewrite the dictionary and redefine the sociopolitical landscape along the way. And how are those protests going to go in Idaho, or North Dakota, or West Virginia, or anywhere that isn't one of the major cities? Are they going to happen at all, and if they do, will the brief burst of action be sustained enough to change anything?

Of course you're not seeing complacency in New York City. I'm not seeing it in San Francisco either. When are either of our choices of domicile ever complacent about anything?

I'm actually hoping that what's happening in Madison may be just what this country needs, as a spur to wake up and take it back from the crazies. (And yes, Mercury retro again, if you actually took blond-blue eyed literally, rather than as a metaphor. I'm married to a blue-eyed blond, yo.)

[lagilman]

if you actually took blond-blue eyed literally, rather than as a metaphor.

There as no indication that it was indicated as a metaphor, no.

And I didn't take it personally - I think that you are wrong about the level of complacency across the country. You want people to stand up and shout. I am watching many of them say, quietly, "oh hell no."

[debg.livejournal.com]

There as no indication that it was indicated as a metaphor, no

To borrow one your more commonly-used emoticons, :::shrug::: Then that got lost in the translation. C'est la vie. Take it as stated or as what you perceived, your call.

As to the level of complacency across the country, it would be nice if you're right. I'm way too old to indulge in hope wildly without solid evidence - it's simply not time effective at my age - so I'll wait and see.

The bottom line is that what I may want or not want - or what you may want or not want - is irrelevant to anyone but ourselves in the end. We won't know until it goes down. And you're not in my head, any more than I'm in yours. So you stating flatly that you know what I want, or me doing the same to you, is very boggy ground. You don't know all of what's in my head, and in point of fact, I'm stating what I see, not what I want. If it's a wish, I say so, pretty clearly. There's nothing obscure about "it would be nice" or "I wish". If there is, I'll mosey off and we can talk again when the obscurities clear up, because, well, tangled communication lines.

But I will point you at Madison, at Cairo, at Tunisia, at Libya, and what I see is that the quiet little "oh hell no" is not what I see toppling those regimes.

[lagilman]

It takes both the grandstand gesture and the quiet refusal to topple anything. After the cameras stop running and the reporters go home, it's up to the individual to stand steady and say "oh hell no."

[debg.livejournal.com]

NOW we're communicating. Yep. Both, I think, are needed - hence my comment, above, about the initial shock to the system needing to be carried forward in some way (the quiet hell-no works beautifully for me, thanks) to sustain movement.

Seriously, *is* Merc retro again? It certainly feels like it.

Oh, and just had a joke shared that you may appreciate:

A public Union employee, a Tea Party activist, and a CEO are sitting at a table with a plate of a dozen cookies in the middle of it. The CEO takes 11 of the cookies, turns to the Tea Partier and says, "Watch out for that Union guy. He wants a piece of your cookie."

[lagilman]

We were communicating before. I simply disagreed with you on some aspects of what you said.

[debg.livejournal.com]

Ah. Then we define communication rather differently, and should probably arrange to meet elsewhere.

[lagilman]

I define communication as the exchange of information and the connection of different places/ideas.

Agreement is not required for communication.

[rosefox]

I'm so glad you were able to go! I was very sad that needing to both work and sleep kept me uptown.

[paulliver.livejournal.com]

Where the heck were all these people when I was a Kerry volunteer? You really have to rub the average person's face in a problem before they do anything about it.

[lagilman]

People react when they are threatened, and when they are enthused/fired up. Maybe Kerry wasn't speaking to what concerned them, or giving them a reason to follow? Clearly, he wasn't able to rouse them in the way you felt they should have been roused.


[also, with respect, and on behalf of the people who have been on the front lines of the pro-choice movement for decades? Bite me.]

[paulliver.livejournal.com]

Just trying to say that this mess could have been avoided if people listened to liberals in the first place.