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Signs of the Times -- War Protest on the Mall
January 27, 2007WASHINGTON -- Demonstrators waved placards, wore stickers on their clothes and even paraded around costumed as Guantanamo Bay prisoners in black hoods and orange jumpsuits during Saturday's Iraq war protest on the National Mall.
Their messages ranged from trite to unmentionable.
Here's a sampling from signs and stickers:
1. Bush lied
Thousands died
Impeach Bush
2. Support Our Troops and Hold Our Leaders Accountable
3. How many lives per gallon
4. We the people are the deciders
5. Impeach the Bush Cartel Before They Strike Again
6. Give Peace a Chance
Learn from History
7. Stop the racist war on Arabs and Muslims
8. Blessed are the Peacemakers
9. Out of Iraq
10. Send no more targets to Iraq
11. Not one more death!
Dollar day!
Bring our troops home now
12. If you can read this, you are not our president
13. Who's Dying?
Who's Lying?
Who's Profiting?
14. Elder Voices
Grandparents for Peace
15. We're being Neo-conned again
16. Iraq Escalation?
Wrong Way?
17. Impeach Bunny Pants
18. Free Palestine
19. Torture + Science = Complicity
NOTE: Anyone at today's protest from the Wichita Falls, Texas, area or with ties to the area, please call Scripps Howard Texas Regional Reporter Trish Choate at (202) 664-9460.
Posted by Trish Choate at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Peace, Picketing and "Boffo" Business -- War Protest on the Mall
WASHINGTON -- It could have been a party Saturday afternoon at the National Mall what with the movie stars at the microphone, rapers singing tunes for peace, girls giggling, congo drums pounding cheerfully and touristy peaceniks snapping photos of each other in front of the Washington Monument.
But the carnival-like atmosphere belied a serious attack on the war and on Bush that drew thousands ranging from babies in strollers to oldsters leaning on canes.
Just ask the middle-aged homemaker, the retired magazine editor, the government engineer, the 20-something lobbyist, the 13-year-old boy in braces or the activist peddling antiwar books, buttons and bumperstickers.
"Business is boffo," Max Obuszewski of Baltimore said.
A $1.50 bought a button or bumper sticker from his card table, including his most popular sticker, "There's dirt under every Bush."
T-shirts, pastries and protest signs were also for sale from enterprising peace lovers making a buck from those protesting Bush's plan to increase U.S. troops in Iraq -- not to mention a hodgepodge of left-leaning causes.
The familiar voices of actors Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon and Jane Fonda blasted from giant speakers while protesters milled around, waiting to march.
"What's Hollywood doing here today?" Penn said. "We're here because it's our jobs, just like it's yours, my fellow Americans."
For the Eberlys, the protest was a family affair.
For mom -- 58-year-old Jane Eberly -- the target was Bush's brain.
"We hit him over the head with a baseball bat in November," the Burke, Va., woman said. "I'm hoping with the numbers here that he'll get it. He just can't do this anymore."
Her 61-year-old husband David, who is an engineer for the Environmental Protection Agency, and her sons, 13-year-old Shane and 18-year-old Nathan were also along.
Nathan Eberly, a Fairfax High School student, was busy filming the action with a handheld camera for a project, maybe for himself and maybe for school.
He declined to reveal his war stance, saying he was there "mostly for the project and to try to get a massive, powerful look of the people."
Jane and David Eberly are both veteran Vietnam War protesters, and they weren't the only ones there Saturday.
Brian Brown, a 72-year-old New Yorker, was hoisting a sign overhead that said, "Elder Voices" and "Grandparents for Peace," representing an informal group.
"More and more we seem to be coming together," Brown said. "But we're not a dot-org yet."
Vietnam War protesters once upon a time, he and other members are back at it again, said Brown, a retired magazine editor.
Not everyone was quite as mainstream as Boomers who earned their protesting chops during the Vietnam War.
A 28-year-old construction worker identifying himself as "Wes" said he was protesting "the whole administration of war, death and occultism."
"You're standing in front of one of the most occultist buildings there is," he said.
Look at the Capitol on a map, and the shape of an owl becomes clear, Wes said.
He gave his last name as "Johnson" and then admitted it was false.
Across the crowd, a 23-year-old lobbyist carried pamphlets and papers.
Ellen Massey of D.C. said she was working with the Friends Committee on National Legislation. The Quaker lobby is advocating against the troop surge in Iraq and urging people to call their members of Congress on Monday.
Would the protest do any good?
"I don't know, umm, yes," Massey said, gathering her thoughts. "I think this will do good because I believe that this represents the view of a huge number of people in the United States, so our representatives will have to listen."
By 2:30 p.m., marchers were still slowly trundling down the Mall toward Constitution Avenue.
In the opposite direction, moms and dads pushed strollers bearing sleeping babies toward packed subways, and a smattering of others headed toward home.
A man dressed in a dark coat and cap relaxed on a crate and rattled a red and white cup at passsersby, saying, "Spare change? A little change? Have a good day."
His cup sounded heavy. Business was boffo for him, as well.
Note: If anyone from the Wichita Falls, Texas, area is protesting in D.C. Saturday or who has ties to the area, please call Scripps Howard Texas Regional Reporter Trish Choate at (202) 664-9439.
Another Note: The next blog entry will give readers and idea of what messages protesters were seeking to make public.
Posted by Trish Choate at 01:54 PM | Permalink
A Question for the Ages Answered
January 24, 2007It's been a dilemma since the first moving picture based on a book played in a darkened theater.
Should you read the book or see the movie first?
My experience with "The Painted Veil" -- the movie -- and "The Painted Veil" -- the book by W. Somerset Maugham and my experience with "Perfume" -- the movie -- and "Perfume" -- the book -- have finally put that question to rest for me.
When my daughter flew up from Texas to visit me in D.C. around Christmas, I took a week off, and we quickly figured out how to spend all that free time.
Go to the movies!
And so we found ourselves squinting up at "The Painted Veil" at the E Street Cinema in D.C.'s Chinatown.
On screen, a silly girl married a serious scientist in the 1920s and proceeded to make them both unhappy.
Kitty marries Walter Fane out of desperation to escape her icky mother and find a place for herself in society (a necessity apparently for the Brits in the 1920s.) Installed with him in China, she finds herself bored with the rather awkward Walter.
The camera cuts to him carefully arranging his slippers side by side before turning to her for a night of married bliss.
But, hey, she's "stuck" with Edward Norton, so she ain't that bad off.
That is, Kitty (Naomi Watts) weds Walter (our boy Norton).
Somehow, over the next several minutes, Kitty and Walter find a cholera epidemic and find each other.
Kitty manages to become less selfish and silly, and Walter manages to get a lot better looking when he ditches the greasy hair gel and gains a tan.
Our boy Norton had to ugly himself up a bit for the part at first, but nothing, thank goodness, like Charlize Theron in "Monster."
Definitely, go see the movie. It's smart, sexy, nuanced and just the right amount of heartbreaking.
"The Painted Veil" is based on the book of the same name by our other boy, Maugham.
This Englishman was a really cool writer who made his name more or less in the first half of the last century. He also spent some time studying medicine and spying for his the Brits.
But he was really a master of psychology, answering all those questions that plague me about characters.
Such as, why is he doing that? Or this?
At least read "The Moon and Sixpence," our boy Maugham's fictionalized account of Paul Gaugin's life.
I went to a cheap used bookstore here in D.C. called Capitol Books and bought a copy of "The Painted Veil."
It was a quick read and definitely had a different plotline from the movie. I got more of a feel for why Kitty couldn't stand Walter although all of those things that made her wrinkle her nose seemed like pretty good qualities.
I can only conclude that Kitty might have grown as a person, but, in the book, she's still too shallow to "get" Walter.
Reading the book and seeing the movie turned out to be quite different experiences. But even if the movie had stuck to the book's plot, it would have been different.
Maugham is a good explainer of character, putting things on the page that the screen doesn't have time for. The movie was a visual treat, but the book was brain candy.
Well, it's late. So I'm heading home and will probably take up "Perfume" in my next post.
I guess the book and the movie will still be around.
Posted by Trish Choate at 06:12 PM | Permalink
"Golden Flower" is a curse all right
January 09, 2007I sat back in the movie theater, my senses assaulted by a riot of colors, beautiful people doing interesting things and some juicy court intrigue.
All too soon, my senses were assaulted by a lot of suppressed bawling, a male chauvinist pig on a throne and too soapy drama.
As the minutes ticked by, my hopes dwindled that "Curse of the Golden Flower," a historical Chinese flick, would be worth the highway-robbery price of $10 a ticket I paid at the Georgetown Loews.
I left the theater feeling like I'd been punched in the gut after eating too much pasta at Johnny Carino's, seen a favorite pet run over before my eyes and gotten a notice of an audit from the IRS.
Dang, things were real, real bad several centuries ago for women, even royalty -- at least in that movie they were.
While the empress -- or "Mother" as her stepson/lover calls her -- barely has to lifted a golden spike-tipped finger, she's at the whims of her evil emperor husband who has arranged for her to drink herself to death.
He rules with a mean hand at every turn, and I felt bad for queenie even though she was dallying with her stepson.
I won't spoil the movie for you should you be so foolhardy as to go, but let me warn you, you might need a quick hit of antidepressants afterward.
"Golden" is a real downer, and don't -- under any circumstances -- expect a happy ending.
It just ain't gonna happen.
If you want a good cry, go see this movie.
Oh, and one more thing.
I was all hyped to see some crazy-cool martial arts as in the outstanding "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
But by the time the airborne kicking, punching and twirling started, it was already half past melancholy.
Posted by Trish Choate at 06:44 PM | Permalink
Herstory in the Making
January 04, 2007My dad had a distinct definition of women's liberation that came in handy when it was time to fix the roof, remodel a room or lug a trunk full of his boxing team's equipment out to the van.
"You're a women's libber aren't you?" he'd say with a grin when I was a teen-ager. "Come help me put a new roof on the shop."
Equal rights were all the rage at our house when there was manual labor to be done. You even had an equal right to grab a hammer and smash your thumb, just like the guys.
Today, I got a slightly different take on the subject when I saw Nancy Pelosi elected the first female speaker of the House in Washington.
A rundown follows on what really went on in the first couple of hours of the new Democrat-controlled Congress.
12:25 p.m. A cheerful milling around on the floor of the House chamber preceded the speaker's election, and many of those milling were children and grandchildren of the members.
Mixed in with the adults in starched suits were kids of all ages turned out in their Sunday best.
One congressman carted around a blue-clad toddler contendedly sucking a thumb. (To be clear, that's the toddler, not the congressman, sucking his thumb.)
Another congressman grinned while a cute little boy stood on a table, grabbed a microphone and yanked it to his mouth, ready to politick.
What with all the kids present, several members of Congress were forced to hang out in the aisles. The Dems were on one side -- the side that cheered the most during the proceedings, and the Republicans were on the other.
Wichita Falls' congressman, U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Clarendon, was sitting quietly beside U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, during the proceedings. Thornberry's district includes most of North Texas, and Neugebauer's takes in all of Young County and most of Archer County.
12:31 A sign in the chamber showed that 435 members were finally present.
A gaval banged loudly several times, the banging enhanced by proximity to a microphone.
"A quorum is present," a female clerk announced.
The whole process would be a carefully mapped-out performance with occasional ad-libbing and hamming it up allowed, mostly from gleeful Democrats.
A quorum being present was reason enough for a round of applause in the chamber, a high-ceilinged affair with seals, wood paneling, plenty of carpet and officious touches.
A press gallery and a visitors gallery looks down on the seats for the representatives. Both were just about full.
"The next order of business is the election of the speaker of the House to the 110th Congress," the female clerk said.
That was a signal for applause.
It was also Pelosi's cue to stand up in her eggplant-colored suit, gold beads at her throat and grin on her face. She's in her mid-60s, but her trim figure and youthful face say younger. No need to put a number on that.
Pelosi soaked up a standing ovation and exchanged an air kiss with U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, a New York Democrat taking on a powerful post in the new Congress -- chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Kisses would abound as the wheels of government turned. Indeed, the 110th Congress appeared to be a very friendly bunch at least in its first minutes.
Pelosi was -- no, duh -- nominated.
U.S. Rep. John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, got a nomination from the Republican side of the room and his own standing ovation.
The next order of business was a long roll call -- 435 people long with one do-over when a member apparently didn't answer the first time.
The routine went like this:
Clerk: "Smith."
Democrat Smith: "Pelosi."
Clerk: "Pelosi"
Or it went like this:
Clerk: "Smith."
Republican Smith: "Boehner."
Clerk: "Boehner."
When it came time for the Republican nominee to vote, the routine went like this:
Clerk: "Boehner."
Boehner: "Boehner."
Laughter rolled through the House chamber.
Clerk: "Boehner."
More laughter.
Chuckles alternated with triumphant votes for Pelosi celebrating a first in the nation's history.
Rep. Joseph Crowley, a New York Democrat, announced another first, casting his vote for "First Italian-American speaker, Nancy Pelosi."
Applause.
For some Pelosi supporters, a pulpit and Bible wouldn't have been inappropriate.
"In the Name of Jesus, Nancy Pelosi," Jesse L. Jackson Jr. of Illinois intoned.
That followed his invoking of Rosa Parks and the "struggle for equality."
1:05 p.m. Some Republican seats had emptied out, maybe for a quick leg stretch, but Democrats -- who also brought the most kids -- stayed firmly in place.
Some of the declarations from Democratic women would have done well to be spoken with Helen Reddy singing, "I am woman. Hear me roar!" in the background.
Rep. Nita Lowey of New York raised her arms heavenward during her vote for Pelosi and said, "Women can do anything!"
"For the empowermen of all women in the world ... Nancy Pelosi!" Rep. Loretta Sanchez of California said.
"For the future of our grandchildren and world peace!" said another congresswoman who appeared to have grandkids snuggled around her.
Before that, Pelosi voted for ... Pelosi.
It was another occasion for a standing ovation.
Neugebauer and Thornberry put in their votes for Boehner when the time came with little fanfare.
1:45 p.m. The surround-sound gavel pounded again at 435 votes.
The clerk announced that Pelosi had 233 votes, and then she said something else about the votes for Boehner, but the cheering and the standing ovation drowned it out.
Republicans stood and clapped. No cheers from their side of the chamber.
Pelosi walked out of the chamber with a gaggle of people who would be her escort.
Then came a nonsurprise annoucement: "Madam clerk, Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, the representative from California, and the escort committee," followed by their triumphant march back into the chamber.
Cheek kissing, cheers, whistling and applause.
Speeches were also part of the ceremony. (See AP stories.)
And so word of the first female speaker of the House coming to power has spread throughout the land.
Perhaps little girls are dreaming of someday taking the gavel themselves as second in line in succession to the presidency.
Wait a minute. Little girls probably don't what a speaker of the House is.
It's more likely they know what a president is.
Posted by Trish Choate at 03:55 PM | Permalink
