You’ll remember that two weeks ago, I was eagerly anticipating The Big Peace March scheduled for March 15 in downtown San Rafael. And, indeed, I was in attendance yesterday as a few interested citizens showed up to protest our continued involvement in Iraq.

This morning, the Marin Independent Journal reported…

Several hundred people attended a march and rally in downtown San Rafael on Saturday to protest the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq, just days before the five-year anniversary of the invasion…

In my opinion, this is truly a misrepresentation of the event.

I was there. I estimated the crowd at between 100 and 200 during the noon-time rally…after which I left. Unless there was a massive influx of participants for the actual march itself, immediately following the speeches, I believe our local reporter over-reached in doing his crowd estimate.

I found the turnout yesterday to be tremendously disappointing. As you may recall, I was similarly dismayed last year in downtown San Francisco when we gathered to protest the fourth anniversary of the war’s beginning.

My observations are more-or-less validated by a front-page article today in the San Francisco Chronicle, which states that…

The war in Iraq has gone on for five years now, but there is almost no sign of it in the Bay Area, a region where 7 million people live…

The Bay Area has a reputation for being a hotbed of anti-war sentiment, the legendary “Left Coast” where all the politicians are liberals and all the citizens are activists.

It is also the home of Travis Air Force Base, one of the country’s largest with a direct role in Iraq, and a place where anti-war protesters plan to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war with parades and demonstrations.

But mostly, Bay Area people seem to have put the war in the back of their minds. They are not indifferent about the war. They just don't want to think about it.

I agree. People seem to have, mostly, put this war out of their heads: we seem to be in a kind of massive, nationwide, State Of Denial that the U.S. has so royally fucked up.

I ask: What will it take to shake us up? When are we ever going to get off our duffs and demand that this insanity stop?

Soundtrack Suggestion

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

(“Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” – Pete Seeger)