anti-war

I stopped by the anti-war protest downtown on the way home on Saturday, just to check it out (I hadn’t even realized it was going on, which is a bad start). I suppose it had about the usual effect that an anti-war rally tends to, with me – one of mixed depression and apathy.

I ran into Mary and chatted with her and someone from TN Guerilla Women.

I didn’t stay very long. The turnout was pretty small and anemic, though I was there later in the day, so maybe it was bumpin earlier. I didn’t get the impression that it was doing a very good job as far as political rallies go – the goal of which is to raise awareness. The crowd there seemed relatively passive, detatched, and, well, bored. I left to go to the Y and by the time I came back, they had packed up and were gone, like it was a mirage in the desert. This was a disappointment, since I had hoped there would be more people when I got back. There were some booths and the mandatory reggae band playing. I got the impression that this protest was just going through the motions of a long-dead form of civic action – showing up long enough to say they were there and packing up before they could disrupt the flow of tourists and drinkers out on the town.