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| Fifth Column |
| Antiglobo Kiddies' Klub continues DC temper tantrum... |
| 2002-09-29 |
| Demonstrators rallying Sunday against a possible war in Iraq set their sights on the vice president's residence, while organizers of weekend protests against global trade policies discussed their movement's next step. "What do you want to do, Strawberry?" "I dunno. What do you want to do?" "We could go to the movies." "Did that last week." "Let's march up and down Pennsylvania Avenue carrying large puppets and block traffic." "Hokay." With District of Columbia police in riot gear looking on, more than 50 protesters gathered to review their peaceful rally Saturday to the headquarters of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and suggest future protests. ``Any kind of protest is effective because it calls attention to you,'' said Stephanie Palumbo of Suffern, N.Y. "I like attention. Usually I don't get none, 'cuz I got buck teeth and my ass is too big..." Other participants were getting ready for the anti-war march through Washington's Embassy Row and ending up outside Vice President Dick Cheney's residence. "Dick?" "Yes, Lynn?" "There's a mob of screaming children out front." "Do they have puppets?" "Yes, several of them. More coffee?" "Yes, thank you." U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers said law enforcement officers expected Sunday's events to be small and quiet. Organizers proclaimed Saturday's protest a success despite failing to draw the 20,000 people who descended on Washington for the institutions' meetings in April 2000. "Well, they got braces and lost some weight, and now they're traitors to the Movement™. And they have dates and I don't!" Protesters, who filled five city blocks, contend the World Bank and IMF force developing nations to take money away from social services and programs for the poor in order to pay debt. ``They go into these countries and they take their resources,'' said one protester, 21-year-old Erin Flowers of Little Rock, Ark. ``None of it goes to the native people of the land.'' It goes to some of the native people of the land. They rake it off. Seems that's a problem for the native people of the land to solve, doesn't it? If they don't have to pay it back, then it represents a free gift of millions and sometimes billions of dollars to the local kleptocrats... Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who spoke at the rally, said corporate greed is on the minds of voters this fall. ``People around the country know something is wrong,'' he said. ``The majority of polls are very suspicious of corporate globalization. The impact is being felt in one community after another.'' "So vote for me in '04! I'll do better this time around, really!" Following the larger march and rally, hundreds of protesters walked an additional two blocks to a park across the street from the World Bank. They chanted and waved signs behind concrete barriers and rows of police in helmets and riot gear. ``It's such a symbol for what's happening in the world today when supposedly democratic institutions have to meet behind barriers and battalions of heavily armed police,'' said David Levy, a spokesman for Mobilization for Global Justice, the group that organized Saturday's demonstration. That's because Mobilization for Global Justice organized a bunch of children to come stand around and wave puppets and break windows. Seems like he's bitching about his own existence, doesn't it? Few arrests were reported, in sharp contrast to the 649 people taken into custody on Friday. Chambers and Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said protesters understood that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, police would not tolerate any criminal activity. ``You can protest and be loud in Washington without being hurtful,'' Gainer said. Life is easier when you round up the leaders of the pack and toss them in jug until the festivities are over... Two men and two women who refused to identify themselves were arrested Saturday evening on illegal weapons charges. They were found with an explosive device that the police described as a coffee can filled with nails and an explosive ordnance. They also had smoke bombs, authorities said. Seems like they should be held for longer than just until the festivities are over. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |