The protest in Dublin went extremely well, with at least 25,000 participating. Counting heads would have been impossible, but if you know Dublin, as Panda and Critch do, the crowd was backed up from Leinster House, which was the end of the line, to the intersection of O'Connell & Nassau, and it was wall-to-wall people of all ages, occupations, nations, religions, size, shape, color-- and there were also quite a few dogs. I got to Dublin around 3pm on Friday, and went straight to Parnell Square to help the SWP and IAWM collect signatures for our petition to get the U.S. military out of Shannon, pass out placards, etc. I must have personally engaged at least 500 people, including tourists from India, Spain, Argentina, France, Germany, and the USA. With the exception of two Americans, all the foreign visitors either signed the petition, joined the march, or both. Hatred of the Chimp really IS universal! One of the Americans I chatted with was a total asshat, who told me that Bush had saved my life, for without his courage, Saddam would've personally blown me to bits! He also told me that I should be executed for treason. I responded with if that's the case, then Bush saving my life was irrelevant. He became extremely hostile then, and told me that I had no right to criticize the Chimp and that I'd never understand because I wasn't a Texan. When I told him I WAS a Texan, that the Chimp had defunded my job back in '96, denied me benefits when I was in a wheelchair, etc., he was actually shocked, especially since he was a UT alum. As it turned out, he hadn't lived in the States in 20 years because he worked for Dutch Royal Shell & Aramco, so he was clueless about how much things have changed. I wasn't able to change his mind, but he did take a "Deception Dollar" and said he would look at the websites listed on it. The other American tried to run away from our group, saying "I can't protest; I'm an American!" So I hollared "So am I!" She, too, was surprised, and we chatted a bit about the coming election--she's voting for Kerry, but she wouldn't march because she said she felt too uncomfortable. I just thanked her for her time and let her go.
I did get interviewed by TV 3. I was taking pictures of the media there--SkyNews, BBC, RTE, ITV, Reuters--and the TV 3 reporter asked me why I wanted his picture. I said to prove you where here and that the demo did happen because the U.S. media probably wouldn't cover it. So upon discovering that I'd left the U.S. to live in Ireland, he wanted a couple of sound bytes, which he definitely got--shredding the Bill of Rights, governing through fear and intimidation, police state, Selection 2000, Chimpy using Ireland as a photo opp to woo the Irish American vote, which was the only bit that made it on the air. I wish they'd run everything I'd said, but at least the voice of one dissenting American made onto Irish television. I was also interviewed by an Aussie journalist for an article she was writing. She has my email and telephone number, so I'll let y'all know if anything makes it into print.
Once the protest was underway, I broke off from my SWP and Amnesty Int'l friends and wound my way to the front, where I intended to take more photos, but my brand-new,over-priced batteries died on me. So I just started passing out "Deception Dollars", mostly to kids, the speakers, and the media, making sure to let them know I was an American and that this illegal tender--I called them "Bush Bucks"--was their paycheck from Dubya. That got some good laughs and led to some interesting conversations. I don't know if y'all have seen these "Deception Dollars", but they are a very effective tool for getting the message across about EVERYTHING that's wrong with Bushco. And the more you look at one, the more you see:
http://www.deceptiondollar.com/Anyway, there were numerous excellent speakers and music at the protest. The leader of SIPTU, Ireland's largest labour union spoke, as did the heroic Joe Higgins, the sole Socialist Party TD (he only takes minimum wage and has gone to Mountjoy Gaol a few times for speaking out against the government). There were two Palestian leaders there, both of them extremely eloquent and profoundly moving, a poet, a Sinn Fein leader who was very charismatic and sexy, speaking in both Irish and English, a folk singer, a reggae band, and another group who sang the hit of the evening--Dennis Leary's "I'm an Asshole" alterted to fit the Chimp and the BFEE. You can listen to this glorious song by scrolling down to "Same Audio, but MP3 format--and it IS in two parts:
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=65747It was brilliant, and even the gardai were laughing and singing along. The prevailing atmosphere at the protest, which lasted from 7:00pm until 9:40pm, was an admixture of righteous indignation and solidarity. There was never the slightest hint of violence on the part of either the protestors of the gardai, who remain blessedly unarmed. But since most of the gardai in Ireland were indisposed at Shannon anyway . . . but that's another story. I would have loved to have stayed and participated in the vigil at the U.S. Embassy--
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=65762, but my FMS prevailed, so I returned to Co. Wexford at 1:00am, exhausted but exhilarated. We made history this weekend, folks!
Here's another link to pictures:
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=65755"Our demands most moderate are – We
only want the earth!" - James Connolly
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