I went to the Washington DC May Day March in Lafayette Square across from the White House today. Since I'm not suicidal I didn't do a counter-protest. As it turns out I would have been the ONLY counter-protester there. DC can be risky enough, but counter-protesting upset leftists is not something to do all alone.
Wearing an old tie-die Grateful Dead bear shirt to better camouflage myself in addition to skipping my morning shower, I armed myself with a camera, blackberry and some petitions.
Apoyo el 1994 la Medalla Presidencial de la Libertad receptor César Chávez, creador de la famosa consigna, "Sí se puede", y su política de inmigración justa.
I support the 1994 Presidential Medal Of Freedom recipient Cesar Chavez, originator of the famous slogan, "Yes, We Can!", and his just immigration policy.
In between taking pictures of protesters and their signs, I also chatted with a few people. Once in a while I would slip to the margins and ask some person to sign my petition. (I saw nobody else petitioning.) Everyone was more than happy to sign, and I got maybe two dozen people to sign. Nobody seemed to know that Mr. Chavez was extremely anti-illegal immigration! (I had a good laugh to myself every time someone signed without even asking what his stance on the issue was!)
All the while people on stage were giving speeches, but as I don't speak much Spanish, I didn't understand most of it. Jan Brewer, the Arizona governor was vilified repeatedly. The usual lefty standards were seen and hurled, "racist", "bigot", "fascist" as well as "apartheid". Calls for reform, justice, and open borders were rampant.
There were a lot of SEIU (Service Employees International Union) purple t-shirted people about, and lots seemed to be leaders of the rally, as well as Casa De Maryland, an "immigrants rights" group.
Heaps of heated rhetoric, both on and off stage were in abundance, but the crowd was very peaceful. Everyone I spoke with was polite, calm, and passionate. As with most liberal protests, there were others wanting to be heard and seen as well. Socialist Party, PETA, National Lawyers Guild Legal Observers, and the ever radical United Chicken Concerns among others.
At one point another person was signing my petition and a purple t-shirted SEIU guy grabbed the papers and ran off with them. I figure I lost about two dozen names and emails but, didn't bother chasing or getting the cops. Somebody had finally realized there was a "traitor" in their midst. I moved quickly across the street, closer to the White House, and the Park Police.
The grand finale was a symbolic "Sit Down" in front of the White House. Protesters asked to be arrested, and the Park Police obliged. Grand theater indeed, and a complete farcical one at that. As with any really good demonstration, the media outnumbered those being arrested by about ten to one.
While the crowd was about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the Tax Day Tea Party two weeks earlier, they left a lot more trash. For a Green leaning crowd, I guess picking up the trash is a job even, "undocumented immigrants" don't want to do.
