Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- The air thundered with calls for peace Saturday as throngs of protesters surged onto the National Mall and spilled into the streets in what was the largest anti-war rally in the capital since the Vietnam War. Despite the below- freezing temperatures, the substantial crowd -- estimated at more than 200,000 -- crunched toward a lone stage erected in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol building. The demonstrators were drawn by national civil rights figures who charged them to fight social inequity and the injustice of the impending war against Iraq. "Are we talking about weapons of mass destruction...

<p>San Francisco -- The band that broke away from the Jan. 18 peace march along San Francisco's Market Street and spent 35 minutes vandalizing the Financial District marked the Bay Area's introduction to "black bloc" protests, police say.</p> <p>The black bloc, named for its activists' black attire, couples a confrontational style of street protest with anarchist philosophies. It arose in Europe during the late 1980s.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON - As we prepare to watch President George Bush give his State of the Union address on Tuesday, we think back to Jan. 18 when Saddam's surrogates were in town protesting any use of force against Iraq.</p> <p>In scenes reminiscent of the anti-draft, peace-at-any-price days of Vietnam, some 70,000 demonstrators rallied, marched and orated in Washington and as many again were doing the same in San Francisco. There were smaller efforts in other American cities, along with shows of even greater anti-American enthusiasm surging in some foreign capitals.</p>

The growing movement against the military ouster of Saddam Hussein is coming under increasing attack, not just from conservatives but from former lefties - some of whom still consider themselves men of the Left - who have been denouncing anti-war organizers for having hidden agendas. Christopher Hitchens quit The Nation over it. Jonathan Chait of the New Republic, Ron Rosenbaum of the New York Observer, and philosopher Michael Walzer have written stinging rebukes of the leaders of an impending war against the Iraqi regime - with some of them even attacking the fellow-travelers and mainstreamers who participate in the demonstrations....

Just FYI--InternationalANSWER is trying to arrange anti-Bush protests on Jan. 29th, the day after the State of the Union address. (They can see the writing on the wall--it's all coming down next week.) So far, the only one actually scheduled is in New York City (5 PM in Times Square), but I'd be amazed if they didn't have one at least in San Francisco (my turf), and probably in a few other places. I'll probably knock off work to counterdemonstrate, but I'd sure like company. I'll keep you posted if their plans become more solid.

While publicly promoting non-violent protest and humanitarian causes, some key leaders and prominent groups that organized and participated in the recent anti-war demonstrations at the U.S. Capitol and San Francisco are staunch supporters of terrorist groups and dictatorial regimes worldwide. In fact, critics now charge that the "new" anti-war movement is being "hijacked" by this dominant network whose organizational power is increasing and whose political agenda is anathema to most Americans. The Saturday, Oct. 26 rally, which focused on opposition to a U.S.-led war against Iraq and drew 100,000 protesters, featured speeches by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al...

'A broad cross-section of America." That's how National Public Radio's reporter described the anti-war protesters who converged Saturday on the Mall in Washington. The New York Times agreed. Its editorial page called the gathering "impressive for the obvious mainstream roots of the marchers." I watched the march on C-SPAN, and I saw a different event - a thin crowd of cold white people cheering on an assortment of America-hating radicals, second-rate demagogues and plain weirdos. The rally was kicked off by a Native American activist, Moonanum James, who set the day's tone by accusing the U.S. of genocide and...

September 29 By Gerry DalySeptember 26, 2001 In any social movement there is a vanguard and a mass. On one side, the vanguard, are groups of people who are more resolute and committed, better organized and able to take a leading role in the struggle, and on the other side, the mass, are larger numbers of people who participate in the struggle or are involved simply by their social position, but are less committed or well-placed in relation to the struggle, and will participate only in the decisive moments, which in fact change history. The Marxist theory of the vanguard,...

While our National Boarders are STILL unsecure and "Diversity" is still being programmed into our Children's minds as "our greaatest strength", while black on white people crimes are brushed under the rug, by our "unbiased" news media....I don't support the 'upcoming war'...One more thing too is that veterans are getting illtreatment from our "Government God", the Yankee(Federal) Government, who taxes everyone so that he can give to the parasites(LIke illegal aliens and people who REFUSE to seek a job) I decided to go and attend this march to see what type of people would be on which side. It was...

New York, NY, January 15, 2003 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed concern that antiwar protest rallies scheduled to take place this weekend in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco may employ inflammatory anti-Israel and anti-Jewish statements and rhetoric. Organizers of the January 18 "National March in Washington to Demand: No War Against Iraq", the San Francisco rally, and other events scheduled for this weekend have previously embraced statements supporting Palestinian terrorism, equating Zionism with Nazism, and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state. "Given the rhetoric at past rallies organized by this group, we are extremely concerned that the...

I am a 23 year old college student in Boston, and I find myself growing quite tiresome of the lack of education amongst my age group. A vast majority of students across the country have chosen to take part in protesting this potential war with Iraq, yet do they have the education to do so? Hell no. While I was attending a college in Pennsylvania, I approached a group of anti-war protestors. While engaging in discussion with them, not ONE could give me a single YES or NO answer to the questions I posed to them. It was all "but...

"Peace march" whitewash. Though Saturday's anti-war with Iraq "peace" march in Washington, DC was organized by a far-left group, had a bunch of zany leftist outfits as sponsors, featured some far out rhetoric from the stage which belied the notion that the organizers simply want a peaceful solution, and ended with a march to the Washington Navy Yard to demand access to U.S. "weapons of mass destruction," as if the U.S. and Iraqi possession of them is equivalent, major media outlets, both print and broadcast, ignored such realities which might have reduced empathy for the cause. Instead, the networks painted...

<p>WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Dozens of counter-demonstrators armed with U.S. flags showed up to the Washington anti-war protest Saturday to express their support for Bush's policy on Iraq.</p> <p>Braving the below freezing temperatures, members of FreeRepublic.com, a conservative online group, and others not affiliated with formal organizations took over a block of sidewalk along the march route across from the Marine Barracks.</p>

Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of kristinn and other DC Chapter FReepers, Free Republic got a lot of PUBLICITY all over the nation this weekend. This was due to press releases, faxes and phone calls informing the media of our counterprotests of the bussed-in anti-american leftist scum which polluted the nations capital yesterday and today. Below is a listing so far of where FreeRepublic was IN THE NEWS:ARTICLES: ABCNews.com (Jan 19, '03)Washington Post (Jan 19, '03)Washington Times (Jan 19, '03)New York Times (Jan 19, '03)Kansas City Star (Jan 19, '03)Orange County Register (Jan 19, '03) Charlotte Observer, NC...

<p>A splinter group of more than 200 black-clad protesters broke off from Saturday's peaceful rally and went on a brief romp through the Financial District, smashing windows and news racks before melting away before the eyes of frustrated police.</p> <p>A police spokesman said officers made two arrests.</p>

No War Against Iraq George W. Bush has declared his intention to wage a so-called ‘preemptive’ war against Iraq and is now seeking to strong-arm the international community and the U.N. into support and submission. Congress rushed to rubber-stamp the war against the will of the people. A war of aggression violates the United States Constitution, the United Nations Charter, and the principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal. It violates the collective law of humanity that recognizes the immeasurable harm and unconscionable human suffering when a country engages in wars of aggression to advance its government’s perceived national interests. No Congressional...

Tracking Down A Fifth Column FrontBy Edward ImmlerFrontPageMagazine.com | September 18, 2002 Vietnam-era anti-war protestors continue their demonstrating today, most recently in San Francisco against a potential Iraq war, but the sponsorship, partnerships, and funding of these groups raise questions about their real purpose. They are very organized, have a significant Internet presence, and actively raise large amounts of money. This all started when I saw the name of a protest group listed in an AP wire story. I wondered a bit about this and tried to find out about this group via the Internet. I found that I could...

DC Patriots Rally Counterprotest begins at 9 a.m. today We have a Freeper volunteer -- Pippin -- who will take reports live from the field and post them on Free Republic for us. So look to this thread for live updates of what is going on in DC. The updates should start around 9 a.m.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s image has been used to protest a potential war on Iraq, denounce a gay rights law and sell wireless phone service. The trouble, of course, is that the civil rights leader "is not here to speak for himself," said the Rev. Richard Bennett, executive director of the African American Council of Christian Clergy in Miami. On the eve of the holiday commemorating King's birth, some scholars and civil rights leaders say that while it's not much of a stretch to assert that King would have opposed war with Iraq -- he was an advocate of nonviolence...

FREE MUMIA. FREE THE CUBAN 5. FREE JAMIL AL-AMIN (that’s H. Rap Brown, the former Black Panther convicted in March of killing a sheriff’s deputy in 2000). And free Leonard Peltier. Also, defeat Zionism. And, while we’re at it, let’s bring the capitalist system to a halt. When tens of thousands of people gathered near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for an anti-war rally and march in Washington last Saturday, the demands hurled by the speakers extended far beyond the call for no war against Iraq. Opponents of the war can be heartened by the sight of people coming together in...