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Still Free at Last?
 | | I was responsible for the broken flower pot and spilled dirt in front of Vinci's Restaurant on First Avenue. (The approach to the 59th Street Bridge can be seen in the background.) |
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By David R. Zukerman, NYC and Winsted
With more than a hundred thousand people gathering in Manhattan on February 15, one might have expected the assemblage to have been eagerly anticipated for its likelihood of boosting the local economy. As it happened, the congregation was only grudgingly accepted and, so far as I know, was not welcomed to town by Mayor Bloomberg.
Just about a year ago, I went to midtown to observe the march to Park Avenue of those who were protesting outside the World Economic Forum meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria. This year's demonstrators, concerned about our nation going to pre-emptive war against Iraq, were not permitted to march, but only to assemble on First Avenue.
Planning to take the subway to 42nd Street and then the shuttle to the East Side, I spoke briefly with Alice Attie and Royce Hower, who told me that they were going to get out at 50th Street and walk to the East Side. Ms. Attie said that her poster had a message going back to the Vietnam War, telling me that she had demonstrated against that war in Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin. Hearing the name Madison, I immediately said that he is my favorite Federalist Papers author, and referred her to Federalist 57.
 | | Part of the penned-in crowd on First Avenue. |
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When the train stopped at 50th Street, I, too, decided to get out, and I'm glad I did. At Rockefeller Center on Fifth Avenue, a large number of people held antiwar signs, and I noticed one that mentioned Berkshire County, Massachusetts, along with "NO WAR." I learned that this demonstrator is Ann Condon from Great Barrington, who traveled to New York by train as part of a large contingent from western Massachusetts. When I asked if she was familiar with The Voice, Ms. Condon replied, "The Voice is a great paper!" She also told me that she traveled to New York City because "this is the place to be," with the United Nations as "the target."
Not long after this brief chat, the ralliers from western Massachusetts headed east toward First Avenue along 50th Street, in what looked like a line of march to me. Police presence was light along 50th Street, and cars were soon enmeshed in a traffic snarl. At Third Avenue, police directed the marchers north. I showed my press pass and asked to continue on to First Avenue. I was told that I had to walk up to 59th Street if I wanted to turn east. So I headed up Third Avenue with the marchers, who were advised by police to stay within the orange traffic cones.
At 59th Street, I showed my press pass to a policeman, asking to be permitted to walk to First Avenue. Now I was told to walk up to 61st Street. At 61st Street, I showed my pass, and was told by a policewoman to walk up to 63rd Street. At 63rd Street, I was finally able to go east to the rally on First Avenue.
As I walked along the sidewalk on First Avenue (my press pass allowed me to stay outside the demonstrators' pens), I noticed large flower pots outside Vinci's Restaurant and got on one to take a photo of the throng. But the pot did not want to be stood upon and managed to tumble me off, thereby qualifying me as a person injured—bruises and abrasions—at the rally. Seeing me bleeding from a scratch on my nose, a policeman asked if I'd been hit. The restaurant provided a place for me to recover and the owner declined my offer to pay for the damaged flower pot.
 | | People walked along Third Avenue before crossing over to the rally site on First Avenue. |
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I headed south on First Avenue, towards the speaker's platform set up between 51st and 52nd Streets, several blocks up from the United Nations complex. Below the 59th Street Bridge, I saw the image of Rev. Al Sharpton speaking to the rally, visible on a large, portable screen. I continued walking toward the platform, and this time my press pass got me into the media area, directly in front of the platform, and also into the area behind the platform. I found myself standing very close to Rev. Al Sharpton, and also to Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover and Ossie Davis—who introduced Archbishop (and Nobel Peace Prize Winner) Desmond Tutu to the crowd. I took some photos of Archbishop Tutu as he was addressing the rally, urging that the U.S. not rush to war with Iraq. I also took a few photos of him after he spoke, including one as he sat in his car as he prepared to leave.
Another speaker at the rally was Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and I caught up with him as he was speaking to reporters after his appearance on the platform. I heard him oppose the decision to prevent a march, indicating that the First Amendment protects the right to march. Congressman Kucinich's opposition to military force against Iraq is consistent with his opposition to the use of force against Serbia. (I don't recall antiwar rallies then; nor do I recall mass protests when President Clinton ordered a strike against Iraq just as impeachment got underway.)
I left the area while the rally continued, and at Third Avenue saw that a heavy police presence had been deployed since I had last been in the vicinity. I walked west one block to Lexington Avenue, then headed uptown, noticing a woman wearing a sign that read, "WISDOM NOT WAR." Having long thought that our generation hardly speaks the word "wisdom" anymore, I asked if I might take a photo. The placard-wearer, Rachel Edwards, agreed, and I learned that she and her husband Lonny live in Lincoln, Vermont, and have a year-old son named Wisdom. As it turns out, Ms. Edwards is an acupuncturist, has a brother in Torrington, and is from Norwalk.
It was fairly clear that many at the rally had been disappointed by the results of the 2000 presidential election. One sign read: "Don't blame me. I voted with the majority." One of the speakers, Ron Driver, was a Rhode Island Republican who lost his race for Congress. Noting the concern about terrorism at home, he said that we should consider how people feel in Baghdad, in terror of the prospect of bombs falling on them.
 | | Police kept Second Avenue clear of traffic. |
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A column in the Wall Street Journal on February 21 indicated that the media did not seem interested in probing the organizers of the worldwide protests against war on Iraq. No doubt, many demonstrators believe that oil has something to do with the Iraq crisis. The Bush administration has not told us that we must remove Saddam Hussein to safeguard the flow of oil. Instead, we are told that Hussein has failed to comply with agreements he signed after the 1991 Gulf War, failed to comply with United Nations directives, is in possession of "weapons of mass destruction," and tyrannizes his people. Yet we denounced Israel when she destroyed a nuclear facility in Iraq, more than 20 years ago, and we accepted Hussein's brutal domestic rule for many years.
I have not heard the administration explain why it is now proper to remove the dictator of Iraq. If our action is based on Hussein's disregard of United Nations directives, it would seem to follow that we would require UN approval before striking.
It is pointed out, from time to time, that there is no right of dissent in Iraq. Even if every one of the ralliers along First Avenue, more than half a mile from the speaker's platform, as well of those who chose to remain unpenned on Third Avenue (ralliers were barred from Second Avenue)—even if every one of them was a Democratic party activist, what does it profit us to say there should be democracy in another land while we curtail freedom at home?
Our powerful country of some 270 million seems awfully worried about the leader of a country with a tenth our population. If this means we have come to regard ourselves as Goliath, we can't feel very confident—which would explain the continued decline in the stock market, allowing for those spasmodic (and manipulated?) one-day spikes.
 | | The police presence intensified as the day progressed. |
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I was not at the anti-War on Iraq rally as a participant. Of course, if anyone present wanted to know about government bullying, I could have told them from personal experience that it comes in varying forms—succeeding when no one takes notice, just as Madison indicated in Federalist 57.
From what I heard at the rally, no one asked the administration to consider what the Founders would think about getting entangled, with force, in Iraq. To borrow from Queen Victoria: I don't think the Founders would be amused—not, at least, by the substance of administration statements so far (which, on their own, perhaps do offer some wry amusement).
Federalist 57 calls on our leaders to stay close to the people. On February 15, Mayor Bloomberg remained some distance from a rally honoring our Founding spirit. The heavy police presence apparently called in after the rally got underway did not point, I think, to "sympathy of sentiments" with the people. Peaceful demonstrators herded into pens by policemen in riot gear might, for some, evoke an image of occupation right here at home.
 | | Blocks away, the speaker's platform is barely visible, but a video monitor helped keep the crowd focused on the proceedings. |
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|  | | (L-R) Gideon Kahn, Royce Hower and Alice Attie |
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 | | Ann Condon of Great Barrington |
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|  | | Rachel Edwards and her husband Lonny call for wisdom and say no to war. |
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 | | Archbishop Desmond Tutu |
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 | | Ossie Davis |
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|  | | Harry Belafonte |
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 | | Danny Glover |
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|  | | Harry Belafonte and Rev. Al Sharpton |
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 | | Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio |
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