I’m a bit behind in posting pictures of the anti-war protests. These are shots I took on Sunday,
June 29, 2003. This is from protests the local peace group holds every Sunday
in downtown Kalamazoo:
Basic crowd shot. There are a few more people off to the left (no pun intended).
The guy holding the “Disarm U.S.” sign pretty much says it all. Along
with the “Violence is never a solution” sign, all they need is a “U.S.
Out of North American” sign to complete the triumvirate.
Violence is never a solution? You have to wonder why these
folks bothered to try to smuggle arms at all — they should have known that
violence is never a solution. (Perhaps they support Gandhi’s
solution to this conundrum).
“Violence is never a solution” is sort of the Mirror World version
of the “Kill them all and let god sort them out” thinking. It’s difficult
to take seriously anyone who seriously holds either idea.
This time around we’ve got a woman worrying about the future of Syria.
If I were her, I wouldn’t be too worried about her Syrian friends — the Syrian
state always seems to find ways to deal with its enemies (but hey, stopping that sort of atrocity would just
be furthering American imperial hegemony!)
The Patriot Act needs to be repealed, but “terrorism on your rights”?
This is why I pretty much refuse to participate in public protests of any kind
— you have to dumb down and sensationalize the message past the point of no
return. (Even Fox gives a more nuanced version of the Patriot Act than this).
The person in the center is holding a sign reading “George Bush Dictator
Dangerous to Democracy.” Hey, I didn’t vote for him and I don’t plan to
vote for him next time around, but Bush a dictator? Again, this is simply left
wing self-marginalization central.
Note: As a public service, I’ve included all of the photographs I took of the protests on June 29, 2003 here. These are free to use for any purpose provided you credit me, Brian Carnell, as the photographer. Take them, edit them, republish them, whatever.