Friday, March 29, 2024
Miles from the Mainstream
D. R. ZUKERMAN, proprietor
More from the ABM in Manhattan

MARCH 24, 2004 --

Some supporters of the presidential candidacy of Congressman Dennis Kucinich traveled through the night by bus from Cleveland, to be rewarded on reaching the starting point between 9:00 and 9:30 A.M. by getting a position at the head of the line. Congressman Kucinich was among the speakers who spoke briefly at a pre-march rally. As the march got underway, a group of Palestinian flags fluttered at the starting point.

Crossing Fifth Avenue on 23rd Street, David Cline, of Jersey City, NJ gave the cadence call to a contingent of Vietnam veterans. Mr. Cline told LPR that he served in Vietnam with the 25th Infantry Division, and was wounded three times in 1967.

Approaching Sixth Avenue, LPR spotted women carrying a clothesline with pink slips from it. (A photo of this gibe at President Bush suggests that subjects of photos may tend to smile upon the click of the camera.)


“Pink Slip Clothesline” targeting President Bush on Sixth Avenue.


March signs ran the gamut from anti-Bush to pro-Kerry-- with a good deal of branching out to advocate same sex marriages and to oppose microwave testing of Americans, U.S. present involvement in Haiti, U.S. policy in Korea, U.S. support for Israel, with plenty of anit-Israel signs and statements. Palestinian flags abounded. There were not many authentic U.S. flags. Most flags that at a distance appeared to be "Old Glory" proved to have the peace symbol on the blue field, or corporate logos there.

The march proceeded along a rectangle about two miles long that went around the Empire State Building. LPR heard no suggestions that the Empire State Building might be serving as an observation post. Helicopters could be seen hovering above the line of march.

So far as LPR could tell, there were no posters denouncing the March 11 terrorist atrocity in Madrid, suicide bombers in Israel-- indeed, LPR saw no posters denouncing terrorism, generally.

There is no denying that United for Peace and Justice has the capability of getting tens of thousands of people into the streets of Manhattan to denounce the Bush Administration for waging "pre-emptive' wars of aggression"-- quoting from the UFPJ June 2003 unity statement. The unity statement includes a call for "respect for national sovereignty," but it is not clear that this would comprehend Israeli responses to Arab violence against her citizens.

The unity statement commits United for Peace and Justice to working for "peace and justice through nonviolent means." The statement then declares:

"When the U.S. government invaded and occupied Iraq-- though Iraq posed no imminent threat and had already been devastated by 12 years of punishing economic sanctions-- it broke international law and defied world public opinion, killed thousands of Iraqi civilians and soldiers unnecessarily, treated U.S. soldiers as cannon fodder, and devastated Iraq's ancient cities and modern infrastructure."

Clearly there are tens of thousands of people who are ready to march in Manhattan against the corporation-serving "aggressive" militarism of the Bush administration, aimed at dominating the globe and imposing "right-wing policies at home under the cover of fighting terrorsim." (The UFPJ unity statement also criticizes the failure of the Democratic party to challenge the selling of the Iraq war by the Bush White House.) Per the UFPJ unity statement, "The war drive has served as a pretext for attacking basic rights of workers while serving as a cover and distraction for the sinking economy, corporate corruption, and layoffs."

There is, alas, no call in the unity statement for an end to intrusive, money-grabbing seatbelt and parking violations by the City of New York.

Howard Kurtz, in The Washington Post, and Russell Shorto, in the New York Times Magazine, recently discussed the prospects for the coming liberal talk radio project. The prospects are not good -- not if hundreds of thousands of liberals will march against the right, while millions of people will just listen to conservatives by radio.

United for Peace and Justice will welcome delegates to the Republican National Convention, in New York City, late this summer, with an opposition march, Sunday, August 29.

President Bush accused of making all Americans the target of terrorism.


Left of the Empire State Building.


Kucinich speaking at pre-march rally.


Palestinian flags at the starting point.


David Cline gives cadence to Vets.


An anti-Bush viewpoint.


Anti-Bush, to say the least!


Pro-Kerry.


A sea of opinions on Sixth Avenue.


Same-sex marriage.


A call for a "Regime" change.


The "ABM Band"


U.S. out of Korea


A viewpoint on Haiti.


End microwave weapons testing (?).