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I got off the MetroTrain at the Roselyn stop on the blue line at a little after 10:00 AM today, in Arlington Virginia...with my sign...then walked to the Iwo Jima Memorial park...the rally/speakers had already begun, with more than 1000 people...we were surrounded by the Arlington police...and then, as we began to walk into OUR Nation's capital, there was some kind of issue with the police...the leaders pretty much told the police that we were MARCHING even without a permit...that we had a right to walk into OUR Nation's capital....for I had now joined the Poor People, those with nothing left to loose...so WE would walk...eventually, the police started to understand that if we left, it would take the whole problem off their hands, and put it into the District of Columbia's hand...it was only about 1/2 mile to the Potomac River....so we began our March into OUR Capital...these Poor People had MARCHED all the way from Mississippi to get here, and they weren't about to be stopped now...
Several people helped me carry my sign, seven feet long with poles at the ends mounted with American flags...on one side it said: "Welcome to bushville"....and on the other side: "From Sally Baron, born in Hurley, Wisconsin 1932..."OH BUSH...he's SUCH a Whistle-Ass"...and we had several whistles...which went well with our Poor Peoples collection of drums (buckets) and other odd instruments...
there were Pink Ladies with us, the Deaf People, the Mentally Challenged, the Blind People, People with Diabetes, and People with extremely deformed legs who walked with that great strength that only a severe disability can bring to a human being, all races, the Veterans for Peace, everyone important was there...and we were a really tattered-looking group...
It was an absolutely beautiful Capital day...sunshine with a few clouds, a light breeze, high in the mid-80's...and as we got out onto the big Key bridge, crossing the Potomac River...it was splended...we walked inside a very wide concrete-barricaded pedestrian walkway, but it was still nerve-racking to be so close to so much traffic, especially for OUR group...and then, very impressively, over 30 VOLUNTEER taxi-cab drivers pulled up next to us and blocked off TWO lanes next to us...the cabs had signs posted for the Poor People's March, and they picked up people who had trouble walking, or were upset about the traffic...and they went REALLY slow, driving the police crazy, because traffic could not flow...there were suddenly cops on motorcycles, in police cars everywhere... but the cabs went really slow and more kept coming...they protected us....
Then we MARCHED into Georgetown...one of THE RICHEST cities in the United States of America...one where they don't put prices on the stuff in the store windows, because if you have to ask, you don't belong...a ragtag group of Poor People...we got stares from the "upper class" and police all around us, some rich dropped their heads and wouldn't look at us, others put their noses up in umbrage because our long parade going down the sidewalk was blocking their entrance into their fancy restaurants and stores, so for once, they HAD to wait...but every once in a while, some fancy person walking or in a fancy car would see Sally Baron's "Oh Bush, he's such a Whistle-Ass" and they couldn't help but laugh...a few old rich people just downright cracked up in laughter, especially with our little 'whistle band' going along...good old Sally...she made everyone realize how useless and offensive the shrub really was....and amazingly, along through Georgetown, more of the Poor People, people getting off work as waitresses, janitors, workers...JOINED US...at two different intersections, we had a difficult time, with the police being not helpful, and our group going rather slow....but suddenly a Metro bus turned into the interstection, and STOPPED for us, blocking all traffic like a guardian angel...it was great....we were exhilerated...at a second difficult intersection, there was a senior citizens shuttle bus that showed up and STOPPED and blocked the intersection...although the cops would not protect us, and we had no permits....the city people, the regular people, the Poor People, were there with us, protecting us all the way....
It was a long, long walk for a group like ours...but we pressed on...
Some in our mottley group had extra water to share, and everyone shared food and snacks donated by those who visited the web site and donated to the Poor People's March, and we thank your for your generosity....
As we passed George Washington Hospital complex, we started our chant...what do we want...HEALTHCARE...when do we want it...NOW...(drums, whistles, and in unison, pointing our fingers at the hospital, the same hospital that treats dick cheney's heart)...and our group got really bigger, as many students, and some medical personnel joined our mottley crew MARCH....we were BIG now...homeless beggars on the street were joining us, bicyclists with signs riding next to us on the street, more and more people coming out of their apartments to walk into the Capital with us...and a 'special' group joined us right about then....sign language translaters from Gaudelet College....along with another group of people who were deaf....many people carried signs "I am a human being"....Sally Baron's "Oh bush....he's such a whistle-ass" was still making people smile...there were now press cameras, and to anyone who asked about Sally, I gave them a copy of her article from the Wisconsin Capital Times.
It was really reaching for the TOP as we got to the Lincoln Memorial...and we all sat on the steps at the front of Lincoln, chanting for Healthcare, Housing, Jobs, Justice....we held my sign up high in the back and the camera's rolled...Pacifica Radio asked me about the Sally for their radio broadcast...the MLK events had stopped for us, and MLK events continued late into the night....
Then, we still had a further walk...down past the Washington Monument (where the Dean event was held at 03:30 PM)...the kind and generous volunteer lawyers of Washington DC had gotten a permit for the tent city of 'bushville', after a huge fight....but only for one area, and only for a short period of time...it was a good area, but a bit out of the way...on the backside of the Washington Monuments...just before the American History Museum....
a small white Ryder truck pulled up...and we began to unload 'bushville', a tattered collection of lean-to's, signs, crosses (for those killed by bush*), rainfly's, plastic sheets, and duct tape, and a giant turquoise Statue of Liberty loaned from some locals....the police surrounded us with motorcycles, and cars, and clubs...but we persisted in setting up 'bushville', the police came and harrassed us...they demanded that not ONE single spike would pierce the ground on the mall...so we were forced to put up all of 'bushville' with no spikes into the ground...we made tripods and used a lot of duct tape and rope to pull the structures together...all under the watchful eyes of the police with clubs...but we got the whole thing up, with a lot of ingenuity and hard work....the permit expires at MIDNIGHT tonight, and I am certain that those cops did that so no one is watching when they arrest the Poor People in about an hour...why they can't let them sleep overnight there is beyond me....'bushville' was a real eyesore sitting there in the middle of the National Mall, with the Capital on one side, and the Washington Monument prominent on the other side...lots of tourists took pictures as they passed by our tattered spectical...big plywood signs stated how many millions of children lacked healthcare, how many Americans are homeless, and how many jobs have been lost....and smaller cardboard signs asking why, and why not questions all over the area....mixed in with crosses for those who have been killed by shrub's policies...
and I took several photos (with a regular camera) of Sally Baron's now famous words, in 'bushville'...when I finish the roll and get it developed, and if the photos look good (I'm just an amateur photographer)...then, I'll send them to Sally's family...I took two photos with the Capital in the background, and two with the Washington Monument in the background...and I felt that Sally's spirit was with us there....
I am safely home now. A local church has offered to allow the 'Poor People to sleep on their floor tonight, after the police get after them....and goodnight, over and out from OUR Nation's Capital....
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