A sea of humanity descended upon the nation’s capital yesterday to voice its opposition to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. My wife and I, along with a sizable contingent from West Virginia, were among the teeming throngs that flowed through the streets of the District of Columbia like a raging river in the aftermath of a storm. The rally was about more than the shameful events orchestrated by our government in the Middle East, it was equally about U.S. imperialism on a global scale. It was also about the Bush regime’s appalling lack of concern for the Gulf Coast’s poor—particularly the inhabitants of New Orleans. It was about the complicity of Congress in the criminality of what passes for government in America these days. Demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience will continue throughout the weekend.
The turnout was immense. Trying to estimate its size from within was like standing in the midst of a forest and trying to gage its extent. You have to wade through the crowd and take contingency samples; or get above it to gain an appreciation of its size and scale. I spoke to a friend on a cell phone while marching by the White House who was watching coverage of the event on C-span. He informed me that C-span estimated the size of the crowd at between two hundred thousand to a quarter million. When I got home I looked at coverage of the event on NBC and CBS which estimated the turnout as about half that of C-span.
The major television networks will determine how most Americans view of the event will be shaped. This is what interested me--how coverage of the event would be presented to the world. The manipulation of images and information is frequently subtle but its effect on the public mind is often profound.
