Correction–No One Was Even Symbolically Arrested

From today’s Washington Post:

No one was arrested during Tuesday’s demonstration, Elliot said. But there was a minor skirmish between police and protesters when some tried to gain access to a parking tunnel next to the hotel. After a small group was allowed to deliver “citizen’s arrest warrants” to America’s Health Insurance Plans, the lobbying group hosting the conference, the crowd began to disperse.

Thanks guys, I feel that much closer to change.

The People Make Their Stand

As a DC transplant (like most in the city), I often find myself traveling to enjoy the holiday elsewhere.  While it’s nice to get out of the city every once in awhile, sometimes, I feel like I miss something by being away from my new home.  Well this holiday season, I did truly miss something important.

Anyone who has opened a newspaper this year knows we’re facing a lot of issues as a nation–war in two countries, climate change (or not), an economic downturn, health care wrangling, and what I feel is a general cultural malaise. Statistics suggest that as a people we are sour on our prospects, and that we might for the first time in history pass off a country to the next generation in worse shape that we inherited it. Many people feel that now is the time for Americans to take to the streets and take action to get what they want–whether its the anti-war stagnation movement or Obama’s uplifting “change” rhetoric–everything seems to point to a trend, or the desire of a trend, where Americans get more active in dictating their destiny.

Well, while I was gone 200 people in DC decided they’d make it happen.  They wanted to take a stand, and that stand was over snowballs.

To be fair, I do think this cop was out of line drawing his gun and getting worked up, but I can’t help but instinctively cringe when I hear them chant “fuck you pig.”  Really?  From the rhetoric some in the crowd are spewing, you’d think it was Iran’s Green Revolution at 14th and U.  There’s some rumor that there was an anti-war element here (maybe pelting a hummer with snowballs is the Yippieism of the new century?), but I don’t particularly buy it.  Just looks like people were having fun and things got way out of hand.  It is a little saddening, though, when you see a bunch of people who will stand up for their criminal intention right to have a snowball fight (“What’s his badge number? How do you spell your last name?  Get his license plate number!”), but you can’t get more than 1500 to a peace rally.