i was there this morning...despite all my musing about what's appropriate to do, and despite the awful, nasty, cold drenching rain, it felt great to be in a group of like-minded people again. it felt great to hold a banner and watch the rush hour drivers react -- though it was early; mostly the reaction was fairly nonexistent.

laurel and andrew nearly got themselves arrested chalking "peace is patriotic" and "no war," respectively, on the federal building. the moment attracted quite a bit of attention from press people -- i'll be interested to see what comes of it. a hundred other people actually did get arrested, after blocking access to the federal building for a couple of hours. it did not seem futile, ridiculous or narcissistic...i admired the gesture.

so it was visible, and heartening. unfortunately, the content of the rally was not especially smart. lots of slogans that apparently didn't recognize the fact that the war had begun, and lots of fairly silly chanting. i would have felt better just standing there in the middle of arch street, silently holding my sign.