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09/26/2005 Archived Entry: "Jim Bovard at the anti-war demonstration"

THE MEDIA MAY SCARCELY HAVE BEEN AT SATURDAY'S ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATION, as Silver noted. But Jim Bovard was there. He took this photo as the march was breaking up. And took this photo of one of freedom's finest defenders. (It's a large image, but it has to be to accommodate this guy's donut gut; and you really must get a good look at his face.)

Jim writes:

I ... biked in and around the march yesterday - the best way to deal with a mob scene.

As I was coming down 17th St. by the Old Executive Office Building (on the other side of the White House from where this photo was snapped), some fat cop comes trotting out into the street, raising his stick like he is getting ready to take a swing at me. I didn't realize that the street was closed - some other cop grunts something about how I had to detour - so I swung off on a street to the right and left 'em in the dust. (Not the cop in the picture but similar gauge).

Almost all the streets were obstructed in one way or another - the cops had their metal sawhorses all over the place - and they were changing what streets were closed at various times arbitrarily, as far as I could tell. These folks don't clearly [know] what streets are closed to all traffic - and yet feel entitled to attack anyone who doesn't obey the secret rules. Sorta of the paradigm for contemporary American freedom.

This was an area where there were almost zero demonstrators around - so I assumed the cops might have felt more freedom of action, unimpeded by the omnipresent camcorders.

It was encouraging to see the level of energy in the crowd. If only there was some way to get the same level of passion in a savvy freedom movement....

Posted by Claire @ 10:20 AM CST
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