Arriving Somewhere

Last Thursday Africa Action held a demonstration at the White House to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Bush Administration declaring that genocide was ongoing in Darfur, Sudan - and to call on them to do something about it. I myself was unable to attend since I couldn’t miss work, but I was there in spirit. The Sudan Activism Blog gives a synopsis of the event.

Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, said, “It is unacceptable for us to sit idly by as people die. This is true whether it is in the Deep South or Darfur, Sudan. This genocide is one of the greatest horrors of our day. We urge people of conscience everywhere to call on our leaders to take action now before events force us to one day have to confess our sin of negligence and complicity.”

Overlapping with the Darfur demonstration people from MorOn - oops, I meant MoveOn.org showed up to protest the response of the Bush Administration to the Hurricane Katrina victims. Byron York at the National Review gives an entertaining account of the day for the MorOn protesters.

The next time MoveOn.org’s political team in Washington schedules a protest at the White House, they will undoubtedly check to make sure there are no competing demonstrations scheduled for the same place at the same time.

…it was time to begin. “Hi, my name is Tom Matzzie…” Matzzie [MoveOn.org's Washington director] said. With that, at precisely that moment, the Darfur demonstrators, their program finished, began a noisy march toward the White House. “GEORGE BUSH, BREAK THE SILENCE, PROTECT THE PEOPLE, STOP THE VIOLENCE,” they shouted, unfolding a yards-long petition of their own calling for an end to the killing in Darfur.

Matzzie manfully kept at it. “President Bush should begin his investigation by looking in the mirror,” he said.

“400,000 PEOPLE HAVE DIED!” yelled a man in the Darfur protest as the crowd kept chanting. Matzzie, with no microphone and sound system, could barely be heard a few feet away.

I would have expected these MoveOn.org people to be expert protesters, since they seem to protest any chance they get.

“Well, don’t you think there’s a reason we all hate [Bush]?” the man continued.

“Yes,” Taylor answered. “Because you are all pathological in your hatred of him.”

“Of course,” the man said, as a few more people began laughing.

technorati tag: Sudan, MoveOn.org, Protest