Marching Season in Washington: The Inauguration and the Anniversary

It is January in our nation's capital, which means marching season is almost upon us. George W. Bush is about to be inaugurated for his second term, with protesters expected from all sides of the left. Two days later the anniversary of Roe v. Wade will bring out its annual collection of protestors, pro and con. Like its counter-part in Northern Ireland, we can expect a lot of heat and not very much light out of this year's marching season.

With the President's inauguration will come both the loyal Bushies, many of whom are already here working in government or the military and a vast collection of causes from the left. The leftists will include those who disputed the election of George II, war resisters, anti-capitalists, AIDS and gay marriage proponents, pro-choicers and the occassional DC statehood activist. They will not be offering an olive branch. Their goal is to disrupt the festivities just enough to gain a share of the air-time surrounding the event. The spectre of Seattle looms on the horizon, so a few well placed acts of vandalism may accomplish what they seak (except then the story becomes the vandalism rather than the message - which feeds the perception that liberalism is a marginal cause). As an interesting aside, the big story may have well been a hotel strike. If any strike would have been perfectly timed to combine economic and political objectives, this one was it (of course, it could still happen if the rank and file reject the proposed contract).

There is so much going on with this topic, I have split the post up into several smaller articles. Read on and comment.