Why I'll Be Standing Guard

Are you aware of the upcoming anti-war protest on March 17? Are you aware of the counter-protest, A Gathering of Eagles?

From this source:

Leftist activists who march to the Pentagon next month will discover that their path won't be as clear as it has been in the past.

The group, led by Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and their ilk, plan to gather March 17 at the Vietnam Memorial Wall to begin a march to protest America's involvement in the Iraq war. The date marks the fourth anniversary of the war's beginning.

[...]

The movement is well-financed. Its sponsor list is lengthy and contains highly recognizable names, as well as those of Fonda and Sheehan:

· Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark (who offered his services to defend Saddam Hussein)

· Ultra-liberal Congresswoman Maxine Waters

· Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney

· Ron Kovic, Vietnam veteran and author of "Born on the 4th of July"

· Mahdi Bray, executive director, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation

· Waleed Bader, vice chair of the National Council of Arab Americans and former president of Arab Muslim American Federation

· Medea Benjamin, co-founder, CODEPINK and Global Exchange

· Free Palestine Alliance

· Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation

· Islamic Political Party of America

· FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front)

· Islamic-National Congress

· Gay Liberation Network

· Muslim Student Association

· Jibril Hough, chairman, Islamic Political Party of America

I am going to be part of A Gathering of Eagles. I've never before taken part in any such marching in the streets. So why now?



Some twenty years ago, I took a group of Christian-school students on a field trip to the Capitol. This group of students numbered about fifty and consisted of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. As anyone who has worked with age group knows, they are an active bunch.

Congressman Wolf, who sponsored our field trip, was delayed with his duties, so we had to wait nearly two hours on the steps of the Capitol. I could see that the students were going to get hurt or get into trouble. They were running up and down the Capitol steps, pushing and shoving each other, and being active children. Therefore, in an off-the-cuff moment, I had all the students line up in choir formation and start singing. As soon as we finished "America the Beautiful," along came the Capitol Police, who told me, "You must cease and desist, or you will be arrested. It's against the law to sing on the steps of the Capitol without a permit."

I was incredulous, as was my husband, who was serving as a chaperone for the field trip. We were in trouble for singing "America the Beautiful"?

Looking back, I should have let the Capitol Police take me away to jail. But at the time, I was young and afraid of bringing some kind of scandal to the school. I disbanded the singing students. Within minutes, one fell and got hurt.

In the last anti-war protest, the steps of the Capitol were spray-painted. The Capitol Police were ordered not to make any arrests. That story didn't get much coverage in the mainstream media, but see this:

Anti-war protesters were allowed to spray paint on part of the west front steps of the United States Capitol building after police were ordered to break their security line by their leadership, two sources told The Hill.

According to the sources, police officers were livid when they were told to fall back by U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Chief Phillip Morse andDeputy Chief Daniel Nichols. "They were the commanders on the scene," one source said, who requested anonymity. "It was disgusting."

After police ceded the stairs, located on the lower west front of the Capitol, the building was locked down, the source added.

A second source who witnessed the incident said that the police had the crowd stopped at Third Street, but were told to bring the police line in front of the Capitol.

Approximately 300 protesters were allowed to take the steps and began to spray paint "anarchist symbols" and phrase such as "Our capitol building" and "you can’t stop us" around the area, the source said.

On March 17, my husband, many of my friends, and I will be in D.C. to try to assure that the anti-war protesters do not deface anything else.

[Visit Gathering of Eagles for updates on the counter-protest]