Protest - They were saying

Protest - They were saying 20,000 people attended the rally at the capitol today.

I wandered through the crowd. During the course of the beautiful afternoon, I must have cased the entire Capitol Mall. I stood up under the dais, and back across Constitution Avenue talking with a very outnumbered band of protesters.

It was a beautiful sight.

And unlike the Anti-Bush demonstrations plagueing so many cities, nobody took their clothes off; nobody pooped on the Capitol steps; nobody blocked traffic or spit on anyone; nobody threw eggs or fake blood or generally disgraced their parents.

No, it was pretty workadaddy, huggamommy Minnesota polite. Mostly. More on that later.

But not all was perfect. A Moslem woman - who, according to one event volunteer, was as pro-intervention as any ex-Marine in attendance - was booed for trying to bring a little moral and political nuance to the proceedings. Talking about trying to mend fences with the Arab world earned her a round of catcalls and "U.S.A, U.S.A"s that nearly drove her from the stage, bringing the MC to the mic to calm the crowd (or at least a rather loud part of it) into order. Not a great moment for Minnesota Nice, or Minnesota Smart for that matter.

On the other hand, the tiny pack of anti-Bush protesters didn't do a whole lot better. About of dozen of them - college kids and some fiftyish ones - stood across Constitution Avenue from the Mall, carrying signs and, occasionally, heckling. As I got to the demonstration, the Moslem woman had just begun speaking. She said something in support of the war, and one of the students barked out, taking her voice, "...a war that's killing my Moslem Brothers".

Coming back at the end of the rally, the police and Highway Patrol were keeping the anti-Bush protesters apart from a small gaggle of pro-liberation demonstrators (which grew rapidly). The "conversation" degenerated rapidly into slogans on both sides before either side could get to the essential illogic of the other. You can't win 'em all.

I'm on my way to MacAlester now, where rumor had it there's an Anti-Bush protest going on. A group of pro-liberation protesters wanted to put in an appearance. We'll see.