Who preaches, who gets preached to

Reminder: there will be big anti-war protests on Saturday in San Francisco and Washington DC.

I can't go -- I'll be in Phoenix, visiting family. But if I were there, I would bring several CDs and just stand in the crowd listening to them. Whatever is said at these events is of absolutely no import to anybody. Everyone who's there already is against the war, and short of being whipped into a frenzy and going in to sack City Hall, there is nothing whatsoever anybody can say that would spur any kind of meaningful action. (Sacking City Hall would not even be meaningful.) In fact, I would be tempted to bring a huge sign that said nothing but CHOIR, and stand in the middle of the crowd. Going to huge protests is a waste of time in most senses, of course, except for the fact that the entire message of the protest is in the simple count of bodies. If there are only ten thousand people there, Bush shrugs. If there are 200,000 people there, it might get a wee bit more attention. That's the only reason to go. So go.