Brunch, Anyone? Open Thread

by hilzoy

I'm going to the March On Washington (against the surge) on Saturday. The website says that people will be "assembling" on the mall at 11, and the actual march starts at 1. Since I'm not a big fan of assembling, I was wondering if anyone else would be there, and, if so, whether you might like to meet beforehand. Any suggestions from DC people on where one might eat a decent lunch, be able to get to the march on time, and not get swamped by gazillions of people would be great.

Since I remember the brouhaha about the ANSWR marches before the war began, I would like to provide this simple interpretive guide to my presence at the march. I am going because I oppose the surge, and would like to make my opposition known. This is the only large-scale march near me that I'm aware of. My presence at a march is not normally a sign that I endorse the people who are organizing it; it's a sign that I endorse whatever people are marching for. This has limits: I would not, for instance, participate in a march put on by the KKK or the American Nazi Party. On the other hand, since I do not normally spend huge amounts of time researching the sponsors of marches, it's perfectly possible that I might turn up at some march sponsored by an organization that's dreadful, but that I'm not familiar with. In this particular case, the American Friends' Service Committee is a member of UPJ, and they're good enough for me. I suspect that if I were to read through the list of member organizations (I started, but gave up; it's too long), I would probably find some that I really dislike among the many that I admire. But I'm not going to bother. I dislike the idea that before I can engage in any form of public political action, I have to investigate all the people involved in it for ideological purity; and besides, life is short.

Comments

[cleek]

pro-war people: this is the part where you need to make a note that yes, some people were actually against the surge, before it started. you might also want to make note of her reasons. do this so we won't have a replay of the recent "dirty f'n hippies were only right only accident' nonsense, four years from now.

[KCinDC]

In the long list of organizations signed on there are a couple of communist groups, but fortunately this time Answer is not a co-organizer. I'm sure there'll be Answer folks trying to horn in, but they won't be on stage as they were in September 2005 -- not that the speakers are really relevant anyway, since probably 95% of the attendees don't hear a word and aren't even aware that speeches are occurring, but the media does tend to focus on them. (Answer is holding its own March march.)

I am going to the march. Still trying to figure out exactly who with. I'll think about possible brunch sites if no one else chimes in. Anyone else local? Ugh? Phil? Nell, are you coming up?

I know Jim Henley said some weeks back that he was going (can't find the post now), but he may have a whole posse of his own.

[SomeOtherDude]

It's an old article, but gives a pretty weird picture concerning state sponsored terrorism and the "enemies of the United States"

Summary: Saudi Arabia is in the throes of a crisis, but its elite is bitterly divided on how to escape it. Crown Prince Abdullah leads a camp of liberal reformers seeking rapprochement with the West, while Prince Nayef, the interior minister, sides with an anti-American Wahhabi religious establishment that has much in common with al Qaeda. Abdullah cuts a higher profile abroad -- but at home Nayef casts a longer and darker shadow.

The Saudi Paradox

[KCinDC]

Oh, and CharleyCarp, of course. Sorry for leaving you out. And sorry to anyone else omitted.

[OCSteve]

Well I’d consider joining you but:
A – I have a commitment already.
B – I’d be part of the counter-protest.

;)

[hilzoy]

OCSteve: if it weren't for A, I'd say: hey, join us for brunch anyways.

[Decided FenceSitter]

Never have I been more tempted to head into D.C. on a march weekend for food.

Depends on where you want to be, I love Austin Grill for Mexican, and it is off the Chinatown exit - 750 E St. NW.

But really it's DC, where you are only limited by what you want and how far you are willing to go.

[SomeOtherDude]

The Saudis are deep into supporting groups who have killed more Americans than Iraq and Iran could ever dream of.

Bush is protecting someone and it ain't Americans.

Profile: Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz

9/11 victims’ relatives add nearly 50 defendants to their $1 trillion lawsuit against mostly Saudi citizens and organizations (see August 15, 2002). The suit alleges the defendants knowingly provided money and other aid to terrorists, which enabled the 9/11 attacks and other attacks to occur. There are now a total of 186 defendants named in the suit.

-Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef
-Minister of Defense and Aviation Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
-The Saudi American Bank, that nation’s second largest financial institution.
-Bank Al Taqwa, for raising, managing, investing, and distributing funds for al-Qaeda.
-Mohamed Jamal Khalifa, bin Laden’s brother-in-law.
-Individual members of the bin Laden family, including Bakr bin Laden, Tarek bin Laden, Omar bin Laden, Abdullah Awad bin Laden, and Yeslam Binladin. The suit claims that in the early 1990s, Tarek bin Laden was the general supervisor of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), a Saudi charity suspected of terrorist ties.

[sglover]

I'm torn. I'm only five Metro stops away from the event, but I'm extremely jaded about street protests. On the other hand, you're the second or third blogger I admire who's going there, or recommends that his readers go there.

11:00, you say? Union Station is only a few blocks away from the marshalling area, it's easy to find, and it has lots of food joints....

[KCinDC]

Where does one get a terrorist tie, anyway? I remember that one of the groups of terrorist wannabes uncovered some months back was enthusiastic about getting terrorist uniforms and boots, but I don't know whether the uniforms included ties.

[Katherine]

UFPJ is fine, in my experience. I wouldn't worry about ANSWER as a consponsor rather than an organizer. If you won't attend marches that people with some repellent views show up to, you're pretty much giving up on marches.

As for this:

"My presence at a march is not normally a sign that I endorse the people who are organizing it; it's a sign that I endorse whatever people are marching for."

When a really bad group organizes the thing, makes the signs and selects the speakers, "what they are marching for" can become frustratingly unclear. But the UFPJ march I went to in NYC was not like this--Desmond Tutu was a speaker; Ramsey Clark was not.

So happy marching everyone! Wish I could go.

[KCinDC]

Katherine, I don't believe ANSWER is even a co-sponsor of this march. I imagine people with ANSWER signs will be there (as they were at the anti-escalation rally I helped organize two weeks ago), along with LaRouchites and other crazies. None of that will stop me from participating.

[IntricateHelix]

I am interested in meeting up. I've been debating going or not for the past several days. I’ve never been to a march before and this is an issue I definitely feel strongly about. Anyway, I'd be coming off the Metro and unfortunately have no suggestions for food because I just moved here recently.

[The42ndGuy]

If Adams-Morgan isn't way too far away for you, I'd recommend a little place called The Diner. It's cheap, and a very solid example of its kind. Downside is, it's perpetually packed, mostly with a young crowd.

(No, I'm not actually a DC person, but I really like that as a brunch place.)

[Jackmormon]

Are you going to make a sign, hilzoy? What are you going to put on it?

[Ugh]

Would love to have brunch but don't think I can make it and won't be going to the protest.

[Josh]

Are you going to make a sign, hilzoy?

"sign" s/b "giant puppet"

[IntricateHelix]

Looks like I'll be working the entire weekend.

[sglover]

Adams-Morgan is a little bit out of the way, especially for anyone taking Metro, and also for folks who plan to get together for brunch and then walk to the demonstration marshalling area. And given downtown DC, you'd really rather walk or Metro than drive.

[Phil]

I am, unfortunately, not much one for demonstrations and marches, but I'd certainly attend a brunch. :)

[opit]

bluegalinaredstate.blogspot.com is trying to mobilize her contingent also. I expect there's lots interested when the smoke clears.
Me ? Um, friendly alien. It would be a ways and if you'll excuse paranoia, visiting the U.S. hasn't been on my "to do" list for a while now. ( I used to live on the flippin' border and cross almost every day ! )

[OCSteve]

OCSteve: if it weren't for A, I'd say: hey, join us for brunch anyways.

And I would. It’s only a 3 hr. drive. You could help me with my sign. At least the spelling would be better :)

[Phil]

In other news, Tancredo apparently is conceding early by concentrating on the all-important "How come there ain't no White History Month? Huh?" vote.

[Nell]

I'm coming up for the march and rally, and staying through Monday mid-day (or possibly afternoon) for the lobby day; locals have scored an appointment with Jim Webb's office for Monday morning. We may also join a delegation to Warner's office if one exists, and/or to our hopeless-case Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-unopposed).

Hilzoy, KC, Katherine, others: I'd love to get together -- during or after is the best bet, because I'm driving up Saturday morning (to the Vienna Metro, and coming in to Union Station from there).

Due to ongoing family crisis and my general tendency to procrastination, I've done almost none of the requisite communicating with DC friends and potential hosts. But I'm starting now, tonight. Email me, and we'll exchange cell numbers and keep each other posted on developments (and hopefully post summary info here if we get a plan together).

Let me echo what others have said above: UfPJ freed itself from its stifling partnership with ANSWER in late 2005. Preemptive cringing and distancing isn't even necessary, much less appealing. Take a look at the membership of United for Peace and Justice: it's a broad coalition of many organizations, some you may already belong to. An open church, so to speak.

This event's slogan and demand goes beyond Bush's doomed and entirely political escalation:
Act now to end the war.
It's what we're demanding of each other, and of Congress.

For anyone nervous about the politics of Congress actually doing that: check out this Digby post that excerpts and recommends two Rich Perlstein articles on the relevant history of thirty-five years ago, and its lessons for today.

No need to come to DC in person to join the effort. I highly recommend the legislative alerts and background info provided by the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL). (If Dems had taken the FCNL's advice last summer, they wouldn't have walked into the political trap and human rights disaster of the horrendous torture-legalizing and habeas-stripping MCA last fall, e.g.)

[DC]

Chinatown is best; lots of joints with different flavors. The "Full Kee" is one of he best if you like Chinese; or Fado for a beer and chips. Go to 6th & H or 7th & H.

[jimi]

There is no Soviet Union anymore, but everybody remember those great victories and defeats. We trusted in idea and we made our history through great losses...
www.backinussr.com

[SomeOtherDude]

American Troops Explain "The Rodney King Treatment"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nuMAooG6SM

[KCinDC]

Oh, come on, how can someone be a true conservative with a name like "Good latte"?

[KCinDC]

Yes, I know, Nell. You've heard that a million times before. Anyway, I'll e-mail you.

[hilzoy]

So: suppose I arrive at Union Station at 11:20: anyone want to propose a place to actually meet?

[Nell]

@KC: Amazingly (or maybe not, since I was serious about the 'R-unopposed' bit: no Dem candidate for the last four cycles), that's a new joke to me.

But one reason might be that his name is pronounced Good-latt. Probably clever positioning on his part way back when he first ran...

Tip from our January 2003 experience for those who want to meet in Union Station: you can't hold any signs up, or unfurl banners.

[theophylact]

Oh, and Capital Q in Chinatown has something pretty close to Texas beef barbecue (not quite Kreuz's, but close enough to remind you).

[Doh]

I'd recommend Teaism (behind the Navy Memorial, which is across from the Archives), nice, not too expensive Japanese-influenced food (bento box, ochazuke, etc).

[KCinDC]

Looks like we're settling on brunching at Union Station. I've e-mailed Hilzoy, Nell, Phil, and CharleyCarp (Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Thread). E-mail one of us to join the discussion.

[Anarch]

Totally unrelated: any advice on how to effect useful and meaningful change as the lowest and least member of not just the committee on which you sit, but pretty much the lowest and least form of life at your institution? Or should one simply shut up, smile and look pretty?

[Nell]

@Anarch: First step - gather information.

Get to know the views of committee members respected by others on the committee and the community.

Develop a relationship with at least one of them who might be sympathetic to your ideas for change. Try them as a sounding board. Odds are they will have helpful changes; at worst, you'll learn what the stock objections are that have to be overcome.

Later step, building on first step - Gather allies. Best done quietly. Alliances are two-way relationships: figure out what you can do for your allies, not only what they can do for you.

Good luck.

[Nell]

Good news for a change: Canadian Prime Minister makes very public apology to Maher Arar (and $8 million settlement of his suit). Arar's own press conference in fifteen minutes.

The Cheney-Bush regime has ticked off the friendliest Canadian PM it could have hoped for by its unwillingness to admit the slightest error, much less to admit its responsibility for Arar's horrific suffering.

As Chuck Hagel said in another context, they fail our country. They shame us deeply.

Impeach Bush and Cheney. It's the only way to get out of Iraq, and the quickest way to begin to achieve justice for their war crimes.

[Nell]

@SomeOtherDude: That's chilling. I'm on dialup only this afternoon, -- what media outlet is the clip from?

[Nell]

Okay, got a few minutes on the fast pipes, and am now deeply sickened. It's BBC Channel 4, credits at the end.

Extra sad detail: while taking in the beatdown, the soldiers are listening to Johnny Cash sing 'Folsom Prison Blues'. Mighty big tent, apparently, that we Cash fans inhabit. Me, Jeanne d'Arc at Body and Soul, Lindsey Beyerstein... and the men of Bravo Company. Not to mention Steven Green, the accused murderer and rapist at Mahmudiya; at his arraignment in July, he was wearing the same shirt that Lindsey's pictured in on the Majikthise blog.

Bring 'em home.

[matttbastard]

Canadian government reaches $10 million+ out-of-court settlement with Maher Arar; PM Stephen Harper extends formal and unequivocal apology.

F*ck you, David Wilkins.