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You know how you hear about upcoming peace demonstrations, and then (unless they're really massive) you may never hear how they turned out? Here's a message from a friend who is a peace activist, following a peace demonstration in Southern California:

Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2003 9:05 AM Subject: Bush failed to evade protesters of Aug 15th

Dear Family and Friends,

Some of you may have heard about this event which I helped to round up. Here are the details in case you're interested.

On August first I heard whispers that Bush was planning to visit our Santa Monica Mountains--to proclaim his "National Parks Legacy." By the time he arrived on the 15th, our protest (including 15 grassroots organizations) was well organized, thanks to some clever sleuthing which helped me pin point the much guarded details of Bush's arrival. I now understand the power of e-mail and radio announcements. Our protest plans circulated around to so many people that I even got a phone call from our local L.A. Congressman who wanted to speak to our assembly.

Hundreds of peace and environmental activists arrived via carpools on the beautiful Friday morning of Aug 15th at the main entrance of Satwiwa National Park, some 26 miles west of L.A. This was where we anticipated the president would soon arrive to make his speech about his big plans for our wilderness. Our banners were huge and our messages were clearly against Bush's illegal war and corporate pillaging of our environment. Our morning turned into a game of cat and mouse, trying to track down where "the shrub" would turn up. The Sierra Club hoped the presidential motorcade would drive in through the main entrance, the same way all the White House Press Core vans came through, but no such luck! Of course, since the Secret Service assigned us to a very limited patch of earth (dubbed "Our First Amendment Rights Zone") as the only place where we could step foot inside the park boundary, we pretty much expected that they would NOT plan for the president to pass through there too! We wondered where would they enter and how close could we get our message to their eyeballs?

By sheer luck we discovered at 8:00am the motorcade snuck through the back service entrance at Reino Road. On a quick car trip--to round up protesters from the visitor's center a few miles further north--my friend Leila (from Global Exchange) and I were halted in our tracks by a police blockade at the intersection of Lynn and Reino Road. Along the street corners several dozen adults sat in lawn chairs with their children standing around waving forth-of-July colors, like they were expecting a parade. It was pretty obvious this was the spot were the motorcade was about to race through, so I jumped out of the car carrying my sign, "Weapons of Mass Deception" and I stood by the side of the road. This local crowd quickly noticed my non-conforming sign and shouted, "Go back to L.A.!" Pretty soon Bush's motorcade came zooming by. I held out the only message of dissent. It was a tiny hint of what that high speed convoy could expect for their exit reception--on their way out of our national park.

Back at the main entrance I casually mentioned the news of where Bush's motorcade entered Satwiwa. From there it spread like wild fire. Activists bunched up their banners and piled into their cars to reassemble along Reino Road. A handful of protesters decided to unfurl a large red lettered banner saying, "Bush Lied, Americans Died!" at the corner of Lynn and Reino, in front of the First Presbyterian Church, where those same lawn-chaired-locals dominated the scene. Further south at the service entrance, the war and peace groups balanced fairly equally, hundreds from each group lined each side of the road for a full block. Several big blue earth flags waved among dozens of handdrawn resistance posters. Protest signs said, "Who Profits? Who Pays? Who Dies?", "The C.I.A. ate my homework!", "LIAR", "Motive for 9/11: U.S. Foreign Policy" and "Bush is Lying, Troops are Dying." Then moments prior to the anticipated presidential convoy, the police told the protestors to move across the road to join the Pro-Bush group. I wondered if a riot would break out, or if the two groups would separate like oil and water, but instead they co-mingled like a big patchwork quilt of diverse opinion. Since the Pro-Bush residents had so few posters, and were willing to stand up close to our big protest signs, I thought, as I was snapping photographs, this looks like the whole group is a unified voice of dissent. But on closer inspection, along the seams, people were having "heated" discussions. I thought, this is really what America is all about. We can voice our opposing points of view and yet still stand together without punching each other to the ground.

At one point the Pro-Bush crowd started chanting, "Bush! Bush! Bush!" and we responded by interjecting "Impeach! Impeach! Impeach!" The co-ordinated vocal message was loud and clear, "Impeach Bush!" The people shouting "Bush!" soon realized how hopeless their rallying call was becoming and they abruptly stopped.

The final act came when the presidental motorcade rushed out of the park, led by a dozen blue flashing motorcycle cops. The procession had to round a corner, which made them slow down a bit, forcing them to pay more attention to our obvious protest and allowing us to view the occupants through the tinted glass windows. We protesters came a lot closer than any of the Bush party expected. One of the "Not-In-Our-Name" protesters reported, "As he drove by we stuck our "STOP BUSH" sign right into his face, which definitely attracted the attention of the army dudes." My friend, Eve got a good look at Bush's expression. She said his shoulders were hunched up, his face was confused and he waved hesitatingly.

I heard that the television news reported only a few quick shots of our protest and mostly covered the Irvine rally in Orange County--where Bush held his luncheon fundraiser later that same day. The majority of the main stream news focused on the Black Out in the North East--so the Bush's visit to our park turned out to be eclipsed by bigger concerns. However Fidel Rodriguez from the local independent radio station, KPFK (90.7fm) interviewed many of us in the crowd. Penny videotaped my son James and our 14 year-old-neighbor, Molly for "People to People TV." I was pleased that some Park Rangers came up to us and asked to take our photos. Many of them thanked the protesters enthusiastically for being there. And in fairness I'd like to point out, not all the residents in Thousand Oaks expressed support for Bush. I asked a senior gentleman what he thought about the President's visit. He answered, "I reckon I could do without it." And posted on front lawn a lovely house facing the park, a hand-drawn sign said, "Bush Is A Liar."

This was one of the most satisfying days I can think of. We were tremendously successful in tackling the Bush motorcade, despite the Secret Service trying to assign us to an isolated "First Amendment Rights Area" some two miles out of the way.

"We must break this spell of war."--Dennis Kucinich